Backroads Media Center: Company Milestones

A Brief History of the World's #1 Active Travel Company

1979
Tom Hale founds Backroads.
1980 Tom Hale is Backroads: leading bike trips through Death Valley, Northern California, Colorado, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, Canadian Rockies, Puget Sound, and Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon; answering phones; driving vans; and repairing bikes—all while working part-time cleaning fondue pots.
1983 Tom's lawnmower, car and power tools rebel—Backroads' corporate headquarters vacates Tom's garage and moves to more spacious quarters in a San Leandro, California, warehouse.
1984 The fun continues year-round when winter trips to Hawaii are added.
1986 Backroads bicyclists venture Down Under with a new bicycling trip in New Zealand.
1987 Backroads guests traverse the tundra when Alaska is added. They warm up Backroads' new Baja trip, bicycling along the Sea of Cortez.
1988 Mountain bike trips (in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains) are introduced, as is another continent—Europe. Backroads bicyclists begin exploring the pleasures of France's Loire Valley.
1989 Backroads celebrates its 10th anniversary by adding special departures for families and solo travelers and by expanding geographically—to the Northeast—with new trips in Vermont and Virginia. Horizons are further broadened to include Asia and a trip in China. With all this broadening, corporate headquarters once again outgrows its digs and moves to Berkeley.
1990 The charms of the Old South are showcased with new trips in Louisiana and North Carolina.
1991 Elephants and longboats join Backroads' modes of transportation as part of a new bicycling trip in Thailand.
1992 Backroads steps out with the introduction of walking and hiking trips.
1993 Winter wonderlands become part of the Backroads experience, with the introduction of cross-country skiing vacations. A mountain biking trip in Costa Rica launches Backroads in Central America.
1994 Backroads turns 15 and celebrates with the addition of even more activity—the Go Active Sampler vacation, featuring mountain biking, in-line skating, trail running and tennis, among other activities.
1995 Backroads mountain bikers test their fat tires in South America—on a new trip in Chile and Argentina.
1996 Backroads unveils a program of 19 multisport adventures—trips that combine biking and hiking with other activities such as kayaking, rafting and snorkeling. Oh, and it's happened again—corporate headquarters needs more room and undertakes an expansion of its Berkeley home. Backroads also goes online with a website in cyberspace, which presumably, one cannot outgrow.
1997 Active adventurers travel to South Africa to hike and safari in luxury on Backroads' first African trip.
1998 Families and solo travelers have more to choose from than ever, with 67 itineraries featuring special departures for solo travelers, and 23 featuring special departures for families. Morocco and Nepal join the hit parade of Backroads destinations.
1999 Backroads commemorates its 20th anniversary by adding 20 new trips—two multisport, five walking and three bicycling itineraries. The wine regions of Chile and Patagonia, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan and the Lake Como, Umbria, Parma Valley and Puglia regions of Italy are but a few of the new destinations ripe for exploration. Backroads also introduces Millennium trips, six memorable adventures to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime event.
2000 Backroads dives into the millennium with the introduction of multisport itineraries that focus on aqua activities such as sea kayaking, rafting, snorkeling and boating. Backroads' new Active Gourmet collection features itineraries that blend exhilarating activity with an opportunity to explore the culinary arts. New destinations include Denmark, Hungary, Vietnam, Japan and the French Alps, just to name a few.
2001 Golfing makes its second appearance in the Backroads trip line-up after premiering in 2000. Now links lovers can bike, walk and golf in Ireland as well as in the Canadian Rockies. A Cooking and Walking Soujourn adds spice to our tasty menu of trips in Provence. Other new adventures debut in Bordeaux, Portugal, Canada's Prince Edward Island, Vermont and Wyoming.
Trips Exclusively for families and solo travelers boom in response to guest demand.
2002 Thirty new trips highlight Backroads' 23rd year. Asia is hot, with new adventures in Tibet, India, Thailand and Nepal. And families rule, with 20 new trips designed for active travelers of all generations. More multisport with golf makes an appearance in Bordeaux.
2003 Backroads introduces Easy Explorations & Epic Journeys. Easy Explorations are ideal for both first-time and experience active travelers who want to vacation at a more relaxed rhythm. Epic Journeys are a collection of two-wheeled adventures with special appeal for cyclists who contend that the long way is the best way.
2004 Backroads celebrates its 25th Anniversary! Backroads introduces Epic Walking on France's Mont Blanc, Easy Biking in Bordeaux. Maine Walking, Alaska Multisport, and more.
2005 Backroads offers a new way to travel actively: Casual Inn Trips, featuring comfortable and cozy hotels and inns. New Backroads destinations include Sicily, Quebec, Kauai and Colorado. More family trips added during popular vacation times.
2006 Guests are offered even more choice with Adventures Beyond—trips with added dimensions that make them extra special. For example, an active safari in South Africa & Botswana and trekking in Bhutan. The number of Casual Inn Trips more than doubles. Backroads introduces its new custom-made titanium bikes.
2007 New in Europe: biking and walking trips through Hungary, Slovakia & Poland; biking in Italy's Piedmont region and much more. A new walking & hiking in Tibet & Yunnan; Wine Country weekend bike trips and new family adventures worldwide. Backroads is now open seven days a week!
2008 Backroads branches out with 12 new “Insider Trip” destinations that take guests deeper into a region's culture. New active trips include mountain biking in northwest Argentina, biking in Italy & Slovenia, biking in Oregon's Crater Lake area and multisport camping in California's Redwood Empire, home of the big trees.
2009 Backroads celebrates its 30th anniversary. New trips unveiled include India, Colorado and an epic biking journey from Glacier to the Canadian Rockies.
2010 Backroads delves deeper into North America with new biking trips and family multisport trips in Arizona and Oregon's Crater Lake. Bicyclists traveling farther afield found medieval castles, world-class wines and prehistoric cave art on new trips in Portugal, Spain and Bordeaux & Dordogne.
2011 Crampons on a Backroads trip? You bet—Backroads debuts 14 new trips including a hiking vacation in the French Alps featuring an epic guided glacier walk. New for bicyclists, the Greek isle of Crete is hot—for families too. Other additions include biking trips in Sicily, Burgundy and Nova Scotia, and walking trips in Spain, the Pacific Northwest and Maine.
2012 In addition to unveiling 17 new itineraries, Backroads also increases its commitment to providing two support vans on nearly every trip. The company expands its bike fleet to include the Specialized S-Works Roubaix and women's Ruby Pro, and the Co-Motion tandem. New features also include downloadable GPS directions, improved elevation profiles and bike cyclometers. And single travelers rave about the return of Singles-Solos departures.
2013 Continuing to set unprecedented quality standards, Backroads commits to having three leaders (or more) and two vans on virtually every trip. New destinations span the globe, from Israel and Myanmar to Andalucía, Panama and the Argentine Andes. Debut trips closer to home include our version of "spring training" in California, plus adventures in Texas Hill Country, the canyons of Utah and Arizona, and in the vineyards around Santa Barbara.


For more information contact Massimo Prioreschi, 800-462-2848 ext. 126