On the road with the L.L.Bean Bootmobile

FREEPORT, Maine — Outdoor gear and apparel multichannel merchant L.L.Bean is revving up its Bootmobile and hitting the road as part of the company’s 2013 Outdoor Discovery Tour, which encourages people to enjoy the outdoors.

With the help of its expert Outdoor Discovery Schools guides, L.L.Bean aims to show families how to maintain healthy, active lifestyles. The multi-city tour kicks off in New York City Saturday, June 22, with free kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding and fly casting instruction as part of the 9th annual Adventures NYC in Central Park.

“We’re concerned that people — particularly children — are spending less time outside than ever before and losing out on the physical and mental benefits of the outdoors,” said CEO Chris McCormick. “With our 2013 Outdoor Discovery Tour and Outdoor Discovery Schools programming, our goal is to make the outdoors both accessible and fun, hopefully helping to instill a lifelong passion for the outdoors.”

The Outdoor Discovery Tour heads to Pittsburgh June 29, to Philadelphia July 13 and to Chicago July 20. There, and at additional cities, expert guides will demonstrate outdoor activities, promote local outdoor resources and share their own experiences to inspire others to follow suit. In Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, L.L.Bean will host an Outdoor Discovery Day, so families can try new activities like fly casting and geocaching or learn the basics of camping.

L.L.Bean is also offering dozens of courses through its popular Outdoor Discovery Schools, ranging from multi-day expeditions to free clinics right in the store. Additionally, people can search thousands of national, state and local parks using L.L.Bean’s ParkFinder tool on the company’s website to identify outdoor activities in which to participate. The company offers a free Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder app, for iPhone, iPad and Android, so customers can find hiking trails or other like activities.