I truly love a good fiction novel that’s set outdoors in the wild, the kind of story where you feel like you’re exploring the landscape right alongside the characters. Whether it’s rugged Alaskan mountains, remote shorelines, or wide-open wilderness, these books let you experience adventure through the story itself through strong female leads.
If you love adventure, survival, and stories rooted in the natural world, this list is for you. These are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Set in the harsh and unforgiving Alaskan wilderness, this novel explores survival, family, and resilience. The setting is intense and beautiful, and it feels like Alaska itself is a character in the story.
Life on a small Hawaiian island unfolds alongside the ocean, where sharks are a constant and powerful presence. The sea shapes daily life, relationships, and family history, exploring what it means to live with nature’s beauty and danger while deciding whether to stay, leave, or return home.
Set in rural Kentucky during the Great Depression, this story follows the Packhorse Librarians who delivered books through remote mountain communities. It beautifully captures isolation, friendship, and the power of stories in wild places.
Life on a remote, storm-lashed island shapes every part of this story. Surrounded by seabirds, seals, and relentless weather, the characters are forced to live closely with the land and sea, where isolation, survival, and family bonds are tested at the edge of civilization.
Inspired by true events, this historical novel follows a courageous midwife in a harsh winter landscape. The setting adds depth and intensity, making the environment feel inseparable from the story. A perfect read in the middle of winter.
A unique adventure set during the Dust Bowl era, following an unlikely road trip across the country with two giraffes. Told through the eyes of a young boy, the journey highlights wide-open landscapes, hardship, and the pull of the open road. **This one doesn't have a female lead.**
A high-stakes survival story after a plane crash strands two strangers in brutal mountain terrain. This novel blends adventure, endurance, and human connection while nature remains a constant and unforgiving presence. It's now a major motion picture.
Set in the Pacific Northwest logging country, this novel follows families whose lives are deeply tied to the forest that surrounds them. The land is beautiful and unforgiving, shaping love, loss, and the hard choices that come with survival.
Set in the marshlands of North Carolina, this story follows a girl who grows up learning how to live with the land instead of against it. Through her eyes, the marsh becomes home, teacher, and refuge, shaping who she becomes and quietly guiding the mystery at the heart of the story.
Life in the Appalachian mountains revolves around farming, family, and the land. When thousands of monarch butterflies unexpectedly arrive, the mountains become part of a much bigger story. Nature, climate, and everyday life collide in a way that changes everything.
Set in a remote Appalachian mountain community, this story weaves together faith, fear, and long-held traditions shaped by the surrounding wilderness. It’s quiet, haunting, and deeply connected to the land and the people who live there.
A dark, atmospheric mystery set around a summer camp in the woods. Nature plays a quiet but powerful role in this story, creating an eerie backdrop that pulls you in. It will keep you guessing until the end.
Told through letters and journal entries, this story follows an expedition into Alaska’s remote wilderness. The landscape feels vast and alive, quietly shaping the people, the choices they make, and the unknown they’re heading toward.
Life in the Arizona desert shapes every part of this story, from the harsh beauty of the land to the resilience it demands. As outside development threatens the family ranch, survival, faith, and quiet determination unfold in a place where learning to live with the land is essential.
Set during the California Gold Rush, this story unfolds in a rugged mountain mining town shaped by harsh weather, isolation, and the promise of gold. Life revolves around the land, hard labor, and survival, as newcomers learn that the wilderness demands grit, resilience, and sacrifice.
After wandering off a hiking trail, a young girl finds herself alone in the Maine woods with only her backpack, a fading radio broadcast, and the forest closing in around her. Hunger, exhaustion, and unseen threats turn the woods into both enemy and teacher as she fights to stay alive and find her way out.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoy these novels as much as I did. When I can’t get outside, I love letting books like these carry me somewhere new. They remind me that adventure isn’t only something we do out in the world, it’s also something we can experience through imagination, history, and powerful storytelling.
If you have a favorite outdoor-set novel I should read next, I’d love to hear about it!
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