When National Parks Laid Off Rangers, This Company Started Hiring

On February 14, 2025, the National Park Service fired around 1,000 probationary employees in conjunction with a White House effort to reduce the federal workforce. Although a spate of court orders eventually reversed many of the layoffs and reinstated probationary employees to their jobs, roughly five weeks elapsed between the initial firing and eventual rehiring mandate. Those intervening weeks were chaotic for many NPS employees, who wondered what they would do for their livelihoods.

At the same time, Ali Murphy, a former marketing executive and the founder of Outdoorable, a new travel platform focused on creating expert-guided custom itineraries for active travelers, was in the middle of preparing to launch her company. When she heard the news of the layoffs, she quickly recognized a chance to pair individuals with deep, location-specific expertise with travelers looking for guidance on their next adventure. On Facebook, Murphy offered former rangers the chance to put their skill set to use at her fledgling company.

On February 20, 2025, a week after the initial layoffs, Murphy put out a call to all those affected: “This is devastating,” she wrote in her post. “But your knowledge is still incredibly valuable… If you want to keep sharing what you know, we’d love to have you.”

Right now, you can book a call with an Outdoorable expert for $60, and Murphy told me the experts themselves take home $45 of that. That’s a pretty sizable cut. While there are other adventure and gear concierge services out there—like Outdoor Mavens’s trip-planning service, or Backcountry’s popular Gearheads program—Outdoorable seems to fill a pretty distinct niche when it comes to trip planning and prep.

Here at Outside, we saw Murphy’s post and wondered: what happened next? Did NPS folks actually get in touch? We reached out to understand a little more about Outdoorable and its mission—and what the response to her post has been like.

How Outdoorable Is Tapping Into Ranger Talent to Improve Outdoor Acesss

OUTSIDE: What happened when you put out that call to former NPS employees? What was the response like?

Murphy: I think I had 70 people apply to Outdoorable from that one post. I pretty much cried after every call. I was so jazzed because people were enthused, and it gave me the chance to tell them that what they know is valuable.

So, what exactly is Outdoorable? What makes it different from other travel sites or chatbots?

I think the travel industry largely ignores the people who are in need of the most guidance. We make false assumptions that people have networks or they know what to look for or they even know where to go. What if you could talk to a former national park ranger? Some people are going to AI for travel advice these days, but there are certain things AI cannot do. AI can’t look you in the eye and say, “Honey, you’re not crazy. You can do that hike.” Or, “Talk to me about your knee. Are you better on uphill or downhill?”

How does Outdoorable plan to address representation and access deficits that can make it harder for some folks to envision themselves in the outdoors?

At the start of this, I had an interesting conversation with James Edward Mills, who kind of wrote the book on inclusion spaces. I called him and told him that it’s really important to me that Outdoorable becomes a place where people of all backgrounds can go, and that they feel comfortable getting outside. That conversation was really illuminating because Mills said, “It’s all about representation.” For example, if you’re a queer traveler trying to do van life, you want to talk to a queer traveler if you can. And just seeing someone who looks like you or who has had a similar life path to you can help you envision yourself chasing that dream. We’re working on getting a diverse panel of experts on the platform so people can have that experience.

Okay, let’s say I’m a traveler. After I fill out the intake form and get paired with a guide on your website, what can I expect?

Your guide will read your form and know all about you before the call. They’re excited to talk to you. You can expect someone who has a wide range of knowledge to the extent that they can ask you questions you hadn’t thought of, almost like trip therapy. So you might be saying, “Hey, I’m doing a road trip around Utah’s national parks. I’m going to go to five parks in seven days.” Your guide isn’t going to be afraid to push back if they need to. They’ll say, “No you’re not,” or, “Have you thought about this? Or looked at it this way? What are you actually trying to accomplish on this trip?” Or, on the other hand, if you’ve shared about a trip you’re uncertain about, they might reassure you that that trip is well within your ability. You can expect a real thought partner.

Sounds like Outdoorable is for everyone—but who do you see using the platform most often?

I’d say the biggest use case we’ve seen so far has been for casual recreationists. They want to get out, they’re outdoorsy, they’d love to do a hike, but they’re not in the Reddit forums. They don’t own all the Osprey packs. The outdoor travel industry forgets about this segment of people, which is most people.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.