This Thru-Paddler is Changing the Face of Guiding

Cory Maria Dack is rewriting the rules of who gets to explore by proving—and teaching—that the wild welcomes all.

Cory Maria Dack is not the image most people conjure when they picture a wilderness guide, and that’s exactly the point. A fat-bodied, brown-skinned, queer, Indigenous Latina immigrant, she embodies identities long underrepresented—or outright excluded—from outdoor adventure narratives. Her path to the wild began far from the forest, rooted in small-town Minnesota with a childhood steeped in Broadway musicals and boy band posters rather than hiking boots or campfires.

Without the means for summer camps or national park road trips, the idea of wilderness guiding once struck her as absurd—and dangerous.

"Youguysarecrazy,"sherecallsthinking."Youcoulddieoutthere!Whatifthere'sastorm?Whatifthere’sabear?Youhavetoreadamapandcompass,buildafire,andpoopinahole."

At 21, this narrative in her mind changed completely after a friend invited her to work at Camp Vermilion. Feeling out of place among a sea of counselors decked out in North Face and Patagonia gear with years of wilderness experience, she stood out for a different reason: her extreme empathy, her gift for fostering relationships, and her ability to empower those around her—especially youth.

Today, Dack guides with Wilderness Inquiry and BIPOC Outdoors Twin Cities/BIPOC Outdoors Twin Ports. She also guided at Camp Menogyn in the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota for 10 years before joining Menogyn’s leadership team in recent years. She also leads/has led eco-tourism trips for Wilderness Inquiry in Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, and Patagonia, as well as Yellowstone National Park, Voyageurs National Park, and Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. Additionally, she has led trips up and down the Mississippi River for Wilderness Inquiry and the Quapaw Canoe Company.

Her guiding ranges from three-day excursions to 103-day expeditions. What began as a summer job became a lifelong calling for now more than 20 years, driven by her belief that nature’s healing belongs to everyone. Here’s her story.

Reclaiming Space in the Great Outdoors

For Dack, the real work isn’t just guiding epic trips—it’s reshaping the very culture of outdoor spaces. At Wilderness Inquiry, Camp Menogyn, and other orgs, she leads the charge on “decolonizing” outdoor recreation and outdoor education by breaking down the barriers that have kept marginalized communities from feeling welcome in wild places.

"Natureisthegreatesthealer.Natureiswherewefindmedicine,wherewefindourancestors,wherewefindourselves."

But she knows that access to this healing has long been filtered through privilege, gatekeeping, and exclusion. That’s why she loves working with Wilderness Inquiry’s “Canoemobile” program, which offers robust scholarships and actively reaches out to BIPOC communities, immigrants, LGBTQ+ youth, and families without generational wealth. Dack also pushes the places where she works to connect Native American children and communities back to the ancestral homelands they have been separated from. "Everywhere we guide and recreate, this is all Native land; everybody else is a guest," Dack emphasizes.

Cory made it her mission early on to change the tides of that water. She helps create camp environments where kids set their own community values, where fears and excitement are shared openly, and where no one’s worth is measured by the price tag of their sleeping bag. For Dack, technical skills can be taught; building a culture where all kids feel safe, seen, and valued in Nature is a much deeper, ongoing effort.

Through her guiding work, she's proven that outdoor skills can be taught to anyone, but the cultural competency needed to make all kids feel safe and valued in nature requires intentional, ongoing work.

Paddling America’s Greatest River

Cory’s first taste of river paddling came in 2018, when guiding a 100-day college program that took her and a group of students on a canoe trip from Minneapolis to Cairo, Illinois. From learnings on the water to a newfound sense of adventure, the trip planted a question in her mind: What about the rest of it?

Four years later, she launched from Lake Itasca, Minnesota, in August 2022, bound for the Gulf of Mexico. Over 134 days, she paddled not just for the challenge, but for the connections: meeting water protectors, visiting Indigenous communities, and slowing down to savor the river’s rhythm.

It’s important to note that this feat was more than an adventure for Cory. It was an act of visibility. She took on the journey as a mission to show that someone who looks like her can be represented on the water (and on great adventures), too.

"Ididitforotherlittlekidswhodon’tseethemselvesrepresented,andforlittleCorywhowishedshehadseensomeonelikeme."

While she did take some breaks, she refused to use the term “zero days” for rest days in a move to decolonize a systemically ingrained way of thinking. “There’s nothing zero about resting,” she says. “It’s not only about the miles."

The journey tested her grit, like when she needed to take shelter on a Sufi Muslim farm, called Dayempur Farm, in Southern Illinois during brutal 25-below temperatures, or how she managed to keep going despite her first paddle partner suddenly leaving partway through. These pauses, however, brought some of her richest moments: hospitality from River Angels, the warmth of strangers, and a reminder that adventure isn’t just about forward motion.

"IjustkeptfollowingmyRiverFlow."

On March 5, 2023, she reached the Gulf, completing one of the most challenging paddle routes in the U.S. But the real triumph wasn’t the finish line—it was proving that the outdoors can be a gateway to self-empowerment, resilience, and belonging for everyone, no matter their background or experience level.

Charting a Course for Others to Follow

From little wilderness in her younger years to growing into a seasoned river paddler, Cory’s story is proof that wild places aren’t just for the few. We all have a place in them.

For anyone seeking their own adventure or working to create more inclusive outdoor spaces, Cory offers these three key reminders:

• You belong in nature, regardless of your background – don't let lack of experience, expensive gear, or feeling "different" keep you from accessing nature's healing power.
• True adventure isn't just about personal achievement – it's about lifting others up and helping them along the journey.
• Rest and community are as valuable as miles covered – slowing down, building relationships, and taking care of ourselves and others are essential parts of any meaningful adventure.