Maegan Moaratty and Danielle Falagan
183 episodes listed below
Outdoor mysteries, mapped with human common sense.
Off the Trails tells stories where a hike, climb, beach walk, or scenic stop turns suddenly dangerous. Megan and Danielle move through each case with plainspoken timelines, practical questions, and enough banter to keep grim material human.
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Off the Trails lives in the moment when an ordinary outdoor plan stops being ordinary. Someone walks ahead in the Mojave and is gone. A hiker reaches a remote summit in the Pyrenees, sends a message, and is not heard from again. A shoe washes onto a British Columbia beach with a foot inside, then another appears nearby. The show follows cases like these with a steady mix of chronology, reaction, and practical orientation. Megan and Danielle are not distant narrators. They work through the material together, asking the questions a listener is likely to ask: where was the road, what did searchers cover, why was there no clear sign, and what would the terrain actually feel like? That back-and-forth gives heavy stories a human rhythm. It also keeps the show from becoming either too clinical or too sensational. Recent episodes move across deserts, mountains, coastlines, volcanoes, glaciers, and high-altitude climbs. The range is broad, but the pattern is consistent. Beautiful places are treated as real places, with weather, footing, distance, water, snow, access roads, warning signs, and rescue limits. The show pays attention to search logistics, witness accounts, missing timelines, and the uneasy role of last-known companions. It can be grim. It can also be dryly funny, especially when the voices pause for everyday detours before returning to the case. That contrast is part of its texture. An episode about detached feet can include a joke about foot surgery, then shift back to the serious question of why remains appear where they do. A story about Everest can start with fascination and end at the hard cost of wanting the summit. Off the Trails works best for listeners who like mystery grounded in terrain rather than courtroom drama. It favors clear storytelling, common-sense skepticism, and the reminder that the outdoors does not need to look dangerous to become dangerous.
Made for: For listeners interested in missing-person cases, search-and-rescue details, strange discoveries, and the darker side of hiking, climbing, beaches, and remote travel. It suits people who want serious stories told conversationally rather than with polished distance.
What sets it apart: The show stands out for its practical, map-minded storytelling: terrain, timing, search conditions, and small decisions matter as much as the mystery itself. Megan and Danielle’s conversational rhythm keeps the cases clear without losing warmth.
So many of us venture into nature seeking serenity, solitude and adventure, but some unlucky ones find misfortune instead. We're here to share these stories. Grab your pack and join us as we go off the trails. Join Danielle and Maegan each week for stories of mystery and misadventure in the great outdoors.Presented by Unknown Media
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Off the Trails makes outdoor danger understandable through clear chronology, practical detail, humane concern, and an honest regard for unresolved evidence.
Off the Trails turns outdoor calamity and disappearance into carefully sequenced narratives, with Danielle and Megan guiding each case through its setting, timeline, evidence, and remaining uncertainty.
Danielle and Megan make every wilderness wrong turn feel like a reason to check the map twice.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A desert disappearance told plainly, with restraint and a steady chill.
Off the Trails follows Barbara Thomas, 69, into the desert, where a routine walk turns into a disappearance that still does not make sense. Megan and Danielle keep the timeline clear and grounded: the search effort, the thin trail of leads, and the unnerving lack of footprints,…
A strange coastal mystery told with clear geography and chronology.
The episode starts with a grim Pacific Northwest case: a shoe washed up on a British Columbia beach, a foot inside it, then another shoe six days later, about 30 miles away, also with a foot inside.
A mountain disappearance story told plainly, with care, and with the human cost left in view.
Off the Trails treats Esther Dingley's disappearance in the Pyrenees as a human case first. An experienced hiker reaches a remote peak, sends a final message to Daniel Colgate, and then vanishes into a search across rough mountain country.
A Cape Breton trail turns deadly in a rare coyote attack that changed how people think about coyotes.
Off the Trails treats Taylor Mitchell's death in Cape Breton Highlands National Park with restraint. It stays clear-headed and never leans into spectacle, which matters here.
A calm sky and a bad feeling make the story feel brittle.
Off the Trails presents Jordan Hatmaker's jump in Suffolk, Virginia as a story where good weather and routine could not promise a safe outcome.
Georgia politics from inside the room.
True crime measured by the evidence.
Mysteries, lore, and nervous laughter.
American crime history, told with gravity.
Barbara Thomas vanishes during a desert walk with her husband, Bob, after the two step apart on a July day in 2019.
Danielle and Megan open with the 2007 discovery of a shoe on a British Columbia beach, with a foot inside.
Esther Dingley disappears after reaching a remote Pyrenees summit and sending one last message to her partner.
This episode explores a 1994 incident in Tuckerman Ravine, highlighting the hidden dangers of seemingly peaceful spring snow conditions for backcountry skiers.
This episode discusses a hiker in Hawaii's Volcano National Park who ignored closure signs and entered a hazardous area, leading to a dangerous overnight rescue operation.
This episode covers two young men who disappeared in the remote Kalalau Valley on Kauai, exploring the dangers of paradise.
A podcast sharing stories of misfortune and mystery in the great outdoors, hosted by Danielle and Maegan.
The hosts discuss the challenges and risks of climbing Mount Everest, sharing their fascination and personal reluctance to attempt it.
The episode recounts the disappearance of 12-year-old Garrett Bardsley during a fishing trip with his father.
This episode tells the story of the Frog Boys, five children who vanished in South Korea, exploring the decades-long mystery.
Megan and Danielle trace the fatal coyote attack that took Taylor Mitchell’s life on a popular Cape Breton Highlands trail.
On November 14, 2021, Jordan Hatmaker heads to a skydive in Suffolk, Virginia on a clear, calm day that looks set to go just fine.
Listeners share spooky and unexplained encounters they experienced while hiking or recreating outdoors.
A true crime podcast episode about the 2006 disappearance of an eight-year-old boy at Crater Lake, Oregon.
This episode explores the legends and facts behind ghost ships like the Mary Celeste and modern-day mysteries.
A seasoned outdoorswoman vanishes from a remote Idaho hunting camp, leading to an unsolved mystery.
This episode explores survival stories where dogs become heroes, saving their owners from perilous situations in the outdoors.
A podcast sharing stories of misfortune and death in national parks, starting with an episode about Glacier National Park.
The episode tells the story of Jerrica Binks, who went missing while running in American Fork Canyon, and the search that followed.
The episode investigates the mysterious disappearance of Chelsea Grimm during a road trip in northern Arizona, exploring strange sightings and cryptic messages.
This episode explores the mysterious disappearances of over 30 people in Yosemite National Park.
A survival story of an ultra-endurance athlete who fights for her life after a solo training run in Moab, Utah, with a heroic dog.
The hosts introduce an episode about survival stories from the Australian outback, including the tale of Ricky McGee, with a focus on controversy and mystery.
The hosts discuss a land dispute that led to tragic loss of life, and explain they are releasing a Patreon exclusive episode due to travel constraints.
The episode covers the case of Jordan Kreider, who went missing in the Minnesota wilderness after planning to spend the winter alone.
The episode recounts the 2004 disappearance of 9-year-old David Gonzalez and the discovery made nearly a year later.
Tom and Linda Bosworth's off-road trip in New Mexico turns into a desperate survival story after their Jeep rolls over, leaving them stranded in extreme conditions with limited resources.
This episode explores the harrowing survival story of Stuart Diver during a 1997 mountain collapse that destroyed everything around him.
This episode investigates the unsolved 2009 double murder of Virginia Tech students Heidi Childs and David Metzler in the Appalachian woods.
This episode recounts the tragic 1998 wilderness hiking incident involving Reverend Mike Turner and his dog Andy in Wyoming's Wind River Range.
This episode investigates the mysterious disappearance of outdoorsman Raymond Salmen during a solo camping trip in British Columbia in 2013.