Walking is Thoreau's essay that champions the simple act of taking stroll through Nature. It has become one of the most important essays in the environmental movement, and is a portable guide to the most basic act which man do to witness the 'absolute freedom and wildness' of nature.

Thoreau also uses an experience from his own life to represent a personal account in nature, more specifically his experiences while walking into the forest near his property. Eco-social politics can be seen in this essay when Thoreau analyzes building development as a taming and cheapening of the landscape. Thoreau brings the reader into a spiritual realm when he associates the divinity of nature and the spirit of walking with Christianity and Greek Mythology. In addition, when describing the Mississippi River, Thoreau describes the river as a kind of enchanted Holy Land.