This paper reviews solar wind observations in the outer heliosphere, concentrating on the recent data near solar maximum. The speed and temperature tend to be lower at solar maximum, due to the lack of coronal holes. The near‐absence of a latitudinal speed gradient at solar maximum allows us to measure the speed decrease of the solar wind and find a value for the H density in the local interstellar medium (LISM) at the termination shock of 0.09 cm−3. The temperature profile is well‐matched by a model using pickup ion heating and a speed dependence of the temperature. The density profile at solar maximum is dominated by MIRs; we show one case where converging CME ejecta form a MIR. © 2003 American Institute of Physics