The Hocking Hills region of south-eastern Ohio is a jewel of an area — ravines, caves, and stone walls interweave throughout old-growth forest. Water is everywhere: streams, small cataracts, and waterfalls echo in many parts of the forest.The area was formed millions of years ago, when the Appalachian Mountains were eroding and the shallow seas […]
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Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio has long been a place of interest for human cultures. The Blackhand sandstone formed a series of ravines there, and coupled with the abundant water supply allowed for a micro-climate atypical for Ohio. This explains the existence of trees like black birch, Canadian yew, and hemlocks which don’t normally
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My niece and I got to hike up Mount Tamalpais, aka “Mount Tam,” one of the most treasured State Parks in California. Cresting off the coast of Stinson Beach, Mount Tam features giant redwoods and moss-covered rocks that frame a high tree canopy — until the trails open up to the stunning ocean views you
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The Auburn State Recreation Area, 40,000 acres of land along the Middle and North Forks of the American River, almost never existed.Once a major locus of interest during the California Gold Rush, the canyon was scheduled to be dammed when it was discovered to be along a major earthquake fault line and that damming it
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This is a close-up picture that I took earlier this month near the Appalachian Trail in Central Pennsylvania of a very tiny fungus with an adorable moniker and a long pedigree for human use. Called “green elfcup” or “green wood cup,” the technical name of this mushroom is “Chloriciboria aeruginascens,” and although it is a
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The magnificent ruins shown here are only some of the thousands of Ancient Puebloan structures found in southwestern Colorado’s Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. This particular site, found along the 6.5 mile Sand Canyon (loop) Trail, is similar to many of the region, with remarkable masonry that includes cliff dwellings, towers, public roofed
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Here you see La Posada, constructed in 1929 in Winslow Arizona — the last of the Fred Harvey Hotels still in operation. The Fred Harvey Company’s restaurants and hotels shaped the architectural landscape and culture of the American Southwest — packaging the American Indian, Spanish Mission Revival, and US cowboy culture for middle-class tourism. And
So much of the preserved natural beauty of the U.S. can be traced back to the FDR Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, and this remote jewel of state park is another example. The Greenbrier State Forest is over 5,000 acres in southeastern West Virginia. Straddling lands to either side of Kate’s Mountain (so named for a
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In my home state of Pennsylvania, now is the season of the Mountain Laurel blooms. This shrub (Latin name “Kalmia latifolia”) grows indigenously all along the eastern seaboard from southern Maine to northern Florida, and was used by Native Americans — the wood was good for carving into digging utensils, earning the plant the moniker
Today I got a chance to hike Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park, and everything about it was phenomenal: yellow butterflies so heavy they wobbled in their paths, mountain laurel and tulip poplar in bloom, full streams feeding the spring life. The Old Rag Trail is most famous for the rock scrambles up
Yesterday, I was fortunate to experience the full solar eclipse from the Pymatuning State Park Reservoir in western Pennsylvania. The light turned silvery as the sun neared total obfuscation, and green colors emerged and reds dimmed, the effect of our eyes’ cones coming offline and employing the rods more. Shadows close to the ground sharpened
Pine Grove Furnace is at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains near my home in south-central Pennsylvania, and is a beautiful wooded area that feels remote — as of this spring in 2024, it doesn’t even get cell phone reception — yet, it’s only a 20-minute drive from my suburban dwelling. In fact, there
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McAfee Knob is one of the most iconic vistas along the Appalachian Trail. Its elevation is only about 3,200 feet, which is typical for these ancient, weathered mountains. The stunning views provided by the overlook include the Roanoke Valley below and North Mountain. Only 100 years earlier, a lot of the land had been cleared
Tinker Cliffs are the third “Crown Jewel” of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains (along with Dragon’s Tooth and McAfee Knob). The Appalachian Trail cuts closer to the edge than the other two sites, affording breathtaking views and prompting careful attention to the narrow path. For about half a mile, the stones surface prominently from the forest
These are the views of Chimney Top, a Tuscarora quartzite outcropping at the end of the North Fork Trail on the similarly named mountain in West Virginia. Pictures don’t do this place justice – besides the immensity of scale that my photographic skills couldn’t capture, its beauty was enhanced by the wind and the solitude.
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The Seneca Rocks formation comes from 425 million years ago, when the Tuscarora sandstone formed so much of the mountainous ridge extending through West Virginia. On September 28, 1965, the Seneca Rocks – Spruce Ridge became the first National Recreation Area in a U.S. National Forest. Some of the trees in this area are 200
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Crabtree Falls, located near the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, is a place of stunning beauty. I got to visit this 1,200-foot waterfall yesterday after a rainstorm and my pictures do not do it justice. With five major cascades, it is one of the tallest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, with the longest
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Catoctin Mountain Park — situated right next to Cunningham Falls State Park, is in north-central Maryland and is run by the US National Park Service. Its 5,120 acres overlook the Monocacy Valley. Back in 1935, the area was put under the CCC to be fostered as a public recreational area. Cunningham Falls State Park has
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Tobyhanna State Park was formed out of state lands that had been on a large artillery range that preceded Tobyhanna Army Depot. It has 5,540 acres of land surrounding Lake Tobyhanna, which is named after an American Indian term meaning “a stream whose banks are fringed with alder.” Today I saw a lot of birch
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The Range Trail is a winding path that traverses across swampy and rocky forest in the Tobyhanna State Park, established in 1949. As you can see from the third slide, the area was used by the U.S. military as a live-artillery training ground during both World Wars. I didn’t see any shell remains on my
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