I was very pleasantly surprised by the Crystal Forest Trail in Petrified Forest National Park. I’d already toured most of the park (including the Wilderness Loop), so I wasn’t exactly enamored with seeing chunks of wood-turned-rock. But the specimens here…
Anticline Overlook is probably my favorite overlook of all the viewpoints in Canyon Rims National Recreation Area (other favorites are the Needles Overlook, Minor Overlook, and Canyonlands Overlook). It offers several views of spectacular scenery, from canyons and rock formations…
One of the more popular of the less-famous geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park is the Fountain Paint Pots. It’s worth visiting, with a few unique features, as well as a few pretty pools. It can be a bit overrun,…
If you want a unique and personal perspective on the New River Gorge Bridge, you really need to take the Fayette Station Road from one side of New River Gorge to the other. This was the road – the only…
I wrote in another post about ascending Little Wildhorse Canyon in Utah’s San Rafael Swell. It’s a great canyon experience, with dryfalls, sculpted walls, rock formations, and more to explore. Most people (myself included) opt to do the hike as…
Little Wildhorse Canyon may be the most famous slot canyon in Utah. It’s certainly up there, along with Buckskin Gulch, Peek-a-boo and Spooky Slots, Kanarra Creek, and the Zion Narrows (which are unarguably the most famous and also not really…
If you’re looking for one spectacular hike – that doesn’t go to a lake – near Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, the hike to Blackmon Peak fits the bill! It’s not an easy hike (we’re talking over 2,000ft. elevation gain here), but…
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a lot when I hiked to Riddle Lake up near the Continental Divide in southern Yellowstone. Lakes are often little ponds (or big ponds) in the forest, and unless there happens to a be…
There isn’t a whole lot of hiking on top of the Orange Cliffs in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, but there are a few things to see (mostly overlooks, which are well worth seeing in their own right). …
The Evergreen Trail is often overshadowed by the Falls Trail (Ganoga Glen and Glen Leigh) in Ricketts Glen State Park, and rightly so. But by missing out on the Evergreen Trail, you also miss out on the lovely Adams Falls…