Many people think of White Sands National Monument as a place to spend an hour or less driving the scenic drive and enjoying the peacefulness of the sand – or a place for kids (and kids at heart) to have…
Dry Fork Slots, pt. 2: Spooky Slot
In last week’s post, I talked about Peek-a-Boo Slot (one of the Dry Fork Slots), one of the prettiest slot canyons I’ve ever seen. This week, I’d like to continue that post by talking about another really interesting slot canyon…
The Castle Trail: Stark Beauty (and a nicely long hike!)
In the main part of Badlands National Park, I only know of one long trail that is maintained: the Castle Trail, which can be stretched to 10.8 miles (17.4 km) RT hike. However, for hikers who don’t want quite such…
Saddle Pass Trail: Beautiful Views of Badlands
Badlands is beautiful from the road – no doubt. But if you really want to see the Badlands, you’ve got to get out and experience it. A great trail to do this on is the 0.7 miles (1.1 km) (RT)…
Fun on The Chimneys Trail, Big Bend
The Chimneys. They’re just rocks sticking out of the ground – nothing grand in the southern area of Big Bend National Park. Yet it’s quite an interesting destination. For one thing, there are petroglyphs on one of the Chimneys. I’m…
Deserted View of the Tetons on Mount Leidy
Last summer, while hiking in the Tetons, I needed a short hike with a nice view. Deciding that the description of Mount Leidy fit nicely, we set out on an adventure. The road was both worse and better than expected,…
Beautiful, Beautiful Bonneville Pass
How could I ever have missed a hike as pretty as Bonneville Pass? All I can say is that Wyoming must have been holding out on us—I had no idea the state had views like this, let alone so close…
Truckhaven Rocks: Views, Scrambles, and Geology!
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has many things that most places don’t, but Truckhaven Rocks sticks out in my mind. Why? Maybe it’s the desolate scenery. Or the eerie silence. Or the fact that it’s usually deserted. Or the lack of…
Garden of Rock Formations – Devil’s Garden
I love hiking. It’s great to get out and stretch your legs, and it’s so rewarding to see a beautiful vista or interesting sight at the end of the trail. However, there are times when it’s nice not to hike,…
Walk Across a Real Earthquake Fault Line at Carrizo Plain!
Carrizo Plain National Monument is fairly new as national monuments go. The park was established in 2001 from land in Southern California that had been a part of the Carrizo Plain Natural Area. When I visited the monument a couple…