Panther Rocks, located in the Moshannon State Forest adjacent to SB Elliott State Park, is overshadowed by Bilgers Rocks, also in Clearfield County, but are worth a quick visit for a fun afternoon in the woods. If you’re into geocaching, then you’ll be pleased to note that there is at least one geocach on the […]
budget-friendly day trip
Pohick Bay Kayaking
Pohick Bay Regional Park is a Fairfax County regional park on Pohick Bay of the Potomac River. The park offers camping, hiking, a water park, boat launches for both canoes and kayaks (a place along the shoreline) and a boat ramp for motorized boats. Once you launch, head due north — or turn left after […]
Sherando Cliffs and Lake Hike
The Sherando Cliffs and Lakeside Loop Hike is a short hike — less than 2 miles for the entire loop — with minimal elevation gain (300 feet or less) that offers some pretty views, a pleasant leg-stretch climbing up the side of a mountain, and some gorgeous vistas of Sherando Lake itself. Sherando Lake Recreation […]
Hiking on Hallowed Ground: Worthington Farm Trails in Monocacy National Battlefield Park
The Worthington House. The trail head to the Brooks Hill Loop is to the left of the house (as you face it). In a perhaps apocraphal conversation, three decades after the Battle of Monocacy, which had taken place on July 9, 1864, former Confederate Major General John Gordon was introduced to Union Major General Lew […]
Geocaching Along Clearfield County’s Five Trails
Geocaching has seemed like something I’d like to do — I just didn’t know how to get started or what was involved. Not familiar with it? Has the idea of treasure-hunting every appealed to you? Geocaching is similar, except that it’s real, unlike the myths of gold buried in them thar hills. In fact, gecaching […]
Winter Morning Hike at the Prettyboy Resevoir
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Trail is a 4-mile combination loop and out-and-back trail. Although it’s likely you’ll encounter other hikers, the trail isn’t crowded and most of the time you’re alone on the trai With an elevation gain of just over 300 feet, this is an easy trail and a fun way to spend a […]
Art Omi — Fields Sculpture Park
Bernar Venet, “Arcs in Disorder: 4 Arcs x 5, and 83.5 Degree Diagonal Line” An art museum and hiking? Great idea! You can enjoy both at Art Omi, an 120-acre sculpture and arts park in upstate New York. Dan Colen, “Yellow M&M, Brown M&M, Red M&M, Orange M&M“ The scuptures frequently change, so what I enjoyed […]
HIking the Coot Peninsula in Liberty Reservoir
Coot Peninsula Loop is a 4.2 mile popular loop trail that is simply delightful. The trail brings you through some lovely woods and then onto a peninsula (as the trail name suggests) that has you walking within sight of water on both sides, until finally the peninsula widens, like a spoon, into the Liberty Reservoir. I […]
Scenic Drive Along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive
The Skyline Drive – Blue Ridge Parkway together form an historic scenic drive that runs 574 miles through Virginia and North Carolina through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachia. That time I almost lost my phone hanging out the window taking a photo along Skyline Drive. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a […]
Table Rock Hike in Monongahela National Forest
What’s a little mud when the view is this? Table Rock is a massive rock outcropping on the western side of Canaan Mountain, overlooking the Dry Fork and Cheat River valleys. The hike out to it will carry you through a hardwood forest as well as rhododendron thickets; it’s unlikely you’ll encounter anyone else, so […]
Overlook Mountain Trail Hike
Overlook Mountain is located just north of Woodstock, NY. In fact, if you walk down the main thoroughfare of Woodstock, you can see it clearly. It’s a popular trail — one of the most popular in the Catskills, in fact. You won’t get any solitude but that’s because the payoff is amazing. Three payoffs, actually. […]
Winter Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park
Bring a little twinkle to your holiday cheer at the spectacular Winter Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park, featuring a variety of fun and dazzling displays. I always get a kick out of the claims of how many hundreds of thousands, or in this case, millions, of lights there are — but this holiday […]
Let Holiday Lights Displays Light Up Your Holiday Season!
If you’re looking for a way to enjoy the holidays, then check out some holiday lights in and around Maryland — whether drive through or walk through, holiday lights displays are a family-friendly holiday activity! Whether drive thru or on foot, this is a fun way to get some holiday cheer while letting your inner […]
Does Daniels, Maryland’s Ghost Town, Actually Have Ghosts?
Daniels is a little known ghost town sprawled on both sides of the Patapsco River within the Patapsco River Valley State Park, which we’ve written about before (several times actually). The hike along the old road into Daniels on the Baltimore County side of the river is about a 4.5 mile there-and-back hike, with a […]
White Rock Falls Hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains
White Rock Falls Hike is a hidden gem of a hike: moderate, 2.5-mile out-and-back, that offers very pretty views, hidden grottos amongst the rhododendron, wading pools, and a series of small water cascades that collectively form White Rock Falls. It’s located in central Virginia south of Humpback Rocks on the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile […]