Rediscovering the Loveliest Rail Trail: Greenbrier River Trail

The Greenbrier River Trail is a lineal state park protecting the almost 78-mile rail trail — the longest rail trail in West Virginia — between North Caldwell and Cass in eastern West Virginia. It runs through Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties, mostly within sight of the Greenbrier River. I first encountered the Greenbrier River Trail years […]

The Waterfowl Festival Continues 50-Year Tradition of Celebrating Maryland’s Eastern Shore Heritage

The quintessential festival of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Waterfowl Festival just celebrated its 50th year November 12 – 14 in Easton, a town that still retains its old-timey charm and is known for its vibrant culinary and arts communities, as well as its historic downtown. The town’s charm translates to the festival itself — the Waterfowl […]

Exploring a Lake in the Sky: Lake Minnewaska

Although originally we’d come to Minnewaska State Park, located in the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County, NY, for its water falls — Awosting Falls, Stoney Kill Falls, and another waterfalls that we ended up not going to — we came back simply to hike around Lake Minnewaska itself.  Minnewaska State Park Preserve is nestled within […]

The Best Kept Secrets of Laurel Hill State Park

Like its sister park, Linn Run State Park, one county to the west, Laurel Hill State Park area was a desolate mess a hundred years ago. The lumber boom that swept through the hills and forests of Pennsylvania missed Laurel Hill Valley until 1886. But the lumber industry came for the old-growth forests of hemlock and […]