Patapsco Valley State Park is near my home — at least part of it is: it’s strung out along 36 miles of the Patapsco River like exquisite glass beads on a necklace. Because of its location, it’s my go-to park for a hike, especially when I only have a couple of hours. PVSP is a […]
dog friendly
An Afternoon in Strasburg
For such a small town, there’s a surprising number of things to in Strasburg, VA. Here’s how we spent an afternoon exploring this quaint little town. The scenic and lovely Shenandoah River runs lazy along the town, offering a refreshing backdrop to the town. We started with lunch at Jaliscos, a neat little Mexican food […]
Late Fall Hike to Hone Quarry Waterfalls
The out-and-back hike up to the Hone Quarry Falls will take you just approximately 2.5 miles up a mountain, yielding some pretty glimpses of the ridges of mountains on the other side of a small gorge/valley to a pleasant falls area, an ideal area, had we timed it right, for a picnic listening to the […]
Kaaterskill Falls in Catskill Park
Kaaterskill Falls is a two-stage waterfall on Spruce Creek in the eastern Catskill Mountains of New York, in the Kaaterskill Wild Forest. Kaaterskill Falls is one of the country’s oldest tourist attractions and has been depicted in many paintings, poems, and books since the 1800s. The popular hike out to see the falls from Laurel […]
Hiking on the Sweet Air Loop in Gunpowder Falls State Park
The hike we’d picked out was loop in the Sweet Air Area of the Gunpowder Falls State Park, following first the Little Gunpowder Trail, marked in white blazes, and then a yellow-blazed trail, picking up a red-blazed trail, and ending with a portion of the yellow-blazed Barley Pond Loop trail. The trails within the Sweet […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Octagon Mountain House: Nature is Art
I’d always wanted to live in an octagon shaped house, and when I saw the Octagon Mountain House on AirBnB near where we were planning on vacationing in the Shenandoah Valley, I leapt at the chance to rent it for a week, to serve as our homebase while we explored the hiking trails, historic sites […]
Holiday Cheer at Bull Run Festival of Lights
Brighten your holiday season with the magical 2.5 miles of illuminated light displays of the Bull Run Festival of Lights. Because of Covid 19, the annual fair and carnival at the end of the light displays is missing. Don’t let that dissuade you from visiting this holiday lights display — I do believe it’s one […]
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 […]
Hiking the Serpentine Loop in Soldiers Delight NEA
It seems the only times I think to go hiking in Soldiers Delight Natural Environmental Area, a part of the Patapsco Valley State Park, is in the winter. And winter is a great time to hike there — it’s sunny and bright and really beautiful in the colder months; just walking there will lift your […]