Mysterious bridges leading over the river, waterfalls, the relaxing sound of rushing water — the Harford Glen Loop Hike has it all! Plus, with an approximate elevation gain of 800 feet, your heart will get pounding during the first half of the hike. During the second half, you get to cool down in deep shade […]
hiking
Bear Pen Hike Is All About the Journey
This enjoyable hike in Watoga State Park, near Marlinton WV, is all about the journey and not the destination. Some hikes show-off their payoffs — gorgeous views, outstanding waterfalls, ruins and the like — but this loop hike is all about the walk itself. You start just off of Watoga Park Road, near Cabin 11, […]
Eight Great Hikes, Kayaking, Ruins, Forgotten Cemeteries and even Ghost Hunting in Patapsco Valley State Park
Maryland’s first — and largest — state park (not to be confused with much larger state forests) is strung out like glittering glass beads on a necklace along the Patapsco River south and west of Baltimore. Established in 1912, the Patapsco Valley State Park (PVSP) was Maryland’s first state park. It’s also Maryland’s most visited […]
Cloudy Day Hike on the Soapstone Loop Trail in PVSP
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 […]
Hike to Dark Hollow Falls
IT sounds like an ominous thing, Dark Hollow Falls — there should be a ghost story or something associated with it, but I couldn’t find any mention of ghosts, nor how Dark Hollow Falls got its name, although I could well imagine how shady and dark the falls would be if the leaves still fluttered […]
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 […]
Book T Washington National Monument
“We all should rise, above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness, and selfishness.” ― Booker T. Washington, The Story of My Life and Work Booker T Washington was born into slavery, probably on April 18, 1856, as that’s the date that John Burroughs, who enslaved him, recorded the birth of a male […]
Panther Rocks Exploration
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]