You can almost spend a day at Luray Caverns — it’s not the tourist attraction of my childhood, that’s for sure! It’s better!
nature-focused
The Most Beautiful Hike You’ll Take: Watkins Glen State Park and Its Waterfalls
This easy hike offers breathtaking views of 19 waterfalls you do NOT want to miss!
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 […]
Easy Hike with a Spectacular Payoff at Chittenango Falls State Park
Chittenango Falls is a small state park, just shy of 200 acres. But despite its small size, this park is well worth a visit. As its name implies, the park’s centerpiece is a picturesque, 167-foot staircase waterfall, which sends the waters of Chittenango Creek into a gorge. You can’t help but notice the amount of […]
Be Your Own Captain: Renting a Boat from 7 Points Marina
The largest lake (entirely) in PA, Raystown Lake offers you more than 27 miles snaking through the mountains along the original path of the Juniata River, to explore! The original lake was built as a hydroelectric project, but was significantly enlarged in 1973 with a new, larger dam by the Army Corps of Engineers, primarily […]
The Wildlife Refuge That Almost Became a Housing Development: Exploring Eastern Neck NWR
We visited Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) twice last month: once in the beginning of the month and then in the later half of the month because I’d read that the tundra swans had arrived. Both times we saw different birds: hawks, seagulls or terns, vultures, Cardinals, tundra swans from a very far distance, […]
Minnewaska State Park’s Must See Falls: Awosting Falls Hike
Awosting Falls are a spectacular water fall within the Minnewaska State Park, itself a very popular day-use park. The short and sweet Awosting Falls Hike is simply a must-do hike if you visit this park. The state park features a couple of “sky lakes,” as well as as about 50 miles of trails. With the […]
The Secret Flower in Skyline Caverns You Must See to Believe!
Skyline Caverns is a series of geologic caves and a tourist attraction located in Warren County, Virginia, one mile south of Front Royal. Unlike other caverns in the area, Skyline Caverns were discovered on purpose — a retired geologist went searching for them. Walter S. Amos went sniffing around for caverns that could be commercialized […]
A November Visit to Blackwater NWR
I’ve been to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) before, but never in November, when a lot of the waterfowl are there. The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, located 12 miles south of Cambridge, includes more than 28,000 acres of rich tidal marsh, mixed hardwood and loblolly pine forests, managed freshwater wetlands and farmland. What drew […]
Four Stops You Should Make Along the Highland Scenic Highway
The Highland Scenic Highway — WV 150 / WV 39-WV 55 — runs 43 miles through the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, meandering along the mountain ridges and reaching an elevation of more than 4500 feet. If you plan on spending a day exploring the Highland Scenic Highway (easily doable, since it’s only 43 […]
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 […]
Living Large at Lake Raystown Resort
If you’re looking for a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life — just over a couple hours away from several major cities, including Baltimore and Washington DC — then look no further than lovely Raystown Lake. Located on over 400 acres of waterfront property, Lake Raystown Resort is a great place […]
The Hidden Catskills Waterfalls Along the Vernooy Falls Hike
The Vernooy Kill Falls Hike is a short, out-and-back hike — either 2 miles or 3.6 miles, depending where you pick up the trailhead — to a very pretty waterfall. The falls is a series of picturesque little waterfalls with pools, dropping about 30 feet in 4 stages. During the warmer months, this would be […]
Exploring West Virginia’s Best State Park: Watoga State Park
There is so much to see and do in and around Watoga State Park, that it seems like the ideal location to set up a home base for your exploration of the area. The park covers more than 10 thousand acres, and began as a state forest designated as a wildlife and timber preserve. Franklin […]
Cool Ruins and a Waterfall Along the Madam Brett White and Red Trail
Madam Brett Park is a tranquil little park on Fishkill Creek in Beacon NY, alongside the Hudson River in Dutchess County, not far away from the Hudson Highlands Park. We were there to hike the “Madam Brett White and Red Trail, an out-and-back trail to a waterfall and marsh overlook. This area is noteworthy because […]