Soundside Nature Trail (Jockey’s Ridge State Park, NC)

Although lacking the allure of the nearby Tracks in the Sand Trail, the Soundside Nature Trail in North Carolina’s Jockey’s Ridge State Park offers a pleasant and easy stroll through diverse terrain. The dunes of Jockey’s Ridge—the highest on the East Coast—are visible from the path, but the circuit hike largely keeps its distance from …

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Tracks in the Sand Trail (Jockey’s Ridge State Park, NC)

Jockey’s Ridge State Park in eastern North Carolina boasts a surprisingly impressive distinction: the highest sand dunes on the East Coast. With dunes reaching as high as 60 feet above sea level, this is no ordinary beach: Jockey’s Ridge is a wild and rugged sandscape that runs down to the banks of Roanoke Sound on …

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Fish Creek Falls Loop (Routt National Forest, CO)

At 284 feet, Fish Creek Falls is the second-highest waterfall in Colorado and is easily accessible from popular resort town Steamboat Springs. For visitors with an hour or less, a 0.8-mile loop provides a look at the falls from two different vantage points: a high overlook with views from a distance and a look up …

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Minisink Battleground Loop (Minisink Battleground Park, NY)

- Revolutionary War Series - In July 1799, the Revolutionary War came to the Upper Delaware River Valley as a British-aligned militia led by famous Mohawk chief Joseph Brant raided the area to strike a blow at the morale of the revolutionaries. Incensed by the raid, a rapidly-formed counterforce under the command of Colonel John …

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Crater Lake Trail (Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, NJ)

The Crater Lake Trail (no, not that Crater Lake) is a pleasant—although not particularly inspiring—loop hike in a remote section of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the New Jersey side. Access to Crater Lake requires a lengthy drive on unpaved roads, which helps thin out the crowds in an otherwise crowded park, although …

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Billy Goat Trail – Section C (Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, MD)

The Billy Goat Trail is well-known to DC-area hikers, but most hike only one of the trail’s three sections. While Section A is swamped with visitors on any given weekend, Sections B and C are usually quiet and serene. Section C, the closest to DC, covers relatively level terrain above the north banks of the …

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Chesterfield Gorge Trail (Chesterfield Gorge Natural Area, NH)

Chesterfield Gorge Natural Area in southwest New Hampshire—not to be confused with another Chesterfield Gorge in Massachusetts—features a short, 0.7-mile walking trail that follows Wilde Brook as it tumbles over a series of cascades. While the park is a mere 13 acres, the Chesterfield Gorge Trail makes for a pleasant quick stop along the road …

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Eleanor’s Walk Trail (Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, NY)

Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States and the first US delegate to the United Nations, lived part of her life at Val-Kill, a quiet, wooded estate in Hyde Park, New York, just east of her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s home at Springwood. Val-Kill is today protected as part of Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic …

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Vanderbilt Loop (Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, NY)

Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York preserves the historic estate of Frederick Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the famous 19th century railroad tycoon. Reaping the success of his ancestors, Frederick owned considerable real estate across New York and New England and completed constructed of this mansion in Hyde Park in 1899. …

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Malvern Hill Trail (Richmond National Battlefield Park, VA)

- Civil War Series - Malvern Hill is one of the country’s best-preserved Civil War battlefields and marked the culmination of the Seven Days’ Battles, a series of engagements outside Richmond, Virginia in June-July 1862 that ended Union Gen. George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, in the midst of a retreat to …

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