Methuselah Trail, Inyo National Forest, August 2023 With wily limbs, wild shapes, and colorful bark, the bristlecone pines of California’s White Mountains are notable not only for their curious disposition but also their incredible longevity: with some living bristlecones thought to be as much as 5,000 years old, these are, simply put, the oldest living …
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Scotts Bluff National Monument, July 2022 A key milestone along the Oregon and California historic trails, the chalky hightops of Scotts Bluff rise skyward above the broad Platte River Valley in western Nebraska. Here pioneers heading west along the North Platte had to detour south to evade some nasty badlands, bringing them up and over …
Gavin's Point Nature Trail, Lewis & Clark Recreation Area, July 2022 Created by the Gavins Point Dam on the Missouri River, Lewis and Clark Lake spans more than 31,000 on the border of Nebraska and South Dakota. While the massive reservoir conceals the original river embankments, it is paralleled on both sides by Niobrara chalk …
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Circle Trail, Pipestone National Monument, July 2022 Pipestone National Monument in southwest Minnesota preserves the site of an active pipestone quarry used by the Sioux and other American Indian tribes to craft famed “peace pipes” popularized by groups in the northern plains of the United States. The Sioux Quartzite that predominates in the park dates …
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Dune Succession Trail, Indiana Dunes National Park, June 2022 Arguably the most impressive sight in Indiana Dunes National Park, the moderately tall sand dunes at West Beach can be explored on this short, 0.9-mile loop. The Dune Succession Trail—one of three loops in the West Beach area—traverses coniferous and deciduous forests, cottonwood stands, and high …
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At 212 feet and more than 1,000 feet wide, Shoshone Falls is a behemoth of high-volume power in southwestern Idaho. Here the Snake River cuts through a deep and colorful canyon, famed as the site of Evil Knieval’s failed river jump in 1974. Viewing platforms at Shoshone Falls Park offer the best look and are …
Dwarfed in size by nearby New River Gorge National River, Babcock State Park is often overlooked by visitors to southern West Virginia. Yet the park, most famous for its photogenic grist mill, offers several excellent hiking options. While the best lie elsewhere in the park, the short Island in the Sky Trail is easily accessible …
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- 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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There’s no doubt that the iconic Alamo, site of the famous battle in 1836, is the most famous mission in San Antonio, Texas. Although the oldest in the area, the Alamo was neither the largest nor the most populated of the Spanish missions along the San Antonio River. Throughout much of the 1700s, Catholic missionaries …
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Lava tubes, cavities in the earth once filled with flowing lava, are the principal attraction of northern California’s Lava Beds National Monument, which boasts the greatest concentration of them in the United States. Reaching as wide as 60 feet in diameter, Skull Cave is one of the area’s largest lava tubes and offers one of …
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Live and Let Hike 