The Portland Trail, just outside Ouray in southwest Colorado, offers close-up views of one of the area’s most striking features: a highly sculpted, bowl-shaped cliff face known as the Amphitheater. While composed mainly of grayish, volcanic rock, this west-facing wall is illuminated in the evening light, bringing out the whites, yellows, and purples and allowing …
Continue reading Portland Trail Loop (Uncompahgre National Forest, CO)
Far from Arlington’s finest, the Lubber Run Trail nonetheless offers a pleasant, paved stroll through a pretty stream valley south of Ballston, Virginia. The namesake creek is flanked by thousands of gray stones, and a series of minor dips make for some trickling cascades. Picnic tables abound, and a gargantuan outdoor amphitheater marks roughly the …
Hundreds of thousands flock to southwestern Utah’s Zion National Park each year to witness the famed Zion Narrows, where the majestic Virgin River has sculpted a 16-mile stretch of cavernous bends and twists seemingly unique in their beauty. Midway across the state, however, Capitol Reef National Park boasts a comparably spectacular alternative in the remote …
Continue reading Halls Creek Narrows via “airport route” (Capitol Reef National Park, UT)
Live and Let Hike 