Phantoms View, Phantom Falls Loop, North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, January 2023 Each year, for a brief period—after recent rains in winter and early spring—the usually dry and dreary landscape of northern California’s North Table Mountain comes alive with color, flowing streams, and stunning seasonal waterfalls. And these are no run-of-the-mill cascades: as the flattops …
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Inspiration Point Trail, Chiricahua National Monument, November 2022 At first glance, the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona appear little different from the hundreds of other small ranges of the Basin and Range area, which spans from southern Oregon and Idaho down to Mexico: an abrupt north-south range rising from open, scrubby valleys, seemingly the same …
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Fort Bowie Trail Loop, Fort Bowie National Historic Site, November 2022 - Civil War Series - At a time when most eyes were on the major battlefields of the Civil War out east, the Union Army was engaged in 1962 in a series of smaller skirmishes in the American Southwest with Confederate cavalry and an …
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Medicine Bow Peak Trail, Medicine Bow National Forest, July 2022 As 2022 draws to an end, it is—as per tradition—time to look back on the year at Live and Let Hike. This is the ninth year of the blog—the tenth anniversary coming in 2023—and there was no let-up in content, as I published 68 entries, …
East Mexican Canyon Trail, Fort Robinson State Park, July 2022 Fort Robinson, a former U.S. Army base dating to the late 19th century, may be the most popular destination in the state park that bears its name—but the natural highlights lie beyond to the north and west in the sedimentary rock canyons and high bluffs …
Continue reading Mexican Canyon Trail Loop, inc. Scenic View Trail (Fort Robinson State Park, NE)
Blackhills Overlook Trail, Chadron State Park, July 2022 Rising suddenly and surprisingly, the scenic Pine Ridge cuts like a furrowed eyebrow across northwest Nebraska, revealing an elevated landscape of thick ponderosa forests and chalk canyons. The 100-mile ridge is a sudden break from the flats of the Great Plains and bears some of the best …
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Smith Falls, Smith Falls State Park, July 2022 “Honestly, it’s not for everyone” – so goes the official tourism slogan for the state of Nebraska, a Great Plains state notable mostly for its fields of corn and the invention of the Reuben sandwich and Kool-Aid. The tourism campaign is tongue-in-cheek, of course, but it may …
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Summit Rock Trail, Interstate Park, July 2022 Centuries upon centuries of freezing, thawing, and riverine erosion have carved the Dalles of the St. Croix, a basalt gorge that is one of the main natural attractions on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border and a popular destination for visitors from the Twin Cities and beyond. The St. Croix River …
Continue reading Summit Rock, Echo Canyon, & River Bluff Trail Loop (Interstate Park, WI)
Pothole Trail, Interstate Park, July 2022 Evidence of ancient lava flows, prehistoric seas, and glacial erosion abounds at the Dalles of the St. Croix, a narrow gorge situated on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin, about an hour’s drive from the Twin Cities. In addition to the high basalt walls that frame the dalles, the …
Parfrey's Glen, Devil's Lake State Park, July 2022 Given the significant focus on Utah and the American West, narrow canyons and slots feature heavily on Live and Let Hike. But these beautiful features can be found in surprising places, such as the limestone gorges of Starved Rock State Park in northern Illinois and southwest Virginia’s …
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