- Civil War Series - The Battle of Lee’s Mill on April 5, 1862 was, by all accounts, a minor engagement in the Civil War: it produced only 10 Confederate and 12 Union casualties. In the narrative of Union Maj. Gen. George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, however, it was very consequential; a fierce Confederate resistance forced …
Continue reading Lee’s Mill Trail (Lee’s Mill Historic Park, VA)
- Civil War Series - Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Virginia boasts the largest stone fort ever built in the United States, and its storied history spans the colonial period to the Civil War to the World Wars to the present. Its location at Old Point Comfort—the southeast tip of the Virginia Peninsula and …
- Civil War Series - Following the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861, the Civil War’s first land battle took place on June 10, 1861 at Big Bethel on the Virginia Peninsula. Despite Virginia’s secession in May, crusty Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler retained a garrison at Fort Monroe at the tip of the …
The United States Marine Corps War Memorial, dedicated in 1954, recreates the iconic scene of a 1945 photograph of six U.S. Marines raising an American flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Today the beautiful memorial (also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial) sits just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, a short walk …
- Civil War Series - Northern Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery occupies a prized piece of real estate, just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. At 624 acres, the sloping hillsides contain the graves of thousands of American military veterans, dating back to the Civil War, as well as a handful of notable civilians, including …
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- Civil War Series - On July 21, 1861, Union troops crossed northern Virginia’s Bull Run in pursuit of what was supposed to be the nascent Civil War’s first and only decisive battle. Spirits were high; Gen. Irvin McDowell, tasked by President Lincoln to oversee the offensive, led a hodgepodge of Northern volunteers, enlisted for …
Continue reading First Manassas Trail (Manassas National Battlefield Park, VA)
- Revolutionary War Series - Forming a 1.1-mile circuit starting and ending at the Visitor Center, I’ve dubbed this hike in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park—for lack of a better label—as the “Visitor Center Loop.” This is an ideal walk for those looking for a short and convenient stroll near the park entrance—perhaps an afternoon …
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- Civil War Series - Occupying prime position atop a high hill in northern Washington, DC, Fort DeRussy was mostly quiet during the Civil War. But for two days in July 1864—when Confederate General Jubal Early’s Second Corps attacked the city, the war’s only raid on Washington—the artillerymen at the fort unleashed more than 100 …
The dilapidated storefronts and crumbling edifices of downtown Paterson, New Jersey tell the story of a town battered by the winds of change. Once a booming hub for manufacturing—in fact, it was the first planned industrial city in the US—Paterson has never quite rebounded from a cascade of factory closures in the latter half of …
Continue reading Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, NJ
The Sutton Mine Trail—situated just south of Ouray, Colorado—rewards hearty hikers who brave the initial, gut-wrenching ascent with spectacular views of Ouray, Uncompahgre Gorge, Bear Creek Falls, and Abrams Mountain. Ending at an abandoned mine, this 2.2-mile jaunt packs nearly 700 feet in elevation gain into the first half-mile before leveling out atop a rocky …
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Live and Let Hike 