Gaining 180 feet in elevation, the Bruin Bluff Trail is a slightly more difficult alternative to the Bear Creek Trail in Lair o’ the Bear Park, roughly five miles west of Morrison, Colorado. Climbing in and out of mostly spruce forests, the meandering path provides views of a sun-soaked valley in Colorado’s Front Range, including …
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Sentinel Cave is the longest of the “easy” caves in California’s Lava Beds National Monument, as well as one of the only lava tubes in the park with multiple entrances. Inside the cave, the roughly 2/10 mile traversed by hikers is relatively flat and wide, making this a good option for small children with an …
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Sandwiched between two precipitous peaks, the Sun Notch Trail is a short and scenic circuit hike in Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park that features five fine views of Crater Lake in quick succession. From the caldera rim, situated atop a cliff that drops more than 1,000 feet, hikers can see Wizard Island, the Phantom Ship, …
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Once one of the area’s best kept secrets, Stout Grove in California’s Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is now one of California’s most popular redwood groves. Even the crowds cannot ruin the beauty, however, of this cathedral-like forest, a dense cluster of towering sentinels that casts a dark shadow over a lush understory. In late …
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Although sans redwoods, the short Yurok Loop Trail in California’s Redwood National Park features terrific seaside vistas and an ecologically diverse environment along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Named for the Native American tribe that once predominated in this area, this easy hike explores a dense coastal forest chock full of cypress trees, alders, …
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The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary …
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Plunging 129 feet over a moss-laden cliff, Burney Falls is arguably California’s most impressive waterfall north of Yosemite—so beautiful and picturesque that President Teddy Roosevelt reportedly dubbed it the “eighth wonder of the world.” The falls are now the centerpiece of 910-acre McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park—11 miles north of Burney, California—and can be accessed …
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Manzanita Lake in California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park brings together visitors of all stripes: photographers, casual hikers, anglers, and kayakers. Around the water, the 1.9-mile Manzanita Lake Trail offers a relatively easy stroll through pine forests and along lakeside beaches, while offering picturesque views of snow-capped Lassen Peak, the park’s volcanic centerpiece. The hike There …
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Northern California’s Subway Cave in Lassen National Forest is a relative newcomer to the area’s volcanic landscape; it formed less than 20,000 years ago as once-frequent lava flows drained away, leaving behind a wide, subterranean passage. Today it is a relatively popular stop on the way to or from nearby Lassen National Park, situated less …
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- Revolutionary War Series - While the majority of the historical sites are across the river, the north side of Pennsylvania’s Valley Forge National Historical Park offers some quiet hiking along the gentle Schuylkill River. Those looking for a circuit hike can find tranquility on a roughly 3-mile stroll along the River, Commissary, and Walnut …
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Live and Let Hike 