Author's posts
Sep 19 2024
Best Hikes in Joshua Tree National Park: 10 Trails to Explore
Hiking is one of the best ways to experience Joshua Tree National Park. Trails weave between enormous granite boulders, climb desert mountains, cross sandy washes, pass abandoned mines, and descend into secluded oases where native fan palms rise unexpectedly from rocky canyons. The park protects portions of both the Mojave and Colorado deserts, giving hikers …
Sep 19 2024
The Historic Barker Dam in Joshua Tree National Park
Barker Dam is one of the most fascinating places to explore in Joshua Tree National Park. Hidden among massive granite boulders and Joshua tree woodland, the historic dam provides a glimpse into the difficult lives of the ranchers and homesteaders who tried to make a living in California’s Mojave Desert. The dam was built around …
Sep 19 2024
Best Hikes in Isle Royale National Park: Trails, Routes & Backpacking
Hiking is the heart of the experience at Isle Royale National Park. There are no roads connecting the island’s destinations, no cars carrying visitors from overlook to overlook, and no easy way to shortcut a long day once you are deep in the backcountry. Exploring Isle Royale means traveling on foot or by water through …
Sep 19 2024
Indiana Dunes National Park’s Mount Baldy
Mount Baldy is one of the most dynamic landscapes in Indiana Dunes National Park. Rising more than 120 feet above Lake Michigan, this enormous sand dune is constantly being reshaped by wind, waves, vegetation, storms, and changes along the shoreline. Unlike a fixed hill, Mount Baldy is a moving dune. Sand blows across its exposed …
Sep 19 2024
Indiana Dunes National Park’s Cowles Bog Trail
The Cowles Bog Trail is one of the most ecologically significant and surprisingly challenging hikes in Indiana Dunes National Park. Over 4.7 miles, the trail passes ponds, marshes, wooded wetlands, black oak savannas, forested dunes, open sand, and finally a secluded stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline. The variety is remarkable. A hike that begins beside …
Sep 18 2024
Best Things to Do in Hot Springs National Park: Bathhouse Row, Trails & More
Hot Springs National Park is unlike almost any other national park in the United States. Instead of surrounding a remote mountain range, canyon, or wilderness, the park rises directly from the center of Hot Springs, Arkansas, where historic bathhouses line the city’s main street and naturally heated spring water still flows from the slopes of …
Sep 18 2024
Wildlife of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park: Native Birds, Nēnē & More
The wildlife of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is unlike that of almost any other national park in the United States. Thousands of miles of open Pacific Ocean isolated the Hawaiian Islands from continental ecosystems, allowing the animals that successfully reached these remote volcanic islands to evolve in remarkable ways. Native birds dominate the park’s wildlife …
Sep 18 2024
Haleakala National Park’s Bamboo Forest
Haleakalā National Park’s famous bamboo forest is one of the most memorable hiking experiences on Maui. Towering green bamboo surrounds a raised boardwalk, stalks sway overhead, and breezes create an unusual chorus of creaks, knocks, rattles, and hollow clacks as the bamboo moves against itself. The forest lies along the Pīpīwai Trail in the lush …
Sep 17 2024
Discover the Enchanting Waterfalls of Haleakala National Park
Haleakalā National Park may be best known for volcanic craters, spectacular sunrises, and the otherworldly summit of Haleakalā, but the park has an entirely different personality on the wet eastern side of Maui. In the remote Kīpahulu District, streams descend from the slopes of the volcano through lush forest, plunge over towering cliffs, and form …
Sep 17 2024
Haleakalā Sunrise: Best Viewpoints, Reservations & What to Expect
Watching sunrise from Haleakalā is one of Maui’s most famous experiences. Long before daylight reaches the beaches below, visitors climb more than 10,000 feet into the Summit District of Haleakalā National Park, where the first light of morning spreads across volcanic ridges, cinder cones, clouds, and the Pacific Ocean. On a clear morning, the experience …
