Author's posts
Sep 06 2024
The Vibrant Coral Reefs of Biscayne National Park
Biscayne National Park protects a landscape unlike almost any other national park in the United States. Instead of mountains, forests, or desert canyons dominating the scenery, most of Biscayne lies beneath clear subtropical water. About 95 percent of the park is water, and beyond its mangrove shoreline, shallow Biscayne Bay, and chain of islands lies …
Sep 05 2024
Lost Mine Trail in Big Bend National Park: Hiking Guide, Views & What to Expect
The Lost Mine Trail is one of the best introductions to the Chisos Mountains and one of the most rewarding moderate hikes in Big Bend National Park. In just under five miles round trip, the trail climbs through oak, juniper, and pine woodland before reaching a high ridge with sweeping views across Pine Canyon, Juniper …
Sep 05 2024
Wildlife of Badlands National Park: Bison, Bighorn Sheep, Prairie Dogs & More
Badlands National Park may be famous for its sharply eroded buttes, striped cliffs, pinnacles, and fossil beds, but much of the park is actually a vast mixed-grass prairie filled with wildlife. American bison graze across rolling grasslands, bighorn sheep balance on steep badlands formations, black-tailed prairie dogs build sprawling underground towns, and pronghorn move across …
Sep 05 2024
Notch Trail in Badlands National Park: Ladder, Views & Hiking Guide
Notch Trail is one of the most adventurous and recognizable hikes in Badlands National Park. The short route winds through an eroded canyon, reaches a steep cable-and-log ladder, climbs onto a narrow ledge, and finishes at a natural opening known as the Notch, where hikers are rewarded with a broad view across the White River …
Sep 04 2024
Arches National Park’s Devils Garden
Devils Garden is one of the most remarkable areas in Arches National Park, combining some of the park’s longest and most delicate arches with towering sandstone fins, narrow ridges, open desert views, and one of the most adventurous trail systems in Utah. Located at the northern end of the paved park road, Devils Garden can …
Sep 04 2024
The Broken Arch at Arches National Park
Broken Arch is one of the quieter natural arches in Arches National Park, reached by a pleasant walk across open grassland and desert terrain near Sand Dune Arch and Devils Garden. Although it receives far less attention than Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch, or Double Arch, Broken Arch offers an excellent combination of easy hiking, impressive …
Sep 04 2024
The Garden of Eden at Arches National Park
The Garden of Eden at Arches National Park is a wonderfully named landscape of sandstone towers, fins, rounded rock forms, open slickrock, and broad desert views. Unlike the name might suggest, this is not a lush garden filled with streams and dense vegetation. It is a garden of stone—a collection of sculpted red-rock formations standing …
Sep 04 2024
Double Arch in Arches National Park
Double Arch is one of the largest, most dramatic, and easiest-to-reach formations in Arches National Park. Two enormous sandstone openings rise from the same rock mass, creating a cavernous natural space that seems even larger when you stand directly beneath it. Unlike many of the park’s famous arches, Double Arch requires almost no strenuous hiking …
Sep 04 2024
The Balanced Rock at Arches National Park
Balanced Rock is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Arches National Park, rising dramatically above the open desert beside the park’s main scenic road. From a distance, the formation looks almost impossible: an enormous reddish-orange boulder appears to balance precariously on top of a much narrower pedestal, as though the slightest push could send …
Sep 04 2024
The Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park
The Fiery Furnace is one of the most unusual and adventurous places in Arches National Park. From the roadside overlook, it appears to be a compact maze of towering orange-red sandstone fins packed closely together. Once inside, however, those fins become walls. Narrow corridors twist between them, passages suddenly end, hidden arches appear around unexpected …
