More than 80% of Americans currently live in an urban area. Whether it’s a small town or huge metropolis, people gravitate more and more toward population clusters. This, combined with the increasing popularity of nature getaways and outdoor activities, makes the creation and upkeep of urban national parks even more important.
Although there are some truly incredible waterfalls in many places in America, it’s once again the national parks that steal the show. From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Sierra Nevada, from the Pacific Northwest to the Grand Canyon, you’ll find epic waterfalls in national parks all over the country.
I might kick in an open door with this, but California is much more than sandy beaches, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and tech start-ups. The third-largest state in America, after Alaska and Texas, California is incredibly, exceptionally diverse.
December’s well on its way and winter’s right around the corner. As temperatures drop across America and the days grow ever shorter, nature’s most challenging season draws out winter sports enthusiasts, who relish the opportunity to once again hit the slopes, trails and lakes.
In total, there are seven national parks in the USA that lie partially or entirely on islands. All but two of them lie in a (sub)tropical region, making them without question the best national parks for summer vacations. The other two, just because of their northerly location, are also best visited in summer.
The definition of a thru-hike is the end-to-end completion of a long-distance hike in one hiking season. For most people, it will be impossible to thru-hike any of the three major long-distance hikes in the US. What is possible, however, —with some willpower, planning and cooperative employers—is hiking these nine awesome thru-hikes under 1,000 miles.
Although it’s the national parks that get all the spotlight, it’s often the state parks where families, friends and couples go for weekend outings. Whether it’s for a Saturday hike, a Sunday picnic or an overnight camping trip, the state parks in America might just be more closely interwoven with people’s everyday life than their national cousins.
Caroline and I spent four days and three nights in Death Valley, exploring the park in depth and hitting a few of its greatest hiking trails. The photos in this blog post portray the sheer majesty of Death Valley’s epic landscapes, as well as some of its smaller, less obvious features.
From the calm waters of the Missouri River to the lush Pacific Northwest forests of the Cascade and Siskiyou ranges, national monuments in the West feature a wide variety of ecosystems, wildlife and landscapes. If you’re looking for new adventures in 2018, consider adding these beautiful public protected lands to your list.
When thinking about America’s national parks, the same five or six names always come to mind first. There are, however, numerous other parks that are basically just as spectacular, but receive only a fraction of the visitors.
After a few hour’s drive through the rolling farmlands of central California’s Salinas Valley, the towering landscape of Pinnacles National Park seems out of place. And it literally is. The steep canyons, monumental monoliths and boulder-covered caves of the park are the remains of a twenty-million-year-old volcano.
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