Rail-Trails are flat or gently sloping paths created from decommissioned railroad corridors. The Route of the Hiawatha is a very scenic biking trail that follows an old railroad right-of-way traversing the Bitterroot Mountains near the Idaho/Montana border. This railway, known as the Milwaukee Road, was an important stretch of the last of the transcontinental railroads […]
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Echo Basin – In Search of Wildflowers
Late June through July is the prime wildflower season in the high meadows of the Oregon Cascades. I decided to hike the Echo Basin Trail in the Willamette National Forest on a wildflower quest. This trail is located between the Santiam and Tombstone Passes in the “Old Cascades”, a geological region of mountains that are […]
Winter In Yellowstone – Part 2.
Part 2. Interior Yellowstone – Day 1. I have lost count of how many times I have been to Yellowstone National Park. I have been there in the spring, summer, fall, and once a cursory drive by in very late winter, but it has long been on my bucket list to make a trip to […]
Winter in Yellowstone
Part 1. Northern Yellowstone. I have lost count of how many times I have been to Yellowstone National Park. I have been there in the spring, summer, fall, and once a cursory drive by in very late winter, but it has long been on my bucket list to make a trip to the interior of […]
A Super Easy Waterfall Hike
Sweet Creek Falls Although Sweet Creek Falls is the ultimate prize, this 2.2 mile roundtrip out-and-back trail is a beautiful and easy hike along a creek that cascades and tumbles through a canyon in the Coast Range near Mapleton, Oregon. The hike stretches to 2.4 miles if you climb to the upper viewpoint of Sweet […]
Four Accessible Waterfalls in the Tillamook State Forest
All Viewable in a Single Day! Tillamook State Forest is in the Coast Range between the Willamette Valley and the town of Tillamook on the Oregon coast. This area was devastated by four of the worst forest fires in Oregon history which occurred at six year intervals in 1933, 1939, 1945 and 1951. These wildfires […]
Five Oregon Waterfalls You Can Visit On A Single Day
Oregon is blessed with many scenic waterfalls, and most are at their best during winter and spring when water flow is high. In this post, I am going to take you to five that are less than an hour from I-5, and all can be enjoyed in a single day. Four are in McDowell Creek […]
Pinnacles National Park
A Tectonic Masterpiece California has more national parks than any other state in the union with nine – Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Lassen, Redwood, Channel Islands, and the one that few people even know exists, Pinnacles National Park. Pinnacles National Park protects 26,685 acres of the southern region of the Gabilan […]
From Butterflies to Sea Arches
Natural Bridges State Beach Natural Bridges State Beach is a 65-acre park in California located between the Pacific Ocean and the city of Santa Cruz just to the north of Monterey Bay. The park is known for its tide pools, opportunities to view wildlife such as shorebirds, migrating whales and otters, and monarch butterfly visitors. […]
Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve
Elkhorn Slough is a seven-mile arm of the Monterey Bay between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey on the California Coast. This arm bends as it goes inland, and the Elkhorn Reserve lies at this bend. The Reserve is owned and managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) which partners with […]