Hocking Hills State Park: The Land of the Lost

"When I look all aroundI can't believe the things I've found" ~ "Land of the Lost" TV Theme by Linda Laurie Hocking Hills State Park had been on my short list for a long time. The pictures looked fantastic. Still, I wasn't fully prepared for the reveal. But let's start at the beginning. I was …

Yellowstone National Park’s Undine Falls: Dine, then Undine

There are nine hundred miles of hiking trails in Yellowstone National Park. We hiked about twenty of those miles in the four days we spent in the park. Why so few? Easy. There's a lot to see in this 2.2-million square acre park. This was the first trip to Yellowstone for any of us, and …

Badlands National Park’s Window and Notch Trails: The Window to My Sole

The morning after our Castle Trail hike, we were up and at the trailhead by 6:00am. Why? To see sunrise from the Window Trail. Was it worth it? Of course. I was in a national park - what else should I be doing? For those of you who like to sleep in on vacation, read …

Badlands National Park’s Castle Trail: Good Hike in a Bad Land

The Trailhead Good hike? Try great hike! If you haven't been to The Badlands, you need to make sure it's on your short list. And when you get there, don't just drive the Badlands Loop Road - get out and head on into those beauteous buttes and palatial prairies. If it sounds like I enjoyed …

Soldiers Delight Natural Environmental Area: In Search of the Chromium Serpent

"Chromium Serpent" would be a great name for a heavy-metal rock band. In this context, however, it refers to a combination of geologic properties that I had no idea were sitting just outside Baltimore in Owings Mills, Maryland. Chromium mines? Oak savannas? Serpentine barrens? This is the stuff of fantasy novels - except it all …