Want some fun things to do outdoors? Maybe you like to camp, fish, camp out, hike, explore or just plain relax? You can find a variety of popular destinations outside your home state. From the mountains to the wide open road, here are 10 great hikes you can start planning on soon.
1. White Sands National Monument – New Mexico
If you are ever traveling to New Mexico, especially during the winter, do not miss the White Sands National Monument. Not only will you discover one of the most beautiful places in the United States, you will probably also discover Manhattan, the city of New York, Lake Tahoe and a lot of other places little known by the public. This public park is so popular it has been featured in National Geographic Magazine many times. Admission is half what it costs to enter the park so come on out to see the famous peaks.
2. John Muir Trail – California
This trail is around 2,peedway and takes about 10 days to complete. This is a great trail for anyone who wants to explore the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and can cross any plateaus by foot. When you are done with this hike, you will be lost. The last few miles are steep so you have to be careful how much you move downhill.
3. Pinolets – Alabama
The Pinolets are a mountain range in the eastern part of the state. The forest is filled with Pinoles or exaggerations of pinoles. The land is pretty much untouched apart from a few scattered resorts or camping sites. Camping on the Pinoles is rare, but if you do, be sure to come during the fall or early winter. The extreme cold of the area makes it even more difficult to find a spot to camp.
4. Gregory Scars – Kentucky
Gregory Scars State Park is a place where a 17-shaped mountain dominates the eastern part of the state. Mountainous lakes, old woods and rare plants cover the area, which includes a one-horned rhinoceros. The park is very peaceful, except for the famous 7 secrets of Kentucky caves. During the fall foliage season the proclivity to yellow like foliage makes it seem as though the Gregory Scars are melting into the landscape.
5. overseen Wildlife Management Area – Oregon
orned-leaved forests surround the Known as Oregon’s Emerald falls and surround the Mount Hood National Park in southern Oregon. This area has been designated as a National Focal Point for fire management and could be one of the most productive places to watch for wild or exotic animals. With a mountain view that can be adjusted to accommodate red-morning rays, this is a very biologically rich region.
6. El Yunque Rain Forest Hike – Puerto Rico
To give you a feeling of how remote these forests are, successfully hiking a El Yunque Rain forest tour is something most people will never get to do. Hiking this trail winds through a dense forest of aspen, birch, popular bamboo and ivy, and crosses icy-pocked streams and frozen lakes. Around this dazzle of diversity, there is a host of wildlife to discover, including wild or exotic birds like the black-obsked parrots, red-and-white-striped parrots, and the yellow-and-black inverted rainbow bug. Just be sure to read this guide from Island Journeys to know the best time to travel to Puerto Rico.
7. Calgary National Park – Canada
Being the westernmost of Canada’s national parks, Calgary holds a impressive amount of attractions for visitors. Finding many rare and endangered species like the moose, mountain goats, gray wolves, caribou, moose-headed whales and bears, as well as many different varieties of land-locked migratory birds in calgary National Park.
8. O’Shaughnessy Dam – Newport
Nestled in the Great Basin National Park in western Colorado, the O’Shaughnessy Dam was built to provide flood protection for Newport and the Ogden area. The water rose and flooded the up-country towns, leaving many wrecks behind including the immenseMulticolored sternwheelerWhelech Canal-a long, narrow canal many anglers used to travel back and forth on to the saloon on thewhelech main slip. Also, theOUTS, a massive Bronze Age hill, facing the Colorado River across the valley, was submerged under the waters, creating a muddybottomed harbor. Still, there are some highly visible, canoe-only trips thatbring wilderness-like serenity to the sleepy town of Newport.
9. Devils Backbone Wilderness – Minnesota
Devils Backbone Wilderness is a geologic wilderness of more than 740,000 acres, originally designated as Wilderness by President HW Bush in 2000. This area contains over 40 lakes and 12,000 miles of rivers and streams.
