When I heard about Gold Bluffs Beach Campground in Redwood National & State Parks, I immediately wanted to stay there. I pictured myself sitting on the warm sand, soaking up the sun. I had only been to Northern CA once before so…in my mind, it was a combination of camping and a beach vacation. Reserving a campsite at any campground in Redwood can be a challenge. Back in 2017 when we reserved a site for Gold Bluffs, we were online…
Towering redwood trees. That’s what you think of when you come to Redwood National & State Parks. Our first hike in the park though? It would feature no redwoods. Lyons Ranch, a National Historic Site, has an easy 4.5 mile loop trail and features wide open prairies, dramatic views, and historic structures. You can see more than just trees at Redwood N&SP. Lyons Ranch Trail is in a remote section of the park called Bald Hills, near the park’s southeast…
Rose River in Shenandoah National Park has been on our to-do list for awhile. Several attempts in the past floundered due to laziness or something coming up at the last minute. We’d made it to Mathews Arm Campground for the weekend, so we took the opportunity to finally hike Rose River Loop. The hike is located off Skyline Drive in Shenandoah’s Central District, across from Big Meadows Campground. We decided to make a 5.1 mile loop that included Dark Hollow Falls.
Over the years, we’ve been to Mathews Arm Campground many times. It’s the closest campground in Shenandoah National Park to our home in the DC suburbs. It had been about a year since we had camped there, so we wanted to stay there at least once before the weather cooled off. We considered the campground to be our home-away-from-home since we found it to be well-organized, quiet, and close to hiking trails.
I had been wanting to check out Overall Run Falls in Shenandoah National Park for some time. At 93 feet, Overall Run Falls is the highest waterfall in the park, but you don’t hear as much about it as other waterfalls like Dark Hollow Falls or White Oak Canyon. So on a warm spring day, we went to see for ourselves. We planned for a one-night backpacking trip to see the falls and make a lollipop loop with Overall Run and Heiskell Hollow Trail. Our plans changed slightly during the hike, and we returned on Beecher Ridge Trail instead of Heiskell Hollow Trail, creating an 11.6 mi lollipop…
The desert was kind of a new experience for us. It had been a long time since either of us had hiked in it. Kristin went in with a bit of trepidation, and she ended up loving the park. So you never know what you’ll find. And Saguaro National Park definitely surprised us as we explored. Not really knowing what to expect, and going in with no expectations. Here were our favorite spots in the park, as well as some tips for visiting. We hope they help you plan your trip…
We have 2 main interests in life: the outdoors and great food. Saguaro National Park is conveniently located just outside of Tucson, so we got to check out a sampling of its restaurants on our trip. Tex-Mex Tex-Mex cuisine is seriously lacking in DC, so we were excited to try some in the southwest. Tucson Tamale is a local institution that I had read about before our trip. We visited during the week and at an off-time, so we had the…
Our intention was to visit as much of Saguaro National Park as we could. Crisscrossing desert trails in the northwest corner of the Rincon Mountain (east) District are known as the Cactus Forest. We wanted to hike somewhere up there, so we reserved a full day for it. Our initial plan was to do a longer loop, but we were exhausted after backpacking to Manning Camp, so we decided on a shorter hike. A ranger at the Rincon Visitor Center recommended a 4.0 mile out-and-back on Garwood Trail…
On our second to last day in Saguaro, we went to a “Star Party” at the Rincon Visitor Center. We like astronomy, planets, and stars, so we made sure to go. Before going outside to stargaze, the ranger at the visitor center gave us a rundown on the history of the park. He explained how the park was created by President Herbert Hoover as a National Monument. The ranger then said, “The park has a lot of diversity, not just the desert environment, but also the Rincon Mountains at 8,000 feet. Up there is Manning Camp, but nobody really goes there.” We sat there feeling slightly miffed, but also smug, because we had been at Manning Camp just two days before…
Choice is a good thing. But with so many trails to choose from, researching ahead of time doesn’t always paint a clear picture of which trails are worth our time. On our last day in the Tucson Mountain (west) district, we only had a half-day, since we planned to drive to Benson, AZ to begin a backpacking trip the following day. With a limited amount of time, and only an inkling of which trail we wanted to do, we went…