By Laura Elise I was never impressed by waterfalls until I visited Iguazu, which I think says something considering I grew up a few hours from Niagara Falls. Iguazu Falls is a complex of 275 waterfalls pouring through the subtropical jungles of Argentina and Brazil. It stretches 1.7 miles across and at its highest plunges 270 feet to the river below. The area surrounding the waterfalls is protected by two national parks: Parque Nacional do Iguaçu in Brazil and Parque … Continue reading
One of the largest parks in the continental United States, the Olympic National Park consists of over 900,000 acres of pristine wilderness, and has more than 2,000,000 visitors every year from around the world visiting its wilderness beaches, temperate rainforests, old growth forests and alpine peaks. The park is also an International Biosphere reserve and World Heritage Site due to its unique composition. The Olympic National Park can be thought of as consisting of four different sections – the Pacific … Continue reading
If you are looking for a beautiful and unique view of the Golden Gate Bridge, you definitely want to head to Hawk Hill in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. When driving north, cross the Golden Gate Bridge and take the Alexander Avenue exit which is immediately after the Golden gate Bridge Vista Point turnout where you park to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. After exiting, turn left and go under the highway. You will then make a right onto … Continue reading
If you are looking to see some unusual animals on your next adventure to Australia, you should seriously consider adding time for a trip to Heritage Daintree National Park to your itinerary. Comprising the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest in Australia, the World Heritage Daintree National Park Rainforest is an ancient wonderland of flora and fauna. Australia is known for its unique wildlife and Daintree National Park doesn’t disappoint. Known for its rare and diverse wildlife, the Daintree Rainforest … Continue reading
I really enjoy finding unique beaches. A prime example is sea glass beach in Fort Bragg. I managed to stumble across another one this weekend when I traveled to Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur California. I actually have been to Pfeiffer Beach before (with direction on how to get there), but didn’t realize that it had a little secret — it’s one of the few purple sand beaches in the world. I missed this because the main part of beach … Continue reading
When you take the side trail off the main Devils Garden trail to hike to Partition Arch at Arches National Park, this side trail splits. A left takes you to Partition Arch while continuing straight will take you to Navajo Arch. It’s really not much of an effort to visit both and it’s certainly worth doing. Although not very far apart, they give two completely different views of Arches that are each beautiful in their own way. Much like the … Continue reading
The sun and moon (rather than the stars) will align to give a great opportunity for those living in the West to view a solar eclipse on May 20, 2012 at a large number of National Parks. Even better, the 20th falls on Sunday which should allow even more people to get out and witness this exciting event. Approximately 30 national parks are located in areas where a “ring of fire” solar eclipse can be seen with six of these … Continue reading
By Julie Bowman Last summer, I had the pleasure of visiting Con Dao National Park in Vietnam. The picturesque scenery was like something out of a fairy tale. I have travelled to many places in the world, and nothing has made an impression on my memory quite like this magical island with its many rich colours and lush expanse that a large faceless city just cannot do. The first thing that caught my attention was how verdant and green everything … Continue reading
I love finding wonderful little gems in the National Park system. There is one of these hidden surprises at mile marker 17.9 along California highway 199 in Smith River National Recreation Area, but it’s extremely easy to miss. The entrance to a gravel parking area is only marked with a small, easy to miss, nondescript brown sign at the side of the road which says “Botanical Trail.” To the left side of the parking area is the trail head to … Continue reading
After reaching Landscape Arch along the Devils Garden trail at Arches National Park, the trail becomes a lot more difficult. It isn’t anything that a fit hiker can’t do, but those with mobility issues will have trouble as there is some scrambling necessary to get up parts of the trail. Despite the difficulty of the trail from this point, it’s well worth continuing to see some other magnificent arches along the trail. The first side trail you will reach after … Continue reading
