New book highlights the best places to hike in Central Alabama

Avid hiker and author Thomas Spencer penned a new book highlighting the best hikes in central Alabama. Entitled “Five-Star Trails: Birmingham: Your Guide to the Area’s Most Beautiful Hikes” the book lists great hikes within a 75 miles radius of Birmingham and features maps and photos. Spencer grew up hiking and camping in Alabama with his family. He...

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LA County Hikes That Are Perfect For Fall

Los Angeles County has just launched a new trails website with tons of information for anyone who looking to explore the county’s trails on bike, foot, or horseback. The site promises oft-updated information on trail conditions, weather, and air quality, plus interactive and downloadable maps with directions and elevation info for each path listed—a total of 367...

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In Ireland, hiking for ancient relics hidden by fog

When most people think of Ireland, they imagine bucolic green fields dotted with fluffy sheep, or cobblestone streets lined with signs advertising Guinness. But there is a lesser-known side to the Emerald Isle. It is deep in the grey, barren mountains of the Connemara region, in County Galway, hiking through land that has remained virtually untouched for thousands of...

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Asheville benefit for Appalachian Trail Nov. 6

For some, hiking the Appalachian Trail is a bucket-list item. Completing the 2,185-mile trail has come to signify extreme stamina and perseverance. But of the thousands who hike the trail each year, says John Odell of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, only a small fraction are through-hikers who complete the whole trail from Maine to Georgia or vice versa. The vast...

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Sweating The Trail Details In The National Parks

Sweat and muscle for trail work in Rocky Mountain National Park comes, in part, in the form of Conservation Corps provided through the Rocky Mountain Conservancy. This past spring the Conservancy sent 36 conservation corps interns out into the field in six crews for an 11-week internship as part of its Conservation Corps Program. Half of this group worked in the national...

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Challenge at Mission Peak: Finding a Place to Park

At three miles long and 2,000 feet in elevation, the hike up Mission Peak is not for the faint of heart: The trail is dry and nearly bald, and climbing it can be painfully hot. The incline near the top is rocky and preposterously steep. But for those who make it to the top, the payoff is big. In addition to a panoramic view of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and,...

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How To Find The Perfect Hiking Boot

The most important item in your outdoor wardrobe, hiking boots grant you the ability to traverse challenging terrain, work to keep your entire body comfortable and supported while carrying heavy loads and help regulate temperature and dryness. They’re also a difficult purchase to get right, particularly if you’re buying online. Here’s how to do that....

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Solo hiker traverses the Pacific Northwest national trail

While hiking hundreds or thousands of miles, particularly all alone, is no small feat — between the weather, the physical exertion and the mental and emotional discipline — hiking little-traveled routes adds still more challenges. Kelley Wiley Lane learned that firsthand this summer when she hiked the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, which meanders for 1,200...

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Arapaho Indians shared knowledge of Rocky Mountain National Park

In 1914, one of the most unusual events in Northern Colorado’s history was an invitation tendered to two Arapaho elders living on the Wind River Reservation by the Colorado Mountain Club. Gun Griswold and Sherman Sage were selected by Colorado Mountain Club during a trip to the reservation. It was believed that these individuals had lived in the Estes Park region...

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Walking in the footsteps of a pre-traitorous Benedict Arnold

In early October 1775, Gen. Benedict Arnold and a contingent of 1,100 American soldiers made the portage over the Great Carrying Place between the Kennebec River and the Dead River in Maine on their wilderness expedition to Quebec City. The lengthy and difficult portage greatly weakened Arnold’s army, which ultimately failed in its attempt to wrest control of the city...

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Trekking to Choquequirao, Peru’s remote Inca ruins

Halfway down the track, Nixon stops. He thwacks his machete into a stump to free his hands and reaches over a stone wall, groping for something in the vegetation beneath. A moment later he pulls up a clear plastic bag and hands it over. It is full of human bones. “Incas.” Since the Spanish never found this place, Nixon, the custodian, is surely right about the bones....

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Haywood artist releases frame-worthy trail guides

Ken Czarnomski has always loved sketching and writing, but as a department chair for the sustainability and construction management programs at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, his projects consisted mainly of razor-straight lines and technical engineering language. There wasn’t a lot of room for freehand sketches or colorful commentary. After retiring,...

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The Appalachian Trail Conservancy Announces New Strategic Plan To Ensure A Bright Future

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has announced a five-year strategic plan that will advance the health and long-term management of the Appalachian Trail. The plan, which was the culmination of a two-year collaborative process between the ATC and the ATC’s board of directors, is a vision and strategy that will build on the organization’s stewardship of the trail while...

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Blue Ridge Parkway Announces Full Road Closure at Milepost 422 for Tunnel Rehabilitation

Blue Ridge Parkway officials announce the closure of a small section of motor road between existing gates at Milepost 420.3 near US Forest Service Road 816 (Black Balsam Road) and Milepost 423.3 at NC Highway 215. Both lanes of the motor road in that section will be closed to all visitors beginning November 3, 2014 through May 2015. During this closure, Devil’s...

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New Maine Topo Maps Feature National Scenic Trails

Newly released US Topo maps for Maine now feature segments of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.). Several of the 715 new US Topo quadrangles for the state now display parts of the A.T. along with other improved data layers. “Located within a day’s drive of 2/3rds of the U.S. population and open year-around to all visitors, the Appalachian Trail is America’s...

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Hiking to the top of Canada’s Jasper National Park

Along with neighbouring Banff, Jasper National Park is a Unesco World Heritage site, recognised for its beauty, animal and plant life, and staggering variety of landscapes; including glaciers, alpine meadows, steaming hot springs, cerulean lakes and some of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains. The 44km Skyline Trail is one of the most beautiful – and challenging –...

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Popular New Hampshire hiking trails now permanently protected

This past week, the Society for the Protection of NH Forests announced that The Everybody Hikes Mt. Major fundraising campaign has acheived its goal of $1.8 million for acquiring 980 acres on and near the mountain. “We are very grateful that the campaign received more than 1,900 gifts ranging from $2 to $340,000. Gifts came in from 31 states, from as far away as...

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Hiking 2,650 miles on Pacific Crest Trail too easy? Try it in winter

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is closer to the forefront of popular culture. But tackling the 2,650-mile trail during winter is an unheard-of feat — for now. That’s something backcountry adventurers Justin Lichter and Shawn Forry want to change. The two men are embarking on an attempt to traverse the entire route during a season when conditions are at their most...

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Trekking, sledding and starry nights amid the Great Sand Dunes

Thirty square miles of sand, more Saharan than Coloradan, appears as though it has been dumped into a nook of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The tallest dune rises 750 feet. With 250,000 annual visitors, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is not the most popular national park in Colorado. Not by a long shot. But flip a quarter and you may very well catch a...

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Celebrate the Connection of the Saugatuck and Aspetuck Hiking Trails on October 28th

On October 28, 2014, the public is invited to join trail project partners to celebrate the 5-mile extension project joining the Saugatuck and Aspetuck trails – a connection that will provide hikers, joggers and others a continuous 18-mile long trail system in the heart of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Aquarion Water Company, the Connecticut Forest & Park...

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How much can a 2,000-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail change a man? Take a look

In May of this year, a man set out, walking down a trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia’s Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. He kept walking for the next 153 days until he reached the top of Maine’s Mount Katahdin. He hiked along, of course, the Appalachian Trail, a stretch of hiking paths that runs more than 2,000 miles from end to end. Millions of...

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Bondi to Bronte Coast Walk Extension

The Bondi to Bronte coast walk is a part of the nationally significant 9km coastal walk from Sydney’s South Head to Maroubra. The project resolves complex geotechnical, structural and heritage conditions to retain the significant cliff top heath community and the remarkable hanging swamps along the exposed sandstone platforms. A set of lookouts strung together by a light...

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13 haunted hikes

October is a wonderful time to go hiking and witness the beauty of the changing season as well as creatures preparing for winter. It’s also a time to celebrate Halloween by seeking out spooky wild places. Here are some wild lands where you may have a creature or two hiking with you – but not one that’s still living....

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Mechanicsburg man honored on hiking all 798 miles of Pennsylvania State Forest hiking trails

Richard “Dick” Shelly, 76, of Mechanicsburg, received the prestigious State Forest Trails Award at the recent annual meeting of the Keystone Trails Association at Doubling Gap Center, Newville. He earned the award by hiking all 798 miles of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry’s 18 state forest hiking trails. The award is a collaboration between the...

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Indian Hill Trail in Indiana ready for hikers

The new one-and-a-half mile Indian Hill Trail built this spring by Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge is ready for new hikers. Indian Hill Trail is a double loop, where you can walk a full outer loop without a connector trail, or opt for a shorter option with the connector, explained Heath Hamilton, assistant refuge manager at Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge....

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More Than Just Parks | Olympic

Jim and Will Pattiz are media professionals who have a passion for our national parks. This year they decided to put that passion to work using their talents to produce a captivating short film about Olympic National Park. They chose Olympic National Park because of it’s incredibly rich diversity — it’s glacial mountain peaks, lush rain forests, alpine...

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Cradle of Forestry Presents “The Legend of Tommy Hodges”

The Cradle of Forestry, along Scenic Hwy 276 near Brevard, NC in Pisgah National Forest will entertain audiences with an outdoor drama titled “The Legend of Tommy Hodges” on Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 and Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014 with shows at 6:30 p.m., 7:45 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. During the outdoor performance, visitors will travel to the year 1907 and hear the story...

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National Park Service plans 9 free days in 2015

The National Park Service wants you to visit our National Parks for free. The NPS is offering free admission to its parks on nine days in 2015. The days are Jan. 19 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), Feb. 14-16 (Presidents Day weekend), April 18-19 (National Park Week’s opening weekend), Aug. 25 (National Park Service’s 99th birthday), Sept. 26 (National Public...

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