Outdoor sights in USA
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Admiralty Island National Monument
The Admiralty Island National Monument has 3641 sq km (1406 sq mi) of designated wilderness, featuring eagles, humpback whales, harbor seals, porpoises, sea lions and bears - the best bear-viewing area in Southeast Alaska is at Pack Creek, on the eastern side of the island. Angoon is the starting point for the adventurous canoe trips the area is famous for.
Admiralty is a rugged island, with mountains that rise to 1417m (4650ft) and a cover of tundra and even permanent ice fields.
You can fly in for a stay at a USFS cabin, spend time kayaking Seymour Inlet and Mitchell Bay, or arrange a bear-watching trip to Pack Creek. The most unusual adventure on the island is the…
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Wellesley Island State Park
Alexandria Bay has the greatest concentration of old homes – more like castles, really – on the dozens of tiny islands along its coast. There’s where you’ll find Wellesley Island State Park, a 2600-acre floating village attached to the mainland by the Thousand Islands International Bridge. The park is full of wildlife, and has a nature center open to visitors. If you’re carrying a valid ID (preferably a passport), you can go to the Canadian side of the bridge and take an elevator to the top of the Skydeck, a massive tower with sprawling views of the St Lawrence Seaway.
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Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge
A bird-watcher's oasis, the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge harbors native waterbirds year-round and hosts migratory ducks and shorebirds from October to April. In the rainy winter months Kealia Pond swells to more than 400 acres, making it one of the largest natural ponds in Hawaii. In summer it shrinks to half the size, giving it a skirt of crystalline salt (Kealia means 'salt-encrusted place').
You can view the pond from the boardwalk on N Kihei Rd, as well as from the refuge's visitor center off Mokulele Hwy at the 6-mile marker. In both places, you're almost certain to spot wading Hawaiian black-necked stilts, Hawaiian coots and black-crowned night herons - all…
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Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge
Birders will enjoy the scenic 2-mile drive through the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, which passes taro fields, banana trees, bamboo thickets, hau (hibiscus) trees and wild ginger across 917 acres of the valley.
Prior to Western contact, the valley was planted with taro. Then in the mid-1800s rice paddies were planted to feed the Chinese sugar-plantation laborers. After peaking as a major crop in the 1880s, rice eventually waned and today taro again predominates - though at only 5% of its original acreage. Hanalei's wetland taro farms produce two-thirds of Hawaii's commercially grown poi taro and also create a habitat for endangered Hawaiian waterbirds.
The refuge,…
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Koke'e State Park
Sprawling Koke'e State Park is the starting point for almost 50 miles of outstanding hiking trails. Here, you'll see terrain unlike that found anywhere else on the island, including the largest concentration of extant native bird species in Hawaii.
Remote Alaka'i Swamp in particular is a unique view of Kaua'i's native ecosystem; not only is the swamp inhospitable to exotic species but, due to its high elevation, it is one of the few places across Hawaii where mosquitoes, which transmit avian diseases, do not flourish. Ancient Hawaiians never established a permanent village in these chilly highlands and came mainly to collect feathers from forest birds and to cut koa trees…
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Crawford Notch State Park Visitor Center
In 1826 torrential rains in this steep valley caused massive mud slides that descended on the home of the Willey family. The house was spared, but the family was not – they were outside at the fatal moment and were swept away by the mud. The dramatic incident made the newspapers and fired the imaginations of painter Thomas Cole and author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both men used the incident for inspiration, thus unwittingly putting Crawford Notch on the tourist maps. Soon visitors arrived to visit the tragic spot – and they stayed for the bracing mountain air and healthy exercise. From the Willey House site, now used as a state park visitor center, you can walk the easy…
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Kalalau Lookout
At the 18-mile marker, the 4000ft Kalalau Lookout faces the emerald depths of the valley and straight out to sea. On clear days, late-afternoon rainbows sweep so deeply into Kalalau Valley that the bottom part of the bows curve back inward. Bright-red 'apapane birds feed from the ohia-lehua flowers near the lookout railings.
Kalalau Valley was once the site of a large settlement and was joined to Koke'e by a very steep trail that ran down the cliffs. Today the only way into the valley is along the coastal Kalalau Trail from Ha'ena on the North Shore or by kayak .
The paved road continues another mile to Pu'u o Kila Lookout, where it dead-ends at a parking lot. At the time…
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Park Rd
Park Rd begins at George Parks Hwy and winds 92 miles through the heart of the park, ending at Kantishna, an old mining settlement and the site of several wilderness lodges. Early on, park officials envisaged the onset of bumper-to-bumper traffic jams along this road and wisely closed almost all of it to private vehicles. With few exceptions, motorists can drive only to a parking area along the Savage River at Mile 14, a mile beyond the Savage River Campground. To venture further along the road you must walk, bike, be part of a concessionaire-run tour, or, most popularly, take a park shuttle or camper bus.
If you're planning to spend the day riding the buses, pack plenty…
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'Iao Needle
'Iao Needle, the rock pinnacle that rises straight up 2250ft, takes its name from 'Iao, the beautiful daughter of Maui. 'Iao Needle is said to be 'Iao's clandestine lover, captured by Maui and turned to stone. A monument to love, this is truly the big kahuna, the ultimate phallic symbol.
Whether you believe in legends or not, this place looks like something torn from the pages of a fairy tale. Clouds rising up the valley form an ethereal shroud around the top of 'Iao Needle. With a stream meandering beneath and the steep cliffs of the West Maui Mountains in the backdrop, it's a picture-postcard scene. Just a few minutes' walk from the parking lot, you'll reach a bridge…
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Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
You'd be forgiven for overlooking Bolsa Chica, at least on first glance. Against a backdrop of nodding oil derricks, this flat expanse of wetlands doesn't exactly promise the unspoilt splendors of nature. However, more than 200 bird species aren't so aesthetically prejudiced, either making the wetlands their home throughout the year, or dropping by mid-migration.
Other than two circular embedded gun batteries (a legacy of WWII fears of Japanese invasion) this 'Little Pocket' of estuarine tidal saltwater marsh - home to loons, ducks, terns, sandpipers and rare species such as the white pelican - is largely untouched. This preservation hasn't come easily, however: decades…
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Inwood Hill Park
This gorgeous 197-acre park contains the last natural forest and salt marsh in Manhattan. It’s a cool escape in summer and a great place to explore anytime, as you’ll find hilly paths for hiking and mellow, grassy patches and benches for quiet contemplation. It’s so peaceful and un-urban here, in fact, that the treetops serve as frequent nesting sites for bald eagles.
You’ll find helpful rangers and a slew of educational programs, many geared toward children, at the Inwood Hill Nature Center. Let your sporty side rip on basketball courts, horseback-riding trails, and soccer and football fields; you can also join locals who barbecue at designated grills on…
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Kukuiolono Park
Whether or not you golf, Kukuiolono Park is nice for jogging or strolling. You'll see only locals here - along with a panoramic vista of the South Shore, including verdant Lawa'i Valley, the resorts in Po'ipu and the endless Pacific beyond.
Kukuiolono means 'light of Lono,' referring to the torches that Hawaiians once placed on this hill to help guide canoes safely to the shore. In 1860 King Kamehameha III leased the land to Duncan McBryde, whose son, Walter, the pineapple baron, eventually purchased the 178-acre estate. He built the public golf course here in 1929 and later he deeded the entire site to an irrevocable trust, for use as a public park upon his death. Walter…
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Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge
A little further than 7 miles northwest of St Francisville, you can stalk the largest North American bald cypress tree at Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge – so long as the Mississippi River is below 19-ft flood stage at Baton Rouge; the park is usually under water from January through June. This impressive tree stands 83ft tall with a circumference of 56ft, and may be about 1000 years old. It’s hard to tell exactly, because as bald cypress age, their core hollows out. That’s great for swampland creatures who need a new home, but not so helpful for scientists studying tree rings. ‘Knees’ of a cypress, the woody projections that jut up from the roots, usually rise a foot…
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Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs
The gentle Pu'u Loa Trail leads less than a mile to the largest concentration of ancient petroglyphs in the state. At the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs, early Hawaiians chiseled more than 20,000 drawings into pahoehoe lava. Given the setting, it's easy to see why this spot might have been considered sacred.
There are abstract designs, animal and human figures, as well as thousands of dimpled depressions (or cupules) that were receptacles for umbilical cords. Placing a baby's umbilical stump inside a cupule and covering it with stones was meant to bestow health and longevity to the child. The parking area and trailhead are signed between the 16- and 17-mile markers. At the site,…
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Pu'u 'Ualaka'a State Park
For a marvelous panoramic view over Honolulu, visit Pu'u 'Ualaka'a State Park. The park entrance is 2.5 miles up Round Top Dr from Makiki St. It's half a mile in to the lookout; bear to the left when the road forks. The sweeping view extends from Kahala and Diamond Head on the far left, across Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, to the Wai'anae Range on the right.
To the southeast is the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, easily recognized by its sports stadium; to the southwest you can see clearly into the green mound of Punchbowl crater; the airport is visible on the coast, with Pearl Harbor beyond that.If you're taking photos, the best time is during the day; however, this is…
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Earthquake Park
The gargantuan shaker of 1964 caused, among other things, 130ac (53ha) of land on the city's west side to slip 2000ft (610m) seaward. Part of that slipped strip was a neighbourhood that suffered 75 demolished homes and three deaths. The other end, fortunately undeveloped at the time, is today the site of Earthquake Park.
An interpretive walkway includes displays describing the effects of the quake and the tsunamis that followed.
The last stop on the display circuit is a series of benches from which panoramic views can be had of Anchorage's skyline set against the Chugach Mountains. On a clear day, you can see Mt McKinley and Mt Foraker, from the park's Tony Knowles Coast…
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Morningside Park
This 13-block finger of green has playgrounds, shaded pathways, an arboretum and several sculpture memorials. (The Seligman Fountain, featuring a bear and a faun, is delightfully weird.) In the area behind the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, you’ll find a pond and waterfall. A farmers market is held here on Saturdays from June through December.
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Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) is a 22-acre (10-hectare) wildlife sanctuary that hugs the Roaring Fork River. With a mission to advance 'the ethic that the earth must be respected and nurtured,' the Center's naturalists provide summertime guided walks, eagle demonstrations and special programs for youngsters at the top of Aspen Mountain and mid-mountain on Snowmass.
Guided walks on Snowmass depart daily at 10am. In the winter, snowshoe and ski tours are available in various locations, and its weekly slide shows may give you some respite from the frigid outdoors. You can take a self-guided tour of the preserve (with snowshoes in winter, if you prefer)…
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Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens Park
Two miles west of Wailuku, the family-oriented Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens Park pays tribute to Hawaii's varied ethnic heritage. Among the highlights are a traditional Hawaiian hale, a New England-style missionary home, a Filipino farmer's hut, Japanese gardens with stone pagodas and a Chinese pavilion with a statue of revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen (who, incidentally, briefly lived on Maui).
'Iao Stream runs through the park, bordered by picnic shelters with barbecue pits. The place is cheerfully alive with families picnicking here on weekends.
At the west end of the park is the Hawaii Nature Center, a nonprofit educational facility with kid-oriented exhibits. The center…
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Marble View
Our favorite of the many Kaibab Forest overlooks, this viewpoint makes a spectacular picnic or camping spot. From the meadow, covered with Indian paintbrush and hiding Coconino sandstone fossils, views extend over the eastern edge of the canyon to the paper-flat expanse beyond.
This is not a quintessential Grand Canyon overlook that you see in postcards and books. Instead, you're looking down where the Colorado River first cuts into the rocks from Lees Ferry, at the point where it only hints at the rapids and canyon beyond.
Marble View is off Hwy 67, 13km (8mi) south of Kaibab Lodge. From Hwy 67, the road seems to end at an overlook; be sure to take the narrow road through…
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James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge
Four miles beyond Kahuku, heading towards Turtle Bay Resort, James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge encompasses a rare freshwater wetland that provides habitat for Hawaii's four endangered waterbirds - the Hawaiian coot, the Hawaiian stilt, the Hawaiian duck and the Hawaiian moor hen. During stilt nesting season, normally mid-February to October, the refuge is off-limits to visitors. The rest of the year, it can only be visited on a guided tour.
Guided tours are provided by refuge staff (at 16:00 every Thursday, 09:00 on the first two Saturdays of the month and 15:30 on the remaining Saturdays of the month from October 1 to February 15). Tours are free, but reservations…
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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Don’t miss your chance to run or walk around this 1.58-mile track, which draws a slew of joggers in the warmer months. The 106-acre body of water no longer distributes drinking water to residents, but serves as a gorgeous reflecting pool for the surrounding skyline and flowering trees. Take a turn around the reservoir’s perimeter and you may very well spot the elderly, white-haired Albert Arroyo, the friendly and self-appointed ‘Mayor of Central Park, ’ who used to run laps here and now makes his slow way around and around with the aid of a cane. The most beautiful time to be here is at sunset, when you can watch the sky turn from a brilliant shade of pink and orange to…
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Ahupua'a 'O Kahana State Park
Ahupua'a 'O Kahana State Park (formerly Kahana Valley State Park) is in an incredibly rainy and unspoiled valley. You can walk through the valley on either of two hiking trails. The orientation center provides a trail map, but it isn't always open to visitors; trails tend to be poorly maintained and conditions slippery.
The park's most important site is Huilua Fishpond, on Kahana Bay, a survivor of the traditional ponds used by the Hawaiians to cultivate fish. Early fishpond technology typically used fresh and saltwater sources and strategic placement to protect it from large swells. Management of the pond was a communal effort governed by local beliefs in the magical…
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El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park
Built to protect the missions between Monterey and San Diego, this 18th-century former Spanish fort of the El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park was protected by adobe walls nearly 4ft thick and more than 9ft high. But its purpose wasn't solely to protect - the presidio, which recently celebrated the 225th anniversary of its founding, also served as a social and political hub, and as a stopping point for traveling Spanish military.
Today, the small urban park, between Anacapa and Santa Barbara Sts, harbors some of the city's oldest structures, which seem to be in constant need of propping up and restoring. Be sure to stop by the chapel: its interior is radiant…
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Sugarlands Visitor Center
This excellent visitor center features exhibits, a large bookstore, a free 20-minute film and a well-staffed information desk. During the summer, visitors are welcomed with frequent presentations by rangers, and ranger-led walks to nearby Cataract Falls leave from the patio area four times daily.
The exhibits provide an informative introduction to the incredible biodiversity of life that abounds in the park, with mounted specimens of the plants and animals you may encounter. Outside the center is a strange, cordoned-off piece of concrete called the 'First Amendment Expression Area'; it's often peopled by folks with strong opinions about park issues such as the future of…
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