There are lots of great natural areas in the Bay Area, but Point Reyes is my number-one spot to hike and enjoy being outdoors. It might not have the solitude available at Henry Coe or redwoods like the Santa Cruz mountain parks, but there’s something magic to me about Point Reyes. My friend and I had Arch Rock and McClure’s Beach to ourselves last week and I was in heaven.
Point Reyes also has a fantastic variety of wildlife, from whales to tule elk to the beautiful red-sided garter snake. In the southern part of the park there’s a birding field station and a waterfall that pours into the ocean. I haven’t hiked all the trails at Point Reyes, but I’m working on it.
Good idea for a thread, blondebear. We don’t have anything as spectacular as Point Reyes, Arch Rock or McClure’s, but Wakeley Lake is about 20 miles from my house, and other wilderness trails similar are nearby. Great for a trail bicycle except for an occasional downed tree to stop for and climb over.
About the same distance from my house is Harwick Pines, a state park featuring some of the last old growth stands of Pinus strobis/Eastern White Pines in the state, and some of the biggest specimens east of the Mississippi river.
The OP’s links remind me of where I grew up (Somebody’s blog of their visit). I’d like to go back, New Zealand has so many picturesque walking tracks. Australia’s are all a bit samey, after a while.
Just for everyday I like starting from downtown PDX, walking up to Council Crest either on streets or using the Marquam Trail, then hit the Wildwood and go as far as I want. Easy to spend a whole day covering 20-25 or maybe 30 miles without carrying water and maybe just a change of shirt. Nice walk, even in the “heat” of summer.
Out our front door and bear right. Acre after acre of woodland with several valleys and ponds. Deer, turkey, squirrels, and rarely a black bear. After 30 minutes or so you come upon a small apple orchard (owned by friends) and can sample this years crop if your timing is right. Equally enjoyable on foot or horseback.
The Rose Lake Wildlife Area, northwest of Lansing, MI, is the closest place to me of any size. It’s a patchwork of land acquired by the state over the years, and includes prairie, stands of pine, hardwoods, several small lakes, and miles and miles of trails. I started cross-country skiing there about 30 years ago. There’s a nice shooting range with targets at 25, 50, and 100 yards, and an area for shooting skeet, too. There are miles of trails, and more critters than I could list. It is open for hunting during the season, though, so that somewhat limits when I can go out there.
Closer to home, there’s a nice park of about 80 acres that is about half wooded, half open grassy area. A stream has cut a nice ravine through it over the eons, and it’s on the banks of the Grand River. There’s a great sledding hill that I want to try with my kayak some winter, but I figure I’ll more than likely get sideways and end up beating my head against the hill as I roll to the bottom. I’ve seen deer and one coyote there, and there’s even an old barn that gets used as a playhouse during the summer. You couldn’t afford to heat it in the cold season.
My home is about 2 miles from the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
There are several trails of various difficulty levels nearby, including some that connect to the Appalachian Trail. Now that it isn’t so dang hot up here, I intend to do a bit of hiking.
I probably would have gone today but the weather is rather moist.
It will be leaf season soon, and the tourons will be about, but the park is still beautiful.
There is a park near my mansion called Gappo which is very interesting in that it has everything from fields, small woods, a zoo, a ghost train, and a beach. I routinely go there at dusk to exercise and enjoy the sunset. I’m always surprised that it’s so deserted then.
I’ve had a favorite place just about everywhere I’ve lived. In Wisconsin, Devil’s Lake State Park, on weekdays and off-season. In Oakland, CA, Redwood Regional Park. Olympic National Park, both Hurricane Ridge and Hoh Valley when I lived on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Afton Alps State Park when I lived in Minneapolis. Mount Rainier National Park when I lived in Seattle.
They all make the state parks in the Finger Lakes seem awfully small and lacking in trails, but Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls are lovely during snowmelt.
It is a rural area, so there are deer, turkey, black bear, etc. everywhere. I spotted a mink crossing one back road this summer, and saw a bobcat crossing a state route one day. I frequently hear coyotes singing. They have reduced the wild turkey and pheasant populatons. I wish they’d reduce the chipmunk population instead.
The White Mountains of NH are my main playground from Boston, but I can head to the Middlesex Fells for a trail run or mountain bike, or Great Brook Farms in Concord for a longer version of either. Lots of ways to get to nature in the Greater Boston area.
The Bruce Trail is a set of linked hiking trails that run from Niagara up to the Bruce Pennisula passing to the west of the Greater Toronto Area. Every section I’ve visited is beautiful and well kept and runs mostly alongside water or on escarpments.
My ‘go to’ place would have to be the Twin Spanish Peaks in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains near LaVeta. We’ve had a cabin nestled deep in a canyon near the saddle between the East and West Peaks and over the years I’ve climbed all over those mountains.
I also do a lot of hiking whenever I’m out at the ranch in S.E. Colorado. It’s remote, desolate, private and very large. I can get back in the canyons and river beds and it’s nothing but you, the wildlife, the artifacts and the rocks for many miles in any direction. Talk about peaceful and cathartic.
I do miss living in Alaska and having access to all the trails and mountains there. Even in Anchorage Wolverine, Flattop and so many more were just a short drive away.
Also, living in Grand Junction we had within easy reach the Colorado National Monument, the Book Cliffs, the Grand Mesa, Canyonlands, Moab, the San Rafael Swell, etc. That was awesome.
White Oak Canyon in Virginia, a great walk along many waterfalls. I hear it’s a fairly crowded now though. Also nearby is Old Rag Mountain, a long upward trek a mountain but no climbing until the end. On top of the mountain are huge boulders that you climb onto for really good views. It is definitely crowded now, too many people from Northern VA, DC, and MD showing up.
I’m lucky to live near the Red River Gorge in Eastern Kentucky. It has many natural arches and is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest. I’ve hiked there for years and it’s always lovely.
Same with me. I once used Google Earth to draw a line from my backyard to the North Pole. Other than a few road crossings, I didn’t hit anything man-made that was big enough to show up on Google Earth.
