Category Hiking

While traveling on the road, hiking trails are our gym.  We love to get out in the middle of nowhere for impressive vistas and flirtations with wildlife.

Jackson Falls

Jackson Falls is one of the iconic waterfalls along the Natchez Trace Parkway.

We are suckers for overlooks. So, when we saw an overlook for the Duck Valley at milepost 404 of the Natchez Trace, we stopped to enjoy the moody, overcast vista. To me, it was like some scene from Wuthering Heights. I could imagine Heathcliff moodily stalking across the valley. We stalked across the hills, too. Well, at least we hiked along a ridge and into a small gorge to enjoy Jackson Falls.

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Cummins Falls State Park

Cummins Falls State Park is located halfway between Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee. That makes it the ideal getaway for both cities in wanting a some a hike, a waterfall, and an amazing water hole all in one place.

There are several ways to approach the breathtaking waterfall of Cummins Falls State Park. One can stroll to the scenic vista. There is the relaxed trail to the top of the falls. Or, one can take on a mile long trudge through a creek to the base of the falls. My feet are wet, so you can guess which way we took.

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Alum Cave Trail

The Alum Creek Trail in the Great Smokey Mountains follows the Alum Cave Creek for the first 1.3 miles.

Alum Cave was first referenced in a land grant application by three North Carolina farmers in 1837. The resulting Epsom Salts Manufacturing Company mined alum, Epsom salt, saltpeter, magnesia, and copperas in the area until the salts were depleted in the mid 1840s. Today, it is part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and a popular destination along the Alum Cave Trail.

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Clingmans Dome Observation Tower Hike

The hike to the top of Clingman's Dome may be steep but the end is an amazing vista of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The hike to the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower Hike is a short but steep half mile hike with an 311 foot elevation gain. It is an incredibly popular path—old and young stop to catch their breaths at the many benches along the path. While we leaned into the incline and trudged up the steep path even we were huffing and puffing with the high elevation exercise.

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Tranquil Bluff Trail

Tranquil Bluff Trail traces 3 miles of bluffs along the eastern side of Mackinac Island from Arch Rock to British Landing. The route is moderately difficult, with many inclines and declines, but possibly the most challenging part of the path is staying on it. The trail is barely indistinguishable from the rest of the forest floor and several times we only realized that we had wandered off the trail because we found ourselves in a clump of dense brush.

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Window Trail

Badlands National Park

The bluffs, spires, and gorges of the Badlands National Park are thanks to delicate rock which is easily eroded by wind and rain. One of the locations that these dramatic formations are best experienced is along the Window Trail.

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Notch Trail

Badlands National Park

Notch Trail is not for those afraid of heights. It doesn't help that the rope ladder to the butte shelf is easier to climb up than down. But for those with the constitution to scramble the 1.5 mile loop along a butte outcropping, there are magnificent and exclusive vistas to be experienced

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Fossil Exhibit Trail

Fossilized skull of a large, pig-like animal known as the Archaeotherium at the Badlands National Park.

Badlands National Park can get remarkably hot in the summer.  Granted, it's no Death Valley, but the idea of an extended hike in the midday heat is unwelcome.  So, the quarter mile loop of the Fossil Exhibit Trail is an opportunity to get out and stretch ones legs without working up a sweat.

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Red Beds Trail

The 2.8 mile dirt around Devils Tower National Monument trail has moderate dips and rises and wanders outside of tree cover, making it a more difficult hike than Tower Trail but only an moderate overall challenge.

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