Shenandoah National Park highlights expansive vistas of the Virginia countryside from its Skyline Drive. But one doesn't have to wander far to be immersed in natural gullies experience a more intimate side of the park. Leave the vast overlooks behind and get up close and personal with the Dark Hollow Falls Trail.
Ritchie Hollow hiking trail is a 2.7-mile point to point trail connecting a parking lot along the Tennessee River to the Davis Pond campground in Prentice Cooper State Forest. The route covers a 1,200-foot elevation gain that ramps up from a relatively level terrain to extended stretches of stairs and steep inclines. While there are occasional trail markers, junctions can be confusing, and it helps to tackle the trail with a map to cross-reference. Even so, for all its challenges, the Ritchie Hollow trail is awash in waterfalls and, with a well-deserved detour, it can conclude with one of the best views of the Tennessee River Gorge.
Ruby Falls is the tallest and deepest waterfall in North America, just outside of Chattanooga. See stalactites, stalagmites, and other rock formations.
Discovering disappearing waterfalls, fur seals, black choral, alpine parrots, and mirror lakes, while hiking Milford Sound, New Zealand
Seven miles down a moderately managed dirt road in the Ouachita National Forest is the Little Missouri Falls. The drive is pretty doable for any car in the proper conditions—there is a creek crossing that could cause trouble after a heavy rain—but the reason to drive this road is the swimming hole at the end.