This past weekend I took advantage of the break in the weather to join some friends on a winter hike in Starved Rock State Park. The park is located along the Illinois River, about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, just outside Utica, IL.
I remember going there as a kid. My family would take a picnic lunch and we would hike the trails. I remember the canyons and I remember climbing to the top of the Rock. My mother, fearful of heights, never let me near the edge. These days, it’s a lot safer.
state parks (3)
This trip to Erie PA we spent the day at Presque Isle State Park (Pennsylvania's only surf beach) and then spent the evening at Presque Isle Downs and Casino.
Presque Isle State Park is an arching sandy peninsula that extends 7 miles into Lake Erie and consists of 13 miles of roads (loop around outer edges of the peninsula), 21 miles of trails, 13 beaches, 2 lighthouses and a marina. The varied habitat includes sandy beaches, dunes, thickets of shrub, grassy areas, willows, cottonwoods, ponds
55 miles northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15, a sign indicates Exit 75, the turn off for the Valley of Fire, Nevada’s oldest & largest state park. We love coming to this preternatural marvel of nature, named for the amazing red sandstone formations left after immense, shifting sand dunes were formed during the age of the dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. The oldest rock in the park, though has been dated at about 600 million years old. Imagine! Once an ancient sea covered this desert, s
