Ozone Falls State Natural Area (Crab Orchard, TN)

This 110-foot tall waterfall has a pretty quick hike down to the bottom. For the more adventurous there is a 7-mile hike (as a part of Tennessee’s Cumberland Trail State Park) over to Black Mountain (where we hiked the next day). We opted for less adventure this afternoon but the waterfall was spectacular, regardless. If …

Percy Warner Park – My Favorite Park In Nashville, TN

Nashville is my favorite city in America because I believe it has one of the best park systems in the nation! Change my mind! Emily and I have hit all/most of these over the years. Our favorites are Percy Warner Park, Edwin Warner Park, Radnor Lake, and Beaman Park. If I had to pick an …

Carson National Forest (New Mexico)

The Carson National Forest covers 1.5 million acres in northern New Mexico. Part of it is near the family cabin that we visit often. We’ve visited the area many times over the years. On this day we had a picnic (at Flechado Canyon) and then hiked about 4 miles up the Indian Lake Trail No. …

Bandelier National Monument – Cliff Dwellings, Scary Ladders, Alcove House + Shopping in Santa Fe

We visited the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument. This place is a pretty fascinating lost city of the past. We’d been here before a long time ago. We’ve never been up to Alcove House before, however. 4 very tall ladders (also very scary) later we reached the top (140 feet above the canyon floor). …

Valles Caldera National Preserve + Meow Wolf + Santa Fe, NM

Emily and I got up early one morning and drove up from Santa Fe, NM to Valles Caldera National Preserve. We took a quick hike and drove through this massive volcano valley. It wasn’t a long hike but it was a beautiful one. The sunrise combined with the valley being filled with fog made the …

Henry Horton State Park – Kayaking the Duck River (AKA The Dirty Duck) – Chapel Hill, TN

We visited Henry Horton State Park, near Chapel Hill, TN. Our main goal was to kayak on the Duck River (which runs right through the state park). We soon learned the locals call it the Dirty Duck…even though it isn’t dirty at all?!? Weird?!?. We also explored the Tennessee humidity on bikes (as well as …

Burgess Falls State Park – Sparta Tennessee

On our family vacation, the entire extended family headed out for an afternoon at Burgess Falls State Park. We were the last few cars to make it into the parking lot before they filled up. Part of the adventure on a very busy Memorial Day weekend was finding a parking space. Once we accomplished that …

Cummins Falls State Park – Cookeville TN

During our Memorial Day family vacation with my family, Emily and I ventured out to Cummins Falls State Park. We hiked up the river to the bottom of the spectacular waterfall. We’d gone with the kids years ago but we didn’t wade up the river to the bottom on that trip (only saw it from …

Warriors’ Path State Park – Kingsport, TN

We are adding kayaking when we can to our trips from now on. We visited Warriors’ Path State Park for hiking, biking, and kayaking. There are also several other activities that we didn’t even get to do (mountain biking trails, horseback riding, golf, etc.) There is a very pretty lake with some great views at …

Hiking Roan Mountain – Round Bald, Jane Bald, and Grassy Ridge Bald

We saved the best for last! This was my favorite hike of our trip to East Tennessee (and one of my favorite hikes ever!). It is 360 degrees of absolute gorgeousness at around 6,184 feet elevation. We hiked from Carvers Gap up to Round Bald, over to Jane Bald, and then onto Grassy Ridge Bald. …