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Backpacker Magazine – October 2009
Quick Escapes: 10 Trails Near Major Cities
The perfect metro-area trail: close, wild, uncrowded. Here are 10 major city options.
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Tags:
- Destinations |
- California |
- Texas |
- Arizona |
- Massachusetts |
- Illinois |
- New York |
- Washington |
The Wild Edge: Exploring Portland's Forest Park
When urban trails blend with raw wilderness, the sum is much greater than the parts. By Bill Donahue
Free Maps! Our Contributors Favorite Local Hikes
Online or via your cellphone these trips are ready to be downloaded and explored.
When urban trails blend with raw wilderness, the sum is much greater than the parts. By Bill Donahue
Free Maps! Our Contributors Favorite Local HikesOnline or via your cellphone these trips are ready to be downloaded and explored.
Phoenix | San Diego | San Francisco | Boston | New York | Philadelphia | Chicago | Seattle | Los Angeles | Austin
Austin, TX
Practice your river crossings on Barton Creek.
Twenty-nine trails within Austin's city limits extend for more than 1.5 miles each. But the real treasure here, as all locals know, is Barton Creek Wilderness Park, a 1,021-acre wooded preserve on the west end of the Barton Creek Greenbelt. Access the Barton Creek Wilderness Trail from the southwest edge of Zilker Metropolitan Park. You'll see others on this seven-miler, but to find the best elbowroom, continue a mile past popular Twin Falls, to Sculpture Falls and its deep swimming hole. Or go after heavy rains; the waist-high creek crossings mean you'll likely have it all to yourself. austinparks.org
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READERS COMMENTS
I think you forgot Portland.
that's the very area i like to hike when i'm in nyc after some appalachian tr hiking. get to nyc a day before your departure flight, the hostel's only a half mile from the park. a few blocks from the subway. perfect.
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