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Near-complete isolation just a few miles from Virginia Beach.

Sunny beaches, cool forests, and a birder's paradise along the shores of Lake Michigan.

Where the shadows on the sandstone offer lessons from the past and there's not a soul to be found.

Trade your flip-flops for hiking boots and explore a seaside trail.

Watch for ghosts among the mushroom-shaped rocks in this weird, lovely landscape.

A peaceful rest stop in the shadow of the nation's largest city.

A big Midwestern sandpile turned into an otherworldly escape by pounding surf and forests.

Olympic National Park is pristine and isolated -- rare commodities these days.

Just beyond the neon and greenbacks of Vegas lies a priceless wilderness gem.

Majestic peaks rise in all directions in Washington's Boulder River Wilderness -- elegant, jagged, draped in snow.

Raft or hike this desert paradise's secretive canyons -- but don't pass up the hot springs.

Where you can look down on soaring eagles and feel the power of the Missouri River.

The current carries you through the Great Plains, where buffalo, elk -- and snapping turtles -- roam.

Hike or climb this pristine pink-granite wonderland just outside Austin.

Connecticut's South Taconic Mountains have bald peaks, deep, forested gorges, and trees as old as the Mayflower.

Tiny Gibson Lake will take you out of Denver in a hurry with its big-wilderness feel and smirking brook trout.

Hiking and backpacking at its finest, through pastoral grasslands and forests of pine and fur.

Behind the forbidding name lies California's glacier-polished playground.

Ishi Wilderness trails run through stream-carved canyons, past stunning vistas, back to gold rush days.

You're as likely to bump into Sasquatch as another human.

Sea kayaking might not be difficult, but follow these tips to make the most of your ocean voyages.

Crossing rivers can be treacherous -- unless you know what you're doing.

If you plan on hiking the European Alps, get ready for some differences across the pond.

Where does the aurora borealis come from?

Check out Jeff Rennicke's author page.

Make sure you know how to stay safe in the mountains.

Follow these tips to make the most out of the northern night skies.

If you run into the big white bears, should you be scared?

There are scads of bears in Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- so don't forget these tips.

Forthwith, interesting tidbits about Great Smoky's largest forest dwellers.

Only have a short time to tackle the Pacific Northwest Trail? Our guide will give you the best the PNT has to offer.

Sore shoulders after lugging a pack? Try this exercise remedy.

Suffer a bone-related injury and one of these high-tech splints will quickly become your best friend.

Mills Canyon is a hidden treasure where you can bushwhack through history.

In the Wind Rivers range, you can hike for days without seeing another soul, which is why it brings a pair of brothers back again and again.

In a region known for soggy times, Juniper Dunes is a warm sandbox where you can dry out.

With the click of a shutter, Ansel Adams captured the beauty and soul of wild places and showed us that in nature, there is magic.

A tool tube answers the age-old packing dilemma: Where do I put the long, skinny stuff?

Eggs on the trail, stoveless oatmeal, and other breakfast miracles from readers.

Figure on 9 days to do the entire 100-mile hike—unless you're slowed drastically by all the blueberries.

Encountering a rattlesnake is a splendid moment in time, a cherished wilderness event--at least that's the view of Arizona researchers trying to change public perception of all things fanged.

Ah, spring, the season of the blessed bloom-and maddening mosquitoes. If you don't like slathering yourself in DEET, then you'd better learn how to avoid the pests.

With the fervor of a pulpit-pounding evangelist, Ron Strickland has wandered the land, preaching the gospel of the Pacific Northwest Trail he hoped to create.

Another bug-beating option.

Other tips to beat the most annoying backcountry biters.

The best bird window coincides with the best hiking season in the Chihuahuan Desert.

At a campsite along the Snake River, the bugling goes on night and day.

Vast meadows of wildflowers sprawl across the ridgetops and valley bottoms of the Three Sisters.

All along the 23-mile Shenandoah Mountain trail and in the forested areas throughout the Appalachian Mountains, vernal pools are rich aquatic breeding grounds.

Have your camera ready near dusk, when sunlight warms the landscape with intense color.

California: Journey through a desert to bear witness to some of the loveliest wildflowers you'll ever see.

Arizona: Every year millions of ladybugs head to Arizona and coat trees, rocks, and brush like a layer of living paint.

Wisconsin: Explore 21 islands and 12 miles of mainland shoreline where strings of cliffs and caves are bejeweled in ice.

You'll emerge from a forested hallway into a wilderness playroom, and there before you will be skidmarks in the snow.

Combine a full harvest moon with a remote island trail for the greatest show on Earth.

Life in the high desert in autumn is sweeter and more irresistible than any place on Earth.

The lunarlike landscape and dark skies of this preserve make White Sands one of the best places for star watching.

"October is the month for painted leaves," Thoreau mused. He could have been talking about Kentucky's Red River Gorge.

Eyeball to beak with impressively taloned hawks in West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest.

hen it comes to sheer ability to alter a landscape and shock the human senses, you can't beat the May blooms of a mountain laurel thicket.

The blaze of fall color in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is unequaled.

No color in nature comes close to matching the heart-stirring golden aspen found in the Rockies in autumn.

The majestic San Juan Mountain range is often called America's Switzerland. -- and the wildflowers match.

Observe the uncanny resemblance between the good doctor's famous Truffula Trees and a field of fuzz-topped flowers 5 miles up Long Canyon.

The bawling in the black night is the spring chorus of hooting barred owls.

A chaotic chorus of loon calls penetrate the darkness, the warbling sounds echoing off the wooded hills around the New Hampshire lake.

In winter, the glasslike menagerie of icicles in the Cumberland Plateau will send a chill down your spine.

In Whites Creek Cave you can explore in nature's own cooling system, and observe its grateful inhabitants.

The typical Delaware River float trip offers the opportunity to spy more bald eagles than people.

The Purple Trail through Chase Prairie or the Green or Red Trails through Floyd's Prairie are good routes for viewing Sandhill cranes.

The ungodly wailing that sometimes drifts through the dark woods is only an animal.

Even if you don't see a moose, you'll hear the bulls' low grunts echoing off the hillside.

Enjoy Vermont's autumn colors while you can -- they disappear all too quickly, and the Green Mountains recover their namesake hue in the spring.

Maine's seal pups are usually born in May, making early summer an ideal time to witness the youngsters learning to swim and fish.

Pennsylvania: You'll get wet and you may even stand in line behind a black bear or two.

When hiking on Virginia's high, exposed heath balds in late summer, leave gorp and other snacks at home.

Consider trying to spot a red-cockaded wood-pecker in Florida's Big Cypress Preserve a form of treasure hunting.

North Dakota: America's own Serengeti.

You can spend days exploring the Dry River Valley forest without seeing another soul, even if it sounds like you're being chased by a well-armed militia.