Stories

Where you'll share the mountain with curious goats and mysteries of the past.

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

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

Heavy forests and the roar of whitewater wait in this section of the Appalachian Mountains.

Classic eastern mountain scenery along West Virginia's skyline pathway.

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

It's amazing what nature can do with pasture a decade after the cows go home.

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

Hike with sea turtles, watch the dolphins play, and share the beach with ghost crabs.

In Big Cypress' land of exotic plants and lurking alligators, swamps aren't such bad places after all.

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

Wooded trails, tea-colored waters -- and the Jersey Devil.

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

Follow the Appalachian Trail to new heights in the rugged New England high country.

Western prairie meets eastern forest in the land of healing waters.

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.

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

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

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.

Where does the aurora borealis come from?

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Arkansas Buffalo National River features challenging trails and a river-laced wilderness.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Montana: The Pryor Mountains harbor the nation's last free-roaming wild mustangs, not to mention wilderness that is as wild as the horses.

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

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

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

North Dakota: America's own Serengeti.

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

Pine Mountain and Wilson Ridge command high-country vistas stretching across rock-strewn meadows.

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

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

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

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.

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

As autumn closes in on the larches, the green bleeds out of their needles, leaving a towering spire of gold.

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

More than 200 preserves, parks, and other protected wildlands lie within 40 miles of San Francisco, exceeding Yosemite National Park in size, biodiversity, and visitation.

Besides being home to a mythical reptile, Colorado's Lizard Head Wilderness is the site of some great hiking.

If you think west Texas is nothing but tumbleweeds and cattle, you haven't walked 62 miles across one of the world's most famous geological formations.

The little-known Cheaha Wilderness Area is the gateway to Alabama's largest trail system.

When the footpath is named the Backpack Trail, you know what to do.

Steens looks like your average mountain, but hike up high and you'll find a hidden paradise.

Okay, so the weather stinks and so does the hiking. Change both by heading down the road to where the sun shines and the trail beckons.

Trail goers can experience a whole new world by hiking Virginia's newly renovated Lion's Tale Trail.

Protester celebrates victory in a two-year battle to save a giant redwood by coming back to earth.

Let the masses shop till they drop: On Arkansas's Ouachita River the pace is slow and easy.

Like shimmering rainbows in the night, the northern lights electrify the sky with color.

When hiking California's Fish Valley, don't forget to pack your Richter scale.

What they've lost in height, the Penokee Mountains make up for in big views and solitude.

Twelve trails that'll chew you up, spit you out, and have you begging for more.

If you think autumn is simply a time to rake leaves, then you need to read our guide to the best of the fall season.

In a park full of natural wonder, the route to Maddron Bald hits the high points.