With snow-capped mountains, pristine lakes, magical rain forest, and wild Pacific beaches, Olympic National Park is one of the nation’s best. This park in northwest Washington has almost a million acres of wilderness waiting to be explored.
The 3 Dune Challenge is a difficult 1.5 mile trail at Indiana Dunes State Park. It makes up parts of Trail #8 and Trail #4, and is a loop that starts and finishes at the Nature Center. The challenge goes to the tops of the three tallest dunes in the park for a total of 552 feet of vertical climbing.
There are over 16 miles of trails at Indiana Dunes State Park. All of the trails pass through the Dunes Nature Preserve, which was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974.
Indiana Dunes State Park is the older sister of the Indiana Dunes National Park. Founded in 1925 after years of efforts by conservationists, the park is surrounded on three sides by the National Park and by Lake Michigan to the north. It consists of 2,182 acres of natural landscape a few miles north of the town of Chesterton.
Because we wanted to explore the life of Georgia O’Keeffe, we paid a visit to Ghost Ranch. It sits on 21,000 acres of gorgeous scenery. The ranch is a short drive from Abiquiu and provides excellent opportunities for outdoor activities.
The iconic Shiprock rises out of the desert and is visible for miles. It’s located in northwest New Mexico within the territory of Navajo Nation. We were able to spot it before crossing into New Mexico from Arizona.
Pinhook Bog is quite possibly the most interesting section of Indiana Dunes National Park. It’s got an incredible natural history and outstanding plant biodiversity. Pinhook Bog was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1965 – a year before the park was established.
Cowles Bog is one of the most important areas of Indiana Dunes National Park. It’s located north of the Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm area.