Trails

It is not every day that you can hike to the top of a 563-foot tall granite carving honoring an American legend. Actually, you can only do this hike a few days a year when the active construction on Crazy Horse Memorial is suspended so that the public can get a close look. The hike passes through forests and fields below the work-in-progress memorial and follows the same road used by construction vehicles up to the arm of the monument where you can walk out and stand below the 8-story tall face of Crazy Horse! ...Read more.

The smart people who shaped Binghamton University knew that deep-rooted oaks can teach us more than ivory towers. With the good foresight, the SUNY Binghamton campus set aside 182 acres of wetlands and woodlands for the benefit of students, faculty, and the community. On a first visit to Binghamton University Nature Preserve, Pond Trail and Marsh Trail are recommended routes for appreciating the heart of the preserve. ...Read more.

Some centers of higher learning probably overlook nature's value in education, but not Binghamton University. This SUNY Institution in Vestal, New York set aside 182 acres for the benefit of students, faculty, and the community. Several intersecting trails explore Binghamton University Nature Preserve, creating numerous hiking options, like this one — a figure-eight loop on the easiest and most scenic trails around the wetlands in the middle of the preserve. ...Read more.

We can learn a lot from nature, which is probably why Binghamton University, a SUNY Institution in Vestal, New York had the foresight to preserve a 182-acre natural space right on its campus. Binghamton University Nature Preserve has hillsides and valleys full of forests and marshes with lots of interconnected trails open to the students and the public. ...Read more.

The double-crested mountain of Twin Peaks is located close to the absolute center of the San Gabriel Mountains, making it an ideal mountain for catching big views over the range, including high points like Mount Wilson, Mount Baldy, and a slew of other summits. A trail leads to the 7,761-foot summit of Twin Peaks East, the higher of Twin Peak's sibling summits. ...Read more.

Gould Mesa Trail Camp is a hike-in campground in the front range of the San Gabriel Mountains, quite close to cities like Altadena and La Cañada Flintridge. The most obvious route to Gould Mesa is Gabrielino Trail. For something that's about half as long and twice as steep, you can take Gould Mesa Road, which drops 525 feet over 1.15 miles going from Angeles Crest Highway down a ridge and into the canyon where Gould Mesa Trail Camp sits along a mountain stream, the Arroyo Seco. ...Read more.

Gabrielino Trail is one of the principle trails through Angeles National Forest. Starting from the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, you can take this trail a short distance up a canyon along the lovely Arroyo Seco and come to Gould Mesa Trail Camp, a hike-in campground just a couple miles from civilization that delivers a quick escape from cities in the valley below. ...Read more.

Waimangu Volcanic Valley is an incredible hydrothermal area near Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. Walk down the valley to get close to Frying Pan Lake, a mesmerizing blue pool that is the largest hot spring in the world. Cross a landscape shaped by a volcanic eruption in 1886, passing hydrothermal features and the site of what had been world's tallest geyser. ...Read more.

What is a thermal wonderland? It's exactly that – an exceptional landscape of geothermal features like large colorful hot springs, steaming fumaroles, spouting geysers, bubbling mud pots, sinter terraces, and even waterfalls. Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland is incredible, and outside of Yellowstone National Park, there's almost nowhere else like it on Earth. ...Read more.

Mount Maunganui is an extinct volcano crowning the tip of a peninsula at the mouth of Tauranga Harbour in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. The mountain has stunning sea views from its base all the way up to the summit, so it is a delight to hike. Next to Mount Maunganui, a beach city with the same name covers the flat part of the peninsula between sandy strips and is a popular spot for summer visitors. ...Read more.