Trails and campgrounds across America

With monumental Mount Hood rising above its northern shore, Trillium Lake is a picturesque and popular destination for camping, hiking, and fun on the water. The summit of Mount Hood is just 7.5 miles from Trillium Lake and the famed Timberline Lodge can be spotted on its slopes. Hike an easy 2-mile loop around this scenic 63-acre lake in Mount Hood National Forest near Government Camp, Oregon. ...Read more.

What makes Mirror Lake Trail such a popular hike? For starters, it is very approachable. The trailhead is just off Highway 26 by Ski Bowl West in Government Camp, Oregon. The creek-crossing hike through a forest of firs is appealing too. The main reason people are drawn to this 4.3-mile round trip hike (with 550 feet of elevation change) is sure to be the potential for postcard views of Mount Hood, rising tall over its own reflection in Mirror Lake. ...Read more.

Before your visit to Lake Tahoe goes up in smoke, take a hike to Chimney Beach - where a standing-on-its-own fireplace and chimney serve as an unsual landmark for a lovely little cove. The brick chimney is all that's left of an old cabin built in the sand between boulder-strewn points on the east shore of Lake Tahoe. If curiosity about the chimney draws you to Chimney Beach, the beautiful lake views and clear turquoise water will be what keeps you hanging around. ...Read more.

Gaze out from Route 50 as it travels along the southeast side of Lake Tahoe and you'll find nice views of the lakeshore and its surrounding mountains. Seven miles up from the state border in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada Route 50 slips through a tunnel in a tall pointed ridge of volcanic rock. The road itself is scenic, but the sight of Cave Rock should have you speculating how superb things must look from the top. ...Read more.

In the summer of 2018, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park experienced the most dramatic volcanic activity in it's more than century long history. Land considered stable was humbled and demolished. When the earth stopped exploding and when the shaking of 60,000 earthquakes ceased, Crater Rim Drive, the road that ringed Kīlauea, was ruined in many places. ...Read more.

Filled with bold volcanic features and landscapes reinvented by eruptions, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park might seem an unlikely place to find a deep-rooted forest packed with plant diversity and a thriving bird population. Kīpukapuaulu rises like an oasis, framed the less-fertile lands forged by more recent lava flows. Kīpukapuaulu Trail is a 1. ...Read more.

Trees grow big and strong, but they are outmatched by the forces of lava. A tree's last stand against a lava flow can result in a tree mold - a hole in the surface of hardened lava where a tree once stood. Tree molds provide information about lava flows and preceeeding forests. See tree molds with your own eyes at a spot near the entrance of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. ...Read more.

Kīlauea Volcano underwent major transformations when it erupted in the summer of 2018. See changed landscapes in and around Kīlauea Caldera from Steaming Bluff, where steam escapes from hot spots just below your feet! Behind the bluff, a hydrothermal area called Sulphur Banks displays colorful mineral deposits, accompanied by eggy smells. Sulphur Banks Trail – Crater Rim Trail Loop starts from Kīlauea Visitor Center, takes a boardwalk through the Sulphur Banks, stops at Steaming Bluff, and then circles back through rainforest along Crater Rim Trail. ...Read more.