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Mississippi

Natchez National Historical Park

November 9, 2021 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Natchez National Historical Park

Mississippi

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1988

108 acres

Website: nps.gov/natc

Overview

Authorized in 1988, Natchez National Historical Park occupies 108 acres in the riverside town of Natchez, Mississippi. The town started as Fort Rosalie, a French trading post built on the Mississippi River in the early 1700s, now the site of the Visitor Reception Center. National Park Service (NPS) rangers or volunteers are always on location at the William Johnson House and Melrose Estate. A newer part of the park is located at the Forks of the Road where interpretive signs discuss its role as a major slave trading market from 1833 to 1863.

Highlights

Melrose Estate, William Johnson House, Fort Rosalie, Forks of the Road

Must-Do Activity

The museum in the William Johnson House tells the story of a slave freed at age 11 by his owner, also named William Johnson and presumed to be his father. The boy apprenticed to a barber, eventually becoming a successful businessman and slave owner himself. A diary he kept for 16 years provides insight into antebellum Natchez, including the May 7, 1840 tornado that destroyed downtown, which had about 5,000 inhabitants at the time. Inside the NPS museum you will learn the strange story of William Johnson’s murder in 1851 that ended in three mistrials. Although it is not part of the NPS unit, we also recommend a stop at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians State Historic Site for its free museum, film, historic mounds, and air conditioning (which is important in the humid summer).

Best Trail

Naturally, Natchez is one terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway, which also preserves its share of history starting at the Elizabeth Female Academy Site (Milepost 5.1) just outside town. There are a few portions of the Old Trace that you can still follow along on the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The Melrose Estate recalls the antebellum period when slaves grew cotton in the rich soil of the Mississippi River floodplains.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/natc/planyourvisit/hours.htm

The NPS museum at the William Johnson House is closed daily for lunch.

Fees

None for Fort Rosalie, William Johnson House, and Melrose Estate grounds, but $10 per person for mansion interior tours (no discount for America the Beautiful pass)

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Rocky Springs is the furthest south campground managed by the NPS on the Natchez Trace Parkway (Milepost 54.8) and it has no fees for camping.

Related Sites

Vicksburg National Military Park (Mississippi)

Cane River Creole National Historical Park (Louisiana)

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee)

Natchez Trace Parkway (Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee)

Nearest National Park

Hot Springs

Explore More – In 1839 a fire burned through Natchez destroying the William Johnson House, but the family was living in the country at the time to avoid an epidemic of what disease?

Pennsylvania

Steamtown National Historic Site

November 4, 2021 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

In downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, 52 acres have been turned into a dreamscape for railroad enthusiasts by the National Park Service (NPS). Specifically, the site is dedicated to steam engines, which truly got started in 1830 with the South Carolina Railroad and lasted more than century before being fully replaced by diesel locomotives. A unique opportunity at this park is the chance to take one of several steam train excursions (additional fee) that leave from the site.

Highlights

Museum, film, turntable, tours, steam train excursions

Must-Do Activity

Steamtown National Historic Site is located on the grounds of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, which relied on the region’s cleaner-burning anthracite coal. The park includes a theater, multiple museums, a 90-foot-diameter operating turntable, restoration shops, locomotives, and a collection of railroad cars. A highlight is one of the few Union Pacific “Big Boys” built to haul freight trains through the mountains of Utah and Wyoming. Guided tours are included with your admission fee, although there is enough to read and watch in the extensive museums to keep you busy all day long.

Best Trail

There is no trail, but you will get your daily steps if you tour the entire facility.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The turntable is surrounded on one half by the glass-fronted NPS visitor center and history museum, which makes for some cool photographs.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/stea/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads are paved and ample parking is available.

Camping

See our blog post on Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area for a list of State Parks and State Forests with campgrounds in the area.

Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (New York-Pennsylvania)

Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio)

Explore More – What year was the park’s oldest locomotive built for the Chicago Union Transfer Railroad Company?

List

Top 10 NPS Sites for Biking

November 2, 2021 Raven About The Parks 5 Comments

Many visitors to the National Park Service (NPS) system bring along their bicycles to fully enjoy their vacation, planning to ride on paved pathways or bumpy trails. Although some NPS hiking and horse trails are closed to bikes, many allow them and some have been built just for them. For example, a paved bike trail now connects Jackson, Wyoming with Grand Teton National Park. The NPS sites we chose for this list all have trails specifically designated for bicycle use. Click here to see all of our Top 10 Lists.

10. Canyonlands National Park (Utah)

Moab, Utah is a mountain biking mecca and the 100-mile White Rim Road is a popular challenge

9. Point Reyes National Seashore (California)

Although excluded from Wilderness areas, there are plenty of other roads and trails to explore north of San Francisco

8. Indiana Dunes National Park (Indiana)

The park has several designated bike trails, including the 9-mile Calumet Bike Trail

7. Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky)

Mountain biking the 32-mile Ferry Loop includes a ferry trip across the Green River, or try the 10-mile Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike and Hike Trail

6. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (Maryland-West Virginia-District of Columbia)

You can bike the entire 184.5-mile graded towpath that follows the Potomac River, camping at designated sites along the way

5. George Washington Memorial Parkway (Virginia)

The 18-mile Mount Vernon Trail passes NPS sites like Theodore Roosevelt Island and Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac

4. Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (Minnesota)

A 72-mile bike path follows the mighty Mississippi River through Minnesota

3. New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (West Virginia)

Stone Cliff, Southside, Kaymoor, and Keeney’s Creek Rail Trail all track the New River, or try the 13 miles of mountain bike trails built by the Boy Scouts of America

2. Acadia National Park (Maine)

The 45 miles of carriage roads are excellent for biking, but remember to yield to horses

…and finally the #1 National Park Service site for biking:

1. Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio)

A popular day trip is to bike 20 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail then pick up the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad for a cheap return ticket

Honorable Mentions

Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming-Montana-Idaho)

Every spring when snow plows are working to clear roads, bicycles get exclusive access to the Great Loop Road, but come prepared because there are no services

Glacier National Park (Montana)

Many cross-country bikers choose to take Logan Pass (6,646 feet) across the Continental Divide, but keep in mind that the 50-mile long Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed to bicycles between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee-North Carolina)

Most trails are closed to bicycles, but there are designated times when Cades Cove Loop Road is closed to motorists to allow bikers

Tiff at Great Basin National Park in Nevada

Ohio

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

October 28, 2021 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Overview

If you did not know there was a National Park in Ohio it is understandable since Cuyahoga Valley National Park was not officially designated until 2000. It is centered around the historic Ohio and Erie Canal, which opened in 1827 to connect Akron to the port of Cleveland on Lake Erie. Cuyahoga is an American Indian word meaning “crooked” and you will see why if you walk or bike down the 19-mile Towpath Trail where mules once pulled line boats through a series of locks (be sure to stop at Canal Visitor Center at Lock 38). If you plan it right, you can take your bike on board the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad for a cheap one-way ride.

Learn more in our guidebook to the National Parks, A Park to Yourself: Finding Adventure in America’s National Parks (available on Amazon).

Highlights

Brandywine Falls, Lock 38, Hunt Farm, Everett Road Covered Bridge, Gorge Parkway

Must-Do Activity

In the park’s southern end near Akron-Canton, you will find a great blue heron rookery and beaver marsh along the crooked Cuyahoga River. In the central section, you must stop to see the cascades of Brandywine Falls (see it depicted below in our original logo). Closer to Cleveland, discover the Bedford Reservation along Gorge Parkway, including beautiful Bridal Veil Falls. For a little culture in the outdoors, look up the summer schedule for Blossom Music Center or Porthouse Theatre. Fall is an especially popular time to visit when the leaves change, but with over 100 miles of trails within the park, there is plenty to explore in every season.

Best Trail

We highly recommend a hike on the two-mile Ledges Loop Trail where mossy sandstone cliffs are cloaked by a dense forest of hemlock and hardwood trees. Once a popular destination on the trail, Ice Box Cave is closed to protect the resident bat population, but similar spots nearby still offer a chance for exploration.

Instagram-worthy Photo

In the southern end of the park, Everett Road Covered Bridge has been rebuilt to demonstrate this once common construction method.

Peak Season

Fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/cuva/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There is no official campground in the park, but there are a variety of other lodging options including the historic Inn at Brandywine Falls.

James A. Garfield National Historic Site (Ohio)

First Ladies National Historic Site (Ohio)

*This design we created to celebrate Cuyahoga Valley National Park is available on a variety of products at* Cafe Press *and* Amazon.

Explore More – Who manages the Hale Farm and Village where costumed re-enactors bring history to life?

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Arizona

Wupatki National Monument

October 26, 2021 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Overview

In the open plateau northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona lies 35,000 acres set aside in 1924 to protect a collection of archaeological sites. A 35-mile drive through Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and adjacent Wupatki National Monument passes through ponderosa pine forests and sunflower-filled meadows on its way to an arid, rocky high desert. Archaeologists theorize the Ancestral Puebloan people were attracted to this place by the fertile volcanic ash deposited by the contemporaneous eruptions at Sunset Crater.

Highlights

Wupatki Pueblo, Lomaki Pueblo, Citadel and Nalakihu Pueblos, Wukoki Pueblo

Must-Do Activity

The most famous of the ruins is named Wupatki Pueblo, a three-story, 100-room house inhabited by Sinagua around AD 1100. At the height of its occupation, the structure was three stories tall and contained 100 rooms. Its location near a spring allowed villagers to farm the volcanically-enriched soil, plus the leisure to build an amphitheater and ball court. Here there is more than just crumbling ruins and pottery shards behind glass in a museum; there is a palpable feeling that this was a place where people lived.

Best Trail

The paved walking loop from the visitor center at Wupatki Pueblo is a half mile long and there are short interpretive trails at several additional ruins (see Highlights above), most located not far from parking lots.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Next to the ball court, do not miss the small opening to a larger cavern (or earthcrack) that breathes in or out depending upon the change in barometric pressure. It is not hard to imagine kids playing here hundreds of years ago.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/wupa/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$25 per vehicle (or America the Beautiful pass), which also covers entrance to neighboring Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Road Conditions

All roads to ruins are paved, but there is one dirt road that leads to the Little Colorado River, which forms the border with the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Camping

The U.S. Forest Service runs the Bonito Campground across from the Sunset Crater visitor center between May and October. Dispersed camping is allowed in portions of Coconino National Forest.

Tuzigoot National Monument (Arizona)

Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)