Tag Archives: film

Pennsylvania

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

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Overview

Rather than blast a canal through the mountains, this unique railroad carried sectioned canal boats 36 miles up and over the Alleghenies on a series of 10 inclined planes run by stationary steam engines.  It only ran between 1834 and 1854 before becoming obsolete when the Pennsylvania Railroad provided continuous service to the Ohio River Valley.

Highlights

Museum, film, Engine House 6, Lemon House, Skew Arch Bridge

Must-Do Activity

After watching the film in the visitor center, follow the boardwalk through a stone quarry to Engine House 6 Exhibit Building to see a life-sized model of a stationary steam engine and its cable system.  Continue on to Lemon House on Cresson Summit, built around 1832 to serve as a home and tavern. 

Best Trail

From the Engine House 6 Exhibit Building, you can walk a trail through the forest or the mowed incline less than half a mile down to Skew Arch Bridge, or you can drive there.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Skew Arch Bridge was the only road bridge purposely built along the portage.  The “skew” comes in because in 1833 the bridge design was changed to accommodate a bend in the Huntington, Cambria, and Indiana Turnpike Road.  The arch is 22 feet tall and demonstrates the excellence of stone masonry at the time as it was built without mortar.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Prince Gallitzin State Park offers a campground with showers 20 miles northwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania.

  • Visitor center
  • Tiff with a steam engine
  • A sectional canal boat, which was loaded onto rail cars
  • Tiff on the railroad incline
  • Inside Engine House 6 Exhibit Building
  • Lemon House
  • Inside Lemon House
  • Tiff playing the cup and ball game inside Lemon House

Explore More – What is Staple Bend Tunnel famous for being the first example of with railroads in the United States?

Utah

Golden Spike National Historical Park

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Overview

On May 10, 1869, there were actually four commemorative spikes (made of both silver and gold) to celebrate completing the monumental task to lay 1,776 miles of track connecting Sacramento and Omaha, linking west to east.  In front of a crowd of thousands that gathered at Promontory Point in Utah, Leland Stanford, President of the Central Pacific Railroad, missed when attempting to drive the final spike.

Highlights

Replica train engines, museum, film, Chinese Arch

Must-Do Activity

Thanks to the National Park Service, each day in the summer you can see working replicas of two steam engines, burning wood and coal, come together for a daily photo op.  It took some effort just to figure out where the junction occurred, since it was moved by 1870, in 1904 a shorter causeway was built across the Great Salt Lake, and during World War II the track here was ripped up. 

Best Trail

Big Fill Loop Trail (1.5 miles) leads to a ravine filled by hand to create a gentle grade for the trains.  Two unpaved auto tours (2 and 14 miles) follow the rail route, with the highlight stop being the natural limestone Chinese Arch.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The Central Pacific Railroad’s locomotive Jupiter and the Union Pacific’s No. 119 are both beautiful reproductions, but they only run between May and mid-October.  Please note that you are not allowed to mush pennies on the train tracks but they do have a 51-cent mushed penny machine inside the visitor center.

Peak Season

Summer, but also May 10 annually (especially in 2019, the 150th anniversary)

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/gosp/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

Fees

$20 per vehicle or free with America The Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

The main road to the visitor center is paved, but the two auto tour routes follow graded dirt roads.

Camping

None within the park, but Hyrum Lake State Park, Willard Bay State Park, and Box Elder Campground (U.S. Forest Service) are located near Brigham City, Utah.

  • The 20-starred flag that was flying when the spike was placed
  • Chinese Arch
  • Barn swallows at the visitor center
  • The coal-fired U.P. No. 119 was heating up
  • Baby ravens in a nest outside the visitor center
  • Taking the train off the track for the night
  • Short-eared owl
  • The spot where the two cross-country lines met

Explore More – How many miles of parallel grades did the two greedy companies (that got paid by the mile) lay out before Congress stepped in to establish Promontory Summit as the official meeting place?

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District of Columbia

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

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Overview

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818 and learned to read despite rules against teaching slaves.  He later escaped his bondage and published his autobiography in 1845, becoming the leading African-American voice for the abolitionist movement.  He lived at the nine-acre Cedar Hill estate in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1877 until his death in 1895.

Highlights

Historic home, great views of D.C., retro educational film

Must-Do Activity

There is a small museum at the National Park Service (NPS) visitor center and there is an educational film which seemed like it was recorded in the 1970s.  There are limited tickets for each tour inside the Cedar Hill estate which are reserveable online or you can show up and hope to get in like we did.  You are allowed to take photos inside the house.  Spoiler alert: Frederick died in the front hallway where your tour starts.

Best Trail

No trails, but you can walk the grounds of Cedar Hill where picnicking is allowed.

Instagram-worthy Photo

After you tour inside the home, be sure to stop at Frederick’s “man cave” which his family dubbed “the Growlery.”

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None, but a timed ticket it required for the tour inside the house.

Road Conditions

All roads paved with a small parking lot at the NPS visitor center.

Camping

There are NPS campgrounds in Greenbelt Park (Maryland) and Prince William Forest Park (Viriginia).

Explore More – Frederick Douglass served as U.S. Minister to which Caribbean nation?

New Mexico

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

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Overview

This interesting National Monument protects three separate Spanish missions that date to the 1600s, though its main visitor center in Mountainair, New Mexico is not next to any of them.  Their location near salt flats led to the name Salinas and contributed to the pueblos’ abandonment when a major drought struck in the 1670s.

Highlights

Gran Quivira, Quarai, Abó, film at main visitor center

Must-Do Activity

Gran Quivira has the remains of two churches (the second unfinished at the time of abandonment) and the most significantly excavated pueblo ruins (with kivas) of the three sites.

Best Trail

Each of the three pueblos has a paved walkway that leads through its ruins that leaves from the parking lot and past its contact station staffed by a National Park Service employee. 

Instagram-worthy Photo

The church at Quarai is the most complete of the three sites and its red walls photograph well at sunset.

Peak Season

Spring and Fall

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Manzano Mountains State Park has a seasonal campground 15 miles north of Mountainair, New Mexico.

  • The second unfinished church at Gran Quivira
  • Kiva at Gran Quivira
  • In addition to artifacts, the main visitor center has a good film to watch
  • Scott at Quirai
  • Cottontail rabbit ignoring the NPS sign

Explore More – Other than the major drought in the 1670s, what other factors contributed to the abandonment of these pueblos?

Florida

De Soto National Memorial

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Overview

Why create a memorial to a genocidal Conquistador when he was not the first Spaniard to land in Florida?  Good question.  Juan Pónce de León and Pánfilo de Narváez had both already met their demise in this region, but that did not deter Hernando de Soto from trying again in 1539.  He did not die until three years later, after he led his soldiers all the way to the Mississippi River leaving a path of destruction in their wake.

Highlights

Camp Ucita, film, Memorial Trail, Holy Eucharist Monument

Must-Do Activity

De Soto made landfall in Florida somewhere in the vicinity of modern-day Bradenton, Florida where the Manatee River reaches Tampa Bay on the Gulf of Mexico.  He left behind 100 men there in Camp Ucita, a replica of which was built on the site of the 27-acre De Soto National Memorial.  In the winter (a.k.a. touristy) months, costumed interpreters work at the replica Camp Ucita.

Best Trail

Hike the half-mile Memorial Trail through the mangroves to the Holy Eucharist Monument.  Then cool off in the air-conditioned visitor center to watch a 22-minute film on the Spanish expedition. 

Instagram-worthy Photo

If you visit around Halloween, a scary skeleton Conquistador atop a skeleton horse will greet you at the entrance to the National Park Service visitor center.

Peak Season

Winter

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

A paved road leads through a residential neighborhood to the visitor center, so watch out for dog walkers and joggers on the road and trail.

Camping

Myakka River State Park is southeast of Bradenton (where private campgrounds are also available).

  • Camp Ucita
  • A depiction of the fateful landing
  • Tiff walking along the nature trail
  • Trees along the Manatee River
  • Scott with Spanish moss
  • Scott along the banks of the Manatee River
  • Native Floridian dress in 1539
  • Tiff at the De Soto Monument
  • Tiff dressed up as a Conquistador

Explore More – The Spaniards brought many diseases to the indigenous peoples, but the introduction of which domesticated animal had the longest lasting ecological impact?