Assateague Island National Seashore was created 22 years after neighboring Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect migratory birds, like the greater snow goose. In combination with Assateague State Park, they protect a 37-mile stretch of undeveloped barrier island that crosses the border of Maryland and Virginia (and is very close to Delaware). The National Park Service (NPS) manages the National Seashore and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the National Wildlife Refuge, each with their own visitor center.
Highlights
Museum, film, wild ponies, camping, kayaking, swimming, beachcombing, Life of the Dunes Trail, Life of the Forest Trail, Life of the Marsh Trail
Must-Do Activity
Stop by the Assateague Island Visitor Center before driving over the Verrazano Bridge onto the barrier island. The beach is the big draw here, and there also are nice hiking trails and kayak rentals are available. The over-sand vehicle (OSV) zone requires a permit for four-wheel drive vehicles to drive on the beach and camp. Keep an eye out for wild ponies, the subject of the classic children’s book Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (which made our Top 10 NPS Novels list).
Best Trail
Life of the Dunes Trail is a three-quarter-mile loop just inland from the beach, while half-mile Life of the Forest Trail and Life of the Marsh Trail offer boardwalks on the bayside of the barrier island. The best hike may be simply walking down the beach.
Instagram-worthy Photo
Assateague Island’s most renowned residents are its wild ponies, purported to have swum ashore from a wrecked Spanish galleon.
The access roads are paved, but with a permit you can drive 13 miles of beach on the Maryland side and five miles on the Virginia side. It takes about 1.2 hours to drive the highways between the north and south bridges to Assateague Island.
Camping
On the Maryland side, the NPS operates two campgrounds with cold showers, but the one in Assateague State Park offers hot showers. Two oceanside backpacking camps and four bayside kayak-in camps are also available by permit.
The limestone in Kentucky formed 350-million years ago beneath a tropical sea and was dissolved over time by underground rivers that continue to flow today. You can see running water in the Bottomless Pit on the Historic Tour, just before squeezing through Fat Man’s Misery. Make the most of your visit by hiking the hills and signing up for more than one cave tour.
Optional stop at Lost River Cave
There are several privately-owned caves outside the National Park around the town of Bowling Green, and you can take an underground Cave Boat Tour in Lost River Cave.
Optional stop at National Corvette Museum
This Chevrolet sports car has been produced at the neighboring Bowling Green Assembly Plant since 1981. This is the infamous museum where a sinkhole opened up February 12, 2014 and swallowed eight rare Corvettes. The museum reopened the very next day and eventually five of the cars were recovered. The museum now has an exhibit on the event that includes a game where visitors can virtually recover Corvettes from the sinkhole.
Even if you are familiar with his life story, it is a good idea to watch the film at the visitor center before climbing the stairs to the scale model of the birth cabin inside the Memorial Building. A ten-mile drive takes you to the reconstructed Lincoln house at Knob Creek Farm, where you can hike the Overlook Trail if you have time.
Day 2
Churchill Downs
Located next to the University of Louisville campus, the Kentucky Derby racetrack has become a year-round tourist destination with a museum where kids can pet horses and try on jockey clothing.
Muhammad Ali Center
Part of Museum Row, this six-story cultural center is dedicated to boxer Muhammad Ali, a native of Louisville. Other stops include the Kentucky Science Center, Frazier History Museum, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, KentuckyShow!, and…
Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory
The Louisville Slugger baseball bat has been produced at four locations around the city since the original shop opened in 1884. Admission includes a factory tour, in addition to access to interactive exhibits, batting cages, and the Signature Wall where the original 1905 contract is displayed that made Honus Wagner the first ever athlete to endorse a product. Outside the museum, anyone can pose with the world’s largest baseball bat that stands 120 feet tall and weighs 68,000 pounds.
Optional stop at Louisville Mega Cavern
Stretching underneath the Watterson Expressway and the Louisville Zoo, this former limestone mine is classified as the largest building in Kentucky.
Established as a National Park Service unit in 2018, this Civil War fort is located 20 miles south of Lexington. Originally developed as the state-run Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park, it has a historical museum, interpretive film, and hiking trails. Its interpretive film made it on the list of Top 10 Films at National Park Service Visitor Centers.
The Gorge Underground Kayak Tour
The crystal-clear subterranean waters of a 100-year-old flooded limestone mine are illuminated by LED lights and headlamps on this guided kayak tour.
Optional stop at Rail Explorers
Pedal a railbike with an electric assist motor on a journey ten miles roundtrip on railroad tracks over the decommissioned 1889 Young’s High Bridge 283 feet above the Kentucky River.
Optional stop at University of Kentucky
Famous as a basketball school, it might be worth visiting the state during the winter to watch a game inside Rupp Arena.
The spectacular sandstone bridges of Red River Gorge Geological Area are a major reason this National Forest sees more than one-million visitors annually. Daniel Boone National Forest encompasses nearly 100 developed recreation areas and 600 miles of trails.
Optional stop at Natural Bridge State Resort Park
Located next to Red River Gorge Geological Area, this natural bridge is 65 feet tall and 78 feet across. There are several different trails that provide views of the impressive 24-foot-thick sandstone span, in addition to a Skylift that provides access to visitors with physical disabilities. The park also has a lodge, cottages, swimming pool, campground, and hosts square dances in the summer.
Day 5
Cumberland Falls State Resort Park
The DuPont Family purchased the surrounding land after a hydroelectric dam was planned upstream and donated it to the state in 1931. Their forward thinking preserved a beautiful 68-foot-tall waterfall on the Cumberland River that is also an impressive 125 feet wide and famous for the moonbow visible in its spray on full moon nights. In addition, the 1,657-acre park has 44-foot Eagle Falls, as well as 51-room lodge and Olympic-size pool, but perhaps is best known for its traditional square dances held several nights per week in summer.
Mill Springs National Cemetery opened in 1867 as one of 12 original National Cemeteries. The battlefield driving tour starts from there south down Kentucky Highway 235 to Zollicoffer Park and includes six more stops on the driving tour north of Lake Cumberland. There is no bridge across the reservoir, so reaching the final two stops requires backtracking and connecting to Kentucky Highway 1275.
Straddling the Tennessee-Kentucky border, the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River was once considered for damming before its federal designation in 1974. It has several sandstone arches and waterfalls, but is best known for its Class IV whitewater rapids and the concessionaire-run Big South Fork Scenic Railway. With several campgrounds and lodges to choose from, it is easy to spend a few days hiking to discover some of the 400 miles of trails in this wild corner of the Cumberland Plateau.
Optional stop at a bourbon distillery
There are so many options across the state to visit a distillery and sample Kentucky bourbon, that I am sure you can find one if that fits your itinerary.
In the corner where the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia all converge, you can see all three states if you drive to the top of Pinnacle Overlook at 2,440 feet in elevation. Reservations for the bus tours to the Hensley Settlement or Gap Cave typically sell out each day, but there are 85 miles of shady trails through the park’s 24,000 acres of forest for hiking and backpacking (free permit required).
Optional stop at Black Mountain
Located off Route 160, the state’s high point at 4,145 feet is accessible on a 3.4-mile out-and-back trail with 531 feet of elevation gain.
In southwestern Kentucky, the U.S. Forest Service manages these 106,458-acres. It gets its name from the narrow strip of land left after the damming of the Tennessee River to create Kentucky Lake and the Cumberland River to create Lake Barkley. In addition to opportunities for traditional watersports, this area has several attractions found along the Woodlands Trace National Scenic Byway. These include developed areas like the Golden Pond Visitor Center and Planetarium, Elk and Bison Prairie, Woodlands Nature Station, and Turkey Bay Off-Highway Vehicle Area.
Ark Encounter
Opened in Williamstown in 2016, this creationist theme park is highlighted by its 510-foot-long representation of Noah’s Ark from the Bible’s book of Genesis. There is a petting zoo on the grounds with kangaroos, camels, and other exotic animals. In addition, the park has a zipline, virtual reality theater, and a restaurant with a seating capacity of 1,500 guests (making it one of the world’s largest eating establishments). The same organization also operates the pseudoscientific Creation Museum 45 miles away in Petersburg, which depicts humans and dinosaurs coexisting.
Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail
This 282-mile-long trail runs from Tennessee north into Daniel Boone National Forest and Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (where a camping permit is required). Marked by white turtle blazes, the trace passes through Alum Ford primitive campground, from where a short jaunt takes hikers to 113-foot-tall Yahoo Falls, which you can walk behind.
Mt. Hood National Forest is named for the 11,249-foot-tall stratovolcano that dominates the skyline east of Portland. It has 12 glaciers that feed the amazing waterfalls of the region, several of which you can drive right up to in Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (see our blog post). This area was first established as the Bull Run Forest Reserve in 1892 and was considered for National Park status beginning in 1940. One famous destination is Bagby Hot Springs (fee), accessible by a 1.4-mile trail to hand-hewn tubs with cedar plumbing. The lower bathhouse contains three individual log tubs and one six-foot round tub, while the upper bathhouse contains another six-foot round tub on an open deck.
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The highest of the five ski resorts on Mt. Hood is located at the end of a steep, six-mile-long paved drive off Highway 26. It is home to Timberline Lodge, a National Historic Landmark you might recognize from the opening scenes of the 1980 film The Shining. The ornate woodwork from the 1930s harkens back to a bygone era of craftsmanship, which is on display throughout the main lobby and the Rachael Griffin Historic Exhibition Center. Downhill skiing is sometimes open throughout the summer, but even without skis you can take the sky ride to 7,000 feet in elevation for great views south of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters in Deschutes National Forest. Spring is the season for summitting Mt. Hood, and climbers must carry a free uphill travel pass and a WAG bag (human waste pack out bag). Another popular spot, Olallie Scenic Area, is a high-elevation lake basin north of Mt. Jefferson. Mountain bikers are drawn to Mt. Hood National Recreation Area (see our blog post).
Best Trail
The hike behind Tamanawas Falls leaves from a trailhead near Sherwood Campground, where a rolling two-mile hike rises a cumulative 360 feet through a shady Douglas-fir forest as it follows the course of Cold Spring Creek. At the base of the 100-foot-tall waterfall, a careful climb up slippery wet rocks takes hikers behind the curtain of water. There are 1,200 miles of trails in the National Forest, including the 40.7-mile Timberline Trail built around Mt. Hood by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. Part of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail shares this route as it skirts the volcano’s western slope.
Watchable Wildlife
Mt. Hood National Forest has both Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain elk, as well as mule deer, red foxes, coyotes, mountain lions, and black bears. Less commonly seen are badgers, American pika, and Pacific marten. Large birds include golden eagles, pileated woodpeckers, and Steller’s jays. Situated at 4,900 feet in elevation, 240-acre Olallie Lake is stocked with both rainbow and brook trout. The Sandy River and its tributaries have runs of chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead.
Photographic Opportunity
One particularly great spot to photograph Mt. Hood is from Lost Lake, which has canoe rentals and a nice three-mile hiking trail that encircles it. We have also heard that Trillium Lake offers a great view.
Peak Season
Summer
Fees
$10 day use fee (no America the Beautiful passes accepted, but some take a Northwest Forest Pass) at the most popular areas like Trillium Lake; $15 at Lost Lake with no passes accepted; $5 per person at the Bagby Hot Springs with no passes accepted; $5 (or America the Beautiful pass) at Frog Lake Sno-Park/Trailhead; State of Oregon Sno-Park permit required November 1 through April 30 at some trailheads; see website for details: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mthood/passes
Road Conditions
The road is paved to Timberline Lodge, but there are many unpaved roads in this area, some of which are in bad shape due to the high amounts of precipitation.
Camping
There are more than 70 campgrounds in Mt. Hood National Forest, including seven in Olallie Scenic Area. The popular Bagby Campground near the hot springs does not take reservations. Dispersed camping is a great way to enjoy the area.
Mt. Hood from Timberline LodgeGlaciers and fumarolesScott going up The Chute to summit Mt. HoodView south from Mt. Hood’s summitMt. JeffersonTimberline LodgeTimberline LodgeLost LakeTamanawas FallsTamanawas FallsTamanawas FallsTamanawas Falls
In December 1808, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln moved with their infant daughter to a 300-acre farm near Sinking Spring, where soon their son Abraham would be born on February 12. Two years later they moved to a more fertile farm ten miles northeast on Knob Creek. The family left for Indiana five years after that, where today you can find Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. The original birthplace cabin was dismantled before 1865, but a cabin built nearby using some of the Lincoln logs was purchased three decades later for the purpose of exhibiting a traveling replica. When that replica cabin was placed inside the Memorial Building in 1911, it was too large for tourists to walk around it, so it was decreased in scale from 16-by-18 feet to 12-by-17 feet. In 2001, the National Park Service acquired the privately-owned boyhood home reconstruction at Knob Creek Farm, leading to the redesignation back to a National Historical Park.
Highlights
Memorial Building, film, Knob Creek Farm, Overlook Trail
Must-Do Activity
The future U.S. President came from humble beginnings, and here in Kentucky is where his education began. Even if you are familiar with his life story, it is a good idea to watch the film at the visitor center before climbing the stairs to the scale model of the birth cabin inside the Memorial Building. A ten-mile drive takes you to the reconstructed Lincoln house at Knob Creek Farm, where you can hike the Overlook Trail if you have time.
Best Trail
Boundary Oak Trail is 0.3 miles and starts near the Memorial Building, while 0.7-mile Big Sink Trail starts from the picnic area on the other side of Highway 31E. At Knob Creek Farm, Overlook Trail is 3.1 miles out-and-back with 348 feet of cumulative elevation gain.
Photographic Opportunity
Exactly a century after Abraham’s birthday, President Theodore Roosevelt was on hand for the laying of the cornerstone for a Memorial Building where the Lincoln family cabin once stood.
Outside Hodgenville, all roads are paved to the Birthplace Unit of the park and the Boyhood Home Unit at Knob Creek, which is ten miles northeast on U.S. Highway 31E.
Camping
Located 25 miles northeast on Highway 31E, My Old Kentucky Home State Park has a 39-site campground with RV hookups, plus an 18-hole golf course.
William Howard Taft was the nation’s 27th President and 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the only person to hold both positions in U.S. history. Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in this house in Cincinnati, the city where he attended law school after graduating from Yale (where he later served as a professor). Taft was promised a Supreme Court nomination by President William McKinley when he sailed for the Philippines in April 1900 where he would stay as Civil Governor until December 1903. After McKinley’s assassination, he would have to wait for his Supreme Court seat until 1921. His mother sold the Cincinnati house in 1899 and it was structurally altered and turned into apartments, so the National Park Service completed extensive restorations. Taft’s son Robert Alphonso Taft served as a U.S. Senator representing Ohio, and his father had been Secretary of War and U.S. Attorney General.
Highlights
Guided tour of restored mansion, museum, film
Must-Do Activity
Visitors can park at the Taft Education Center next to the house where there are museum exhibits, a bookstore, and a film screening room. Guided tours that last 30 minutes are the only way inside the house, a Greek Revival design that is decorated with Victorian-era furnishings.
Best Trail
None
Photographic Opportunity
The museum has an audio-animatronic figure of Taft’s son Charles Phelps Taft II wearing fishing gear and telling stories about members of the Taft family.
Free paved parking is available at this site that is easily accessible from Interstate 71.
Camping
North of Cincinnati, Hueston Woods State Park offers 490 campsites, 59 cabins, and a lodge. The scenic Hocking Hills State Park has 172 campsites (reservations recommended) and is one of the most popular places to camp in Ohio.
