Outdoors Archive

The Best Hikes In Portland, Oregon

Since I’m growing overly excited to move to Portland in a few weeks, here is a guest post that covers some of the best hikes in Portland, Oregon.

Portland is quickly become a popular destination for many people. It’s an urban wonderland scattered with forests, mountains and rivers. Students in travel and tourism schools and seasoned travel agents around the world are putting Portland on their list of “must sees.”. Portland has been said to be one of the most …

A Day On Franz Josef Glacier

This post was written by Kimberly Juchnowski. She is a 20 something travel junkie who began her backpacking career back in 2007. She’s covered 14 countries across 4 continents thus far and continues her journey across the globe. She’s the owner of www.tikikiki.com, a site where she shares tips on Thailand Adventure Travel and info on Thailand tours and packages.

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New Zealand is no doubt a hot spot for adventure tourism.  People flock here from all around the globe to get their fill of adrenaline packed activities. One place you do not want to miss is the Franz Josef Glacier.

Florida Has A Ton Of Caves

While hiking around in Withlacoochee State Forest, we happen to run into a few “cavemen” who were working on restoring a cave. They told us a bunch of cool stuff about the caves found in Florida and pointed us in the right direction to find some of them.

Unfortunately, at the time we didn’t have any flashlights so we couldn’t do much other than look down and wonder what was down below. So we decided to head back up there with a few …

Mount Mitchell State Park

After spending 5 days and 4 nights hanging out in Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina, I can honestly say it’s one of my favorites places in the country (so far). The mountains are unlike any of the mountains I’ve seen out west and have a mystic feel to them, especially when the clouds surround them.

The hiking was incredible, especially when the trails were surrounded by moss covered trees and rocks. There were even a few waterfalls we came across that were …

Hiking The Appalachian Trail

One of the things my girlfriend and I have wanted to do for a long time is take a hike along the Appalachian Trail. Luckily we were able to check it out on our recent trip up to North Carolina. The weather was a tad cloudy but it was still an awesome experience.

The section of the trail we hiked was right along the Tennessee and North Carolina border. The elevation was somewhere around 5,000 ft. so that explains all the clouds. The clouds actually made the …

I’m Off To Climb A Mountain

It’s true…Florida is completely flat. Matter of fact, it’s almost impossible to find a hill, let alone a mountain to climb. So that’s why my girlfriend and I are hitting the road and heading up to North Carolina in a few hours.

For the first time in awhile, I plan on spending 6 full days in the wilderness with no access to the internet or a computer. It’s going to be a challenge but I feel the need to …

Hiking The Old Fort King Trail

After driving by the entrance to the Old Fort King Trail on our way to the Hillsborough River State Park, my girlfriend and I decided to head back to check it out.

The Old Fort King Trail is approximately 6.7 miles long and runs just south of the Hillsborough River State Park. It also runs into the John B. Sargeant Sr. Park which is right along the 301. It’s great for hiking and also looks like it would be fun to ride …

Hiking In Hillsborough River State Park

One of the best adventures I’ve had here in Florida happens to be hiking through the Hillsborough River State Park. The park is one of the oldest parks in the state of Florida and features hiking, canoeing, camping, and kayaking. Best of all, it’s located less than an hour outside of Tampa.

When it comes to hiking, the park has four different trails that you can choose from with a total of around 7 miles of trails. We opted to hike …

Hiking In Withlacoochee State Forest

It’s no secret that Florida is a flat state. There are no mountains and barely any hills from what I’ve seen. I miss mountains a lot more than I thought I would after leaving Arizona but I have not given up on finding some cool hikes here in the sunshine state.

The good news is that Florida does have a handful of state forests and parks that have some great hiking trails. A perfect example is Withlacoochee State Forest located near Dade City. My girlfriend and I made the drive up there from St Petersburg to check it out and were not disappointed.

Honeymoon Island State Park

Of all the places I have visited in Florida, Honeymoon Island State Park is currently my favorite. Not only is the beach amazing, but you can also hike through the tropical landscape and see all sorts of different things.

The two-mile hike takes you on a loop throughout the island where you can see all different types of wildlife. Osprey (a huge bird) seem to be everywhere and there are also a few Bald Eagles in the park. And who would have thought the park is also home to a ton of armadillos.

Besides hiking, you can also spend time on the beach swimming, snorkeling, and shelling. Not a bad place to spend a day out in the sun.