Deep in the Sonoran Desert sits Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Sharing its southern border with Mexico, this park features scenic drives, wide open desert expanses and most notable of all – thousands of its namesake Organ Pipe Cactus. It’s the only place in the United States where Organ Pipe Cactus grows wild, but that isn’t the only wild thing about the…
There’s nothing better than ending the night around a campfire with some gooey warm chocolate right? You can’t go wrong with the traditional toasted marshmallow s’more when camping, but when you’re ready to take it up a notch, surprise your crew with these dutch oven brownies. They’re super easy to make using just 4 ingredients (including a box mix) and require very…
It’s a sure sign Spring is on its way – flowers blooming in the Arizona desert. Ironically, I still think it’s puffy jacket & hat weather, but apparently mother nature seems ready to shed her winter coat and try on something a bit more colorful. In the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve just north of Phoenix, you’ll find over 30 miles of trails. In…
When I started visiting National Parks a few years ago I did the obvious tourist thing – stopped at every visitors center to find just the right souvenir. At some of them I found awesome postcards or artwork to hang on my walls. At some I chose a t-shirt or magnet. But pretty quickly I decided I wanted to buy something to…
The Maxine Lakin Nature Trail, also known as trail #60, is a 1.2 mile loop on North Mountain – part of the North Mountain & Shaw Butte park in north Phoenix, Arizona. Its central location in the Phoenix metro makes this a great park to explore when you’re short on time but want to get a quick hike in. With several convenient…
Voyageurs National Park, located on the Minnesota/Canada border, is an incredibly unique park – a series of interconnected lakes, rivers and streams with hundreds of small islands scattered throughout. A small number of short hiking trails are scattered throughout the park along with two visitors centers on “mainland” Minnesota. And it is the only National Park I’m aware of at which all…
The California Riding & Hiking Trail traverses over 35 miles of Joshua Tree National Park backcountry, making it a terrific 2-4 day weekend backpack trip. The 35 mile trail is a point to point – between the Black Rock Canyon Campground area in the north west portion of the park and ending at the North Entrance near Twentynine Palms. If you have…
First things first, let’s talk names. The hike I’m going to tell you about would best be described as the “Second Water to Boulder Canyon to Cavalry to Dutchman Trail Loop.” However, if you’re looking it up on AllTrails – a super popular hiking app – you’re going to see that it’s called the “Calvary Trail“. While the difference between “Cavalry” and…
Havasupai is certainly one of the most picturesque places I’ve backpacked, but it’s also one of the more uniquely challenging trips I’ve taken. If you haven’t heard of it, quickly do a Google image search and I’m pretty sure it’s getting added to your bucket list. Now when I say challenging, I don’t actually mean that it’s a hard hike. It’s about…
These might be the best thing since sliced bread… no seriously. Thanks to the hot cast iron, the bottoms are lightly crunchy and the tops soft and pillowy sweet. Although camping trips for me are usually about long hikes and trying to pack in as much exploring as I can, I always try to pick one morning we can take it easy…