Last Friday Tom and I met some friends to ride part of the Ohio and Erie Canalway Towpath Trail. This beautiful trail runs for 87 miles from Cleveland to Bolivar. The trail goes through five counties and is administered and maintained by four county park systems and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. For our ride …
From National Parks
Indiana Dunes National Park in Indiana
After visiting Pullman National Monument, Tom and I headed east along the shore of Lake Michigan to Indiana Dunes National Park. We visited Indiana Dunes State Park about 30 years ago, but had not returned to the area since then. We have wanted to visit since Indiana Dunes changed from a National Lakeshore to a …
Pullman National Monument in Chicago
Tom and I did a quick overnight trip to see Pullman National Monument in Chicago. Our main purpose on the trip was to visit one of the newest National Parks, Indiana Dunes, but Pullman is just a little further west on the south end of Chicago. Most of what I knew about Pullman before we …
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
The last National Park site that Tom and I visited, before heading home to Ohio, was Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. To Native Americans, Cumberland Gap was the passageway to their traditional hunting grounds on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. To the early pioneers, Cumberland Gap was the gateway to new land and …
Obed Wild and Scenic River, Tennessee
Obed Wild and Scenic River is another National Park site in eastern Tennessee. It was an easy drive from where we were staying in near Knoxville and we decided to visit. The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 sought to preserve free-flowing rivers to balance national policies of extensive dam building. In 1968, eight …
Oak Ridge, Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Tom and I have been waiting two years to visit Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We have visited the other two parts of the Manhattan Project National Historic Park – in Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico – and only needed Oak Ridge to finish the park. But we were waiting for the Department of Energy …
Big South Fork National River
Another National Park site that is just a short distance from Knoxville is the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. In fact, the Big South Fork is about the same distance west from Knoxville as the Great Smoky Mountains are to the east. Yet Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area only …
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tom and I have been to Great Smoky Mountains National Park many times. I went on vacations there with my family when I was young. Tom and I camped and hiked there when we were newly married. We have pictures of hiking on the trails when John was a little guy. Gatlinburg was our “home …
Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument
Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument is one of the newest National Park sites. It was dedicated on September 2020 after years of advocacy by the Mill Spring Battlefield Association. Thanks to the Association there is a beautiful Visitors Center and a very good museum already in place. Currently, Mill Spring Battlefield National Monument only has …
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Tom and I are back in Ohio now, but on the way we took a detour to see the National Park sites in eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. One of the places we visited was the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Tom and I always have mixed feelings about visiting presidential sites because they seem so limited. …