5/13/2008 at 4:17 PM
Tags: National Parks, Beaches, Summer Travel, Outdoor Travel (all tags)
Apparently, Cape Hatteras National Seashore is a better tourist attraction than the tallest brick lighthouse in the US. North Carolina's Outer Banks is home to both, but the area earned the nickname "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" thanks to all the ships that have been lost off the shore.
Visitors are free to bring their vehicles onto the sand and shore to find the perfect spot for a summer afternoon. As of this May, though, drivers can only practice sand time trials between the hours of 6 am and 10 pm. The new rules are in effect in order to protect the nesting areas of the sea turtle and shore bird populations in this area.
Further south, Ocracoke Island is the most remote island of the Outer Banks and can only be reached by free ferry from Hatteras Island. Not to be outdone by its sibling to the north, Ocracoke has its own snazzy lighthouse as well as an excellent beach.
If you grow tired of all the swimming, driving, and lighthouse looking, snag a spot on the beach and set up camp. Fees start at $20 a night this summer; be sure to get there early.
Related Stories:
· Cape Hatteras National Seashore [Official Site]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Seamus Murray]
by kjb
5/09/2008 at 9:15 AM
Tags: Brazil Travel, National Parks, Animals (all tags)
Although most of the travel news coming out of Brazil recently is a bit odd--think floating priests and blue airlines--the Chapada Diamantina National Park has also been pumping out a few press releases, simply because it's stunningly beautiful. Their words, but we tend to agree.
A national park since the 1980s and in Bahia state in the northeast of the country, Chapada Diamantina is full of caves, rivers and hiking trails, some traces of gold and diamonds and tons of animals: parrots, lizards, and even jaguars and pumas.
Despite the PR push, info on Chapada Diamantina mentions that "there is no infrastructure support for visitors in the park." The tourist board recommends carrying water and sandwiches. We presume the sandwiches are to pacify hungry pumas that happen to pass by.
Related Stories:
· Valle de Capão, Brazil [About.com]
· Balloon Ride Goes Awry in Brazil [Jaunted]
· Brazil Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: philgee]
by amandak
5/07/2008 at 1:10 PM
Tags: National Parks, Outdoor Travel, Dangerous Travel (all tags)
Officials hope the six lakes of Band-e-Amir, in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, will soon be the centerpiece of the country's first national park. The Wildlife Conservation Society and USAID have promised money and assistance for the project, including a paved road to the area that will make it much easier to reach.
But when you're a small-time farmer or shepherd trying to scrape by in a war-torn country, putting natural resources off-limits doesn't sound like the best idea. One local wonders how he'll power his flour mill if he's not allowed to use the area's waterfalls for power. A Wildlife Conservation Society official says park rules won't be as rigid as they are in, say, the US:
I don't think that our job here...is to re-create an American park. And, in fact, other than gentle nudges, I don't really want to be saying, 'Here is the vision.' I want the vision to be grown from theirs.
How that all shakes out is still up in the air--as is payment for the current park rangers. Might yet be awhile till we see this one in Lonely Planet Afghanistan.
Related Stories:
· Amid War, Afghanistan Builds Its First National Park [NPR]
· War on Terrorism Travel: Lonely Planet Cracks Afghanistan [Jaunted]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: tracyhunter]
by pbb
4/14/2008 at 3:05 PM
Tags: National Parks, Outdoor Travel, Spring Travel, Hiking, Nature (all tags)
Hibernation time is over! Maine's Acadia National Park reopens its central Park Loop Road tomorrow for the official season. The road, built by philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. as a set of carriage trails criss-crossing the preserve, takes visitors throughout the park, which is located primarily on Mount Desert Island.
The only national park in New England is heavily traveled during the summer months but it's a great place to hike in spring, before the hordes arrive. Use of a camp site is just ten dollars a night.
Need some gear and driving up? Swing by the 24-hour L.L. Bean store in Freeport.
Related Stories:
· Acadia National Park [Official Site]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]
· Spring Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: dbking]
by egw
4/14/2008 at 12:14 PM
Tags: National Parks, Battlefields, History, Memorials, Green Travel (all tags)
A brand-new visitor center at Gettysburg National Military Park opens today. The building, designed to look like a 19th-century barn, brims with multimedia presentations, a feature film "experience" and hundreds of thousands of Civil War artifacts.
The new 22-minute film is narrated by Morgan Freeman and focuses on both the battle and its important aftermath. (While the fighting only lasted three days, it took four months for Abraham Lincoln to visit the site and deliver what came to be known as the Gettysburg Address.)
The visitor center will also house the Gettysburg Cyclorama. The 360-degree painting is currently being restored, but should be back on view by September. And of course walking the battlefield itself is still the main draw.
Interestingly, the new visitors center is LEED-certified as a green building, so you can count this as both a learning holiday and green travel.
Related Stories:
· Gettysburg National Military Park [Official Site]
· New Visitor Center Opens at Gettysburg [NPR]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: JonnyJonJon]
by pbb
4/03/2008 at 11:00 AM
Tags: Hiking, National Parks, Active Travel, Outdoor Travel (all tags)
There are hikes, and then there are hikes. Anyone looking to take on the Continental Divide Trail is interested in the latter variety--and is also probably a little nuts. The entire route stretches nearly 3,100 miles, following the Rocky Mountains from Montana down to New Mexico. And there are two catches: over 1,000 miles of the trail are incomplete, and the whole thing has no official map.
But with winter thawing out, the folks over at Backpacker magazine might be looking to finally change that. Last year editor-in-chief Jonathan Dorn called on readers to help map the CDT and got an outpouring of almost 3,000 applications to volunteer. Three hundred were chosen and grouped into teams, and they tracked their progress on the CDT Project blog.
By the end of September the teams had defined over 2,000 miles of the trail, and Backpacker's map editor Kris Wagner left off saying he planned to pick the project back up after the snow melted. We haven't heard anything since, but we'll be keeping an eye out--and maybe doing some training. The CDT Alliance says a thru-hike takes about six months--if you average 17 miles a day!
Related Stories:
· Continental Divide Trail Alliance [Official Site]
· Best Damn Weekend Ever: Montana's Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness [Backpacker]
· Hiking coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: bgautrea]
by benh
4/02/2008 at 3:25 PM
Tags: National Parks, Guidebooks, Lonely Planet, Hiking, Outdoor Travel, Active Travel (all tags)
Lonely Planet has just relaunched its series of national parks guides and the publisher sent over a couple for us to check out. We're not the biggest fans of LP books in general, but the sheer number of titles can certainly be helpful. (Who else sells chapters on Eritrea?)
There are four new guides to the national parks, and you'll get info on multiple parks in all but one of them. The books are designed specifically for the parks, with itineraries and activities based around what's inside the gates rather than in surrounding towns--though some of that info is there too.
What stood out to us is the cool "Hiking" section. Each book has a couple dozen different trails listed. After a header with the basics (distance, elevation change, etc.), a long description of the walk and what you might see follows. Totally handy, and given the fact that the new books are compact and light, you'll actually want to tote 'em along on the trail.
Related Stories:
· Lonely Planet A La Carte [Jaunted]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]
by pbb
3/14/2008 at 9:20 AM
Tags: Australia Travel, Nature, National Parks, Tourist Attractions (all tags)
Another reason to head Down Under is added to the list tomorrow, March 15, when the Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk opens. Located two hours south of Sydney, it's another eco-friendly tourist attraction that lets us commune with nature and snap a ton of beautiful photos at the same time.
Similar to the Western Australian tree top walk, the Illawarra Fly is a set of steel suspension bridges at the canopy level of the rainforest. Most of the walk is around 30 meters above the ground, and you can get half that far up again by climbing the Knights Tower, the ultimate viewing point.
The Illawarra Fly will be open every day from nine to five. It's not that cheap, at A$19 (nearly US$18) per adult, and you'll need to factor in another purchase: the driving directions mention that the turn-off for the Fly is opposite the Robertson Pie Shop, and you shouldn't pass up a chance to eat an Aussie pie.
Related Stories:
· Tom's Thumbs-Up For Fly [Mercury]
· Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk [Official Site]
· Walking on Top of Trees [Jaunted]
[Photo: doublebug]
by amandak
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