Posts in category “Recreation”

The U.S. Forest Service today announced its My Neighborhood Forest photo contest, celebrating America’s urban and community forests. The Grand Prize winner will receive $200 in outdoor gear courtesy of the National Forest Foundation. The contest , which runs from April 11 – July 22, seeks to highlight the natural beauty that spring and summer bring to U.S. neighborhoods, communities and cities, as well as the crucial role of trees in the places we call home. Those interested in... (Read more…)

This article was originally published in the Summer/Fall 2010 issue of Your National Forests , the official magazine of the National Forest Foundation. To read the complete issue, click here .  Shaped by Water Dripping methodically from cavern ceilings, meandering through shady oaks and hickory trees, tumbling over the edge of rocky bluffs – water feeds and shapes and defines the landscape of northern Arkansas and its Ozark National Forest . This sculptor of the Ozarks... (Read more…)

In the Eastern United States, National Forests are almost myths. People have heard of National Forests, but they don’t really know where they are or how they work. Until not too long ago, I was one such person. Growing up in Michigan, my family went on maybe a dozen camping trips with our pop-up camper at state campgrounds. I had never camped in a tent in the middle of the wilderness. I never doubted that I could, I just never had the opportunity to prove it to myself. This... (Read more…)

Have you ever stood in a field of grasses towering over your head? Have you felt small in a wide open sea of grass? Soon the majestic prairie will once again provide a sense of awe for residents and visitors alike. Less than an hour from Chicago, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie offers visitors a chance to experience Illinois, and much of the Midwest, how it once was: tallgrass prairie. From Army to Prairie Beginning in 1940, the open space of Midewin became the... (Read more…)

Earlier this month winter finally made an appearance for much of the Western half of the country. As beautiful as the snow is on the mountains, it can quickly turn deadly. Avalanches rage throughout the backcountry of mountains throughout the west. This week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a skier triggered an avalanche down Taylor Mountain. Luckily, no one was injured.  In Colorado, however, skiers were not so lucky. On Sunday two avalanches claimed the lives of two skiers at Vail... (Read more…)

Here in Montana, when you mention the East to a born-and-bred Montanan, it often conjures images of skyscrapers, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and throngs of people.  This isn’t the East I know.  My East is filled with spectacular wildlands, places where you can drive for ages on dirt roads, spend a day exploring backwoods waterfalls, and look out over an endless expanse of rolling, snow-covered hills, where there is a beautiful blur between the natural and the cultural, the... (Read more…)

Before I moved to Northwestern Washington to serve in a year-long AmeriCorps internship for the National Forest Foundation, I had visited the Seattle area a few times. Each time, the weather had been a typical overcast day, with showers ranging from a light sprinkle, to a heavy downpour. Having grown up in Central Oregon, where there are about as many sunny days as there are in Hawaii, I knew that it would take some time getting used to the cloudy, heavy grey skies. The first time I... (Read more…)

Less than an hour from downtown L.A., Angeles National Forest is truly a “backyard forest.” Within the San Gabriel Mountains, the forest includes nearly 700 miles of trails traversing mountains, canyons, forests and more. Much of the forest’s landscape is chaparral, shaped by a Mediterranean climate of mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers filled with hardy, drought tolerant species. Five wilderness areas offer visitors the chance to escape the congestion of the greater Los... (Read more…)

Reaching high into the heavens or rolling gently across the landscape, mountains have a mystique that captures our imaginations. In America and around the world, mountains shape the lives of hundreds of millions of people just as they shape the skyline. In an effort to recognize the important role mountains play across the globe, the United Nations General Assembly designated December 11 as International Mountain Day in 2003. The success of the UN International Year of Mountains, which... (Read more…)

If you’re looking for a National Forest to get your feet wet in, stop through Ocala National Forest. Less than an hour and a half north of Orlando, Florida, Ocala National Forest has more than 600 lakes, rivers and springs to explore. In addition to water opportunities, the Ocala has hiking and horse trails, campgrounds and more. Plus, as cold weather settles in up north, the Ocala makes for a great winter getaway. Longleaf pine forests once covered 90 million acres of the... (Read more…)