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I had three days for New River Gorge national park because I visited in the spring and wanted extra time in case the weather didn’t cooperate. But I found that it’s very easy to fill the days, especially once you combine some excellent nearby state parks, not all of which I even had time for! How to Get There I flew in and out of Charlotte, NC, which is about 3 hours… Read More
[Custer State Park / Black Hills National Forest, SD, Jun 20, 2025] It was going to be another hot day in Custer, so we had to start our day much earlier. With highs forecasted in the 90s, I wanted us to start our 7+ mile hike to the tallest peak in South Dakota as early as possible. We hit our hotel’s breakfast as soon as it opened at 6 am and managed… Read More
[Beckley, WV / New River Gorge National Park / Hawks Nest State Park, Apr 12, 2025] As forecasted, temps dipped into the mid 30s overnight! It was cold! I decided to spend the morning doing indoor touristy things in Beckley while waiting for the temps to rise in the afternoon. My first stop was the Exhibition Coal Mine. The mine opened about 1889 and operated until 1953, when the property sold to… Read More
[Tallulah Gorge State Park / Helen, GA, Apr 4, 2025] Now that I had made my way to Northwestern Georgia, I couldn’t resist two more locations in the area. I dont’ think I knew about Tallulah Gorge State Park when I lived in Georgia. I only became aware of it in the last few years through a reel I had seen on Instagram. It featured some lovely waterfalls and I recall the… Read More
[Hanalei & Kilauea, Kauai, HI, Feb 21, 2024] No early wake up today! We both naturally woke up between 6:30 and 7 am, and had a small breakfast at our hotel. Ash was nice enough to run to Starbucks for some coffee, too! After Ash’s failed boat snorkel, he really wanted to try snorkeling from the beach. The Poipu beaches we visited on our first day did not seem that great for… Read More
