National Parks

Okefenokee

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Okefenokee

Merry Christmas from the Okefenokee!

We spent Christmas 2025 at the campground in the Laura S. Walker State Park in Georgia, just outside Waycross near the North end of the Okefenokee. We really enjoyed the campground on the banks of a peaceful lake with a variety of scenic walking trails through the campground and surrounding woods.

During our stay we took a 90 minute guided boat trip on the Okefenokee which started at the Richard S. Bolt Visitor Center at the east entrance to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near Folkston, Georgia. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Mary’s rivers.  The refuge provides habitat for threatened and endangered species, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, indigo snake, and wood stork, along with a wide variety of other wildlife.  It is world renowned for its amphibian populations that are bio-indicators of global health. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has 353,981 acres of National Wilderness Area within the refuge boundaries. In addition, the refuge is a Wetland of International Importance because of the Okefenokee Swamp’s importance and value on an international scale. The Okefenokee NWR is currently going through the nomination process to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our boat tour through Okefenokee Adventures was let by Bobby who was extremely knowledgeable about the Okefenokee flora and fauna. We had a fairly small group on our tour, so everyone got their questions answered in depth by Bobby. We saw lots of alligators basking in the sunshine along the banks of the canal as we headed into the swamp. The canal is a former logging canal but has not been commercially active for many years. In years past, the Cypress trees were harvested and shipped along the canal, but as they’ve had close to 100 years to recover there were many mature Cypress trees in evidence. A couple of miles along the canal we headed into an open area known as the Prairie, which had been created by earlier wildfires. There were great views across this area of the swamp, and we saw many birds including Sandhill Cranes, Egrets, and Blue Heron. Here you could see the floating peat islands beginning to form and repopulate with grass and trees that will eventually fill open areas to create a denser swampland. The name Okefenokee means Land of Trembling Earth which references the floating peat islands that form the swampland.

After the boat tour we took the Swamp Island Drive motor tour just outside the visitor center. This is a self-guided auto tour “lollipop route” of a total 7.4 miles. Swamp Island Drive has 12 numbered markers that indicate walking trails, historic sites, and other interesting points of interest. Near the end of the drive we visited the Chesser Island Homestead, a recreation of a 19th Century homestead that was occupied by the Chesser family through the mid-20th Century. The main building was closed during our visit, but we were able to see through the windows and look into some of the four rooms, including an indoor kitchen. Bathroom facilities were outside, but a bathtub was located on the back porch. We walked around the outbuildings that include a smokehouse, syrup shed, chicken coop, corncrib, and hog pen. The yard retains its original character – it is free of all vegetation, as was the custom of the time to reduce fire danger and increase visibility of snakes.

A highlight of our visit was the Chesser Island Boardwalk. We took the fully accessible boardwalk to the 40-foot Owls Roost Tower for a vast view of Seagrove Lake, prairies, and the Okefenokee Wilderness. We were there during the golden hour and were able to take some spectacular pictures as the sun was setting over the swamp.

Gettysburg National Military Park

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Gettysburg National Military Park

We visited the Gettysburg National Military Park in late October 2025 while staying at the nearby Thousand Trails Hershey RV Park in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

We decided to follow the auto audio tour which includes sixteen stops that provide a comprehensive overview of the three-day battle at Gettysburg during the American Civil War. We started our visit at the Museum and Visitor Center which gave a lot of information on the background to the battle as well as the battle itself and the aftermath. The battle took place between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, is widely considered the Civil War’s turning point, leading to an ultimate victory of the Union and the preservation of the nation. The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of both the Civil War and of any battle in American military history, claiming over 50,000 combined casualties.

The auto tour took us around many of the key locations around the battlefield, with informational displays at each stop that generally followed the chronological order of key battle elements. Some of the most noticeable features as we drove around the battlefield were the 1,320 monuments and markers that came in various shapes and sizes and have been constructed in some cases in fairly recent times.

As part of the auto tour we drove through the small town of Gettysburg as we visited the various battle sites that surrounded the town. The auto tour ended as the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. On November 19, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to take part in the dedication ceremonies for the new Cemetery. His brief speech, the Gettysburg Address still lives across place and time, and gave meaning to the sacrifices of the men who had struggled here, and stated his belief that the war would lead to a “new birth of freedom” for the nation.

Our visit to Gettysburg was very interesting and we gained a greater understanding of the history of the American Civil War in general as well as the specific Battle of Gettysburg.

 

Acadia National Park

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Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park encompasses nearly 50,000 acres along the Atlantic Coastline of Maine — including Mount Desert Island, Schoodic Peninsula, Isle au Haut, and other outer islands. 60 miles of coastline, 33 miles of scenic motor roads, 45 miles of carriage roads, and more than 150 miles of hiking trails offer numerous ways to explore the park. Acadia National Park is mostly located on Mount Desert Island, the largest island off the coast of Maine. The park stretches across about half of the island, roughly divided by Somes Sound to create east and west sides.

We visited Acadia National Park towards the end of August 2025 while staying at the Thousand Trails Patten Pond Camping Resort about 45-minutes away in Ellsworth, Maine. We were in the area for about 10-days and visited Acadia on three separate occasions to see some different areas of the park.

On our first visit we went to the east side of Mount Desert Island, which is the most visited area of Acadia. We drove the 27-mile Park Loop Road that offered outstanding views and access to popular spots. Constructed between 1921 and 1958, it allows motor vehicles access to the park separate from local roads and non-motorized carriage roads. Highlights along the loop included Sieur de Monts, Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, Jordan Pond, Cadillac Mountain, Eagle Lake, Bar Island, and Compass Harbor.

We started the loop drive at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center at the North entrance to the park, and shortly along the Park Loop we detoured to the nearby town of Bar Harbor where we stopped for lunch. Allen got to try an authentic Maine Lobster Roll at the Bar Harbor Lobster Company.  After lunch, we took a walk through the town and around the Shore Path which begins at the Town Pier, goes a short distance to the East past the Bar Harbor Inn, then wraps around a point before continuing South for about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile along the eastern shore of Mount Desert Island. Originally created around 1880, the path offers spectacular views of the Mount Desert Narrows and Atlantic Ocean beyond. Badly damaged by storms in January 2024, repair of the Shore Path was recently completed in June 2025.

After our visit to Bar Harbor, we rejoined the loop road and continued on around the south tip of Mount Desert Island for our last stop of the day at Jordon Pond. Jordan Pond is one of the park’s most pristine lakes, with outstanding surrounding mountain scenery. Glaciers carved the landscape, leaving behind numerous geological features. Jordan Pond’s beauty has become iconic—attracting multitudes of visitors for over a century who have enjoyed canoeing and kayaking, exploring nearby carriage roads, or trying famous tea and popovers at the Jordan Pond House. While we didn’t sample the popovers, we noted the many trails and carriage roads that intersected at Jordon Pond and planned to return another day with our e-bikes to explore the carriage roads.

Our second visit to the park was to explore the carriage roads on our e-bikes. Forty-five miles of rustic carriage roads, the gift of philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. and family, weave around the mountains and valleys of Acadia National Park. Rockefeller, a skilled equestrian, wanted to travel on motor-free byways via horse and carriage into the heart of Mount Desert Island. His construction efforts from 1913 to 1940 resulted in roads with sweeping vistas and close-up views of the landscape.

The roads were built to preserve the line of hillsides and save trees, align with the contours of the lands, and take advantage of scenic views. Approximately 16 feet wide, the carriage roads are an example of broken-stone roads commonly used at the turn of the 20th century. Gate lodges act as impressive welcomes to the carriage road system, stone-faced bridges span streams, waterfalls, motor roads, and cliff sides. Granite coping stones used as guardrails line the roads, affectionately called “Rockefeller’s teeth.”

We joined the carriage road system from the Brown Mountain Parking area near Lower Hadlock Pond off Sound Drive which runs along the east side of Somes Sound. From here we traveled east on the carriage roads about 3.5-miles to Jordon Pond. We crossed a number of the historical stone bridges on the way. We ate lunch at the Jordon Pond House on the deck overlooking Jordon Pond and the mountains and hills beyond.  After lunch we rejoined the carriage road system and took the Tri-Lakes Loop, a 10.9-mile loop trail that travels around Eagle Lake, Bubble Pond, and Jordon Pond. The carriage roads had spectacular views of the Lakes and surrounding forests, hills, and mountains as they wound through the park, passing several more historic stone bridges along the way. We completed the loop and headed back to our parking spot to complete a very pleasant day of e-bike touring.

Our third visit to the park was to the Schoodic Peninsula which is the only part of Acadia National Park found on the mainland. It boasts granite headlands that bear erosional scars of storm waves and flood tides. Although similar in scenic splendor to portions of Mount Desert Island, the Schoodic Peninsula is a more secluded area. It is intentionally managed by Acadia National Park as a minimally-developed, low-visitation area. We drove the 6 mile, one-way loop road around Schoodic Peninsula which offers views of lighthouses, seabirds, and forested islands. There were turn-outs along the road where it was easy to stop and enjoy the scenery or take a short walk to the coast. We took the Arey Cove Road at the southern end of the loop to Schoodic Point, where we parked and walked out on to the windswept, rocky point providing spectacular views of Mount Desert Island, and out into the Gulf of Maine and the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

Heading back to the loop drive from Schoodic Point, we stopped at the Schoodic Institute campus. When the U.S. Navy closed their Winter Harbor base on Schoodic Point in 2002, they turned the property back to the National Park Service, along with lodging, dining, and recreational facilities that now make up the largest of 18 National Park Service Research Learning Centers. We visited the Rockefeller Welcome Center in historic Rockefeller Hall that offered educational exhibits as well as park information and a park store. Rockefeller Hall was constructed in 1934 for the new naval base on Schoodic Peninsula. The base, strategically located on a quiet peninsula in by the north Atlantic Ocean, focused on radio communications with Europe. Like much of the base, Rockefeller Hall was funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The building was designed by Grosvenor Atterbury in a strangely out-of-place French Eclectic style and intended to be the centerpiece of the base. For several years, it served as an operation center and military housing.

Based on the park ranger’s recommendation, we walked the 1-mile Sundew Trail which took us through woods on the Schoodic Institute campus to the west and north facing shores of Schoodic Point with more spectacular views across to Mount Desert Island.

We completed the loop road around the Schoodic Peninsular with a late lunch at the
Musquito Harbor Brewing Company in Winter Harbor on our way back to our campground. We very much enjoyed our three days visiting Acadia National Park, which gave us a very good look at and had some different areas of the park. It was a beautiful park with a wide range of scenery with a good range of driving, cycling, and hiking options.

Photos of our visits to the various areas of the park are provided below. Click on the thumbnails to view the full-size pictures.

Indiana Dunes National Park

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Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park is located near the southern tip of Lake Michigan, covering 15-miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and comprised of over 15,000 acres of dunes, oak savannas, swamps, bogs, marshes, prairies, rivers, and forests. Originally authorized as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1966, a name change to the Indiana Dunes National Park was approved by Congress in 2019, making it the 61st national park.

We visited the Indiana Dunes National Park in late May 2025 while staying at the Thousand Trails Bear Cave RV Campground in Buchanan, Michigan about an hour away. We started our visit at the Visitor Center and watched a short movie that highlighted the biological diversity within the park. Over 1,100 flowering plant species and ferns make their homes in the park. The wildlife is also diverse. The park is renowned for its bird life; more than 350 species have been observed here. The park is an especially important feeding and resting area for migrating land and water birds.

From this Visitor Center we headed to the Dune Ridge Trail parking lot. Before taking the 0.7 mile loop trail, we walked the short distance along the road to Kemil Beach on the shore of Lake Michigan. Waves were breaking on the sandy beach, and the vast lake seemed just like an ocean shoreline. From the shoreline we could see the skyscrapers of the distant Chicago skyline across the lake to the northwest.

The Dune Ridge trail headed south from the trailhead parking lot through sandy dunes which quickly transitioned into a dense oak savanna. The loop trail led us to the top of the dune with sweeping views of the Great Marsh. One of the Park Rangers had recommended this trail to see the many diverse habitats in a short trail. It certainly did not disappoint, and we used our Seek App to identify many of the plants and trees along the trail.

From the Dune Ridge Trail we drove along East Lake Front Drive through the resort community of Beverly Shores. Along the way we passed the five historic homes from the 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair. The homes were built to demonstrate modern architectural design, experimental materials, and new technologies such as central air conditioning and dishwashers. The buildings were moved by barge and truck to Beverly Shores after the fair. Today the houses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and have been leased by the non-profit organization Indiana Landmarks. Through this organization, private individuals or families have subleased the homes and are rehabilitating them.

We spent an interesting few hours at the Indiana Dunes National Park and were surprised by the biological and ecological diversity so close to the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Had we stayed longer in the area we would have returned to experience some of the other areas of the park and the more than 50 miles of hiking trails.

Photos from our visit to the park are provided below. Click on the thumbnails for the photo links.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park

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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park

Above the entrance to the Lincoln Birthplace Memorial Building are carved these words.

“Here over the log cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born destined to preserve the Union and to free the slave. A grateful people have dedicated this memorial to unity, peace, and brotherhood among these States with malice toward none with charity for all.”

We visited the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park in rural Central Kentucky in May 2025 while staying at the Thousand Trails Diamond Caverns RV & Golf Resort about 45-minutes away in Park City, Kentucky. The memorial building, completed in 1911 was largely funded by citizen donations, and was built to honor the humble beginnings of the Nation’s 16th president. The memorial building houses a cabin, symbolic of Lincoln’s birth home. It was constructed 11 years before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and is referred to by the National Park Service as “The First Lincoln Memorial”.


Alongside the 56 steps that ascend to the memorial building, with each step representing one year of Lincolns life, we visited the Sinking Spring – a land feature that the Lincoln family would have used as their water source, and for which the original farm site was named.

From the Lincoln birthplace site, we drove about 10-miles to Lincoln’s boyhood home where the Lincoln family lived on 30 acres of the 228 acre Knob Creek Farm from the time Abraham was two and a half until he was almost eight years old. This site features hiking trails, a visitor center housed in a 1930 Inn building, as well as a log cabin reconstructed from period materials and representative of Lincoln’s boyhood home.

Photos from our visit to these sites are provided below.

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