Outdoor Adventures

Wild West (Virginia) Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Christina Ipavec There’s no time like the fall to visit New River Gorge National River Park in West Virginia. Of course, whitewater rafting is the major draw, and ziplining offers an ethereal experience when the leaves change colors. Hiking along the more than 6,000 acres of trail will impress visitors, too, but those wishing to really rough it will enjoy overnight horseback riding, which incorporates sightseeing and primitive camping for a true family-bonding experience.   One of the few area outfitters to offer ov...

Pony Up Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Jane Ammeson Before UPS and Fed Ex, mail arrived by Pony Express. And, though it lasted less than two years, this western legend endures. Fast forward a century or so to the rural hamlet of Canaan, Indiana , where horseback riders have hit the trail since 1967 to celebrate this early mail service during the Canaan Fall Festival’s Pony Express Mail Run . Their goal? The delivery of hundreds of letters, hand-stamped with the onetime only “Special Pictorial Cancellation,” to Madison, a charming Ohio River town located 1...

Cold Case Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Jane Ammeson Shards of ice break free from the banks of the Sturgeon River and, twinkling like frozen diamonds in the sunlight, float away. Catching my look of apprehension as we bob in the wintry roiling waters, Scott Anderson, co-owner of Big Bear Adventures in Indian River, Michigan , tells me that no one taking their winter rafting trips has ever gone for an unexpected swim. It’s the perfect reassurance for someone like me, who thinks a winter sport is après-ski sans skiing. So what am I doing out in the cold, pe...

Bike to Basics Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Becky Linhardt “You’re in the middle of the colors, which blur past when riding — orange, yellow and brown. You can almost feel the color because you’re so immersed in it,” says Meredith Erlewine, co-owner of Athens Bicycle. “Honestly, we have so many beautiful things out there, in all seasons.” “Out there” is on the mountain bike trails at Lake Hope State Park in McArthur, Ohio , where more than 23 miles of hard-pack, single-track dirt mountain biking trails climb up and shoot down the rolling hills, bounce across nar...

Snow Much to See Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Christine Smyczynski Snowshoeing is a great way to get some exercise and fresh air during the long cold western New York winter, and it doesn’t even require any specialty ability or equipment — if you walk, you can snowshoe. One of the region’s best places to snowshoe is Beaver Meadow Nature Center in North Java, New York , located in rural Wyoming County, about 40 miles south of Buffalo. The nearly 400-acre nature center has been operated by the Buffalo Audubon Society for more than 50 years. One could easily spend an entir...

Sail the Open Skies Issue: Fall/Winter 2011 Author(s): Amy Bizzarri Bocchetta Set sail high into the sky on an unforgettable hot air balloon ride in Galena, Illinois. You’ll have an eagle’s eye view of the fall palette of colors as the natural beauty of historic Jo Daviess County extends out below, and relax as your colorful balloon peacefully makes its way through the blue skies. Hitch your ride with Galena on the Fly at the Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa, one of the Midwest’s premier family resorts. After take-off, you’ll spend a few minutes at treetop level; from there you’ll asc...

Storied Waterway Issue: Spring/Summer 2011 Author(s): Emily Tennyson During the winter, Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Ontario , is the world’s largest outdoor skating rink — but in the summer, it’s a floating tour back in time. Made up of a series of rivers, lakes and connecting locks and canals, the Rideau forms a continuous waterway from Kingston to Ottawa. Of the canal’s 125 miles, only 12 miles are man-made. Built in 1826 by the British, little has changed about the Canal since that time. Since 1925, it’s been a Historic Site of Canada, and in 2007 the canal was named a UNE...

Avian Observations Issue: Spring/Summer 2011 Author(s): Gerald Bartell When they visit the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Jamestown, Pennsylvania , younger visitors may be fascinated to know that Peterson, the museum’s namesake, became fascinated with birds, flora and fauna when he joined a chapter of the Audubon Society in seventh grade. The young Peterson went on to study and sketch birds in the forests bordering Jamestown, where he was born in 1908. A budding naturalist, Peterson grew up to write and illustrate Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds, th...