Into the Woods - Natural Health Journals

Traveling the World – Overview of some of America’s Parklands

From Rock Creek Park, just minutes from the monuments in Washington, D.C., to San Francisco’s great Golden Gate Park, America is blessed with beautiful urban arbors. But the country is also rich in accessible forests and parklands. Here are four options to add to your travel itinerary:

Sequoia National Park Three Rivers, California

Oak-studded foothills give way to forests filled with towering old sequoias. Visit here on Dec. 14 and participate in the annual trek to the General Grant Tree, the third-largest sequoia in the United States. This 2,000-year-old stunner was designated as the nation’s Christmas tree in 1926 and deemed a national shrine by President Eisenhower in 1956. For more information, access nps.gov/seki/xmastree.htm.

Arbor Day Farm Nebraska City, Nebraska

An environmentally friendly lodge, walking trails and orchards are found at the very place where planting trees was first celebrated. In the 1800s, pioneers to this formerly tree-deficient state created Arbor Day to motivate locals to start planting. Today, thousands of trees are grown here at the Lied Greenhouse and Pavilion, including spruces, pines, hazelnuts and oaks. At the Canopy Tree House you’ll get a bird’s-eye view of what life is really like in the forest. To find out more, go to arborday.org.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Naples, Florida

In the midst of Florida’s swampland, the National Audubon Society maintains an 11,000-acre wilderness preserve. You can walk along a two-mile-long boardwalk surrounded by the country’s largest remaining vine-covered bald cypress trees–as much as 700 years old–set among swamps filled with alligators, herons and egrets. For more information, go to audubon.org/local/sanctuary/corkscrew.

Minnewaska State Park New Paltz, New York

A getaway to this 6,000-acre park, positioned along the ridge of the Shawangunk Mountains about two hours from Manhattan, is a hiker’s dream. Stroll past Lake Minnewaska; pick blueberries and huckleberries; and explore the rocky terrain as you admire century-old pitch pines, majestic hemlocks and yellow birches. For details, visit nysparks.state.ny.us.