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Park Ranger Rebecca Haynes and the Adventure-Crew take you on a short whirlwind adventure through Biscayne’s mangroves. Being mostly underwater, the park hosts lots of wildlife and mangrove trees. Ranger Haynes explains how the mangroves multiply and their importance in the park.
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It’s pretty simple to get off the beaten path in this video about Biscayne National Park because there is no path. Biscayne’s park features are 95% underwater and Adventurer Clint Pollock and Park Ranger Rebecca Haynes take you through the highlights of a day at the park.
Unique to this national park is how to get around. Forget the four-wheel drives or even hiking. You’ll be riding in a boat one way or another. Whether a rental from the local concessionaire, your own boat, a tour with Gary Matthews of Biscayne Concessions, or one of the many park provided tours, this is one of the easiest parks to experience because the transportation is generally done sitting down.
Here’s an insider tip that will completely make your Biscayne vacation: book a tour with Biscayne Concessions!
You’ll learn the following in this short video:
- Private boating essential navigating tips that will keep you safe and free from bottoming out
- Why mangroves are so important to these islands and shorelines
- When the best time is to view the underwater coral in clear water
- Some intriguing history of the park, islands and lighthouse
- The best high vantage point for a 360 degree view of the park
- Where in the world is Boca Chita Key
So, put on your life vest, grab your sun hat and water bottle, and experience one of the most unique aquatic parks on this side of the planet.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Photo by Stu Marks
The Buffalo News Life
By Nick Mattera
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
CANTON, Ohio—Tourists may flock to Canton, Ohio, to see the impressive collections in football’s Hall of Fame, but the Midwestern hospitality they find there will leave them wanting more.
Great food, natural beauty and impressive historical sights make the small city of Canton a vacation gem for the whole family.
A perfect getaway to the greater Canton region includes three stops:
First, the breathtaking beauty of Cuyahoga Valley National Park makes you feel far from civilization.
Second, visit the Mecca of football fans, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where new additions have made it relevant for fans of all ages.
The third stop is a place where visitors can find out more about the lives of our nation’s first ladies, at the First Ladies National Historic Site.
Cuyahoga Valley Park
Unexpected is the only word to define Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Its pure, untouched beauty seems out of place just several miles outside of Cleveland’s city limits and 30 minutes from Canton. With 33,000 acres of parkland and pristine wilderness, it is one of the country’s newest national parks, established in 2000. There are year-round attractions—golf courses and ski slopes, concerts and hiking trails—making it a wonder waiting to be explored.
The Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail spans 20 miles of marshes and wetlands winding their way along the Ohio Canal. Beavers and white-tailed deer might make appearances throughout a hike along the waterway, but before starting out, visit the Canal Visitor Center to get a list of recommended hikes and to check out the historical videos and exhibits.
If hiking isn’t your interest, hop on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, where you can sit back and relax as the park’s beauty passes by you. The train makes seven stops within the park and runs year-round.
The 1 1/2-mile Brandywine Gorge trail is the park’s most visited attraction, culminating at the breathtaking Brandywine Falls, which plummets 60 feet into the gorge. It is best viewed from above, but a wooden path also winds into the gorge.
After visiting the falls, drive to the Ledges Overlook. This is a perfect spot at dusk, as the sun slips behind tall oaks and sandstone cliffs rise from Brandywine Creek below.
The football hall
The NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame has put together a collection of football memorabilia that will stir up memories in fans of all ages and give them goosebumps in the process.
Enter the main lobby and take a trip back in time to the early days of professional football, when helmets were made of leather and the players were out there only for the love of the game. The American Professional Football Association was founded in Canton, and the brief but successful history of the team that played there is encased in the lobby. A life-size bronze statue of Jim Thorpe, one of the best players of his era, dominates the main walkway.
Visitors then follow a chronological journey through football’s greatest moments and best players. The days of the American Football League and National Football League, between 1960 and 1969, are recalled along with legendary players such as Joe Namath, Jim Brown and Johnny Unitas with memorabilia from the players and teams.
A tunnel connects the original building to a more recent addition, containing the Hall of Busts—bronzes of the players who have been inducted and enshrined in their sport’s Hall of Fame. (Seven players, coaches or contributors are added each year during a ceremony in early August.) An interactive feature lets fans search the Hall of Famers, learn about their careers, view stats and watch video highlights.
The Hall of Fame doesn’t want to be a musty museum, and its newest exhibits will appeal to fans of all ages. The Lamar Hunt Super Bowl Gallery contains interactive video booths to view highlights and memorable plays from every Super Bowl ever played.
The Moments, Memories and Mementos gallery features the museum’s most valuable collection of game memorabilia. The most captivating plays from the previous season can be viewed in surround sound and high definition in the NFL Films gallery. Many of the greatest moments and record breaking players are featured in this section: Steve Christie’s shoe that kicked the Buffalo Bills’ game-winning field goal from the “greatest comeback in NFL history,” the jersey New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady wore when he set the NFL single-season touchdown record, and many others.
And there is space for fans to get some hands-on experience. You can try to throw footballs through a set of targets, challenge other visitors to a test of NFL trivia, even play EA Sports Madden Football against fans from all over the country.
For the ladies
The First Ladies Historic Site encompasses two buildings in downtown Canton and, in a unique way, sheds light on the accomplishments and lives of the first ladies of the United States.
The First Ladies Library was established as an archive to present the contributions our first ladies have made, from Martha Washington to Laura Bush. Exhibits change with new acquisitions.
Exhibits currently being featured at the museum include: The Artistry of America’s First Ladies, with poetry written by Jacqueline Kennedy, the dancing career of Betty Ford and Ellen Wilson’s oil paintings; and Caring Hearts: Health of a Nation, featuring red dresses worn by seven first ladies, including Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush. This moving exhibit has been featured at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Ronald Reagan Library.
If you go:
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 15610 Vaughn Road, Brecksville, is open every day, although some areas close at dusk. Admission is free.
Boston Store Visitor Center, 1548 Boston Mills Road, east of Riverview Road, Peninsula, has displays of canal-boat building in the valley, open 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. daily in the summer; limited hours the rest of the year.
Canal Visitor Center, 7104 Canal Road, intersection of Canal and Hillside Roads, Valley View, has exhibits on life along the canal and human history in the valley; open daily year-round, 10 a. m. to 4 p. m.; closed Jan. 1, Thanksgiving Day and Dec. 25.
For more information: On the Web, www.nps.gov/CUVA, or call (216) 524 1497.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2121 George Halas Drive, Canton, is open daily from 9 a. m. to 8 p. m. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $12 for children 6 and older.
The 2009 Pro Football Enshrinement Ceremony is Saturday and will include Buffalo Bills’ great Bruce Smith and team owner Ralph Wilson.
The Timken Grand Parade is at 8 a. m.; Enshrinement Celebration Fan Party, 3 p. m.; Class of 2009 Enshrinement, 7 p. m.; and the Hall of Fame Game between the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans is at 8 p. m.
For more information: Call (330) 452-0243, or on the Web, www.profootballhof.com.
The National First Ladies Historic Site, 205 Market Ave. South, Canton, is open Tuesdays through Sundays through Aug. 31; Tuesdays through Saturdays the rest of the year. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for seniors; $5 for children under 18.
For more information: Call (330) 452-0876; on the Web, www.nps.gov/fila.
Directions: From Buffalo, take Interstate 90 West to Interstate 77 South; use Exit 107A for the Hall of Fame.
More information: Canton Tourism www.cantontourism.com; Ohio Tourism, ohio.gov/tourism.
LASSEN VOLCANIC NATIONAL PARK, Calif.—A 13-year-old Red Bluff girl who was caught in a rock slide at Lassen Volcanic National Park has been upgraded from serious to fair condition.
Katrina Botell suffered extensive facial injuries Wednesday when she was hit by falling rocks while hiking a steep trail with her family. Her younger brother, 9-year-old Thomas Botell, was killed.
The children’s parents were not injured, and their 6-year-old sister suffered minor scrapes.
Officials still don’t know what caused the slide on the 2.5-mile Lassen Peak trail. They say the trail isn’t normally susceptible to rock slides.
The trail, which draws as many as 30,000 hikers each year, has been closed while officials investigate the incident.
MercuryNews.com
Written by Tessa Schweigert
Powell Tribune
It may be a few months before snowdrifts settle in at Yellowstone National Park, but flurries of litigation over its winter-use policy are in the current forecast.
On Thursday, the Obama administration announced plans to reduce the number of snowmobiles allowed in the park to 318 per day — less than half of the previous daily limit of 720. The announcement was followed on Friday by Gov. Dave Freudenthal and other state officials seeking to keep the cap at 720. The state’s congressional delegation also voiced its opposition to this latest development in a decade-long saga.
The number of snowmobiles has been under scrutiny and debate since the Clinton administration set to ban the machines altogether in 2000.
Since then, the figures 318, 540, 720 and zero all have been tossed around in a tug-of-war to determine exactly how many snowmobiles can enter the park’s gates on any given winter day.
Those who live in the Yellowstone area are justifiably annoyed that people thousands of miles away have a sway in the park’s governance. Yet, since it is a national park, it is up to Americans — whether in Wyoming or Washington — to decide.
With the 318-per-day proposal last week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar also announced a 45-day public comment period, which ends Sept. 8.
This is an opportunity for those living at Yellowstone’s threshold to denounce or praise the newest snowmobile cap.
As Freudenthal said in an Associated Press article: “It would be nice if they sat down and said, ‘What really works for the folks who are wanting to visit, and the folks who are making a living up in Yellowstone?’”
Eventually, a permanent limit will be reached. Until then, speak up.
