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Lake Cleone Loop
<p>The Lake Cleone Loop circles a sheltered freshwater lake at MacKerricher State Park that sits just steps from the Pacific Ocean, separated from the sea by a narrow band of coastal dunes that create...
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Trail guides, gear reviews, and outdoor stories from RunBikeHike.us
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🥾 Hiking
How to Read a Topographic Map for Hiking and Backcountry Navigation
Topographic maps are the most powerful navigation tool available — and most hikers can barely read one. This complete guide teaches contour lines, scale, map symbols, compass use, and terrain association from the ground up.
🥾 Hiking
Saddle Pass Trail
<p>Saddle Pass Trail is the shortest strenuous hike in Badlands National Park, climbing 200 feet in just 0.3 miles up a steep clay and rock face to reach the top of the badlands wall. The ascent requi...
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Rancherias Loop
<p>The Rancherias Loop is the premier multi-day backcountry route in Big Bend Ranch State Park, traversing nearly 19 miles of remote Chihuahuan Desert and volcanic mountain terrain in one of the most ...
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Laguna Point Seal Watch
<p>The Laguna Point Seal Watch loop is one of the most rewarding short wildlife viewing routes on the Northern California coast, circling a rocky headland at MacKerricher State Park where harbor seals...
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Door Trail
<p>The Door Trail leads through a literal gap in the badlands wall — an opening in the eroded buttes that acts as a gateway into the interior of the badlands basin. A boardwalk carries visitors the fi...
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Hoodoos Trail
<p>The Hoodoos Trail explores a surreal volcanic landscape within Big Bend Ranch State Park, leading to an otherworldly collection of eroded tuff formations rising from the Chihuahuan Desert floor in ...
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Haul Road Trail
<p>The Haul Road Trail follows an abandoned coastal logging railroad grade converted to a multi-use path, extending nine miles along the Mendocino coast through a spectacular sequence of rocky coves, ...
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🎒 Gear
The Layering System for Hiking: How to Dress for Any Condition
The three-layer clothing system is the foundation of dressing for hiking and the outdoors. This complete guide covers base layers, mid layers, shells, materials, when to wear what, and how to build a layering system for any season.
🥾 Hiking
Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Hiking
want to tell you about my first real hike, because it's instructive in the worst possible way. It was a Saturday morning in late spring. A friend had suggested we do a "short hike" in the mountains — maybe five miles, nothing crazy, bring some water. I wore khaki pants.
🥾 Hiking
Klondike Bluffs to Tower Arch
<p>Tower Arch sits in the remote Klondike Bluffs section of Arches National Park, accessed via a dirt road in the park's northwestern corner that requires a high-clearance vehicle when wet. This dista...
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Closed Canyon Trail
<p>Closed Canyon Trail ventures into one of the most dramatic slot canyons in Texas, a narrow passage carved by water through layered volcanic tuff in the remote western reaches of Big Bend Ranch Stat...