All Parks in United States

Fort McHenry is considered the birthplace of the American National Anthem. Visitors are advised to first stop at the Visitor’s Center to watch a brief orientation film before setting off on a self-guided tour of the fort and surrounding grounds (plan for a 2-hour visit). Additionally, during the summer months, rangers give talks, and during the weekends visitors can experience living history in the fort.

Antietam National Battlefield is located in western Maryland, 10 miles south of Hagerstown in Washington County. The best place to start your visit is at the park visitor center. We have brochures, museum exhibits, a film, a museum store, and park rangers and volunteers on duty to help you get oriented. The battlefield is approximately 3,000 acres that you can explore in your car or by walking.

Joshua Tree National Park is the site in which two very distinct ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado deserts, meet. The park provides rock climbing, hiking, camping, and other outdoors activities for visitors.

Lovers Key is one of four islands that make up Lovers Key State Park in Fort Myers. The park is home to West Indian manatees, bottlenose dolphins, roseate spoonbills, marsh rabbits, and bald eagles. The 2 mile long beach within the park is popular for sunbathing, swimming, and picnicking. The park’s concession offers kayak tours, as well as bicycle, canoe, kayak, paddle board, beach chair and umbrella rentals.

Welcome to Earth Sanctuary A short hour’s drive north of Seattle and a ferry ride over the silver blue waters of Puget Sound take you to the ponds, pastures and forests of Earth Sanctuary on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Earth Sanctuary is a tranquil oasis with two miles of nature trails and a sculpture garden of eco-art highlighting diverse global spiritual traditions. Visit Earth Sanctuary to enjoy the wonders of nature and experience personal renewal, spiritual growth and healing. Nature Reserve Within the 72 acres of Earth Sanctuary lies a rich natural habitat that provides refuge for a diverse community of wildlife. The property is being restored to mature old-growth forest. More than 15,000 native plants (80 species) and 3,000 trees (20+ species) have been planted to date, and more than 80 species of birds breed on the property. Earth Sanctuary is recognized as a habitat of importance by the Whidbey Audubon Society and the Island County Critical Areas Program. Sculpture Garden At Earth Sanctuary you’ll be inspired by the sculpture garden of sacred spaces, environmental sculptures and eco-art. Unique art pieces and meaningful spiritual symbols provide the ideal environment for personal renewal and spiritual connection. Retreat Center The Retreat Center at Earth Sanctuary is a non-denominational, non-sectarian spiritual haven for relaxation, meditation, and peaceful reflection. Visitors have full access to Earth Sanctuary’s nature reserve, sacred spaces and forests where the paths are very conducive to walking meditation and spiritual discovery. Earth Sanctuary is the vision of its founder, Chuck Pettis. A long-time environmentalist, Chuck Pettis decided to take personal responsibility to enhance biodiversity and create a sustainable society by creating Earth Sanctuary. With a 500-year plan to restore the 72-acres of Earth Sanctuary to mature old-growth forest with maximum diversity of birds, wildlife, plants, and fungi, Earth Sanctuary is an exemplary model for ecological design. The goal: to truly “Design with Nature.”

Hulopoe Beach at Manele Bay is a gorgeous white sand beach with some of Hawaii’s best snorkeling. And it is a lovely day trip from Maui. The Maui-Lanai Ferry departs and returns three times a day from Lahaina to Lanai (Hulopoe Beach is a 15-20 minute walk from the piers). During peak times and busy seasons you will need to buy your ferry tickets at least the day before your visit. Hulopoe is a massive and beautiful white sand beach, that due to it’s secluded location is one of the less frequented beaches you can visit in Hawaii. It also has lots of conveniences such as two rest rooms, multiple beach showers, picnic benches at the back of the beach and in the nearby park and camp grounds, beautiful trees offering shaded areas, and some of the best snorkeling on the Hawaiian Islands that you can reach without a private boat. And if you are camping, they even offer a few campsites just a couple hundred meters / yards away from this idyllic beach. Bring your own Food: They have a basic store at the dock at Lanai, but it is probably best to plan on brining food for the day with you. They have plenty of “relatively” inexpensive and vegan friendly groceries and restaurants in Lahaina. The Four Seasons Resort Lanai: The restaurant at The Four Seasons Resort Lanai does offer a few vegan meal and appetizer options, but unless you are prepared to pay a minimum of $30 per person for lunch at the resort (not counting drinks or appetizers), we suggest bringing your own food with you. But the resort is gorgeous and does have the best view of Hulopoe Beach and Manele Bay, so it is still well worth taking the walk up there.

Isolated in the mid Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands are the most remote major island group on Earth. They were formed as the Pacific Plate moved across a volcanic “hot spot” within the earth’s mantle. Lying 2,400 miles (3,862 km) from the nearest continent, they have never had connection to any other land mass. Natural crossings across this great expanse of ocean by animals and plants were extremely rare and very surprising occasions. After such accidental arrivals, and isolated from mainland populations, these pioneer organisms took strange courses of evolution and allowed a unique biota to develop. Unaccustomed to mainland competition, however, these remote native island ecosystems are defenseless against mainland alien species, and have been decimated by new grazers, predators and diseases. Haleakalā National Park, and its East Maui Watershed Partner neighbors, still harbor an astonishing relict of these native island ecosystems. The major effort of Haleakalā’s resource stewardship is to preserve intact this superb example of the Hawaiian Islands’ native ecosystems.

The tallest dunes in North America are the centerpiece in a diverse landscape of wetlands, grasslands, forests, alpine lakes and tundra. Visit the park website for extensive information about the park, including planning your visit, weather information, campgrounds, Medano Creek conditions and forecast flow, Medano Pass Road conditions, nature and science, and more: http://www.nps.gov/grsa About the Great Sand Dunes Facebook Page The Great Sand Dunes Facebook page was established by the National Park Service in 2008 as an interpretive outreach forum to strengthen public connections to park resources, and to encourage visitors to share experiences of the park with each other. You are welcome to “like” and comment on status updates, links, photos, and video clips posted here by park staff and visitors. If you wish to express a comment or question about something related to the park in a formal and official capacity, please visit the park’s contact page for email, phone numbers, and physical addresses: http://www.nps.gov/grsa/contacts.html  

Central Park is so much more than just a large park in the middle of Manhattan. From people meditating, and practicing tai chi, to bikers, strollers, runners, & rollerbladers, and people playing every sport imaginable, Central Park has it all. And for those looking for a bastion of peace and tranquility, it is beautifully landscaped with ponds, rolling hills, and the most gorgeous trees – especially the Cherry Blossom trees in the spring. It has a couple of cafes and restaurants, but most people bring their own food and snacks and picnic in the park, enjoying each other’s company and a bit of people watching. For us vegans, I would highly recommend bringing your own food and enjoying a casual picnic in the park. There’s a wonderful vegan takeout named Blossom Du Jour, a couple of blocks away on Amsterdam Avenue between 67th & 68th Streets. There is also a vegan sushi takeout named Beyond Sushi a few blocks away on 56th near 6th Avenue, and there is a Whole Foods right on Columbus Circle (south west corner of the park) with lots of yummy vegan buffet items and vegan deserts for your picnic in the park. Here’s some notes from the Central Park Conservancy on Running in the Park: Offering both hilly and flat terrain and a combination of surfaces, Central Park is a runner’s paradise. The site of the TCS New York City Marathon’s final 3.2 miles, Central Park offers both a scenic and challenging course to all levels of runners. There are three optimal places to run in Central Park: The Reservoir: A soft surface, the Reservoir track is a 1.58-mile loop offering some of the best skyline views in the Park. In spring, cherry trees alongside the track are in bloom. Central Park Conservancy is renovating the Reservoir Running Track. Renovation work will occur in sections to cause as little disruption as possible. Runners will be diverted to the nearby bridle path, which has been prepared in anticipation of the increase in use. Learn more about the Reservoir and the renovation project here. Bridle Path: Runners can choose from three conjoined soft surface routes: The Reservoir loop, adjacent to the Reservoir Track, totals 1.66 miles; the North Meadow loop totals 1.1 miles; and the southern spur totals 1.5 miles. Park Drives: Circling the entire Park, the drives provide three long-distance routes – 6.1 miles, 5.2 miles, or 1.7 miles, or shorter distances if you cross the Park at a number of scenic locations. The best time to run on the drives is when the Park is closed to traffic: Monday through Friday, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm, and weekends from 7:00 pm Friday to 6:00 am Monday. When the Park is open to traffic, a runners’ lane is always available, but we do not recommend running along the Park drives when they are open to traffic. The Park is officially closed from 1:00 am-6:00 am. New York Road Runners is the premier sponsor of running events in Central Park. Visit NYRR.org for a list of upcoming events.

Mesa Verde, Spanish for “green table,” offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years.

Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West. But this treasure is much more than a monument. Towering monoliths exist within a vast plateau-and-canyon panorama. You can experience sheer-walled, red rock canyons along the twists and turns of Rim Rock Drive, where you may spy bighorn sheep and soaring eagles.

Rocky Mountain National Park includes 415 square miles of some of the highest mountains in the continental United States. The top third of the park encompasses the alpine tundra, a windswept land above the trees. Landscapes on either side of the Continental Divide feature alpine lakes, forested valleys and a wide range of plants and animals. Iconic summer thunderstorms and persistent winter winds are among the forces that continue to shape this majestic landscape.