Josiah RoeExplorer

Hyde Memorial State Park yurts are nestled high in the Sangre de Cristo mountains amongst the ponderosa pines, and sleep six and provide a modern setting with roots in ancient tradition. Their location in the State Park provide easy access to park's vast trail system.Each bed has  an encapsulated dense foam mattresses that can be grouped together in various configurations. While there is no ele...

Stand up paddle board yoga is some of the most difficult and rewarding yoga there is and you would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful place to do so than on the south shore of Lake Tahoe.  Lakeview Commons is a city park that provide direct lake access for the public, including boats, along with easy paddle board rental from South Tahoe Stand Up Paddle. To get there simply take Lakeview A...

HyMasa trail is the latest in the fantastic Kane Creek Mountain Biking trail network and is now the preferred route for connecting to the iconic Captain Ahab Loop, allowing riders to bypass larges portions of the Amasa Back / Cliffhanger Jeep trail. To get there take Kane Creek Blvd. from Moab into Kane Springs Creek Canyon. The road will quickly turn to dirt and you will pass several trailhead...

No visit to the San Juan Islands is complete without taking a whale watching tour and Rosario Harbor on Orcas Island is uniquely situation to allow for trips east into the Rosario Straight, south into Lopez Sound, or west into the Haro Straight. Such flexibility is useful when on the looking for fast and far migrating cetaceans like orcas and humpback whales. Check ahead with local operators on...

Located on the Meso-American reef in the Roatan Marine Park on the northwest shore of Roatan, the popular Canyon Reef dive and snorkeling site is so named for its many canyons, swim-throughs, gulches and coral towers ranging in height from 10' to 150' that harbor an abundance of marine life. The upper part of the reef which houses most of the canyons were carved by streams when sea level was mu...

The Ventura Promenade is a .5 mile long biking and walking trail that runs from the Ventura Pier to Sufer's Point, eventually connecting to the Ventura River & Ojai Bike Trail. It is also part of the the larger "Omer Rains Trail" which runs some 3.5 miles to the south through Buenaventura State Beach. The Ventura Promenade is a perfect way to experience the Ventura Coastline, with easy acce...

Sea kayaking from the Oceanside Harbor public kayak launch is one of the best ways to experience the Oceanside coast and the Pacific Ocean. There is ample parking along North Harbor Drive with the public kayak launch well-marked on the street. You can paddle around the harbor or you can go out past the jetties to take in the entire coastline. There are some excellent fishing spots and local gui...

Salt Point State Park, about 90 miles north of San Francisco, features rugged, windswept coastline and dramatic forests of cypress, pine and redwoods. The Central Trail is a great way to experience much of the inland portion of the park including a unique highland Prairie where elk graze and are hunted by mountain lions. The Central Trailhead is located in the main park entrance near the Gerstl...

A recipe for happiness in the "cool grey city of love." To the seasoned San Franciscan there is no finer view in the Bay Area than that from San Francisco's front porch, Turtle Hill or "Grand View Park". If the North American continent / plate is a ship, then Grand View Park is the prow giving epic, vast views up and down the California coast and of Golden Gate Park, the Marin Headlands, Golde...

Zephyr Cove on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe is a fantastic starting point for a host of water sports and activities and given the protected nature of the cove, a great place to wake surf and to *learn* to wake surf To get to Zephyr Cove take Highway 50 north for 7 miles out of South Lake Tahoe and turn left into the Zephyr Cove Resort. As an alternative you can take Highway 28 till it turns ...

No trek to (or back from) Annapurna Base Camp in the Himalayas is complete without stopping at the Jhinu Hot Springs, just a short 15-20 hike down to the bottom of the Modi Khola river canyon from the village and tea houses of Jhinu Danda. Often a caretaker or priest will request a small donation to help maintain the pools (and well worth it) and during busier times of the year snacks and a wel...

To say that Bahía de Los Angeles is remote is an understatement. It has one gas station, two "restaurants", no cell service, and one absolutely picturesque volcanic island just offshore, Isla Coronado. It is Baja in all its rustic glory.While there are a couple of campos where you can rent a palapa or park your RV/Westie, free camping is easily found by driving 5 miles north out of town to the ...

Munds Mt. is the highpoint due east of the town of Sedona, but due to its forested summit and trailhead accessibility limited to 4WD vehicles, it gets far less interest than hikes like Cathedral Rock, Wilson Mountain, or Fay Canyon yet has fantastic views of the town of Sedona and the surrounding cliffs and canyons. The most direct route is from the popular 4WD touring route, Schnebly Hill Road...

Sand Mountain, located just off Highway 50 in Nevada aka "The Loneliest Highway", is perhaps best known as an OHV-paradise, with off-road enthusiasts descending on it like a swarm of buzzing mechanical beasts. Most don't know that the BLM-managed Recreation Area also has numerous trails around the dunes and into the surrounding mountains, providing vast views of the surrounding Basin and Range ...

The Valley Loop Trail in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area begins at the main entrance of the Natural Area, just off W County Road 32 C near Masonville, west of Fort Collins and the Horsetooth Reservoir.To get there take West County Road 38 E west from Fort Collins over and around the Horsetooth Reservoir until you get to the Masonville and the main intersection. There go left onto Buckhorn Road an...

On the island of West Bamfield, accessible only by foot and by taking a ferry from East Bamfield, itself only accessible via a 60 mile brutal dirt road from Port Alberni, is a taste of the free-wheeling, regulations-be-damned old-Vancouver-Island-made-manifest in an epic rope swing that hurls its riders through massive Douglas Firs set against a backdrop of the Broken Islands. To get there, onc...

Zephyr Cove on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe is a fantastic starting point for a host of water sports and outdoor activities, from wake surfing to backpacking to trail running on the Tahoe Rim Trail. The Zephyr Cove Resort campground has 47 walk-in campsites and 10 drive-in campsites in addition to full RV sites, and are just a few minutes walk to the lakefront. To get to Zephyr Cove take Hig...

Big Mesa trail is the jewel of the Navajo Rocks trail system, containing all of the awesome mountain biking features one comes to expect in Moab, from slickrock to sand chutes with epic views of the terrain. Located off Utah Highway 313 at the Navajo Rocks Trailhead parking lot, 19 miles from downtown Moab, and 7.5 miles from Highway 191, when ridden east to west the trail goes for 3.3 miles al...

The Burr Trail is a 66 miles mostly-paved road connecting Boulder, Utah / Highway 12 with the Notom-Bullfrog road that passes through some of the most scenic (and largely untouched) painted-rock backcountry in three of our national parks/monuments including Grand Staircase-Escalante, Capitol Reef, and Glen Canyon with endless epic hikes and backpacking trips like Hiking the Upper Muley Twist, t...

The Candy Store is a group of boulders and small spires with around 30 climbing routes ranging from 5.6 to 5.11. The majority are trad routes with a significant portion toprope and a couple of sport. The major features/boulders are: First BoulderThe GumdropLollipop BoulderRock Candy TowerSecond BoulderTootsie Pop There are several campsites directly at the base of several of the routes and in t...

If you are looking for something akin to true backcountry travel and scrambling in Maui, the Lau'ulu trail and the Pohaku Palaha summit on the north/north east rim of the Haleakala volcano is a great option. You will find solitude, unparalleled views of the crater, surreal high-altitude tropical rainforest, Maui, the Big Island in the distance and a sunrise that is impossible to describe. Note:...

Powerline Trail is a 1.9 mile spur off the Valley Loop Trail in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area that climbs 1,100 feet from the valley floor to Mahoney Park.To get to the start of the trail, take the Valley Loop Trail .9 miles in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area from the main entrance of the Natural Area, just off W County Road 32 C near Masonville, west of Fort Collins and the Horsetooth Reservoir....

Located at 11,360' and owned by the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association, Francies Cabin was built in memory of Frances Lockwood Bailey in 1994 and is located just a short distance (5 mile drive, 1.05 mile hike) from town of Breckenridge, Colorado. It has a summer and winter capacity of 20 people and includes a wood burning sauna. To stay at Francie's Cabin you must make a reservation as day-...

Molino Basin Campground is the only campground of the Catalina District of the Forest Service to be open year round due to its lower elevation at only 4500'. Its position along the Mount Lemmon Highway makes Molino Basin a perfect basecamp for further adventures in the Santa Catalina Mountains, and the Arizona Trail passes right through the Basin along Molino Creek which flows strongly in the S...