Lara Paul

I stumbled upon the Sunflower Maze by accident when I was driving through NJ and was quickly distracted by the enormous yellow flowers. So of course, I had to check it out! It opens at 9AM and last admission is at 6PM. The maze is only open from around August to October for the flower bloom. 3 miles of trails are directly made in the sunflowers field similar to a corn maze, but much more col...

Wake up early for the sunrise on the beach and you won't regret it! Unless of course you hate beautiful sunrises... Parking is easy with a public parking lot right next to the beach entrance, you can't miss it!After you finish enjoying the view, start walking to the right and you will encounter what feels like a whole other world. There are no buildings along this side and it is full of palm ...

It was a rainy day, which brings along mud (but I think mountain biking is better in the rain and mud anyways).Enter the trail by going through the county parking lot and to the left end under the bridge. The trail starts along the tracks and you can admire the restored old rail cars. Cross over the bridge farther down and overlook the Lehigh River; you may be able to wave at some rafters. O...

The Precipice Trail is one of the most well known trails in Acadia, probably for its difficulty and the fact that it is along the exposed edge of Champlain Mountain.  Much of this trail is more of a climb rather than a usual hike.  You will have to climb and scramble over large rocks as well as climb iron rungs and ladders.  Additionally, there are sections where you are just standing on a smal...

The Montauk Point Lighthouse is one of the main attractions of "The End" of Long Island, but I've only ever walked around it on the cliff walk.When you get to the lighthouse, you can park in the parking lot (depending on when you go there may be a $8 fee). Right along the edge overlooking the water are a couple of swing benches to sit and enjoy the view before or after your walk, or even both!...

I've never actually been into the Shadmoor State Park, but you can climb up and onto the bluffs from the beach easily; well kind of easily.Most of the parking lots along the beach require Hamptons residency tags, so you can't park right next to beach entrances... bummer. We typically park along Surfside Ave. near the beach access. From there you can easily walk along the water till you get to...

With so much to explore in Costa Rica, I suggest you try and make time for Nauyaca Falls.You start by going to a small office on the side of Route 243 between Dominical and San Isidro. There you can purchase your entry ticket ($8) and decide if you want to hike to the falls or take a horseback ride. We hiked it of course!From there you can either park on the side of the highway and hike a stee...

Enter at the corner of Adams St. and John St. and see the Manhattan Bridge above you. To your left is the new DUMBO Boulders, the largest outdoor rock gym in North America: at least for now.At only $9 for a day pass, includes the price of rental shoes, it's a steal compared to any gym in the city. To make things go faster, you can do an online waiver here. They have Ipads that make signing i...

Located near Orange City, Florida, Blue Spring State Park is the largest spring on St. Johns River.  Here you can come in and rent full snorkel gear (snorkel, mask, flippers), tubes to lazy river down if that's more your style and many other activities.  At the website you can see all that the park has to offer.  We drove in and it was $6 per car to enter the park.  Follow the signs and you wil...

On my way to the drive-in, I saw a sign for Ringwood Manor estate and wanted to adventure around. The parking is easy and the property was beautiful!As we walked through the estate, we found:a quaint tree foresta small cemetery with headstones hundreds of years olda river with a small waterfall formed by a stone walla pond full of swansgardens with fountains and colorful flowersmany open field...

The Eastern half of Devil's Path has four major summits: Indian Head, Twin, Sugarloaf and Plateau. Each summit is a straight climb up and down, then back up to as much as 3,900 ft. There are some sparse sections of level ground, but most is a steep descent uphill or steep slide downhill. Your hands will be needed at times to pull yourself up roots and tree branches, to scale protruding rocks...

Starting at the Brooklyn Main Street Park, you are on the right side of the Manhattan Bridge. Here you can check out the new outdoor climbing gym. Keep walking along the water and you'll soon come upon Pebble Beach. Now this beach is not exactly a "let's bring our beach chairs and spend the day here" beach; it's more of a "woah! there's a beach here?" beach. But do whatever makes you happy....

The trail entrance can be found by going up Broadway and taking Hill Road to the right at the Opera House. At the top of Hill Road will be the entrance to the trail; there is a nice little wooden sign so you don't miss it. This trail can be hiked or biked; we chose to do some mountain biking.The beginning of the trail is for beginners. The trail is pretty well groomed and it follows next to ...

Being in the center of Mt. Desert Island, you are just a quick drive to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.This campground offers waterfront and off-waterfront sites.  The waterfront is right along Somes Sound and offers amazing views at anytime of the day.  We went during off season (no reservations taken during off season) and the campgrounds were still full but we were lucky enough to get a...

This campground is perfect for a group of friends that want to spend a couple days outdoors camping!With 350 campsites, there are many different types of sites available: from sites with electricity to sites 3 miles from the main camp. Decide how intense (or not intense) you and your group want to be and book accordingly. A description of the types of campsites can be found here.Each campsite...