John MauriziExplorer

This is one of my favorite hikes in the Clarence Fahnestock State Park. A real mixed bag but mostly very enjoyable. The trail starts at the Charcoal Burners Trailhead Route 301. There is only road side parking on a soft shoulder, both sides of the road.  After a short walk into the forest, you reach The start of the Perkins Trail marked with yellow discs.  This section is a little rocky until y...

This short trail is located off Mill Canyon rd about 15 minutes north of Moab.  A short walk from the parking area leads to an established interpretive trail with signage of where to look for the fossils and a description of what type of dinosaur they belong to. Several different types of dinosaurs can be found here. Some fossils are very easy to see and make out. Others not so much. It is clea...

Monk’s Bath Tidal Pools is interesting but do not go exactly at low tide as the water is too low and many of the pools will not have much water. This coastline is about the most rugged terrain I've seen. The limestone is very sharp and jagged. Do not try and walk barefoot here. Sturdy shoes are recommended. The water crashing on the coast in interesting and there are some pools lower. Be carefu...

Many people access the Padre Canyon hike in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve from the south, which has a parking pull-over just south of the Tuacahn Center main gate on Tuacahn Drive. The trail starts from the southwest corner, passing through a fence. Follow the trail around a prominent butte. Once around this butte, the canyon begins to narrow. The trail follows the right side of the canyon then...

This loops starts out from the Rockland Road Trail head.  There is a pay station here that is self-regulated.  Creekside Trail starts here and runs the entire length of Brandywine Creek State Park along the Brandywine River. The trail is an easy 2.6 miles long and continues into First State National Historical Park where is meets up with the Brandywine Trail. The southern end of the trail is si...

This monastery is also known as Wat Phra Chao Phya-thai and Wat Yai Chai-mongkol. The main Chedi here stands 62 meters high and took over 28,000 tons of bricks to construct. The chedi was constructed in 1357 by King U-Thong for monks who had been studying Buddhism in Ceylon. Upon their return, the King named the Monastery, Wat Chao Phya-thai which means "The Temple of the Supreme Patriarch". La...

The only access to the Northgate Peaks Trail is by the Wildcat Canyon Trail, which has a trailhead just off Kolob Terrace Road. From the start of the trail you have a good view of Pine Valley Peak on your right. The trail passes on the left into an open green and lush area. After hiking a little over one mile on the Wildcat Canyon Trail, you will reach a trail junction with the Northgate Peaks ...

There are some great view points along this route.  Start from the Mount Beacon Park trailhead parking area.  This leads to the Casino Trail (red markers).  The trail climbs steeply to some old ruins of a casino.  Most of what remains is only the brick structure housing the mechanics for a trolley to the summit. The Casino Trail ends on the Wilkinson Memorial Trail (yellow markers).  Turn left ...

This was one of the more enjoyable drives I did in the park. I explored the area late one afternoon, checking out Aguereberry Camp and the Eureka Mine when I decided to explore further up to the end of Aguereberry Road.  The drive is awesome, especially late in the day.  The road is accessible by two wheel car but the last few hundred yards are steep but easy enough.  At the end is a wide are ...

This hike starts from the parking lot of Sieur de Monts Nature Center parking lot, walking on the Wild Gardens Path to the Tarn Trail.  This is a section of the Kane Path so you will not see any mention of a Tarn Trail on the maps for Acadia National Park. The trail runs right along the lake edge which is very rocky the entire length. However, the park service has done a great job moving large ...

This trail was named in honor of the military troops that trained here during World War II. Keep in mind, this loop trail is at 7000 feet, so if you are driving up from Phoenix or even Sedona, you may feel a little winded.  However, there is no serious climbs on this hike so you may feel no difference.  You can hike this trail in either direction.  I hiked in a clockwise direction.  There are n...

The Buster Island Loop hike is the longest hike in the park at 6.7 miles. It is completely flat and easy hike that goes through a varied landscape. The trail starts from the north side of the parking lot (only one parking area). Follow the blue connector trail a short way to a road. Here you will see a sign for the Buster Island trail to the left. Follow the road over a canal where the road the...

This is my favorite trail in all of Sedona. The trail head is at the end of Boynton Canyon rd near the entrance of Enchanted Spa and Resort. The trail goes along the property of Enchanted Spa for about 1 mile. This is the rockiest part of the trail as you pass by a large cliff. Soon after leaving the view of the spa, the trail becomes flat and sandy. A pleasure for hiking and very easy. The pa...

This hike was amazing to me. This trail in not listed on any park service map. If you have the Death Valley National Geographic Map, there is a trail noted at the base of Pinon Mesa (which is not really a mesa so don't look for it) that leads to Hummingbird Spring. Since there was a noted trail and it was in a remote area near Wildrose, where I was camping, I thought I would check it out. The ...

East Mebon is a temple that was built in the 10th century. The unique thing about East Mebon is that it is actually built on an island. The island is in the middle of what was a man made reservoir called East Baray. The reservoir is now try so you have to use your imagine nation when exploring East Mebon, that it was completely surrounded by water.  The temple has three tiers and five towers on...

This is a great find. We saw it on the map it was on the way from Mendocino to our next stop, Napa Valley. So glad we took the time to visit. It is a small park with about a two mile loop hike in a valley floor loaded with huge redwoods and few people. The trail is very easy and starts along a small creek. The trail is relatively flat and easy to find. It does go a little deeper into the forest...

Thommanon Temple is a Hindu temple built in the 12th century. It is rather small and located as you exit from Angkor Thom through the Victory Gate. A short way after you exit the Victory Gate, Thommanon is on the left.  The grounds of the complex are flat and open with all the underbrush cleared away. The carvings at Thommanon are in great condition. There is only one tower at this temple, a lo...

Bantaey Srei was built in 967 A.D. primarily of sandstone. Bantaey Srei is the name the locals call the site now. Translated this means "City of Women" or Citadel of Women. It is called this because of the intricate carvings throughout the complex that are said could only be carved by the delicate hands of women. The temple was originally called Isvarapura and was dedicated to Shiva.From the pa...

Start this hike from the Appalachian Trail parking area off route 23, south bound side, south of the park office. Follow the Blue Dot trail until is intersects with the Iris Trail. The Iris Trail (marked with red blazes) is a through hike that is about 5 miles long. It parallels the Appalachian Trail for the same distance, intersecting with it once until it meets again at a small parking area. ...

Baksei Cham Krong means, The bird that shelters under its wings. The legend is that during an attack on Angkor, the king was sheltered by a large bird that spread it's wings and saved the king. Baksei Cham Krong is only one temple. It is constructed out of different materials from what you see at Angkor Wat. Not many people take the time to pull over and walk back to this temple. It is very clo...

Wat Mahathat means "Monastery of the Great Relic." This is because a relic of The Buddha was housed in the Chedi here. This temple was the largest and center of the religion in Ayutthaya being built around the mid to late 1300's. In 1767, the Burmese invaded Ayutthaya and burned Mahathat. They also decapitated all the Buddha statues you see at this location. The grounds here are beautiful. Ched...

The Eureka Mine was a gold mine founded by Shorty Harris and Pete Aguereberry. Pete won a legal battle and took control of the mine in 1909. It is said that the mine kept Pete making money for 40 years and earned $175,000 from the mine. That was at $20 per ounce. At current gold prices, the amount of gold pulled from Eureka would be $11,550,000! Makes you think of becoming a gold miner. But it ...

When you first see Yumbulagang from a distance, it is quite an impressive sight. Perched atop a craggy hill makes the main tower here seem much larger than it is. Yumbulagang is said to be the first Monastery in Tibet, built by the first Tibetan King. There is only a few monks present to tend to the butter lamps and pilgrims. It serves more as an attraction now. There are still pilgrims that vi...

This hike was my first exposure to walking a Kora around a Monastery.  Sera Monastery is considered one of the three great monastery's, the other two being Drepung (also in Lhasa) and Ganden.  Sera is an active Gelug Unniversity which last I heard has nearly 2000 monks studying here.The Kora starts on the outer left wall, circling clockwise.  As you start out along a dirt path you soon reach se...