National Trails Day
Tomorrow — Saturday, June 2, 2012 is National Trails Day!
Since 1993, the first Saturday of every June has been designated to inspire the general public and hiking enthusiasts alike to discover and celebrate America’s expansive trail network — comprising over 200,000 miles of trails. You can participate in a local hike, dog walk, cycle, horseback ride, help in a trail maintenance project, kayak, birdwatch, and so much more. It’s easy to forget how much work goes into trails’ planning, development, and upkeep: National Trails Day thanks the countless volunteers and partners for their support and grueling work.
National Trails Day also introduces many people — those who may not otherwise visit parks and trails — to all of their benefits. The day further highlights trails that people didn’t even know existed. I try to do this as well in this blog — after hearing many friends unaware of the magnificent parks and trails in their backyards (see Natural Areas and State & National Parks dropdowns, above — or the Categories section to the right). In today’s world, it’s critical to get outdoors and into nature. Hiking — even simple walks — gets the heart pumping, the muscles relaxed and stretched, and is an excellent way to improve overall health. It’s also cheap! Exploring these serene environments will help you decompress and find solitude as well; I often wander alone, watching and photographing as I stroll the natural areas.
Find an event near you for a National Trails Day event. Celebrate nature and promote our country’s parks and trails! I have far too many trail pictures to share (as proven in my past posts!), so I’ll revisit a few of my favorite areas, if that’s possible:
A most beautiful path in Riverbend (Jupiter, FL)
Cypress Swamp Along the Florida Trail
Into the Swamp, Florida Trail Extension (Jonathan Dickinson Trail)
Prairie Overlook Trail, Fern Forest
Sheltering Trees of the Florida Trail Extension (Jonathan Dickinson Trail)
Gorgeous Oaks of the Florida Trail Extension (Jonathan Dickinson Trail)
Cypress Swamp, Historic Jupiter-Indiantown Trail, Cypress Creek Natural Area
Boardwalk, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
FeyGirl
Serenity Spell 
Lovely shot! Well Taken! =)
Thanks so much! There’s no dearth of amazing scenery down here, fortunately… 🙂
I wish I were fortunate enough to hike a trail tomorrow – alas, I am in a big city and I prefer to “hide” from the crowds around town. BUT – when I get home, first thing I will do is hike the trails along one of Louisiana’s many bayous. ❤
I’m not in a big city, but I fear I may not be able to hike one of my favorite trails tomorrow (the bigger, more far-off ones), for the HEAT! Very sad. We may try, however… 🙂 I’ve always wanted to visit your bayous — I had a friend who was born and raised in them.
Looks great , wish I was there !
Thanks! Actually, me too… It’s been a bit *WARM* lately, and the longer, more off-the-beaten-road trails are a bit tough to navigate down here at this time of the year. But I think I’ll still give it a shot!
Thanks for the Reminder – Have a Nature-filled Weekend!
Thanks so much — DITTO! ♥✿♥
This post is loading inordinately slow. Each picture is taking about 15 seconds to load. I looked at the properties and you have uploaded pictures that are up there in the 4 MB range. Wow! Now wonder it’s slow. May I suggest resizing your pictures before you upload them. You’ll find that you’ll save many, many minutes on the upload size and your readers (me!) will be able to see them much more quickly.
Ah! Well that’s the issue then… I wasn’t having loading issues before this week (until WP was doing massive overhauls on their templates), but I am now. This certainly isn’t helping matters. Thanks for the tip! 🙂