Videos
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Video of Emerald Pools and Trail, Zion National Park, Utah
Water from Heaps Canyon, originating ten miles away in the further reaches of Zion, takes a 150 meter fall in the upper Emerald Pool. From there the stream drops about 350 feet to two other pools until is reaches the Virgin River. The round trip trail from the Zion Lodge to all the pools is about 3 miles and takes about two hours. Springtime has the best waterfalls and the summer stream bed is usually dry. Slideshow and photographs copyright 2008, Creative Juice LLC.
Emerald Pools trail information
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Tohono Chul Park – Tucson, Arizona
Tohono Chul Park is a privately funded, not-for-profit desert preserve in the Sonoran Desert on the northern edge of Tucson. The Santa Catalina Mountains form a backdrop for the Park’s natural desert habitat. Richard and Jean Wilson created the Park in 1985. This 49 acre Park has 300 species of cacti and succulents, 150 species of shrubs and trees, and 50 species of wildflowers. Thirty-eight species of birds make their permanent home at the Park while another 57 species visit the Park seasonally. In addition to the numerous trails and gardens the Park has museum shops, a tea room, greenhouse, performance gardens, an art exhibit house and education facilities on site. In 2005 it was designated as an Arizona Treasure by the governor.
©2008 John Wanserski for Creative Juice LLCWeather forecast for Tucson, Arizona vicinity
Blog entries for Tohona Chul Park
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Video of Nelson Dewey State Park – Cassville, Wisconsin
Nelson Dewey State Park is a land of incredible vistas overlooking the Mississippi River valley. On the site is the home of Wisconsin’s first governor, Nelson Dewey. His 2,000 acre plantation was considered the state’s first large scale farming operation. The governor’s first home was gutted by fire in 1873. The current building was built on the original foundation. Across the road, the State Historical Society operates Stonefield Village and the State Farm Museum. There are a number of effigy mounds constructed by the Hopewell Indian group along the bluff trails and overlooks in the 750 acre park. The trail through the dry lime prairie restoration along the edge of the overlook is very scenic. Tent campers will be impressed with the four walk-in sites overlooking the Mississippi River valley.
YouTube video of Nelson Dewey State Park
Nelson Dewey State Park picture gallery
Nelson Dewey State Park Campgrounds
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Video of Pier Natural Bridge Park, Rockbridge, Wisconsin
Pier Natural Bridge Park is in Richland County near the village of Rockbridge. The Pier family donated the land for the Park in the 1920s. The West Branch of the Pine River flows under a 60 foot high sandstone ridge here to join the Pine River. An historical marker notes that on the night of July 29, 1832, during the Black Hawk War, General Atkinson’s troops camped at this location.
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Video of Aztalan State Park – Lake Mills, Wisconsin
Aztalan State Park is one of Wisconsin’s most important archaeological sites. It contains an ancient Middle-Mississippian village and ceremonial complex that existed between A.D. 1000 and 1300. The site was rediscovered in 1835. In 1850 Increase A. Lapham investigated the site. It became a state park in 1952, a National Landmark in 1964 and listed in the National Registry of Historic Places in 1966. The occupants of Aztalan built large, flat-topped pyramid shaped mounds and a stockade around their village.
Aztalan; Mysteries of an Ancient Indian Town by Robert A. Birmingham and Lynne G. Goldstein
Indian Mounds of Wisconsin by Robert A. Birmingham and Leslie E. Eisenberg
Excerpts from the Antiquities of Wisconsin by Increase A. Lapham, 1855 (electronic edition)
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Video of Agawa Rock, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario
The Agawa Rock pictographs are located on a rock outcropping extending into Lake Superior in Agawa Bay. Some paintings are at least 1500 years old, while others may only date back to the 1800s. “Agawa” means “sacred place” in the Ojibwe language. The Ojibwe believed that spirits concentrated in the rock outcroppings of the Lake Superior shore, which belonged to the mysterious domain of the powerful Ojibwe sea monster Mishipizheu (also known as the Great Horned Lynx). The first printed reference to the Agawa pictographs occurred in ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft’s 1851 study “The American Indians. Their History, Condition and Prospects.” The pictographs, recount the daring crossing of eastern Lake Superior by a fleet of war canoes, led by the warrior and medicine man Myeengun, with the blessing of Mishipizheu.
Lake Superior Provincial Park – Ontario, Canada
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Video of Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
Adolph Bandelier, the first anthropological scholar of the southwest, explored Frijoles Canyon, New Mexico in 1880. The oldest site in Bandelier National Monument dates back to 2010 B.C. Around 1100 A.D. Pueblo Indians began inhabiting Frijoles Canyon and the Pajarito Plateau. Around 1300 A.D. about a dozen large villages existed in the area. One of them, Tyuonyi, is accessible within the Monument near the visitor’s center. The remnants of cliff cave dwellings dug into the volcanic tuft, along the canyon walls, suggest an extensive multi-story village. Some of these Pueblo structures with labyrinths of caves and rooms were occupied for over 400 years. Approximately 3,000 archaeological sites are being documented within the Monument. An unexcavated village, Tsankawi, lies 11 miles away in a separate section of the Monument. The pueblos and cliff cave dwellings were vacated in the 1500’s. Part of the Monument has wilderness designation. Visitors can overnight in the backcountry with a permit. Family and group campgrounds are also available.
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Natural Bridge State Park, Leland, Wisconsin
Natural Bridge is a wind carved sandstone arch in Wisconsin’s “Driftless Area” near the village of Leland, WI. Native Americans lived in the rock shelter below the arch over 11,000 years ago when the Wisconsin ice sheet was approximately 12 miles away. Warren Wittry of the Wisconsin Historical Society conducted an archaeological excavation of the rock shelter in 1957. Some of the animal remains identified were passenger pigeon, elk, bobcat and mountain lion. The 530 acre park was established in 1972. It has two trails, but no camping.
Weather forecast for Natural Bridge State Park vicinity
Blog entries for Natural Bridge State Park
