Photograph by Catherine Viox
Some of the most beautiful travel destinations aren’t cities with glittering skylines, but forests teeming with wildlife and natural wonders. Here are three travel options for outdoorsy types.
Red River Gorge
East-Central Kentucky’s 29,000-acre canyon system, Red River Gorge, is a hot spot for outdoor enthusiasts of all sorts. They flock to a gorgeous variety of waterfalls, rock shelters, and natural bridges, including more than 100 sandstone arches you can hike over, under, and through. As part of the Daniel Boone National Forest, the Gorge has campsites and cabins (including treehouses), some of which can sleep up to 40 people. Hiking trails vary in difficulty from half-mile jaunts down dirt paths (Chimney Top Rock) to steep unmarked trails that require holding on to a rope to scramble up (Cloud Splitter).
The Gorge is well-known for other outdoor activities and is renowned as one of the best sport climbing crags in the world. Take to the skies on one of the ziplines flying at 55 mph and 300 feet in the air, or explore below ground in an hour-long cave kayaking adventure.
Bird Watching on Lake Erie
Photograph by Jordan West
The Lake Erie shoreline between Toledo and Sandusky is famous for marshland teeming with wildlife, especially birds. The state-run Magee Marsh Wildlife Area has 2,200 acres with an accessible boardwalk and hosts more than 150 species of migrating songbirds each year in addition to ducks, geese, herons, and egrets. The visitor center is open daily through October.
The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is immediately west of Magee Marsh, and a trail connects the two. Managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the refuge offers its own trail system, amazing birding, and a nature center and hosts multiple bald eagle nests. Ottawa National Wild
Birders are known to meet up at Blackberry Corners Tavern in Martin, inland from Magee, for a slice of “lifer pie” after a day in the marshes. The flavor of the homemade pies doesn’t matter—the point is enjoying dessert after seeing any specific bird species for the first time in your life.
Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, OH-2, Oak Harbor, OH, (419) 898-0960
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, 14000 OH-2, Oak Harbor, OH, (419) 898-0014
Blackberry Corners Tavern, 5975 N. Elliston-Trowbridge Rd., Martin, OH, (419) 836-8377
The Pawpaw Festival
Photographs via Adobe Stocks, collage by Brittany Dexter
The pawpaw is America’s largest native tree fruit, described as tasting like a fusion of banana and mango with a hint of citrus. The flesh has a custard-like texture, often compared with that of a banana. Pawpaw trees can be found throughout Ohio, especially in the southern part of the state, and bear ripening fruit in the late summer. As in now.
In celebration of the unique fruit, the 26th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival holds forth September 13–15 at Lake Snowden in Albany, Ohio (near Athens) to highlight the rich history and future possibilities of the native fruit. The weekend includes a pawpaw cook-off, pawpaw-related art, and the beloved pawpaw eating contest, alongside classic festival offerings like food and drink vendors, music, and games.
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