Where am I? -- Volume I

Okay, here's a good one. If you look closely at this zoomed in picture, you'll see a curvy road, and a parking area.

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...01210-crop.jpg

Here's the same picture, zoomed out.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC01210.jpg

I promised three clues, so here you go:

Note the prominent mountain in the distance (on the left). Note the shape of it. Note the shiny spot near the top. That's clue #1.

Note the parking area in the zoomed in picture. The mountainside seems to be sort of falling away there. The parking area must be overlooking a view, and even though you can't see it in this picture, that's Clue #2.

Clue #3 is that little piece of road. This is NOT the usual view, but--(are you ready for this?)--I can just about guarantee that every one of you regulars have driven it!

Who can tell me where I am?

Rick

Are we looking at Mt Baldy ?

Dave.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Are we looking at Mt Baldy ?

Dave.

---

Dave:

You mean the cone-shaped peak on the left? That's actually Mt. Scott, but it's not well-known, so the name alone isn't likely to ring any bells. The clue was the fact that it's an obvious volcano, with just a little snow still on it in the summertime. That pretty well narrows us down to the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest. How about if I pan my camera just a few degrees to the right: https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...3-DSC01209.jpg

That ought to do it. Matter of fact, I believe I just saw a light bulb go on. (Several of them...)

Yeah, that a pretty good visual clue.

Mark

Crater Lake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by glc

Crater Lake.

---

Indeed it is, George--one of my favorite places, all the way around.

This picture is taken from essentially the same vantage point as those first two. I was on the east side of the crater, looking to the southwest. The rugged shoreline here looks a little different than the image of Crater Lake that most folks who have been there carry in their memory.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...4-DSC01217.jpg

A little further down the road, I'm sure the view is getting more familiar. I won't pretend that I never brighten the colors in my photos, but in this case, that impossible shade of blue is as real as it gets.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...5-DSC_5614.jpg

Around the other side of the lake, closer to the Visitor's center, is the view that's instantly recognizable: Wizard Island, a little volcano growing out of the collapsed, water-filled caldera of what was once the biggest volcano in the region
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...6-DSC_5650.jpg

Depending on cloud cover and the angle of the sun, there are certain times of day when the crater looks as if it's filled with sky and clouds, rather than water...
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...7-DSC01157.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...8-DSC_5657.jpg

It would be pretty tough to take a bad picture of Crater Lake. Especially if you're out there at sunset.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...9-DSC01201.jpg

I camped in my Jeep in the National Park, and I got an early start the next day. What that meant, in practical terms: I also got some great pictures of the sunrise, from the exact same spot!
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...0-DSC_5861.jpg

Crater Lake is one of those places that you really have to see for yourself. My photos do a reasonably good job of capturing the scenery. What they don't capture is the feeling you get when you're standing out there, with the sun coming up over all that grandeur. That's the kind of thing that makes it worth getting up in the morning!

Rick

Doh !! I have stood at the same spot !

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSCF0878.jpg

Dave.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick Quinn

Clue #3 is that little piece of road. This is NOT the usual view, but--(are you ready for this?)--I can just about guarantee that every one of you regulars have driven it!

Rick

---

What did I tell you!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rick Quinn

Clue #3 is that little piece of road. This is NOT the usual view, but--(are you ready for this?)--I can just about guarantee that every one of you regulars have driven it!

Rick

---

Yep, you were right....we've been to Crater Lake several times!

Utahtea

Okay, now put on your blindfolds, (or pull your face masks up over your eyes) and spin 'round in circles until I yell stop.

Ready?

Or not! stop peeking!...keep spinning...

Boom! And just like that, here we are...where? Somewhere else altogether!

This is a canyon:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...0-DSC_8631.jpg

No, really--it IS a canyon, and it even has a bottom to it:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...0-DSC_8610.jpg

From rim to rim, it's filled with gorgeous hoo doos, fins, and spires that look almost (but not quite) like a rather more famous canyon that's a couple hundred miles away (as the crow flies):
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...1-DSC_8634.jpg

Still not sure? Here's your clue:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...3-DSC_8646.jpg

What, no instant flash of recognition? No sage nods of certainty?
(Psst: they think you're kidding!)
(Who, me? Never! Or at least, not this time.)
Seriously, the windmill is a real clue, so after you've identified the Mystery Canyon, tell us why the windmill matters.

Rick

So, let's say you're out there taking the Grand Tour, and you've already seen practically everything. Some of it's worth seeing twice, but surely there must be something new under the sun. Either way, you'll have to make a decision or two when you get to this place:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC05037.jpg

You've got lots of choices at this point. You decide you don't want to go here again:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC05043.jpg

And you don't want to go here again, either:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_5003.jpg

So you head off in the general direction of this place:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...5-DSC05326.jpg

Until you come to another crossroads, in a town that reminds you of halftime at your High School football games, even though there's not a marching band in sight. You change your mind, and you bear right at the fork, driving, instead, toward this place:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...Old-Oraibi.jpg

Before you get there, you see Rick's Jeep parked by a dirt road with a cattle guard. He waves you down, and points to a thing sticking up above the hill just behind him. And he asks you--though you're not really sure if it's a literal question, or more rhetorical:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...6-DSC05286.jpg

Where am I?

Well, I know.... (but then I edited the manuscript....)

The real question about that thang -- is it still performing as once intended?

I like how this format has morphed into more a road trip theme!

Took some Googling after I picked up on the Tuba City clue, but I believe that's Coal Mine Canyon. No idea why the windmill matters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by glc

Took some Googling after I picked up on the Tuba City clue, but I believe that's Coal Mine Canyon. No idea why the windmill matters.

---

Good job, George; Coal Mine Canyon is the answer.

This is not what you'd call a well-known attraction. The canyon itself is on the Hopi Reservation, but the rim, which includes the best viewpoints, is on the Navajo Reservation. The spot where most people go is very close to the highway, but because it's tribal land, away from the public right-of-way, you have to purchase a permit (available at the Visitors Center in Cameron) just to drive out to it. There's no infrastructure, no signage, no restrooms. Just a couple of concrete picnic tables, and a completely outrageous view of this amazing canyon that most people, including most Arizona residents, have never heard of. It's definitely worth the little bit of trouble, if only for the bragging rights. (And the photo op.)

The windmill is important because of the aforementioned lack of signage: you look for the windmill (the only visible windmill for miles around), so you'll know which dirt road you're supposed to turn on, about 15 miles east of Tuba City. Coal Mine Canyon is part of Scenic Side Trip #15, which is a very cool route through the heart of the Hopi mesas, where the Hopi people have made their home for more than a thousand years.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick Quinn

Good job, George; Coal Mine Canyon is the answer.

This is not what you'd call a well-known attraction. The canyon itself is on the Hopi Reservation, but the rim, which includes the best viewpoints, is on the Navajo Reservation. The spot where most people go is very close to the highway, but because it's tribal land, away from the public right-of-way, you have to purchase a permit (available at the Visitors Center in Cameron) just to drive out to it. There's no infrastructure, no signage, no restrooms. Just a couple of concrete picnic tables, and a completely outrageous view of this amazing canyon that most people, including most Arizona residents, have never heard of. It's definitely worth the little bit of trouble, if only for the bragging rights. (And the photo op.)

The windmill is important because of the aforementioned lack of signage: you look for the windmill (the only visible windmill for miles around), so you'll know which dirt road you're supposed to turn on, about 15 miles east of Tuba City. Coal Mine Canyon is part of Scenic Side Trip #15, which is a very cool route through the heart of the Hopi mesas, where the Hopi people have made their home for more than a thousand years.

---

Good to know! I recognized Cameron on Hwy 89, the Desert View Watchtower at the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Monument Valley. We've traveled though Tuba City many times over the years and we've even traveled between Tuba City and Hubbell Trading Post on Hwy 264 twice but didn't know about Coal Mine Canyon.

Utahtea

Coming back to this thread late again ... sorry, but until June 5th, I'm still on work hours. Like Utahtea, I'd figured out Cameron, Desert Watchtower, Lake Powell and Monument Valley. I don't think I've been through Monument Valley and Tuba City more than twice in my life, though -- once as a young kid and then finally returned last summer (hubby's first trip through there). I had neve heard of Coal Mine Canyon, either.

I hope to post my next photos this coming weekend. Now, back to work I go....I took a 10 minute "recess break"!


Donna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Utahtea

We've traveled though Tuba City many times over the years and we've even traveled between Tuba City and Hubbell Trading Post on Hwy 264 twice but didn't know about Coal Mine Canyon.

Utahtea

---

I drove AZ 264 any number of times before I first discovered Coal Mine Canyon. Back in 2016, I was off on a week-long road trip, driving some of the routes that I planned to use in my book. That was the fun part of the research, and I was going a little crazy, taking tons of photographs. My friend and I were in Wupatki National Monument, shooting the ruin from various angles, when I ran into an old guy who was also taking pictures. We got to talking, as old guys tend to do, and he asked me if I'd ever been to Bryce Canyon.

"Of course," I replied. "That's one of my favorite places."

"Well," he went on, "what if I told you there was a spot not far from here that's like Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon combined?"

"Where's that?"

"Coal Mine Canyon. It's about 15 miles east of Tuba City, just off Highway 264. There's no sign or anything. You've got to look for a windmill. That's where you turn."

We were going that way anyhow, headed for Second Mesa to visit my friends at the Tsakurshovi Trading Post, so when we spotted the windmill, we pulled in, and we were very pleasantly surprised. When you're driving through that area, it's mostly flat, with no obvious sign of the colorful gorge that's no more than a quarter of a mile from the paved highway. If you look at the area from above, using Google satellite view, it's not exactly subtle:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...oads/Map-1.jpg

The windmill is between mileposts 336 and 337. There are several forks off the dirt road, and nothing is marked, so you just keep to the right. You'll pass the well and the stock tank on your left, and you stop when you see the picnic tables.

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ads/Map2-1.jpg

I'd known about Coal Mine Canyon for decades, but I'd always assumed it was somewhere remote, tough to access. Barry Goldwater, the long-time Senator from Arizona, was quite well known as a photographer, his work frequently appearing in the prestigious Arizona Highways Magazine. The very first picture he sold to that magazine, way back in 1939, was this one, which was titled simply, "Coal Mine Canyon."

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...MineCanyon.jpg

It looks pretty classy in black and white, but when a place is as colorful as this, I honestly prefer a color image. This is taken from a viewpoint very close to where the Senator took his famous photo. A mere 80 years later!

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...6-DSC05275.jpg

Rick

No blindfolds or spinning for my next place because it would be way too dangerous!

Here is the route we're going on to take for our hike! It is not for the faint of heart or people who are afraid of heights but my friend who is afraid of heights did it and said she'd do it again. We did have one person back out on the first ladder and this is the view of the path and second ladder.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...213b89cf_c.jpg

Before you can go down the second ladder that's in the above picture, you have to carefully navigate down the stone steps!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...579b8092_c.jpg

And this is the ladder once we were down.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0deb6e64_c.jpg


We had a beautiful morning for it. This is the view across the canyon from our hike.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fe59ae0c_c.jpg

Here we are at our destination!

This is the view to the right

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...211f9318_c.jpg

and this is the view to the left

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...55c30444_c.jpg

I have seen these ruins many times but didn't even know there was a hike until a couple of years ago and last fall we were able to do the hike.

I could easily post one picture that might give it away and another one that would totally give it away...but for now...let's see what we get for answers!

Where am I? What is the name of the ruins?

Utahtea

Those cut out rock steps make me think you're heading to Balcony house in Mesa Verde NP.

Dave

Peeking in before I "go to work".....I'm thinking those might be some ruins in Canyonlands NP. That 4th picture looks so much like CLNP in the Needles District. Anasazi ruins?



Donna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Those cut out rock steps make me think you're heading to Balcony house in Mesa Verde NP.

Dave

---

I'm going to cast my vote with Dave. I've only been to Mesa Verde once, and I didn't make the climb to the Balcony House, but there just aren't that many ruins that are this well preserved, and even fewer that allow visitors to get this close to the structures. Of those, there's only one that I know of where you have to scramble up a ladder and steep stone steps.

Rick

While we're waiting to resolve the question of which Anasazi ruin was featured in that last post, I'm going to toss out a new one, with a slightly different theme. In a normal year, a lot of us would have been out on the road these last couple of months, enjoying the wildflowers that bloom along the roadside every spring, in just about every part of the country. There's one area in particular that I dearly love, so let's see if anyone out there can guess it from these roadside photos:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0113.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0150.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0102.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0088.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0146.jpg

Need something that might put those wildflowers into some sort of context? Here's a road:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0062.jpg

And here's an actual clue:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0081.jpg

Where am I? You don't have to be precise on this one. I'm looking for the name of the state, and the commonly used two-word description of the general area. If you're REALLY good at this, try naming the highway!

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Those cut out rock steps make me think you're heading to Balcony house in Mesa Verde NP.

Dave

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DonnaR57

Peeking in before I "go to work".....I'm thinking those might be some ruins in Canyonlands NP. That 4th picture looks so much like CLNP in the Needles District. Anasazi ruins?



Donna

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rick Quinn

I'm going to cast my vote with Dave. I've only been to Mesa Verde once, and I didn't make the climb to the Balcony House, but there just aren't that many ruins that are this well preserved, and even fewer that allow visitors to get this close to the structures. Of those, there's only one that I know of where you have to scramble up a ladder and steep stone steps.

Rick

---

Mesa Verde National Park is the correct park but it's not Balcony House ruins. Here a hint picture that might give it away. This is a better view of the main attraction at the end of the hike.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...587056b2_c.jpg

I have one more picture that would totally give it away if needed.

Utahtea

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rick Quinn

While we're waiting to resolve the question of which Anasazi ruin was featured in that last post, I'm going to toss out a new one, with a slightly different theme. In a normal year, a lot of us would have been out on the road these last couple of months, enjoying the wildflowers that bloom along the roadside every spring, in just about every part of the country. There's one area in particular that I dearly love, so let's see if anyone out there can guess it from these roadside photos:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0113.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0150.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0102.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0088.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0146.jpg

Need something that might put those wildflowers into some sort of context? Here's a road:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0062.jpg

And here's an actual clue:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0081.jpg

Where am I? You don't have to be precise on this one. I'm looking for the name of the state, and the commonly used two-word description of the general area. If you're REALLY good at this, try naming the highway!

Rick

---

I was thinking either California or Texas but then most of California isn't that flat and Texas is. Then with that last clue picture having a clue of a hill in it, I'm going to guess Hill Country in Texas. While I've never been I did live in Texas as a child and in 2001 when we traveled though Texas we had considered stopping there but it was to much out of our way...so I knew about it.

Utathea

Quote:

---

Mesa Verde National Park is the correct park but it's not Balcony House ruins. Here a hint picture that might give it away. This is a better view of the main attraction at the end of the hike.

---

One more guess. I'm gonna say Square tower house.

Dave.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

One more guess. I'm gonna say Square tower house.

Dave.

---

Dave guessed it!

This view from the overlook is what most people associate with Square Tower House.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...84d2aecd_c.jpg


I did not realize they had ranger lead hikes to this ruins until 2016 when I was helping my friend plan a trip to Mesa Verde. I told her that I had never done this hike but if she felt up to it she should do it. She loved it! This is a ranger lead hike of only 10 people and you have to make reservations well in advance. I was bummed when they didn't offer it in 2017 when we went again to Mesa Verde but really excited when it was offered last year. We made reservations 6 months in advance and at that time it was $25 per person. It's well worth it.

As you see in this picture I showed before, you see sections that can not be seen from the overlook. Up high is what is know as the crows nest.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...211f9318_c.jpg


Utahtea

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Utahtea

Then with that last clue picture having a clue of a hill in it, I'm going to guess Hill Country in Texas.
Utathea

---

That was a very good guess! I'm glad my clue worked as intended. I wasn't sure if I was being too subtle--or too obvious! The Hill Country makes a great day trip out of Austin or San Antonio, and it also qualifies as a pretty great Scenic Side Trip, an alternative to the Interstate Highways. I have friends in Austin, so when I'm driving cross country, I always make a point of stopping there, and the best route to get there from I-10 takes you right through the heart of the Hill Country. When you're traveling east, US 290 splits off from the Interstate about 60 miles west of San Antonio and takes you through Fredericksburg and Johnson City before leading you into Austin through the back door (avoiding the ultra-congested I-35 corridor). It's very pretty country in the wildflower season, as you can see from the pictures, and there's other stuff to see as well. Fredericksburg was the home of Admiral Chester Nimitz, and it's the location of the National Museum of the Pacific War, which has to be one of the best collections of military equipment and memorabilia in existence. A little further down the road, just outside of Johnson City, they've got the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, with the Texas White House and various other exhibits related to LBJ's life and presidency.

The most common bloom in the photos is a colorful relative of the sunflower. They call it Indian Blanket in Texas, but over the border in Oklahoma it's known as Firewheel. Gorgeous, no matter what you call it!

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_0146.jpg

I've never set foot (or any other body part) in a Kayak. The mere notion of doing an "Eskimo Roll," even in tropical waters (much less in the arctic), quite frankly terrifies me. For those who can handle it, Kayaking is a thrilling sport, especially in turbulent water when the sleek little boats plunge over steep drops, and then come bursting up through the spray like so many sounding porpoises. It looks like so much fun, but I'm just not that strong a swimmer, so for what I've got left of this lifetime, I'm content to watch from the shore. Ordinarily, that involves traipsing off to some distant wilderness where the untamed rivers still flow free--but not always. There's one good kayaking spot that I know about that's so easy to get to it's ridiculous. The following string of pictures was taken in a place that's less than 18 miles from the famous downtown of a major U.S. City. The falls are accessible by paved road; no bumping, bouncing, or scrambling required.

I like to get started early when I'm out taking pictures, and this day was no exception. From the parking area, I followed a pretty little creek toward the river.

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...1-DSC_2320.jpg

The creek got rowdy as it rolled downward, fast water flowing between rocky banks, and the rumble of nearby rapids grew louder and louder.

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...2-DSC_2468.jpg

Then I saw the famous river. There was already a Kayaker on the opposite shore, carrying his boat upstream...

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...3-DSC_2395.jpg

...toward the calm water above the rapids

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...4-DSC_2408.jpg

I made my way along the bank to a better vantage point

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...5-DSC_1507.jpg

where I had a good view of the largest waterfall

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...6-DSC_1472.jpg

with my telephoto lens, I got some good photos of the kayaks coming down the chute

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...7-DSC_1492.jpg

It's never as easy as it looks:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...8-DSC_1487.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...9-DSC_1465.jpg

Now, there are a lot of places across the country that might be similar, so remember that big clue: less than 18 miles from a famous downtown! And if that doesn't help, here's one more clue: this vessel, located very near the falls, was not hauled or transported to the spot where you see it in the picture. Once upon a time, the place where you see it is the very place where it was used.

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...0-DSC_2305.jpg

Where am I? Which river is it? And what major city is a mere 18 miles away?

Rck

To me that looks like a canal barge, such as on the Erie Canal, which runs between Albany and Buffalo. ("Low bridge! Everybody down! Low bridge, cuz we're comin' to a town!") Sure are some beautiful falls.


Donna

I don't think anything between Buffalo and Albany is a major city with a famous downtown.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rick Quinn

I've never set foot (or any other body part) in a Kayak. The mere notion of doing an "Eskimo Roll," even in tropical waters (much less in the arctic), quite frankly terrifies me.

---

I never did enough, of course, but I did kayak a number of big rivers in my younger days and even (safely) made it down about a 15-foot waterfall. Blind, dumb luck and a massive fear-induced brace -- kept me from attempting an Eskimo roll in the middle of the waterfall. I was kayaking with a bunch of folks far more experienced than me and I was the only one who made the trip with nary a tip. Lots of crashing that day!

Mark

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DonnaR57

To me that looks like a canal barge, such as on the Erie Canal.
Donna

---

Yes, it's a canal boat (barges are for cargo; this old thing was for passengers).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by glc

I don't think anything between Buffalo and Albany is a major city with a famous downtown.

---

And yes, that's quite true. Nothing in that area fits the other clues. Surely there must be some other canal that's near a famous river, close to a major city etc. etc.? A couple more clues, coming right up:

This is one of the locks that was used to raise and lower the boats traveling up and down the canal, which was built for the express purpose of ferrying people and goods around that waterfall, which, then, as now, has always been considered an 'impediment to navigation.'

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_2308.jpg

And this is the Tavern, for the benefit of travelers going to and from that major city with the famous downtown. (Then, as now.)

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_2470.jpg

Rick

You should have redacted the name on the boat. That's the Great Falls of the Potomac, near Washington DC. The canal is the C&O. I believe that's the Great Falls Tavern, which is now a visitor's center.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by glc

You should have redacted the name on the boat. That's the Great Falls of the Potomac, near Washington DC. The canal is the C&O. I believe that's the Great Falls Tavern, which is now a visitor's center.

---

Good job once again, glc! That's a Yes to Great Falls, a Yes to the Potomac River, a Yes to Washington D.C., a Yes to the C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio) Canal, and an extra big YES to the Great Falls Tavern! That's five in a row--I do believe you just got a Bingo! (And something tells me you probably would have sleuthed out those answers, even without the name of the Charles E Mercer, but it might have taken a few extra clicks!)

Washington D.C. wasn't always the urban tangle that exists there today. As recently as the 1960's, most of the surrounding area was forests and farms (with a little bit of swamp ;-). There are many traces of that legacy still intact, some of it surprisingly close to the city, but there's nothing else in the inner circle that's nearly as wild as the Great Falls of the Potomac.

The river in that area marks the boundary between the State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia, so there are separately maintained, separately accessed parks and viewpoints on each side. There isn't a bridge here, so even though you can easily see from one to the other, Great Falls National Park in Virginia and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Maryland are separated not just by the river, but by twelve miles of road. The Maryland side has more stuff to look at, so it's probably more interesting for families. The Virginia side has wilder views, (arguably) better for photographers:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_1516.jpg

Great Falls makes for a pretty Great day trip, from just about anywhere in the DC area. (With or without your kayak!)

Rick

I'm cruising down a major Interstate Highway, on the outskirts of a major U.S. City, when I see something unusual out of the corner of my eye. I take the next conveniently placed exit, and I get out of my car to take a closer look.

From up above, I'm still not sure. Teeny tiny grass-covered volcanoes, maybe?

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...uploads/10.jpg

So I walk down the embankment. Nope, not a volcano. Heck, I'm not even sure it's natural!

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog.../uploads/3.jpg

Could be some kind of landfill. Or maybe it IS just a plain ordinary hill, in bad need of a haircut?

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog.../uploads/5.jpg

Either way, Where am I?

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog.../uploads/2.jpg
Note: Any resemblance this photo might bear to any actual person in any prior historical era is entirely coincidental

I'm going to guess somewhere in Illinois, because they appear to be native American mounds. The ones closest to a city are the Cahokia Mounds, near St Louis MO, but I haven't seen them in 27 years so I can't really remember (and the photos are slides packed away, not transferred yet to digital). That would be close to I-55/70.


Donna

That's the first thing that came to my mind before reading your reply, Donna.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

I'm going to guess somewhere in Illinois, because they appear to be native American mounds. The ones closest to a city are the Cahokia Mounds, near St Louis MO, but I haven't seen them in 27 years so I can't really remember (and the photos are slides packed away, not transferred yet to digital). That would be close to I-55/70.

Donna

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I had one more clue all ready to go:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...uploads/12.jpg

But you guys didn't need it! Cahokia Mounds is the correct answer, I-70 is the correct answer, and as for the city? Here's a closer view of the thing you see to the left of the skyline:

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...Arch-003-E.jpg

Yup! There's no mistaking THAT thing, so I'd say you nailed it: St Louis is the correct answer, and Cahokia Mounds is VERY close, right across the river from downtown. Cahokia was the site of a seriously impressive Native American city that once covered an area of close to six square miles. There were as many as 120 of the large mounds, and in its heyday, around 1100 AD, the place was home to as many as 15,000 people. It was the largest precolumbian population center in North America, and all that's left of it today are the mounds, which are protected as a National Historic Landmark that has also been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site (one of just 24 UNESCO sites in the United States). There's an interesting museum out there, but the mounds are the real attraction. They're everywhere. Try to imagine what that must have been like...

Okay, where am I? No hints yet...........

http://bbscomp.com/george/trucks.jpg

It has to be somewhere on Route 66, in one of the towns that's trying to draw tourists with kitschy old cars and whatnot. Seligman, Arizona comes to mind; they have plenty of vehicles with eyeballs in their windshields parked here and there around the town, but I don't think your picture is in Arizona. I'm thinking it must be further east. Something like Galena, Kansas, maybe?

Rick