CAMPING PA-502

Here are some examples of the unmatched variety of scenery, natural wonders, historic sites, and recreation opportunities in the National Forests:

North Carolina.—You can camp in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina near the Linville Gorge Wilderness, a canyon of wildness and beauty, with a 90-foot waterfall that was visited, legend says, by Hernando De Soto in 1539. From the canyon rim, the famous Brown Mountain lights are often seen on clear, dark nights. As if from a giant Roman candle, the lights float upward, glowing brightly, fading and disappearing, and often reappearing to glow again.

Virginia.—Mountain climbing? Try Signal Knob in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, where flashing lights relayed Civil War messages to Confederate troops threatening the Nation's Capital.

Forest visitors enjoy the view from Spruce Knob Observation Tower, Visitor Information Center, Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia.

West Virginia.—Jump up and down on the spongy bog in the Cranberry Glades of the Monongahela National Forest and shake a person 150 feet away. Wild cranberries and many types of wild orchids grow in the arctic-like tundra.

Kentucky.—Explore natural arches in the Daniel Boone National Forest. One arch is 60 feet high and 100 feet long.

Maine to Georgia.—Hike along the 2,000 miles of Appalachian Trail, which crosses eight National Forests from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia.

Minnesota.—Stop by the Forest Service's Voyageur Visitor Center at Ely. Then explore the water routes of the Voyageurs, the French-Canadian fur traders of the 1700's, through the wilderness of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the Superior National Forest.

Colorado.—Drive through clouds to the crest of Pikes Peak in the Pike National Forest via one of the world's highest auto roads.

Montana and Idaho.—Follow the route of Lewis and Clark over the Lolo Trail across the Bitterroot Mountains in the Lolo and Clearwater National Forests. Campsites and other historic points along their route are marked by interpretive signs. Walk in the footsteps of the Nez Perce Indians whose trails across the mountains are still visible.

Pan for gold at German Gulch in the Deerlodge National Forest where once a thousand prospectors staked claims. Or hike to Grasshopper Glacier in the Custer National Forest where thousands of grasshoppers were entombed some 200 years ago.

Utah-Wyoming.—Visit Sheep Canyon and Flaming Gorge in the Ashley National Forest, where exposed geologic formations are estimated to be 1 billion years old. Red Canyon Visitor Center, on the edge of the gorge, provides a spectacular view.

Arizona.—Visit the cabin in Oak Creek Canyon in the Coconino National Forest, where Zane Grey lived when he wrote "Call of the Canyon," and view the colorful sunsets and red-rock cliffs he made famous. This spectacular scenery is used in many Hollywood movies.

Oregon.—Look into mile-deep Hells Canyon, deepest gorge on the North American Continent, where the Snake River forms the State line between Oregon and Idaho and flows between the Payette and Nezperce National Forests in Idaho and the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in Oregon. The canyon at one point is 7,900 feet deep and 10 miles wide. Along the Columbia River gorge near Portland, Multnomah Falls, second highest in the Nation, plunges down a cliffside in the Mount Hood National Forest.

Washington.—Gaze at snow-covered peaks while you pick wild huckleberries in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, or wander in the dense rain forest of the Olympic National Forest.

North Fork of the Flathead River, Flathead National Forest, Montana.

California.—Visit the Inyo National Forest where the oldest known living trees on earth, the ancient bristlecone pines, grow. Methuselah, the oldest tree yet found, is older than 4,600 years. Also within the Inyo are fossil graptolites, remains of sea animals that lived about 400 million years ago when the sea covered the area. The gigantic sequoias, nearly as old as the bristlecones and far more majestic, are found in several of the National Forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The largest bird in North America, the endangered California condor, is protected in the Sespe Wildlife Area of Los Padres National Forest near Los Angeles.

New Mexico.—View the panorama of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley from Sandia Crest Vista Point in the Cibola National Forest. Explore dozens of ghost towns within the National Forests throughout the West.

Canada to Mexico.—Try hiking along the 2,300 mile long Pacific Crest Trail. It winds through 25 National Forests from Canada to Mexico, along the snow-mantled skyline of the Northern Cascades in Washington and Oregon, and down the John Muir Trail in the High Sierra.

A few days spent outdoors in any of these unique and inspiring places will be a vacation you will not soon forget, and probably will soon repeat.