Lizard Adventure Blog
McCune Trail, Ohopyle State Park, PA
McCune Trail is one of our favorite trails in the Sugarloaf Mountain area of Ohiopyle State Park. We discovered this 4-mile loop this spring before the leaves were out in full bloom.
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Explore Wharton Furnace in Forbes State Forest, PA
While there are numerous historic iron ore furnace sites throughout Pennsylvania, Wharton Furnace must be one of the best maintained furnaces in the commonwealth. Take a driving tour, not too far from Ohiopyle State Park, Grantsville MD, or Morgantown WV, to enjoy this historical location. Visitors can reach this destination via paved roads or gravel forest roads. Find this furnace and plenty of other historical sites on our all new Ohiopyle-Laurel Highlands Lizard Map!
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Gravel Grinding Along Ridges and Valleys in Bald Eagle State Forest, PA
Bald Eagle State Forest offers almost endless options for cyclists. Last week our Trail Guru used the Bald Eagle Lizard Map and a Surly Cross Check to explore some of the roads in this forest. Have a look at a handful of options to be found in Bald Eagle State Forest.
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Seneca Creek Trail: Amazing Adventures in West Virginia
Monongahela National Forest is filled with hidden pockets to explore. One of these pockets, Seneca Creek, is just a few miles past a paved road to the highest point in West Virginia. Explore this area with the new Dollys Sods-Seneca Rocks Lizard Map!
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Travel back in time on the Durbin Rocket in West Virginia
At the very southern end of the Elkins-Otter Creek Lizard Map you will find the town of Durbin. And there you’ll find...
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Off-The-Grid Cartography: Making Maps In Monongahela National Forest
We take our mapmaking pretty so seriously over here at Purple Lizard Maps, that we often hike and bike most of the trails found on our maps. We also drive 98% of the roads that are found on our maps. For our most recent project, we truly went overboard by renting an off-the-grid cabin in the middle of Monongahela National Forest for a full week of recon fieldwork. Learn all about our adventures and discoveries below!
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Exploring Backcountry Trails in Tioga State Forest, PA
I had two seriously long days in the woods planned, for an estimated total of 44 miles of backpacking. My plan was to follow a slew of lesser-known trails to create a loop that incorporates both Black Forest Trail and West Rim Trail. I picked this route after studying the Pine Creek Lizard Map. There are countless trails on this excellent map, but some of them are old, neglected, and untravelled. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Winter is a great time to do this kind of exploring. There are no rattlesnakes, nettles, or ticks. Streams are easy to follow, and the cold temperatures can dress up the stream banks with ice sculptures. The lack of leaves creates winter vistas where in the summer there is only endless green. So off I went.
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Golden Eagle Trail Plus: Your guide to "PA's Best Day Hike" & some fantastic alternate routes!
Golden Eagle Trail is often referred to as the best day hike in PA. With almost 10 miles of tough hiking, this trail is awesome any time of year. Alternative routes listed on this blog allow for even more rugged loop hikes totaling more than 15 miles of hiking. Highlights include beautiful vistas, sparkling mountain streams, ridgeline hiking, and tough climbs and descents in Wolf Run Wild Area and State Game Lands 68
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Yellow Arrow Trail: A Hike With A View In Spruce Creek, PA
Spruce Creek Pennsylvania is well known for its world class fly fishing waters, but what seems be be less known is the amazing array of ridge line vistas in nearby Rothrock State Forest. Just a few miles northwest of Huntingdon, PA, this section of Rothrock State Forest boasts miles of the Mid State Trail (MST). The MST in this area crosses through Little Juniata Natural Area and includes several views of the surrounding ridges and valleys.
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Excursions from Rincon: Gozalandia Waterfalls & San Sebastián
It's easy to be seduced by the warm waters and sandy beaches of Rincón, but there are a few adventures worth venturing out of town for and the falls at Gozalandia are definitely worth it!
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Holiday Reflections from Purple Lizard
Spending time outdoors is fundamental for human happiness, health and well-being. As our modern lives present constant opportunities for distraction you realize that as we unplug from our screens and plug into the outdoors we are creating a powerful connection for ourselves, our communities and our planet. Your commitment to spending time in our beautiful public lands and enjoying real-world experiences is what makes our work special. Thank you for being a part of that connection and for sharing your love of the outdoors with Purple Lizard.
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Go Wild: National Wilderness Areas and Purple Lizard Maps
We added a new designation to our mapping repertoire in 2018: US Wilderness Area. In typical Lizard fashion, we didn't add this phrase to our maps for just any old Wilderness. We tackled some of the most serious (and seriously popular) wilderness areas in West Virginia: Dolly Sods, Laurel Fork North, Laurel Fork South, Otter Creek, and Roaring Plains West. Below, we provide a sample taste of what each of the wildness areas we mapped this year offer...
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