Lizard Adventure Blog

Purple Lizard Maps has the perfect gifts for people who love the outdoors.

Check out the December 2023 Holiday Gift Guide. Something for everyone!

Enjoying the outdoors with friends and family is a great way to celebrate the holidays!  Add some outdoor adventure to your family traditions this year.

Shenandoah National Park is a camper's paradise, offering a variety of campgrounds, each with its unique charm - and fall is the perfect time to explore the grandure of this gorgeous national treasure. Don't wait – grab your camping gear, your Purple Lizard Maps, and immerse yourself in the beauty of Shenandoah this fall. Your adventure awaits!

As autumn fully arrives, outdoor enthusiasts and adventure seekers relish in the arrival of fall's vibrant colors, the crisp mountain air, and the sense of wonder and excitement that this season can bring.

To make the most of this magical (and often short!) time, look no further than Purple Lizard Maps and our specially curated map packs, designed to unlock the treasures of the great outdoors to make planning your adventures easy and fun.

Looking for a fall fix? Here are four PA Fall adventure ideas to consider in Pine Creek, Rothrock, and Bald Eagle State Forest.

(updated 2023)

Follow along with us on a gentle, but remote 10-mile hike through prime elk habitat in Central PA. Besides a section of State Game Lands, this lovely loop is completely within the nearly 50,000 acre Quehanna Wild Area. This is the largest Wild Area in Pennsylvania, and is home to all of the best wildlife that PA has to offer: bear, deer, elk, bobcat, coyote, rattlesnakes, fishers and more. The two short climbs on this loop only gain about 100 feet of elevation and the classic Central PA rocks are non-existent.

Elk are truly majestic animals, and they're really big! Cows weigh about 500 lbs and Bulls can weigh up to 700 lbs.Since elk populations move frequently, the best ways to find elk are to drive or hike throughout their range. Purple Lizard's newest map,Moshannon-Quehanna, highlights hundreds of miles of roads and trails in the heart of elk country.

Gravel riding is a popular pastime for the right reasons: Cyclists can enjoy an outdoor adventure on roadways without terrifying traffic or distracted drivers. Black Moshannon State Park and Moshannon State Forest offer rewarding rides for those looking challenging loops! This area is also a fantastic place for beginner riders to sharpen their skills.

Michaux State Forest, less than 3 hours from Philly, Pittsburgh, D.C., and 2 hours from Baltimore, MD and State College, PA, offers something for everyone: Over 85,000 acres of public land loaded with biking and hiking trails (over 300 miles of hiking and over 250 miles of shared use), great climbing crags, cross country ski trails, 40 miles of the Appalachian Trail, plus Caledonia, Mont Alto, Kings Gap, Pine Grove Furnace State Parks. Michaux is just waiting for you to explore!

Purple Lizard takes you on a drive through the backroads of Bald Eagle State Forest, one of the most remote forests in Pennsylvania.

The Tuscarora State Forest in central Pennsylvania sprawls across six counties between Huntingdon and Lewistown in the north and Carlisle to the south. You’ll find remote roads and trails, mountain creeks, long ridgetop views and quiet waterside rests - everything you need for fantastic outdoor adventures. There is also a tremendous amount of Native and Colonial history on this map. You’ll find roads that follow Native footpaths developed thousands of years ago, covered bridges from the 1800s, springs built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and some of the most beautiful farm valleys in the state.

There are a lot of dirt roads in Monongahela National Forest that are worth exploring. For that matter, many of the paved roads are also unique driving experiences. Camping options abound at the National Forest campgrounds or the Dispersed Camping Areas, as well as the simple fact that you are allowed to pull over and camp at many other spots within the forest. There are some rules on this – you can’t do that everywhere – but we’ll tell you about some of our favorite routes on the northern side of this Lizard Map.