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Home
Journal
Map
Destinations
- Historic Site
- National Park
- Nature
  - Arch
  - Bog
  - Canyon
  - Cave
  - Desert
  - Dune
  - Lake
  - Prairie
  - View
  - Waterfall
  - Wetland
  - Wilderness
- Point of Interest
  - Cemetery
- Transportation
Regions
- Mid-Atlantic
- Midwest
  - Indiana
  - Michigan
  - Ohio
- Northeast
- Southeast
  - North Carolina
  - Tennessee
- Southwest
  - Arizona
  - New Mexico
Prints & Downloads
About
Search

Joe’s Pond

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American Byways

August 29, 2018

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It was a wonderful New Year spent at Hocking Hills

It was a wonderful New Year spent at Hocking Hills in #Ohio, once again marked by the blessing of fresh snowfall during our visit. #OhioTheHeartofitAll

Near Miami, Oklahoma, a nine-foot stretch of pavem

Near Miami, Oklahoma, a nine-foot stretch of pavement survives as the only remaining section of old U.S. Route 66. Known locally as the “Sidewalk Road,” it dated to the early years of federal road building.

The project was approved on December 8, 1918, as Federal Aid Project No. 8. Work began in July 1919 on a road linking Miami and Narcissa, completed in March 1921. A second stage extended the road to Afton, with grading in July 1921 and surfacing finished in February 1922. Built by the Western Paving Company, the 15.46-mile highway had a five-inch concrete base, two inches of Topeka asphalt, and curbs. It became part of Oklahoma State Highway 7.

Soon after, the General Construction Company extended the road north from Miami to Commerce (3.6 miles) and to the Neosho River Bridge under additional federal aid projects.

By the mid-1920s, Oklahoma leaders sought to connect Miami with Oklahoma City through Vinita, Claremore, and Tulsa. Their plans aligned with the creation of the U.S. highway system in 1926, which incorporated Ottawa County’s section of State Highway 7. With approval from the Associated Highways Association of America, the narrow “Sidewalk Road” became part of U.S. Route 66.

The roadway remained in use until the 1930s, when traffic demands required a wider, straighter alignment. Construction began in 1935 and opened in 1937 as U.S. Routes 60 and 59, bypassing six sharp curves of the old pavement.

Today, the short surviving section near Miami stands as a rare trace of early federal roadbuilding and the formative years of Route 66.

#ghostsofamerica #HistoricPreservation #Deserve2Preserve #rawusa_sept25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #RoadsideAmerica #roadgeek #Route66 #HistoricRoute66 #MotherRoad #Oklahoma #TravelOK #OKHereWeGo #DiscoverOklahoma #OklahomaPhotographer #OklahomaTourism #ThisIsOklahoma

A late-winter hike through the Red River Gorge Geo

A late-winter hike through the Red River Gorge Geological Area in #Kentucky in 2009 offered a quiet day on the trail with my dad, moving through bare hardwoods and lingering patches of evergreen and rhododendron. We followed well-worn paths to Princess Arch, a modest sandstone span, and continued on to Rock Bridge along Swift Camp Creek.

The gorge, carved into eastern Kentucky’s sandstone plateau, is defined by its natural bridges, cliffs, rock shelters, and seasonal waterfalls, features that have long made it one of the region’s most distinctive landscapes.

#OptOutside #Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #TravelKY

These fossilized trees were once part of a forest

These fossilized trees were once part of a forest that stood millions of years ago, likely several miles from their current location. After the trees fell, floodwaters carried them away and buried them under layers of sediment. Over time, groundwater-rich minerals seeped into the wood’s cellular structure, replacing the organic material and turning the logs to stone. The colors seen in the petrified wood are due to iron and manganese oxides.

The trees belonged to an ancient group of evergreens known as Araucarian Pines, which flourished during the Age of Reptiles around 150 million years ago. Though extinct in this region, several species of Araucaria still exist in the Southern Hemisphere, with the Norfolk Pine being among the most recognizable.

Earlier in the year, I had a work and overlanding trip planned around Las Vegas. We spent two weeks on the road, but one of the most memorable stops was the Valley of Fire. That hot afternoon and evening, the park was nearly empty; we saw very few people on the trails, which made the experience feel even more remote and unspoiled.

Valley of Fire is the state's oldest state park and among its most visually striking. The vivid red sandstone formations stood out sharply against the desert landscape. We followed trails that led to natural arches, narrow canyons, and wide desert views, landforms shaped slowly over thousands of years by wind and water. The quiet, the color, and the scale of it all made the place feel otherworldly.

#RAW_allnature #RAW_macro #OptOutside #rawusa_jul25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa @visittheusa #Nevada #TravelNevada #VisitNevada #ExploreNevada #NVstateparks @travelnevada

On a quiet farm in Washington County, #Pennsylvani
$On a quiet farm in Washington County, #Pennsylvania, a wood-framed barn painted black rises from a block foundation, its edges softened by deep winter snow. Along one broad wall, a hand-painted American flag appears in vivid reds, whites, and blues, the colors striking against the muted landscape and the weathered boards beneath. Barn murals like this have long served as rural expressions of identity and continuity, turning working structures into public statements without spectacle. The flag, in particular, carries layered symbolism—less celebratory than resolute—signaling attachment to place, labor, and shared values shaped over generations. In the present moment, marked by political violence, hardening rhetoric, immigration raids, imperial ambition, and deep mistrust of institutions and neighbors alike, the mural reads as neither comfort nor nostalgia. America has never been free of uncertainty, but the mural suggests endurance rather than innocence, a quiet assertion that despite fracture and strain, the idea of community rooted in land and work persists, even as the nation continues to test its own ideals. #Appalachia #folkscenery #ExplorePA #VisitPA$

Mill Race Park in Columbus, Indiana offers a mix o

Mill Race Park in Columbus, Indiana offers a mix of riverfront scenery and unexpected botanical surprises. On a visit earlier this year, I noticed a stand of conifers that reminded me of the tamaracks I had known in New York—trees whose soft needles flare into a vivid yellow each November before falling. Their presence here, far from their usual northern range, feels unusual enough to make you pause.

When I returned in November while photographing several historic bridges in the county, I was struck by how vibrant those trees had become. Their needles glowed a deep orange, a sign of mild stress from an earlier drought, yet the color was still remarkable against the cool tones of late autumn. Set beside the park’s ponds, trails, and historic covered bridge, these tamarack-like conifers offer an unexpected splash of seasonal color in a landscape shaped by water, history, and thoughtful design.

The history of Mill Race Park gives this landscape a deeper resonance. The park sits at the confluence of the Flat Rock and Driftwood rivers, on land once known as “Death Valley” for its poverty, substandard housing, and chronic flooding. After the city began acquiring the area in 1963, the site underwent a long transformation that culminated in a 1990s redesign by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, who shaped a resilient floodplain park of elevated structures, concrete paths, lakes, looping drives, and an 84-foot observation tower. At its center stands the New Brownsville Covered Bridge, originally built in the 1830s using Stephen H. Long’s pioneering wooden truss design and reassembled here after the 1985 arson that destroyed the park’s earlier bridge. Today the bridge, pond, and river trails form the heart of a landscape that has evolved from flood-scarred ground into one of Columbus’s most welcoming public spaces.

#VisitColumbusIN #RAW_seasons #Water_Perfection #Water_Brilliance #wb_water_brilliance #HistoricPreservation #Deserve2Preserve #stayandwander #folkscenery #Autumn #AutumnColors #FallColors #leafpeeping #rawusa_dec25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana

The walk to Whispering Cave at Hocking Hills State

The walk to Whispering Cave at Hocking Hills State Park in #Ohio began at the Old Man’s Cave trailhead, following a gentle winter route through open woods and along sandstone cliff lines. Icicles hung overhead, breaking apart in the winter sun as temperatures shifted through the day. The cave itself is a broad recess—nearly 300 feet wide—cut into the Blackhand sandstone, its scale felt before it fully came into view. A seasonal waterfall drops roughly 105 feet into the hollow, subdued by cold but still shaping the space. This spirited hike marked the close of our New Year’s winter visit to Hocking Hills. 💖

#OhioTheHeartofitAll #OhioStateParks #HockingHills #WinterWonderland

Rock House is the only true cave within Hocking Hi

Rock House is the only true cave within Hocking Hills State Park in #Ohio, formed over millennia as water cut deeply into the Black Hand Sandstone. The result is a long, high corridor with window-like openings and load-bearing sandstone columns that give the space a distinctly architectural feel. Archaeological evidence points to its use by Native peoples as a shelter and water-collection site, while 19th-century lore later cast it as a hideout for outlaws, earning the nickname “Robbers’ Roost.” Reaching the cave in winter, we hiked with my partner and Theo, our cattle dog, along snow-covered trails where icy climbs slowed the approach and demanded attention.

#WinterWonderland #OhioTheHeartofitAll #OhioStateParks #HockingHills

Driving east on US Route 40 through Putnam County,

Driving east on US Route 40 through Putnam County, Indiana, the evening light struck a farmstead in warm gold.

Barns and grain silos rose against the sky, their shapes darkening at sunset. Strings of LED lights spelled out “Jesus Is The Reason” and “Noel,” a quiet roadside glimpse of local faith and rural life.

The farm, known as Shields Farm, includes a two-story brick house built around 1843. Its five-bay façade, gable roof, modest porch, transomed doors, and segmental-arched windows reflect Greek Revival and Italianate styles typical of mid-19th-century Indiana homesteads.

The farm holds historical significance. Locally known as the Shields Farm, it features a two-story brick residence built around 1843. The house combines Greek Revival and Italianate elements, including a five-bay façade, gable roof, modest entry porch, doors with transoms and lights, and segmental-arched windows, characteristics typical of mid-19th-century homesteads.

#RAW_landscape #AmericanRural #rawusa_nov25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #SmallTownValues #LiveAuthentic #ThisIsHome #RoadsideAmerica #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana #putmeinputnam

A winter snowfall settled over Big Walnut Creek as

A winter snowfall settled over Big Walnut Creek as Baker’s Camp Covered Bridge crossed the valley in Putnam County, #Indiana. Built in 1901 by Joseph J. Daniels, the single-span bridge uses the Burr arch truss, a timber system that combines a curved arch with kingpost framing to carry loads efficiently across rural streams. Seen from above, the bridge reads as part of the landscape it once served, an enclosed crossing shaped by local materials, late nineteenth-century engineering practice, and the practical demands of county roads.

#AmericanRural #VisitIndiana #RAWbridges #Total_Bridges

Whatever the season, I’ve found Cataract Falls Sta

Whatever the season, I’ve found Cataract Falls State Recreation Area near Cloverdale, Indiana, to be a quiet place to reflect and explore.

On my most recent visit in early autumn, the air was cool and still, and the trees showed only the first touches of color. The flow over the falls was low—reduced by late-summer drought—but Mill Creek still threaded its way through the limestone gorge, glinting in the soft light. The subdued sound of water over stone matched the calm of the season, a contrast to the rush and thunder of past visits.

Cataract Falls is home to Indiana’s largest waterfalls by volume. Over millions of years, Mill Creek carved through layers of ancient limestone, shaping the Upper and Lower Falls. The landscape owes its form to the Illinoisan glacial period, when ice sheets buried pre-glacial ridges beneath layers of sediment. Mill Creek later cut through those weakened formations, creating a combined seventy-five-foot drop—forty-five feet at the Upper Falls and thirty at the Lower.

I’ve seen Cataract Falls under far different conditions. In summer, the air was heavy and humid, and the creek gushed with steady power after seasonal storms. In winter, following a rain that turned to snow, the falls ran full and strong, framed by sheets of ice and a landscape muffled in silence. Each visit revealed a different side of the same place—shaped by weather, time, and the enduring pull of Mill Creek across the stone.

#stayandwander #OptOutside #folkscenery #RAW_landscape #RAW_seasons #RAW_allnature #Water_Perfection #Water_Brilliance #wb_water_brilliance #Waterfall #rawusa_nov25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana #IndianaDNR

In the last light of day, we lingered at White Dom

In the last light of day, we lingered at White Domes at the Valley of Fire State Park, where sandstone bluffs glowed under a sky streaked with pink and lavender. The heat had faded, replaced by a hush that settled over the desert floor. Shadows lengthened, and the pastel hues deepened, washing the cliffs in a soft, otherworldly glow. It felt like the park was exhaling: quiet, reverent, and wide open.

#stayandwander #WildernessCulture #OptOutside #folkscenery #RAW_landscape #rawusa_jul25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa @visittheusa #Nevada #TravelNevada #VisitNevada #ExploreNevada #NVstateparks @travelnevada

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