Flatwoods Run Cascades – American Byways

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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

Flatwoods Run Cascades

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I woke before daylight in my rooftop tent along th

I woke before daylight in my rooftop tent along the Cheat River in West Virginia, wind shaking the fabric as fresh snow fell through the night. By morning, the riverbanks and forest floor were covered, and winter had stripped the landscape down to its essentials. It was bitterly cold, unsettled weather—the kind that slows movement but sharpens attention.

Snowshoeing into Coopers Rock State Forest, trails softened or disappeared beneath fresh drifts. The forest was quiet, broken only by wind and the compression of snow underfoot. Deeper in the woods, the Henry Clay Furnace emerged from the trees, its stone stack standing as a reminder of early Appalachian industry. Completed in 1836, the furnace once employed hundreds and produced iron that was floated down the Cheat River. In winter, it felt isolated and exposed, emphasizing the labor and endurance required to operate here.

Later, I followed ridgelines toward the cliffs above the gorge, passing stonework built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Near the overlook, the Almost Heaven swing stood empty, chains shifting slightly in the wind. Gusts swept the exposed rock and kept me back from the edge. Snowshoeing along the cliffs slowed the day and deepened the experience, turning a familiar place into something quieter, harsher, and shaped by weather, history, and restraint.

📸 Key:
1 - Coopers Rock overlook
2 - Henry Clay Furnace
3 - CCC-built picnic shelter
4 - Along the ridgeline
5 - Coopers Rock overlook
6 - Almost Heaven Swing

#AlmostHeaven #VisitWV #GoToWV #WinterWonderland #OptOutside #stayandwander #folkscenery #Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #wanderingusa #VisittheUSA #WestVirginia #WVPhotographer #wonderfulgrams

Near Sturgeon Point in #Michigan stands the Bailey

Near Sturgeon Point in #Michigan stands the Bailey School, built in 1907 of Norway pine at the site of the C.A. Johnson logging camp west of Mikado. Constructed for the children of logging crews and named for a lumberman who helped build it, it is one of the few remaining one-room log schoolhouses in the state. Partially restored in 1973, the structure was later disassembled, moved, and fully restored in 1998 to its present location at Sturgeon Point. Maintained by the Alcona Historical Society, it is furnished with period pieces, including a recitation bench, student desks, a drinking pail, and a coal stove.

#PureMichigan #HistoricPreservation

Forty Mile Point Light stands on a low bluff along

Forty Mile Point Light stands on a low bluff along Lake Huron in Presque Isle County, #Michigan, about midway between Alpena and Cheboygan. The station was completed in 1896 after Congress appropriated funds in 1893 to close a long, unlit stretch of shoreline that had concerned Great Lakes mariners. Its square white tower rises from a two-story red brick keeper’s dwelling, a practical design used widely by the Lighthouse Board in the late nineteenth century. The original fourth-order Fresnel lens gave the light a range of roughly 15 nautical miles, guiding ore carriers, lumber steamers, and passenger vessels moving along Michigan’s northeastern coast.

Automation came in 1969 under the U.S. Coast Guard, ending the era of resident keepers. In 1996, ownership transferred to Presque Isle County, and the property gradually reopened as a museum while remaining an active aid to navigation. Visitors today can walk the grounds, view exhibits in the former keeper’s quarters, and follow the shoreline north of the station to see timbers from the 1905 wreck of the steamer Joseph S. Fay, still embedded in the sand. The setting is open and exposed, shaped by wind and water, much as it was when the light first went into service.

#HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography #PureMichigan

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

Exploring Indiana's covered bridges during autumn

Exploring Indiana's covered bridges during autumn combines the charm of historical architecture with stunning fall scenery.

1: Bean Blossom Covered Bridge
2+3: Cedar Ford Covered Bridge
4: Baker’s Camp Covered Bridge
5: Medora Covered Bridge
6: Shields’ Mill Covered Bridge
7: Pine Bluff Covered Bridge
8: Baker’s Camp Covered Bridge
9: Rolling Stone Covered Bridge

#Historic #HistoricPreservation #Deserve2Preserve #AmericanRural #rawusa_jan25 #RAWbridges #amazingshots_bridges #Total_Bridges #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana

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

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

The waters of Lake Vesuvius in Wayne National Fore

The waters of Lake Vesuvius in Wayne National Forest near Ironton, Ohio, have been lowered to allow repairs to a faulty dam gate. An initial repair attempt was made in August, but further work is required. The lake was being drawn down about 31 feet to provide access to the gate, with normal water levels expected to return after fall and winter.

#RAW_landscape #rawusa_sept25 #Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #Ohio #OhioExplored #beautiful_ohio_scenes #OhioTheHeartofitAll #WeAreOhioSE @ohioexplored #naturalohio

The sun dropped low over White Domes Road, casting

The sun dropped low over White Domes Road, casting long shadows through Nevada’s Valley of Fire.

Out here, light moves differently, cutting across sandstone in hard angles and soft glows. The road winds through a maze of red rock and pale domes, the oldest state park in Nevada, stretching out in ridges and washes. At dusk, the cliffs flare up—pink, orange, gold—before falling into quiet hues.

#RAW_landscape #RAW_seasons #RAW_allnature #rawusa_aug25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa @visittheusa #roadgeek #Nevada #TravelNevada #VisitNevada #ExploreNevada #NVstateparks @travelnevada

The Bernice D. was a gasoline-powered fishing boat

The Bernice D. was a gasoline-powered fishing boat that once operated on the nearby Black River. It is now preserved and displayed next to the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse in #Michigan.

#boatlife #PureMichigan #AbandonedPlaces

Ohio’s Stonelick Covered Bridge: Nearly Lost, but

Ohio’s Stonelick Covered Bridge: Nearly Lost, but Never Forgotten

Built in 1878, the Stonelick Covered Bridge in Clermont County, Ohio, has endured fire, vehicle accidents, and even a collapse during restoration. After years of damage and repairs, it was fully rebuilt and reopened in 2015, preserving its place as a historic landmark.

#Historic #HistoricPreservation #Deserve2Preserve #Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #AmericanRural #rawusa_feb25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #RAWbridges #amazingshots_bridges #Total_Bridges #roadgeek #ODOT #Ohio #OhioExplored #beautiful_ohio_scenes #OhioTheHeartofitAll #WeAreOhioSE @ohioexplored #Cincinnati #CincinnatiOH #CincinnatiOhio #Cincy #CincyGram #CincyUSA #discoverclermontcounty

Sturgeon Point Lighthouse stands along the Lake Hu

Sturgeon Point Lighthouse stands along the Lake Huron shoreline in Haynes Township, just north of Harrisville, #Michigan. Built where a shallow reef extends more than a mile into open water, the station marked a persistent hazard along Michigan’s northeastern lower peninsula. The brick tower, distinguished by its white and red daymark, remains an active aid to navigation while anchoring the broader landscape of Sturgeon Point State Park.

Congress appropriated approximately $15,000 in 1867 after the United States Lighthouse Board identified the reef as a danger between established lights on Lake Huron. A 60-acre site was secured in 1868, and construction of the limestone foundation, brick tower, and attached keeper’s dwelling was largely complete by late 1869. The light was first exhibited in 1870 using a kerosene-fueled lamp and Fresnel lens. Perley Silverthorn served as the first keeper, overseeing operations during a period of growing vessel traffic tied to lumbering and regional trade.

In 1876, a station of the United States Life-Saving Service was established adjacent to the lighthouse, reinforcing the site’s role in rescue work along this exposed reach of shoreline. Technological improvements led to automation in 1913, and after the creation of the United States Coast Guard in 1915, responsibility for the station gradually shifted. Full automation was achieved in 1939, and staffing ended by 1941.

Congress appropriated approximately $15,000 in 1867 after the United States Lighthouse Board identified the reef as a danger between established lights on Lake Huron. A 60-acre site was secured in 1868, and construction of the limestone foundation, brick tower, and attached keeper’s dwelling was largely complete by late 1869. The light was first exhibited in 1870 using a kerosene-fueled lamp and a Fresnel lens. Perley Silverthorn served as the first keeper, overseeing operations during a period of growing vessel traffic tied to lumbering and regional trade.

#PureMichigan #HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography

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