So many people make the mistake of thinking they have to travel to find exciting, undiscovered treasures, but that is not true. No matter where you live there are places you can explore and enjoy.
This weekend my family and I took a break from our home improvement project of fixing the deck stairs to visit a local park, Oxbow Falls Park. My son and I had visited this park briefly in the spring, and knew we had to go back with the whole family.
Oxbow Falls has an 18 hole disc golf course, which is obviously very popular, and is the only 18 hole course in New York State. But it was too hot for Frisbees, so we were interested in the waterfall. A local Boy Scout recently cleared 1 mile long trail and built a bridge to allow access to the bottom of the waterfall. The trail is so new that not many people know about it yet. We found out about it from a friend, and talking to friends and neighbors is a great way to learn about the undiscovered places in your community.
So we set off with our dog and water shoes and departed for a few hours of exploration. Now it isn’t Niagara Falls or anything, but it is quite pretty. The waterfall is about a 100 foot drop on the edge of the Helderberg Escarpment. It isn’t too steep, so we were able to hike up almost to the top by wading in the stream. Along the way it was fun to see all the different rock pools and the wide variety of trees and plants. We didn’t see much wildlife (probably due to the fact our dog was with us), but my 18 year old future biologist was fascinated by the huge millipedes that were climbing all over the moss covered rocks.
The whole trip took about 3 hours, was less than 20 miles from our house and cost us nothing except the gas to get there. Discovering your local community is a fun, frugal way to connect with your family.
Our favorite place is a reservoir with a beach…we found it via our search for a place to play in the water. We love it because we like to play in the water (especially on the hot summer days) and then we BBQ dinner at a nearby picnic area. annejk112233(at)yahoo(dot)com
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We have a bike trail called Rails-to-Trails that runs through our entire county in NE Ohio. We can get to it easily as one of the entry points is only 1/4 mile from our house. It is great for going biking or hiking and it is an under-represented point of interest in the area! I wish more people would take advantage of it! We even found some wild strawberries there a few weeks ago that no one had touched!!!!
We have a fun park with a duck pond that is just around th corner.
fave place: the train park next to the duck pond in provo. There is a real train cart for kids to play on
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We were taking a drive in a wooded area near our home when we noticed a truck turning down a small road that we had never noticed. We followed out of curiosity and found a public but hidden side of the woods that we like to hike. When we left we noticed that the road is marked but just doesn’t seem to be noticed. We’ll go back.
A few years ago we got turned around while driving and ended up at an even better place. We didn’t know that our city had a beautiful plantation park just sitting right nearby. There is a lake and horses, beautiful. We go there regularly.
One of my families favorite places to visit is in Saratoga Spa State Park. We love everything about it there because there is always so many different options! The peerless pools are always a big hit, but we also enjoy going for walks, visiting the springs, attending concerts, playing tennis and watching the over-sized goldfish in the ponds! 🙂
Out back of our city there is a little unknown place called Lyn Falls…its tucked away from the world and only a handful of folks know that there is a thirty foot waterfall there…it has a center island that you can cross over on a log if you are brave. The flora and fauna is just gorgeous and you feel like you are in Eden! Your falls is not unlike my own…we love it there, as we feel like we are the only people on Earth and our world is our fortress! We sometimes camp there, always making sure never to disrupt the ecology of the area!! …heavensent1@yahoo dotcom
Mine would be a little store called Moon’s. We live in a tiny rural town with a great public school, the reason we are here. There is a little convenience type store that also has picnic tables in it and they make the best steak you will ever eat in your life. You wouldn’t even think the store was open by the outer looks of it. Lol. It is great though. You pretty much serve yourself, unless you are an out of towner and don’t know to, and it’s all on the honor system. It’s great and we love it. We like to take people who visit here there and they are blown away every time.
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We love to go up American Fork Canyon. There are so many places to park and hike, roast marshmellows, fish in the resevoir, ride atvs… The possibilities are endless!
Our favorite place is a trail by a local dam. The dogs love it too.
Our favorite undiscovered place would be this creek downtown that is just amazing! babbling brook, perfect place to splash around and even read a book and relax. Pure beauty!
my favorite underappreciated place was from my last home – havent been here in the new spot for long – but it was our bookmobile! since the library was kind of far away. They would bring new book releases to me every week!
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I love that yours has a disc golf course because our family favorite is also a park with an 18 hole disc golf course. Seymour Smith park in Omaha, NE has Disc Golf, an ALL Play playground and splash pad, a skeet shooting range, lots of baseball/softball diamonds, walkinf trails, and lots more. I have lived here for 7 years and most of my friends and neighbors do not even know this park exists until I tell them about it. (Though the Disc Golf Course is gaining A LOT of popularity lately and is pretty crowded this summer). We love to go as a family to thsi park and walk around, play disc golf and do whatever we feel like doing! 🙂
We have a favorite Italian restaurant that we have been going to for over 20 years.
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com