Idaho Seven Devils mts, little known gem

Idaho Statesman reports on Idaho's hidden gem of the Seven Devils mountains.

Many people don't know this majestic mountain range is [just off the US-95 near Riggins], or don't take the trouble to find it because Seven Devils is farther off the beaten path than the Sawtooths.

But if you love Idaho's scenic backcountry, it's a place you should visit at least once. If you're the adventurous type, it's someplace you can explore for years and still find new surprises.

"This is an absolutely fascinating place," said fire lookout Michael Oliver, whose tower has some of the best views in Idaho.

Oliver gets visits from folks ranging from locals to European tourists, from hardcore hikers and horsepackers who delve deep into the backcountry to families taking a scenic drive.

Read the full story: Seven Devils: these rugged mountains area little slice of heaven

Photo from Idaho Statesman

Five California Bay Area outdoor escapes

San Jose Mercury News reports on five outdoor experts' local escapes.

Kayaking, biking, horse back riding, hiking and star-gazing are covered.

Read the full story: Wanderlust

Photo from ROMP

How to catch horse-cart dung?

National Parks Traveler reports on the controversy in an Irish park about horse cart "dung-catchers."

For some reason that isn't made clear, the cart drivers or jarveys, are opposed to driving carts with the dung-catchers. The Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service installed a rule proclaiming that all carts driven in Killarney NP must have the catchers.

Here in New York City's Central Park, all the horse carts have these dung-catchers attached to the front of the carts and positioned strategically under the horses behind. The catchers aren't perfect though and some horse "apples" manage to escape and carpet the southeastern road with the smelly excrement.

Read the full story: International park news: "nappies" for horses

Slow travel for our 100th post

Ecotravel News is celebrating our 100th post with a story about "slow travel," the ultimate in eco-travel.

Slow travel is essentially traveling without the airplanes that everyone knows are bad for the environment and slowing down and enjoying the journey to the new country.

One man that slow traveled around the world is Ed Gillespie who spoke to NPR recently about his journey:

"'What is the purpose of travel?' [Gillespie] asks. 'Is it about a checklist of sights that we want to go and see? ... Or is it actually about the notion of just getting away? And can we experience that notion of getting away with methods that don't have the same kind of environmental impact that unfortunately flying does?'"

Listen to his interview: First slow food, now a movement for slow travel

Visit little-known national parks near Seattle

Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Getaways section highlights new and relatively unknown state wilderness areas worth visiting:

"Over the past 15 or more years, thousands of acres in dozens of plots have been acquired all over [King] county. Today the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks manages 180 parks totaling 5,000 acres, plus 20,000 more acres of open space, 175 miles of official trails and uncounted miles of unofficial 'local' trails that lace much of the newer lands."

Because a lot of these acquired lands are so new, they're not well-known and the county land managers are trying to get nature-lovers to come visit. Hiking, biking and horseback riding are just some of the outdoor activities welcome throughout the various terrains and trails.

And one of the best features about these unknown areas is that there are very few other visitors. The article's author Greg Johnston tried out a two-hour hike and encountered only four other people.

Read the full story: King County has acres of newly acquired public space, but few are using it