Bob Downing – Page 3 –

Morning fog on Taloden Pond on the heavily wooded Taloden Woods Trail at Ohio's Highlands Nature Sanctuary.

Ohio’s Highlands Nature Sanctuary lures with gorge, wildflowers

May 12, 2019 at 3:32 a.m.

BAINBRIDGE, Ohio - Little-known Highlands Nature Sanctuary is a gem. The 2,200-acre preserve sits along the Rocky Fork Gorge west of Chillicothe in Highland County, 65 miles from Cincinnati and...

An old rail mileage marker sits next to the Greenbrier River Trail, a state-maintained trail that runs 78 miles along the Greenbrier River in West Virginia.

West Virginia’s Greenbrier River Trail great for bikers, hikers

May 12, 2019 at 3:31 a.m.

CASS, W. Va. — The Greenbrier River Trail is a gem. It stretches 78 miles through a picturesque and surprisingly wild valley, next to a pretty stream, through forests and...

Giraffes are among the at-risk animals kept at The Wilds near Cumberland, Ohio.

Ohio scenic byway: Wild and big in Appalachia

May 12, 2019 at 3:29 a.m.

CUMBERLAND, Ohio — Mountain bikers can enjoy hidden lakes and rolling terrain where coal was once mined at the Wilds in east-central Ohio. Thirty miles to the south sits the...

El Morro is strangely topped by a New England-style lighthouse that was built in 1908. The fort and surrounding grounds cover 74 wind-swept acres.

San Juan’s walls are full of history

May 12, 2019 at 3:28 a.m.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The walls around Old San Juan are tall and very imposing. They are as tall as 42 feet and as thick as 45 feet at...

The 87-acre Conkle's Hollow State Nature Preserve featuress 200-foot sandstone cliffs and some up-high vistas of southeast Ohio. It is located near Hocking Hills State Park.

A fan’s guide to Ohio’s Hocking Hills State Park

May 12, 2019 at 3:26 a.m.

LOGAN, Ohio — There is one Ohio state park everyone should visit. That's Hocking Hills, with its out-of-Ohio vibe that is very appealing. It is Ohio's best park for natural...

A bust of Patrick Henry, one of the most influential Virginia leaders advocating American independence at the Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial in Charotte County, Virginia.

Patrick Henry’s Virginia home broadens view of historical figure

May 12, 2019 at 3:22 a.m.

BROOKNEAL, Va. — Most Americans know Patrick Henry for one speech: "Give me liberty or give me death," delivered March 23, 1775, at St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Va.,...

The top of Shallenberger State Nature Preserve offers a view of Lancaster, Ohio, in the distance.

Islands in the sky, the Knobs show Ohio’s natural history

May 12, 2019 at 3:20 a.m.

LANCASTER, Ohio — The Knobs stand out, in more ways than one. The lumpy, flat-topped formations southwest of Lancaster mark the edge of the Appalachian Plateau. They rise 250 feet...

The Cascades drop 66 feet on Little Stony Creek in the Cascades Recreation Area of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in southwest Virginia. The area is near Pembroke, Virginia.

Cascades waterfall in Virginia worth the hike

May 12, 2019 at 3:18 a.m.

PEMBROKE, Va. — It is an impressive waterfall hidden deep in an Appalachian gorge. The Cascades drop 66 feet on Little Stony Creek in the Cascades Recreation Area of the...

The S-shaped Salt Fork Bridge from 1828 lies east of Old Washington in Ohio's Guernsey County. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Traveling the National Road in Ohio

May 12, 2019 at 3:17 a.m.

BLAINE, Ohio — The Blaine Hill Bridge is a monument to Ohio's past. The 385-foot, brick-paved bridge in Belmont County is also a surviving link to the historical National Road....

Tinker Cliffs are visible atop Tinker Mountain from the bottom of the Andy Layne Trail in the Catawaba Valley near Roanoke, Virginia.

Literary pilgrimage to Virginia vistas is done in honor of author Dillard

May 12, 2019 at 3:17 a.m.

DALEVILLE, Va. — It is a tough uphill hike to Tinker Cliffs. The distinctive cliffs of light-colored sandstone stretch nearly half a mile atop Tinker Mountain at an elevation of...

All Stories