Friendship Hill National Historic Site

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The National Road, now US 40, was our first federal highway. Washington started it when he cut a road up to Fort Necessity, and he later bought property there for a tavern. But the surveyor above, Albert Gallatin, is known as the road’s father. He met Washington and suggested a straighter route, and Washington agreed, encouraging the young man to work on it.

Swiss born Gallatin bought 400 acres here on the hill near the Monongahela River and soon became Senator. Gallatin tried to moderate the local Whiskey Rebellion, but Washington still sent in troops. After criticizing Hamilton’s financial plans, Jefferson made him Secretary of the Treasury, where he reduced the national debt and finance the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clark and the National Road. Gallatin and Lafayette were friends and helped bring French pressure to help settle the multi-year War of 1812 at Ghent.

Gallatin’s bucolic country estate, 10 miles of forested trails and well maintained mansion behind the statue is well worth a stop along the historic highway.

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in Pennsylvania.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield

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“In 1753 a young George Washington crossed the Allegheny Mountains on missions he hoped would lead to a career as a British Officer and land holdings that would make him wealthy. He was unsuccessful in both goals and his actions sparked a war that spread across the globe.”

— National Park Service

We really need a better name than the “French & Indian War”. It sounds like some colonial conflict in South Asia. Indians Native Americans were only reluctantly drawn into fighting on both sides. I suggest the “Colonial Rivers War”, because that explains who, why and where. British and French colonial forces fought over control of rivers, portages and passes linking the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mid-Atlantic Eastern Seaboard.

At the beginning, the French & British were building roads, riverside forts and sending small armed groups into the passes to scout. Washington was in charge of a British force, found a French force, and someone fired a shot precipitating a slaughter that killed the French leader named Jumonville. Jumonville’s brother, Captain Villiers, then led a much larger force seeking revenge.

So Washington’s necessity was to defend his camp, which had been chosen in a pleasant, open meadow, good for grazing animals. As you can see in the photo, the fort was built under a hill, so Washington lost quickly and badly. (Fortunately, he improved tactics later). The French accepted his surrender, but the war over the colonial rivers continued for years, as part of a broader Seven Years’ War between the French and British globally.

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in Pennsylvania.

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

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Since each park is unique, I would never be able to say which is my favorite. But this one is.

Here, at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, in 1859 the abolitionist John Brown led 18 men to capture the armory, arsenal, and rifle factory here, killing three men, freeing slaves and taking the town’s leaders captive, before being captured by Col. Robert E. Lee and martyred after a brief trial, becoming the first person executed for treason in America. Brown believed he was right, did not intend for anyone to die and argued at trial that “had I interfered on behalf of the rich, the powerful… or any of that class… this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward.”

Native Americans lost this land to European settlers during the 16th and 17th centuries. Washington explored the area for his canal project and recommended an armory be built here. The armory supplied Lewis & Clark‘s expedition, and the arsenal supplied weapons for the Civil War. During which the town changed hands eight times including the destruction of the arsenal, the capture of 12,500 Union soldiers by Stonewall Jackson and the critical resistance to the confederate army marching on DC. Major Delaney, the only African American field officer in that war, came from here, alongside many USCT recruits. Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. DuBois organized and lectured here, where the Freedman’s School and Storer College educated the descendants of slaves.

Thomas Jefferson stood on a rocky overlook and said “this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.” The mountains, rocky cliffs, rivers, swamps, and floodplains here support diverse wildlife, including three species of hawk, a harrier and the bald eagle. There are over 20 miles of hiking trails in the park, including part of the Appalachian Trail (park & hike). And the tavern in town serves a draft amber ale called Almost Heaven.

“Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River”

John Denver

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in West Virginia.

Appalachian National Scenic Trail

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It was hiking on the trail in New England as a boy that I got the idea to visit as many national parks as I could. Some of the counselors were discussing their trail names and talking about the best natural places to visit in the country. I never forgot that feeling of walking deep into nature, exploring, seeing wildlife, jumping into a swimming hole and imagining traveling to even more beautiful places. It took a long time, but I’m finally fulfilling part of that dream.

I don’t know if I have it in me anymore to hike the whole trail, but I would love to try. The relief map (above) in the park-partner Appalachian Trail Conservancy visitor center in Harpers Ferry gives you a sense of both the distance and the many mountains that must be summited. But I wasn’t about to take a gas-polluting bus to get from the Harpers Ferry visitor center parking lot into town, especially when I could walk a couple miles of the AT to get there. And I would recommend hiking the trail, even just a small section, if you can. For the adventurous, the expert suggested thru-hiking the trail in two sections, from Harper’s Ferry in the spring north to Katahdin in Maine and then from Harper’s Ferry south to Springer in Georgia in the fall.

Below, I’ve listed the units either on or next to the trail.

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

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The highlight of the canal has to be the tavern, lock and boat in Maryland across from the Great Falls Park in Virginia. It’s only a short walk here to a view of the falls from the ecologically important Olmsted Island, which was preserved by the son of the famous landscape architect. There are limited boat rides on Saturdays until mid October. Williamsport has a much more elaborate and functioning canal boat exhibit, but their rides are currently suspended. If time allows, I would like to come back next year to bike along the multi-state canal route.

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in Maryland.

LBJ Memorial Grove on the Potomac

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I bet LBJ would joke that this monolith is a middle finger salute to DC. But the grove is a tribute by his wife to his environmental legacy, recognizing LBJ’s unsurpassed legislative achievements in one term: the Wilderness Act, the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. While meant to reflect nature and his Texas roots, the monolith looks unfinished, like the work ahead of us to save our climate.

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in the District of Columbia.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

letter from a Birmingham jail

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Strength to Love

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

Here’s the link to the MLK NHP in Georgia. And here’s the link to my visits to all parks in the District of Columbia.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

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Ike was a farm boy, raised by Mennonite pacifists, who chose military school because tuition was free. His only outstanding role at West Point was leading the cheerleading squad. But the military valued his leadership skills, and George Marshall picked him to plan the European war effort, form the allies into an effective team and lead them to victory in North Africa, Southern Italy, D-Day, and Germany.

A popular President, Ike expanded the social safety net, created the interstate highway system (thanks), started NASA, spied on the Soviets, and sent troops into Little Rock Central High School. When leaving office, he warned about the “unwarranted influence [of] the military-industrial complex”.

“Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals.”

Ike Eisenhower

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in the District of Columbia.

Theodore Roosevelt Island

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“It is true of the Nation, as of the individual,
that the greatest doer must also be a great dreamer.”

Teddy Roosevelt

On the re-wilded island in the Potomac River amid a couple miles of wildlife trails, there’s a statue of Teddy Roosevelt along with a few granite inscriptions of his thoughts and exhortations on youth, manhood, nature and the state. Nature is slowly reclaiming the plaza’s landscaping, and nobody was there on a drizzly weekday morning. So I felt like I had stumbled across a forgotten sacred space in the forest. Once, a man of great vision, recognizing the importance of wilderness to our spirit and future, fought to protect nature from being wasted by myopic man. He challenged us to overcome our misfortunes, “find delight in the hardy life of the open”, and do our duty to preserve our natural resources for the next generation. Let us not forget him. Let us honor his vision.

“There are no words
that can tell of the hidden spirit of the wilderness,
that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm”

Teddy Roosevelt

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in the District of Columbia.

George Washington Memorial Parkway

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The green parkway along the Virginia side of the Potomac River (islands are DC) connects Riverside Park, the Mount Vernon Trail, Belle Haven Park, Daingerfield Park, Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary, Gravelly Point, the LBJ Memorial Grove, Lady Bird Johnson Park, Theodore Roosevelt Island, and Turkey Run Park, so get out of the car frequently. I barely caught the Great Blue Heron flying under my footbridge, so keep your eyes open too. Great Falls on the Virginia side is a unit of this parkway park, but it’s part of C&O on the Maryland side.

Here’s the link to my visits to all parks in Virginia.