Apostle Island National Lakeshore
There are places in the National Park System that offer a different kind of experience. The Apostle Island National Lakeshore is one of those places.
Reaching the Apostles is part of the experience. Located along the northern edge of Wisconsin on Lake Superior. The inland roads give way to water, and the sense of direction changes.
The Apostles are a collection of twenty-one islands scattered across the lake. From a distance, they appear quiet. The shoreline is carved with sea caves. The rhythm to this place is tied to the water.
Scattered among the islands are historic lighthouses, reminders when this region was an important shipping route, marking the passage of ships across the lake. The name itself carries a story. Early French explorers, influenced by their Catholic background, named the islands after the Apostles of the Bible.
The Apostles were designated as a national lakeshore in 1970, preserving both the natural beauty of the islands and their historical significance. The National Park Services protected not just mountains and canyons, but shorelines, water and the spaces in between.
What stands out is the feeling of distance and a sense of being removed from the usual pace of things.
Read More From Nancy
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
At the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, I saw not just the resting place of a president, but also the beginning of his life. Located in the small town of West Branch, Iowa, the site preserves the humble Quaker community where Herbert Hoover was born in 1874. Hoover’s grave site one a quiet hillside overlooking […]
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Some of America’s most remarkable landscapes were not shaped by rivers or mountains, but by ice. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore preserves one of the finest examples of how glaciers transformed the Great Lakes region, creating a landscape where towering dunes, forests, inland lakes, islands, and miles of Lake Michigan shoreline exist side by side. […]
Pipestone National Monument
During our 1995 cross-country road trip, our route carried us through a part of Minnesota, where we stopped at one of the most remarkable sites: Pipestone National Monument. Here, the soft red stone, pipestone, has been quarried for centuries by Native people and carved into ceremonial pipes used in prayer and spiritual life. This is […]
