This is the ninth post in the 10 Cheap Adventures That Anyone Can Have series.

You don’t have to go hiking in order to enjoy nature. The National Parks Service does a wonderful job of providing easy-to-access locations that highlight some wonderful views and features of the parks. Within less than an hour, I can drive to a number of natural stone bridges, at least one waterfall, a number of cliff tops with beautiful views, a variety of rivers, and a couple of lakes. Each of these require walking for 100 yards or less.

Finding nearby parks is easy. Simply go the the National Parks Service website or the National Forest Service website and search by state. After clicking on your state, a map will come up showing the parks in your area. From there it’s easy to find attractions that might interest you.

An easy way to get an overview of all the parks in your area is to use Google maps. As you zoom in to your area, the green represents parks. I use this to find the names of nearby parks so that I can find out more information on the two official sites listed in the paragraph above.

Some Last Tips

When you go and visit don’t forget your camera, as there will be plenty of views that you will want to capture pictures of! Take plenty of water to drink so that you don’t have to leave just to find a drink. Carry some food along so that you can have a picnic. You might want bugspray and sunscreen.

Last but not least: have a good time and enjoy your adventure!