https://mountainadventures.us/ The adventures include hiking, biking, camping and kayaking with associated stuff like nearby breweries and wineries tossed in. en-us Copyright 2008-2026, Mountain Adventures LLC Outdoors Sat, 05 Sep 2026 04:47:47 -0600 120 https://mountainadventures.us/images/mountain-adventures-title-2.png https://mountainadventures.us/ https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-concepcion Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:00:00 -0600 Mission Concepcion is the furthest north mission in San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. Unlike the others that have the courtyards and walls, this one currently has only the church building. Mission Concepcion was originally founded in 1716 as Mission Nuestra Seora de la Pursima Concepcin de Acua in eastern Texas. It was to serve as a b... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/san-antonio-missions-nhp-112-mission-concepcion-church-with-entrance-sign.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-concepcion https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-san-jose Wed, 26 Aug 2026 20:00:00 -0600 Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, founded in 1720, is the largest of the four Spanish missions making up the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. It has had the most reconstruction and is also the location of the main visitor center. The church is on the far side of the courtyard from the visitor center. It is the largest church o... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/san-antonio-missions-nhp-109-mission-san-jose-church.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-san-jose https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-espada Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:00:00 -0600 The furthest south of the four Spanish missions in San Antonio Missions Natinal Historic Park is Mission Espada. It is not right on the San Antonio River, but is not far from it. This mission was founded in 1690 near present-day Weches, Texas as San Francisco de los Tejas. Like Mission San Juan it was moved to the San Antonio River area. The cur... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/san-antonio-missions-nhp-074-mission-espada-entrance-sign.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-espada https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-san-juan Mon, 24 Aug 2026 08:00:00 -0600 San Antonio Missions National Historic Park is a set of four 18th century Spanish missions. These five missions make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one in Texas. All four are near the San Antonio River, south of the Alamo. The Mission S... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/san-antonio-missions-nhp-058-mission-san-juan.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-san-juan https://mountainadventures.us/post/the-alamo Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:51:00 -0600 The Alamo is Texas's most famous historic site. It's known as a church where a battle for the Texas Revolution was fought, but it was not actually a church at the time. The Alamo was originally Mission San Antonio de Valero from 1724 to 1793. Around 1803 it became a military fort where it was given its current name The Alamo. The battle of the A... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/the-alamo-015.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/the-alamo https://mountainadventures.us/post/lyndon-b-johnson-national-historic-park-lbj-ranch Thu, 13 Aug 2026 21:30:00 -0600 The third part of our visit to Lyndon B Johnson National Historic Park was the driving tour of the LBJ ranch. It is where President Johnson was born, lived, worked, died and was buried. It is 14 miles from the Visitor Center and Johnson Settlement from Part 1 of this series and next... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/lyndon-b-johnson-nhp-55-reconstructed-birthplace.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/lyndon-b-johnson-national-historic-park-lbj-ranch https://mountainadventures.us/post/lyndon-b-johnson-state-park Sat, 08 Aug 2026 23:30:00 -0600 To get a pass to drive the Lyndon B Johnson National Historic Park's LBJ Ranch, you have to stop at the Lyndon B Johnson State Park and Historic Site visitor center and museum. There are a few exhibits from President Johnson there. The Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm is a short walk from the visitor center. Park staff are dressed in period ou... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/lyndon-b-johnson-sp-37-sauer-beckmann-living-farm-cows.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/lyndon-b-johnson-state-park https://mountainadventures.us/post/lyndon-b-johnson-national-historical-park-1 Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:00:00 -0600 The first stop in Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park when coming from Austin is the visitor center in Johnson City. After visiting the museum and watching films there, you can walk to President Johnson's Boyhood Home where he lived from the age of five through high school. [img_full_block 367] The historic Withers and Spauldin... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/lyndon-b-johnson-nhp-19-boyhood-home.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/lyndon-b-johnson-national-historical-park-1 https://mountainadventures.us/post/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-3 Sun, 19 Jul 2026 21:38:00 -0600 The Twin Canals start by the trailhead and go straight out to another canal. The Twin Canals trail is on higher ground between the two canals. This is the only part of Barataria Preserve that is listed as open during the 2026 repairs from damage caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021. There is also a canoe launch at this trailhead. Check out the first ... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-23-twin-canals-trail.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-3 https://mountainadventures.us/post/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-2 Wed, 15 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0600 After stopping at the visitor center I went to a nearby trailhead to hike a set of trails. Several trails and parts of trails were closed due to hurricane damage. First I went out Christmas Road and took a left at the fork onto Ring Levee Trail. The trail has a recently reconstructed boardwalk, but it ends and the trail is closed about .15 km fr... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-11-plantation-trail-underwater-turn-around-point.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-2 https://mountainadventures.us/post/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-1 Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:30:00 -0600 [img_full_block 348] South of New Orleans the Barataria Preserve, part of Jean Lafitte National Historic Park, is a great place to get out of the city and see how the area looks naturally. These photos are from the nature trail by the visitor center. It is a short boardwalk trail that lets you walk through the swamp without getting your feet we... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-05-visitor-center-trail.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/jean-lafitte-nhp-barataria-preserve-1 https://mountainadventures.us/post/davis-bayou-gulf-islands-national-seashore Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:30:00 -0600 [img_full_block 343] Davis Bayou is a part of Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi. Gulf Islands National Seashore is also in Florida. Compared to other parts of the seashore, Davis Bayou is small. It's the only part of the park on the mainland in Mississippi. [img_full_block 344] [img_full_block 345] This would be a gr... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/01-davis-bayou-gulf-islands-ns.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/davis-bayou-gulf-islands-national-seashore https://mountainadventures.us/post/highest-point-in-florida Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:30:00 -0600 Florida has the lowest state highest point in the United States. It is the top of 345 ft (105m) Britton Hill in northern Florida not far from Alabama. The drive there from the east had lots of turns and went into Alabama briefly. It is located in Walton County's Lakewood Park. It's surrounded by forests and farms with the closest town being Paxt... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/floridas-highest-point-dec24-54.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/highest-point-in-florida https://mountainadventures.us/post/florida-caverns-state-park-besides-the-cave Thu, 11 Jun 2026 22:37:00 -0600 Florida Caverns State Park offers much more than the limestone caves. This park in the Florida Panhandle also has swamps, rivers, campgrounds and trails. Hiking, biking, horseback riding, paddling and swimming are popular activities in the park. The Chipola River is the main river in the park with several creeks flowing into it. When e... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/florida-caverns-sp-dec24-52-swamp.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/florida-caverns-state-park-besides-the-cave https://mountainadventures.us/post/florida-caverns-sp Sun, 07 Jun 2026 23:30:00 -0600 Waterfalls, rapids and caves are not something you think about being in Florida, but all three are there. This post is about the cave system in Florida Caverns State Park in northern Florida, near the Alabama border. We will post about the highest waterfall and class 3 rapids in Florida in the future. If you are in the area you should stop and s... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/florida-caverns-sp-dec24-39.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/florida-caverns-sp https://mountainadventures.us/post/dunns-creek-state-park Fri, 15 May 2026 23:30:00 -0600 After leaving Blue Spring State Park and its manatees, I was thinking about riding near De Leon Springs, but I was driving through the heavy part of the storm while passing there, so I kept going. (See the previous post.) After passing through the storm, I saw a sign for Dunns Creek State Parks Blue Pond area, so I decided to stop and see what w... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/dunns-creek-sp-34-blue-pond-area.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/dunns-creek-state-park https://mountainadventures.us/post/manatees-blue-spring-state-park Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0700 Blue Spring State Park near Orange City, Florida is known for manatees coming into Blue Spring Run during the winter due to its warm 72 degree water. The spring run is a slow moving body of water connecting the spring or boil to the St. Johns River. There is a boardwalk that goes up the spring run to the boil, but it was closed for reconstructio... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/blue-spring-sp-17-manatees.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/manatees-blue-spring-state-park https://mountainadventures.us/post/big-thicket-pitcher-plants Wed, 18 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0700 Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that attract bugs onto the rim of the pitcher where they slip inside are trapped. Big Thicket has a few areas with them. These are on the Sundew Trail in the Hickory Creek Unit. [img_full_block 317] They were smaller than I thought and I did not realize that it was them the first time I went by. Onc... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/big-thicket-national-preserve-20-sundew-trail-pitcher-plant.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/big-thicket-pitcher-plants https://mountainadventures.us/post/big-thicket-turkey-creek-hike Sat, 14 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0700 Big Thicket National Preserve is north of Beaumont in eastern Texas near Louisiana. It a collection of areas rather than a large contiguous park like most NPS areas. It is mainly around creeks and wetlands. This area is a little east of the main visitor center. This hike was in January, so things are a bit more brown than in most of the ... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/big-thicket-national-preserve-12-turkey-creek-wetlands.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/big-thicket-turkey-creek-hike https://mountainadventures.us/post/big-thicket-national-preserve-texas Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:00:00 -0700 This video is from two hikes in Big Thicket National Preserve north of Beaumont Texas. The first is in the Turkey Creek area starting on the Kirby Nature Trail the going north along the creek to the Sandhill Loop. Little changes in elevation made a big difference in vegetation with the lower areas having more cypress trees around creeks and wetl... https://mountainadventures.us/media/2026/big-thicket-national-preserve-thumbnail.jpg https://mountainadventures.us/post/big-thicket-national-preserve-texas