Mom’s idea of a hike is a stroller in one hand, a child in the other, and the family Labrador trying to lick the contents of both. Let her escape the menagerie. Take her hiking. Take her someplace where her camera can work overtime to catch up with her imagination. We’ve even got some ideas…
Here are the top 10 hikes you can take your mother on.*
10. Slough Slog, Everglades National Park, Florida
1-2 miles RT / 2 hours
Most people who visit the Anhinga Boardwalk gape at the alligators, gape at the herons, gape at the turtles, and gape at the other gaping tourists from the safety of the 0.4-mile elevated platform. But during the winter months, you and Mom can dig your toes into the murky, soupy waters of the Taylor Slough, the famed River of Grass. It’s the heart of the Everglades. Guided by a park ranger, you’ll navigate through cypress domes, spy on floating alligators, and watch egrets spear fish with their sharp bills. Bring a walking stick and your biggest lens.
Appropriate for: Mothers who aren’t afraid of mice. Alligators are much worse.
9. Boiling River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
1.25-mile RT / 50 minutes
Every mom wants a trip to the spa. Give her one from Mother Nature. An easy 0.6-mile trail with just 50 feet of elevation change leads to a wonderful oddity: a scalding hot stream mixing with the cool waters of the Gardner River. The confluence creates a warm sit-down pool that’s juuuuussst right. No permit is required. Bring a towel. And please, use the bathroom at the trailhead. Don’t hide behind warm water.
Appropriate for: Mothers who would rather not be hiking.
8. Zapata Falls, BLM, Colorado
1.0 miles RT / 1-mile
Freckled with dust devils and speckled by sagebrush and sand dunes and barbed wire, the San Luis Valley looks like water is a distant memory. But sandwiched in a rocky cleft in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, accessible from a short dirt road off Highway 150, is a 25-foot gem: Zapata Falls. Most people visit it in summer. They should see it in spring. While the surrounding countryside basks in 50-degree days, Zapata Falls remains frozen. Visitors can walk over an iced-over ravine along frozen rapids to the very bottom of the luminous blue jewel. The falls stay solid until late April. Afterwards, you’ll be wading and shivering.
Appropriate for: Mothers who can swim (just in case).
7. Deep Creek Trail, Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
1.6 miles RT / 1 hour
You don’t have to climb a mountain to view mountain wildflowers. The Deep Creek Trail in the southern Smokies offers spectacular sightings just inches from the trailhead. During spring, flower seekers can find anything from trilliums to wild geraniums to crested dwarf iris. How that last name can to be, we can only guess. If you’re tired, turn around at Indian Creek Junction. Bonus feature: Only 0.3 miles from the trailhead is an 80-foot cascading waterfall!
Appropriate for: Mothers with cabin fever.
6. Mica View Loop, Saguaro National Park (East District), Arizona
2 miles / 1.5 hours
Dirt trails make a spider’s web through the mesquite trees and 50-foot saguaro cacti of Arizona’s sumptuous Sonoran desert east of Tucson. Magnificent saguaro cacti parade under the shadow of the Rincon Mountains. Some have as many as 20 arms! Also keep an eye out for Arizona barrel cactus, prickly pear cactus and hedgehog cactus. Don’t touch anything, though. As Mom would say, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt!”
Appropriate for: Mothers in love with John Wayne/other Western film stars.
5. Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia
0.5-1.5 miles RT / 1 hour
Once the habitat of the Robber Barons and their minions, Jekyll Island is now a developed barrier island surrounded by salt marshes in the Golden Isles of Georgia. Driftwood Beach is located at the northern end, around Clam Creek Picnic Area, and resembles a tree graveyard. Twisted trunks, beaten into fabulous sculptures by the ocean’s fury, line the brown sugar sand. There is no trail. Just retrace your footsteps. Driftwood Beach is popular during summer for destination weddings (don’t let Mom get any ideas, though).
Appropriate for: Mothers with new Christmas cameras.
4. Spooky Gulch, Escalante National Monument, Utah
3.2 miles RT / 2-3 hours
Caution: This tough hike in the red rock bush of Utah, accessible by a 1-2 hour’s drive along the washboard Hole-in-the-Rock road to Dry Fork Gulch, is not a one-size-fits-all-mothers trail. But by Utah standards, this hike is as easy as napping. After navigating a cairned downslope and a wide, sandy wash, you come to Spooky Gulch after bypassing Peek-a-Boo Gulch. This incredible slot canyon boggles the mind, twisting and turning like a Dr. Seuss highway, a wallpaper picture opportunity at every turn. The trail is usually flat and sandy. The walls sometimes narrow to 12-15 inches apart. Unless your mother is the sort who skis, spits and calls most men, “Weenies,” you’ll have to turn back at the chockstone at the eastern end of the canyon.
Appropriate for: Mothers not on Weight Watchers.
3. Windows, Arches National Park, Utah
1-mile RT / 45 minutes
Arches National Park boasts the largest concentration of natural arches in the world. Most people head straight for the overcrowded Delicate Arch trail, but for an up-close-and-personal view of the fiery sandstone arches, walk the easy trail to the bases of the North and South Windows, tremendous arches the size of dinosaurs. Just don’t step on the cryptobiotic soil! If the National Park has told us once, it’s told us a thousand times …
Appropriate for: Mothers of all ages.
2. Old Man’s Cave, Hocking Hills, Ohio
1-mile RT / 1 hour
The misty, cool cliffs and canyons of the Hocking Hills is a like a blast from the Triassic past. Skyscraper hemlock trees, ancient ferns and babbling waterfalls dot the weathered Blackband sandstone. The Old Man’s Cave area has five sections: Upper Falls, Upper Gorge, Middle Falls, Lower Falls and Lower Gorge. Altogether, the gorge measures about 0.5 miles. There are stairs and ramps, dirt and concrete. After oohing and ahhing over the landscape, sip a libation from a local winery.
Appropriate for: Mothers claiming oenophilia.
1. Rattlesnake Trail, Coopers Rock State Forest, West Virginia
0.7 miles RT / 30 minutes
Meandering above a maze of granite boulders, the Rattlesnake Trail overlooks the full fall splendor of Appalachian West Virginia. Maples, oaks, hickories and ashes explode into a frozen firework tapestry. Hike to the overlooks at sunset to survey the Cheat River, famous among whitewater rafters, and watch the trees spill their color into the white-capped water. Bring a big lens – and bring your mother. Show her that she’s the color in your life.
Appropriate for: Everyone.
*Disclaimer: Statement may not apply to all mothers.
If hiking is not her thing, then there are some great National park tours that are available as well.
