Awe-Inspiringly Beautiful National Parks in South India

National parks not only protect forests and wildlife, but also enable you to rejuvenate yourself, and to bond with your friends / colleagues / family members.

Here is a list of popular national parks in South India.

Bandipur National Park

Located in Karnataka, this national park houses many species of endangered wildlife. Covering an area of 874 square kilometres, this awe-inspiringly beautiful national park is well-known for its sizable number of tigers and other animals.

Gaur in Bandipur National Park

Periyar National Park

Periyar National Park is also known as Periyar Tiger Reserve. Located in Kerala, it is the only national park in India that is open for visitors during monsoon. Spread over 350 square kilometres, this national park houses tigers, elephants, lion-tailed macaques, sambar deer, leopards, Indian bison and many other animals. 

Blue Pansy in Periyar National Park

Wikimedia Commons | Source

Nagarhole National Park

Part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, this national park covers an area of 642.4 square kilometres. It is a protected habitat for many species of fauna, including tiger, leopard, wild elephant, dhole, and Gaur.

An Elephant in Nagarahole National Park

Wandur National Park

Wandur National Park is located Andaman and Nicobar islands, a string of around 300 tropical islands in the Bay of Bengal. Also known as Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, this national park covers an area of 281.5 square kilometres.

Kudremukh National Park

Tiger, leopard, wild dog, jackal, samba, spotted deer, barking deer and giant flying squirrel are among the main wildlife attractions of this national park. Located in Karnataka, this park covers an area of 600 square kilometers.

Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary

Established in 1976, this national park is located in Tamil Nadu. It is spread over an area of 958 square kilometers. Many species of animals, including nilgiri langur, liontailed macaque, gaur, elephant, chital, sambar, mouse deer, barking deer, birds, tiger, panther, wild dog and Nilgiri tahr have made this national park their home.

Sri Venkateshwara National Park

Located in Andhra Pradesh, this national park is home to hosts 168 mammals, 349 birds, and 138 reptiles. Spread over an area of 353 square kilometers, it was officially declared a National Park in the year of 1998.

Silent Valley National Park

This national park is in Nilgiri Hills, in Palakkad district, Kerala. The core area of Silent Valley National Park is 236.74 square kilometers. It houses more than 1000 species of flowering plants which include about 110 species of orchids, more than 34 species of mammals, about 200 species of butterflies, 400 species of moths, 128 species of beetles of which 10 are new to science, about 150 species of birds including almost all the 16 endemic birds of southern India.

A Guide to City Parks in Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a beautiful city located on the north bank of the Columbia River. It is the fourth largest city in the state of Washington. Vancouver has more than 100 city parks. Here is a brief description of some of them which are popular among the residents of Vancouver.

Esther Short Park

This wonderful park is located at the heart of the city. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public square in the state of Washington. The Salmon Run Bell Tower and the bronze statue of "The Pioneer Mother" are some attractions of this park. The park is famous for its summer concerts and movies.

Esther Short Park

Source

Cherry Neighborhood Park

This 3-acre park is located in the Battle Ground Area. It offers many facilities like playground, basketball court (half), benches, open lawn area and walking trail (0.2 miles). There is no entree fee. The beautiful park is open from 7 a.m. to dusk. It is definitely a great place to spend time with children.

Bagley Park

This beautiful park is located in Bagley Downs Neighborhood, just east of the Jim Parsley Center. This 16.20 acre park offers many facilities like picnic tables, ball fields, play equipment, restroom, benches and paved walkway. There is no entry fee. The park is open from 7 a.m. to dusk.

Bella Vista Park

This popular park is located in the Bella Vista Neighborhood. This 5.32 acre park offers many facilities like paved walkway, play equipment, sports court and picnic table. There is no entry fee. This park is famous for its beautiful landscape. The park is open from 7 a.m. to dusk.

Arnada Park

This beautiful park is located in the Arnada Neighborhood, one of the popular parks in Vancouver area. This 3 acre park offers many facilities like sports court, picnic shelter, open lawn area, play equipment, benches and paved loop walkway. The park is open from 7 a.m. to dusk. There is no entry fee.

Marine Park

This beautiful park offers many facilities like hiking trails, picnic tables, play equipment, boat ramps, ball field, picnic shelters and rest room. This 26 acre park is open from 7 a.m. to dusk. There is no entry fee, but you have to pay for the boat launch.

Wildwood Park

This park offers facilities like picnic tables, play equipment and open lawn area. There is no entry fee. This 3.23 acre park is open from 7 a.m. to dusk. This is one of the beautiful parks in vancouver WA.

Wintler Community Park

Located at 6225 SE Beach Dr, Vancouver, WA 98661, USA, the Wintler Community Park is a neat little park with a beautiful beach. It is well-known for its amazing walk and promenade.

Frenchman's Bar Regional Park

This is one of the parks in vancouver WA for weddings. It is one of the parks in vancouver WA with water features.

Leverich Park

Located along Burnt Bridge Creek, the Leverich Park covers an area of 33 acres. Here you will find picnic areas, hiking trails, a disc golf course and much more. It is a nice park to visit with your family.

Biddlewood Park, Clark College Park, Carter Park, Clearmeadows Park, Centerpointe Park, Franklin Park, Fir Garden Park, David Douglas Park, John Ball Park, First Place Park, Marshall Community Park, Meadow Homes Park, Oakbrook Park, Van Fleet Park, Liberty Park, Old Apple Tree Park, Raspberry Fields Park and Tiger Tree Neighborhood Park are other popular parks in Vancouver.

5 Superb National and State Parks in Washington

Sl No	Name
1	Olympic National Park
2	North Cascades National Park
3	Mount Rainier National Park
4	Flaming Geyser State Park
5	Cape Disappoint State Park

The more successfully a city mingles everyday diversity of uses and users in its everyday streets, the more successfully, casually (and economically) its people thereby enliven and support well-located parks that can thus give back grace and delight to their neighborhoods instead of vacuity.

— Jane Jacobs

Places to Visit Near Bengaluru

If you have explored various tourist attractions in Bangalore, here are five amazing places around Bangalore.

Mysuru

Located around 140 kilometers from Bangalore, this beautiful city is the cultural capital of Karnataka. Mysuru charms you with its palaces, heritage buildings, gardens, temples, lakes, traditions and much more.

B R Hills

This hill range is located in Southeast Karnataka. The region, which is a protected reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, is known as Biligiriranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary. This tiger reserve houses ecosystems that are unique.

Ramanagara

Located around 50 km from Bangalore, Ramanagara is in Bangalore-Mysore highway. Lord Rama is supposed to have visited this place during his vanavasa and stayed on one hill, which is today known as Ramadevara Betta.

The town is well-known for its granite outcrops. It offers many opportunities for rock climbing. This region features, among other flora and fauna, sloth bear and long billed vulture.

Mekedatu

River Arkavati merges with River Kaveri in Sangama. From this location, around 3.5 kilometers downstream, the river Kaveri flows through a deep and narrow gorge. This area is called Mekedatu. The river, which is more than 150 meters wide at the confluence (at Sangama) flows through the hardly 10-meter-wide gorge at Mekedatu. One can see the ferocious flow of all that water, 

Mekedatu means 'goat's leap' in Kannada. The name comes from an incident which is believed to have been witnessed by herdsmen in that area a long time ago. 

It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger made a desperate attempt to save its life by leaping from one side of the gorge and managed to cross over the raging river below, whereas the tiger did not attempt to replicate this feat, and abandoned the chase. The point where the goat leapt has widened since then from erosion caused by the river Cauvery. It is about 190 km from Bengaluru via Kanakapura.

Dodda Aalada Mara

Dodda Alada Mara means big banyan tree.  This 400-year-old tree is located in Kethohalli, a village in Bengaluru Urban district. This wonderful picnic spot is around 28 km from Bengaluru.

These are just five of the many wonderful locations around Bengaluru. If this article has helped you, please let it help your friends also. Share it.

Top Places for Summer Vacation in the US for Men

In today’s stressful and competitive world, vacation helps you immensely in rejuvenating yourself. If you are in the United States of America, you can choose from many amazing summer destinations. They offer you many opportunities for recreation and to beat the heat.

Here is a brief overview of some really amazing summer vacation destinations in the US for men.

Ecola State Park

Located north of Cannon Beach on the Northern Oregon Coast, the Ecola State Park offers many ranger guided activities like guided kayak-canoe tours, outdoor activities like hike along the Netul River Trail and much more.

Dauphin Island

Located in Alabama, Dauphin Island is one of the best summer destinations in the US. Here you can enjoy deep sea fishing at Captain Mike’s Deep Sea Fishing, or play golf at the Isle Dauphine Golf Club. You can go surfing. DauphinIsland also offers many tourist attractions like Dolphin Island Sea Lab Estuarium, FortGaines, Mobile Bay Ferry, Dauphin Island Audubon Bird Sanctuary, Dauphin Island Public Beach and Indian Shell Mound Park. Dauphin Island is an excellent summer vacation destination.

Hana

Located in the Maui County, Hawaii, Hana is an excellent summer vacation destination. Here you can enjoy unspoiled beauty of nature. You will enjoy self-guided cave tours through Hana Lava Tube at Ka’eleku caverns. In fact this is Maui’s largest underground lave tube system. Hana Maui Kayak and Snorkel, Hang Gliding, Maui Stables, HanaMauiBotanical Gardens, Kapahu Living Farm, Organic Farm Tours and Luana Spa Retreat are other attractions of this paradise.

Cherry Springs State Park

If you are seeking a remote and wild location for your summer vacation, you need to visit Cherry Springs State Park. It is located in Pennsylvania. This amazing state park’s dark and clear skies make it a haven for astronomy lovers. The park offers a large observation field set atop a mountain with a 360 degree view of the sky. It is a paradise for stargazers. Under ideal conditions you can view 6,000 stars here. If you are serious about astronomy, you can observe and photograph colorful nebulae, distant galaxies, comets and deep space objects here. The Milky Way literally lights up the sky here. This is definitely one of the top summer destinations USA.

Tuweep

Tuweep is a road-accessible primitive area in Arizona. In fact this campsite is an abandoned town that was originally built in the 1920s. With 3,000 vertical feet of air to the river, this location is unique as the most sheer viewpoint in the Grand Canyon National Park. Driving the 61 mile gravel road to the edge of the Grand Canyon and looking down 3,000 feet to the Colorado River can be an awesome experience. Tuweep is raw, remote and gorgeous. It is ranked #51 among the 68 attractions at the Grand Canyon National Park.

St. Joseph Peninsula

T.H.Stone Memorial St.Joseph Peninsula State Park is located in Florida. Here you will find amenities like beaches, cabins, boating, birding, fishing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling, wildlife viewing and many more. It is one among the popular summer vacation destinations in the US.

Jewel Cave National Monument

This amazing destination is located in South Dakota. With around 166 miles of mapped passageways, the JewelCave is the third longest cave in the world. In addition to enjoying cave tours, you can opt for guided nature hikes, wildflower viewing, bird watching and do much more.

King Fisher Society

Located in North Carolina, the King Fisher Society features world class fishing, falconry, quail hunting and sporting clays. You can enjoy the privacy of bass and blue gill fishing on the amazing lake here.

Chattanooga

Located in Tennessee, this city offers many attractions to travelers. Hunter Museum of American Art, Tennessee Aquarium, Raccoon Mountain Caverns, Lookout Mountain, Rock City, Coolidge Park, Creative Discovery Museum and Bluff View Art District are some of them.

Lightning Creek Camp

This pleasant camp is located on a large extended level creek-side flat. Located in Washington, this green camp is surrounded by steep sclerophyll forested sloped. This clean and quite camp is ideal to get back in touch with nature and to recharge yourself.

Gulf Coast Road Trip

If you love road trips, this is an excellent opportunity. From Florida to Mississippi, the GulfCoast is home to many amazing creatures like seabirds and sea turtles. Of course it makes for an excellent beach vacation. It is advisable to set off on a road trip along route 98 through the region’s amazing state parks and national parks.

Big Bend

The Big Bend National Park is located in far west Texas. Here the night skies are dark as coal and rivers carve temple-like canyons in ancient limestone. Here hundreds of bird species take refuge in a solitary mountain range and the tenacious cactus bloom in sublime southwestern sun. You can opt for hiking, camping and do much more here.

Dillon

Located in Montana, the city of Dillon is a charming destination. Your find many places of interest in and around Dillon, like Bannack State Park, Elkhorn Hot Springs, Beaverhead Co Museum, Lewis and Clark Historical Points, Big Hole National Battleground, Crystal Park, Clark Canyon Reservoir and Maverick Mountain Ski Resort.

Alaska Marine Highway

The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the government. You may travel without a vehicle, or bring your car, motorcycle or RV. Pets are also allowed. The crew members are well-trained. The ships are unique and are well-maintained. AMHS is budget friendly.

Bode Miller’s Secret Swimming Hole

Located in New Hampshire, this place is an excellent summer vacation destination. Olympic gold medalist Bode Miller says, “There’s a swimming hole only locals know about called UpperAmmonoosucFalls, near my house in Bretton Woods… You go straight from the restaurant Fabyan’s Station, then the road branches off on Route 302. It continues on to the old Cog Railway and dead-ends. Through the woods is this awesome gorge with a 30-foot drop that’s all granite. Its been carved out by the river and its really cold, fresh, superclean runoff. Everyone jumps off into the water doing flips. There’s some sketchy stuff too, rocks you have to jump. People get hurt, but I never have."

New York City

There are many things to do in summer in the New York City. If you like dancing there is MoMA PS1, where you can also enjoy contemporary art. Parks in the city offer SummerStage shows. Ample Hills Creamery is a heaven for ice cream lovers. Rooftop venues host screenings of movies. You have opportunities to cool off in city's pools. Dance along to live jazz at the Jazz Age Lawn Party. You can be a free agent in the Brooklyn Kickball League. Dance late in the evening at the Hudson River Park Sunset Swing. If you want to just relax, there are 18 beautiful parks all over the city. There are many summer activities in NYC for adults and children. 

Yacht Racing, San Francisco

It is an excellent event to attend during summer months. The Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay is the primary organization supporting competitive racing in Northern California. If you want to get on a racing boat, you may enter your information on websites in the bay area like Latitude 38 and SF Sailing that offer crew lists.

Gospel Hump Wilderness

Located in the state of Idaho, this wilderness area provides many opportunities for primitive and unconfined recreation. It is an excellent place for camping and fishing. You can also float, jetboat or kayak after taking permission from the authorities.

Jackson Hole

Located in Wyoming, Jackson Hole is a valley near the western border with Idaho. Here you can enjoy horseback riding, trekking and much more. Jackson Hole offers many recreation opportunities.

Utah Olympic Park

This amazing summer vacation destination offers many recreation opportunities. You can enjoy bobsled rides, skate and do much more. Visit to various museums here is an enriching experience.

Houseboat at McGregor, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Bourbon country lodging, Baxter State Park, Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness and Lake of the Ozarks are other popular summer vacation destinations in the USA.

Visit to any of the above-mentioned locations is sure to be a rewarding, refreshing, amazing, enriching, rejuvenating and memorable experience.

Please feel free to share your experience during your summer vacations. Which is your favorite summer destination? Do you know of any other summer vacation destination for men in the US? Please share if you know.

Transportation: Some Reputed Brands

Rail	Bus	Air
Amtrak	Greyhound	American Airlines
	Trailways	Delta Airlines
	Megabus	JetBlue Airways
	Peter Pan	Southwest Airlines
		United Airlines
		US Airways