The marketing arm of Outside magazine taps me for big projects like this one: an interactive guide to overlooked parks and recreation areas in all 50 states. I wrote all of the western states and a few others for this superbly produced guide.

By the way, states like Nebraska and Kansas get equal billing with the Oregons and Californias of the world. A bit of a challenge that I relished. To wit...


Excerpt:

Nebraska recently had some fun with a jokey tourism tagline: “Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone.” That’s partly true because no place is for everyone and partly because, out of the city limits, there's hardly anyone around. Either way, Nebraska upends the old notion of endless cornfields by serving up genuine beauty spots, majestic rivers like the Niobrara and the Platte, and even pine-covered mountains. The prevailing terrain is the Great Plains, but the landscape gets broken up by dramatic geological features like badlands and bluffs, and some good old-fashioned lakes and streams where you can simply lollygag. Unless, of course, the walleye are biting.

VIEW THE INTERACTIVE GUIDE