Like many restored villages in the American West, Bluff Fort in southeastern Utah gives visitors a glimpse of what life was like for the pioneers. What is remarkable about Bluff Fort, however, is not its reconstructed log buildings and remnants of wagons and implements of the 1880s, but the exceptional heroism and fortitude that brought the rustic settlement into being.

Bluff Fort is set amid vibrant red-rock bluffs, but the real color is in the story of its creation as told in a film that is shown to visitors. It is there that you learn of the epic effort by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—the Mormons—to settle in this remote corner of the Utah territory 16 years before it was granted statehood.

Spectacular scenery, abundant wildlife, year-round recreation and rich history define Harriman State Park in the Idaho town of Island Park, 28 miles south of West Yellowstone, Montana. Many tourists are unaware of what lies tucked away just off Highway 20 as they wheel past on their way to Yellowstone  or Grand Teton National Park, but this is a hidden gem that should not be missed.

In The Beginning—The Railroad Ranch
It was the turn of the century, and Island Park had already been discovered by early homesteaders, who established ranches, raised cattle, operated fish farms, ran stage stops and offered guide and outfitting services. The area became popular as a retreat for wealthy families, who built summer homes. Weather conditions were extreme, and that led many enterprises to fail. One such failure was a cheese factory operated by Swiss homesteaders.  Unable to sustain their business, they sold their land and holdings to several investors associated with the Oregon Short Line, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad.  In 1902, these early investors formed the Island Park Land and Cattle Company to raise and sell livestock, but they also began to develop their ranch as a sporting retreat. And fittingly, due to the shareholders’ occupations, their retreat became known as the Railroad Ranch.

A century and a half ago, pioneers heading west along the wagon trail from Missouri to California would say they were “going to see the elephant.”

No, they didn’t really expect to encounter an elephant, but it was a metaphor for all the strange sights they expected to see on a difficult four-month trip. Their experiences are captured in exhibits at the California Trail Interpretive Center, which opened last year near Elko, Nevada.

When you daydream about a weekend camping trip, do you visualize grilling wieners and burgers and kicking back in your camp chair with a cold beer? You’re not alone. Barbecuing plays a big part in defining the RV lifestyle. But just because you have taken a respite from the stress of everyday living to enjoy camping in the great outdoors doesn’t mean you have to abandon the healthy eating habits you follow at home—especially when it comes to what and how you barbecue.

If you are the head barbecue cook, there is no reason why you can’t produce both tasty and healthy food on the grill. Here are a few tips on healthy barbecuing, including a word or two on equipment.

Winter had been relentless, fog and storm clouds moving in, gray skies overhead, and the temperature dropping. When the thermometer hit the low 50s, I knew we had to find sunnier conditions. To a Midwesterner shivering in frost and rain, or someone in the Dakotas suffering under a blanket of snow, it would not seem extreme. To a child of the Southern California coast, a covering of clouds and anything below 60 degrees is totally unacceptable. We had to seek better weather.

I recalled a yearning from my youth to visit a faraway place to watch the heroes of the diamond play spring baseball. Unfortunately, my team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, trained at “Dodgertown” in Vero Beach, Florida. For a 10-year-old baseball fan, it might as well have been Tokyo.

When a little girl writes in her diary, “Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie,” you know her destination isn’t a pleasant one—not in the 1880s anyway when she penned that entry. The child’s name is unknown, but her words were quite suitable for describing her family’s move to Bodie, California—once known as the Wildest Mining Camp in the West. Today, the lawlessness is long gone. Now a state historic park, Bodie is the nation’s biggest unreconstructed ghost town, and provides an authentic look back into California’s mining history.