VIRTUAL TRAVEL FOR THE HIKER, TRAVELER, AND OUTDOORSMAN

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CAPTURE A MOMENT AWAY from it all and enjoy an expedition into the great outdoors. In a photographic virtual world, the UntraveledRoad recreates the experience of scenic national parks, rustic ranching communities, skyscraper-topped cityscapes and hundreds of miles of meandering highways and roads. All 332,585 photographs on UntraveledRoad were taken by human-operated hand-held camera for a real-life effect. In operation since 1999, it is the oldest virtual travel site on the web. Take a look now for that special vacation spot! Below are a few featured locations. Plan a safe and exciting road trip with online auto insurance quotes from Nationwide.com.

In 1914 and 1915, Lassen Peak dazzled America with the only volcanic eruptions since the arrival of Europeans on the continent. The eruptions reached a climax on May 22, 1915 with an eruption that sent volcanic ash 30,000 feet in the air and left a trail for 200 miles to the east. The blast could be seen for hundreds of miles away. The slopes of the mountain were devastated as the eruption mixed with melted snow and swept down the mountain slopes.

The next year, congress responded by establishing Lassen Volcanic Park on August 9, 1916. Scientists and other curious onlookers studied the effects of the eruption.

Falling into dormancy after its impressive show, Lassen has long since been covered in forests and grass, although hot springs and steaming vents still exist. With Lassen Peak reaching 10,457 feet in elevation, heavy winter snows melt into green alpine meadows in summer, and vacationeers come to beat the summer heat, hike on the many trails, and read interpretative markers about the great eruption.

Yosemite Valley is one of the most beautiful places on earth for a vacation destination. At 4,000 feet in the Sierra Nevadas, it is covered with alpine meadows and forests, with the Merced River running through the middle. Granite cliffs line the valley, reaching as high as 3,000 feet above the floor, giving it its patented, stunning scenery. Numerous waterfalls tumble from the heights; and formations, such as El Capitan and Half Dome, are famous icons.

Beyond Yosemite Valley, the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevadas reach into the 13,000-foot range, capped by Mount Whitney on the park's eastern boundary. Mount Whitney is the highest point in the continental United States 151; at 14,491 feet in elevation. Yosemite National Park includes hundreds of thousands of acres of alpine paradise amongst those peaks, with brooks wandering through grass and forest and monolithic granite peaks as a backdrop.

Explore Yosemite's beautiful scenery and plan your vacation to this unique mountain paradise. Yosemite Valley was photographed in May, when the waterfalls were at their maximum flow, the grass was green, and the wildflowers were out.

Sun Valley is a world-class ski resort and one of the premier all-season resorts in America where celebrities and millionaires make their home. Enjoying a beautiful location in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, it is surrounded by the beauty of nature with mountain creeks and forested slopes.

The old mining town Ketchum borders Sun Valley on the west and has become the shopping center for the area with its few streets packed with shops of all kinds, targeting tourists, as well as museums and other places of interest.

Trail Creek Road, continuing northeast from Sun Valley, makes a dramatic climb up the side of the Pioneer Mountain Range and crosses a pass high in the mountains where creeks, alpine meadows and rocky mountain peaks are everywhere. It continues on to the Lost River Valley.