About No Coast Best Coast

Last Updated by Ricky Holzer on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019

When I first moved to Minneapolis, online hiking information was sparse for parks in the Midwest. Having been spoiled by excellent websites in the West, I decided to create and share my own database of the best hikes in the middle of the country. Now, No Coast Best Coast covers hikes in 12 different states and one Canadian province. With a straightforward and mobile-friendly design, you can easily find the perfect hike for every occasion, wherever you are in this beautiful place others call "flyover country".

Hikes

Unlike other websites that only list trails and basic details, I have personally hiked each and every hike posted on this site and share everything about the overall experience. In each post about a hike, I review the trail experience and share plenty of pictures and a map of the trail. I rate each hike out of 5 stars and list the overall difficulty, navigation difficulty, distance, and time.

The overall difficulty is an unscientific combination of elevation gain and distance, detailed below with the corresponding marker color on the site's map:

Easy (green) are mostly flat with short distances (under 3 miles)
Medium (blue) have some up and down with medium distances (more than 3 but less than 7 miles)
Hard (red) have long distances (7+ miles) with or without steep uphill climbs, like Top of the Giant Trail.
Very hard (black) extended uphill climbs and long distances, reserved for the absolute hardest hikes on the site, like Mount Wrightson

Navigation difficulty reflects how easy routefinding is and whether or not signs or other aids are present:

Easy: finding and following the trail is straightforward and signs or other markers are present at intersections.
Medium: the trail may be faint or hard to follow at times, but stone cairns or other navigational aids are present most if not all of the time. These trails are not recommended for parties without an experienced hiker.
Hard: navigational aids are infrequent or nonexistent and a map and compass are mandatory. At the time of writing, I have not completed any hikes like this.

Unless you're climbing a serious mountain, listing elevation gain in terms of feet is unnecessary and harder to comprehend, especially on the many Midwestern trails I've reviewed. Instead, I summarize elevation gain into four categories:

Mostly flat: almost no change in elevation
A few hills: gently rolling terrain OR one medium to large hill with a gradual slope
Hilly: a significant amount of up and down, usually in smaller bursts OR one extra large hill with a gradual slope
Strenuous climbing: extended periods of uphill that will get that heart pumping

Each hike is also labeled whether or not it is good for families, dogs, or people in wheelchairs:

Family friendly: short, mostly flat trails with a maximum distance of 3 miles that are doable for families with young children.
Dog friendly: any trails that allow dogs. Posts will specify any regulations regarding dogs such as leash requirements.
Accessible: paved or well-graded trails that are designated as wheelchair accessible (I generally will not list a hike as accessible unless the governing authority has labeled it as such). For example, several Minnesota State Parks contain accessible trails and amenities. These hikes are also great for families with strollers.

At the bottom of the post, I provide directions, details about parking and fees, and additional information: rules about dogs, whether or not the trail is good for kids (and close alternative routes if not), what seasons you can hike the trail, how popular and crowded the trail may be, and any other important things you'll need to know (are there bears? will you need extra water?).

Blog

My blog is where I summarize all of my hiking knowledge into easily digestible articles. Not only will you find lists of the best hikes, there are also articles explaining everything you need to know about hiking, from what to wear, how to prepare, and other important information, like what the difference is between a national park and a national monument. Have any ideas you'd like to see me write about? Message me on social media using the links further down the page!

About the Author

Ricky hiking at Jay Cooke State Park near Duluth, Minnesota

Hi, I'm Ricky Holzer, and I have been hiking since my days as a Boy Scout. Originally from Arizona, I am an experienced outdoorsman with accomplishments like backpacking the Grand Canyon on my 13th birthday, braving the New Mexico wilderness on a 65 mile trek at Philmont Scout Ranch, and summitting several peaks throughout Southern California. Although I've hiked in more than 10 National Parks and traveled throughout the west, I will prove that the Midwest isn't all flat and boring and has plenty of hiking worth doing, all within a short trip of your home city.

Contact

Have any questions? Did you find an error on one of my posts? Have any requests for hikes or blog content? Message me using any of the platforms below!

Email

Ricky@NoCoastBestCoast.com