I know you're going to stop believing if I keep giving all of the hikes in the Shawnee National Forest area five stars, but the Panther Den Wilderness Area is an amazing one. The trail is pretty easy, with a bunch of nice little stream crossings, and the painfully scenic combination of dappled tree cover, and rock bluffs off to your right hand side as you hike out. Then, about a mile out, as you walk along the bluffs you'll suddenly see a giant stone corridor, leading into a series of beautiful stone chambers, some dark, some sunny, all mossy, wet, cool. If our experience with our toddler is any indication you can poke around in here for a long time, looking for different ways under, over, and around. Just be sure to save a little bit of energy for the walk back. It's not the easiest place to access, down a long unpaved one lane road with a tiny parking lot, but it meant we had the whole place almost to ourselves. (Though more cars did fill in on Sunday afternoon.) It lacks the immediate splendor of some of the other more famous places around here, but all told it's not far from my platonic ideal of a hike. read more