• What to do: Looks can be deceiving, but there's plenty to look at in the area around 554-acre Trough Creek State Park. The main attraction, Balanced Rock, is a big hunk of boulder that didn't erode with the rest of the nearby rubble. It looks like it could tumble with a misplaced breath, but it's held its ground on the cliff for many thousands of years. Nearby Copperas Rock is stained a beautiful yellow-orange by ferrous sulfate leaching from a small coal deposit. A shallow cave near the rock is thought to have been dug by American settlers who used the seepage in homemade dyes.

• Contact: Trough Creek State Park is near James Creek, Bedford County. 814-658-3847.