Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “national park”
Saguaro National Park is named for the Saguaro cactus, which grows only in the Sonoran Desert. This is an easy park to visit, with scenic drives and short walks among the towering cacti. A half day is all you need to see the highlights, but with more time you can tour the entire park, go on a day hike, or …
Petrified Forest National Park beat all of my expectations. I imagined a barren desert with a few colorful hills, some ancient, petrified stumps, and soaring temperatures in the early summer. Instead, we were treated to the colorful, uniquely beautiful hills of the Painted Desert, giant, petrified trees that puzzle the mind, and the chance to walk backcountry trails without another …
For millions of years, the Colorado River has carved its way through the Colorado Plateau, forming this expansive, awe-inspiring landscape that we call the Grand Canyon. And it certainly is grand. Words cannot describe what it is like to gaze across the Grand Canyon for the first time. On a visit to the Grand Canyon, there is more to do …
Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest cave system, with over 400 miles of explored caves and passageways. On a visit to Mammoth Cave, explore this subterranean world of immense rooms, long canyons, and tight passageways and learn why it is called a “grand, gloomy, and peculiar place” by Stephen Bishop, Mammoth Cave’s most famous guide and explorer. In order to …
With sandstone cliffs, white domes, arches, and slot canyons, Capitol Reef National Park is a rugged, extraordinary place to explore. This park preserves the Waterpocket Fold, a rippling of the Earth’s crust that is 100 miles long. Not a big fan of hiking? One of the things that makes Capitol Reef so easy to visit is that you can see …
Canyonlands is an enormous National Park. Over 330,000 acres are filled with arches, buttes, mesas, canyons, hiking trails, dirt roads, campgrounds, and overlooks. It would take days, weeks even, to fully explore all that Canyonlands has to offer. However, if you only have one day in Canyonlands, you have just enough time to visit the highlights. We spent two days …
Gateway Arch, located in St. Louis, Missouri, is a famous American icon. Since its completion in the 1960’s, the Arch has been attracting thousands of visitors every year. Gateway Arch is one of the newest additions to the long list of national parks, achieving official national park status on February 22, 2018 (Indiana Dunes is now the newest National Park, …
Canyonlands National Park is an underrated park located near Moab, Utah. Compared to its smaller and more popular neighbor Arches National Park, Canyonlands feels more rugged, more remote, and a whole lot larger. Island in the Sky, the most popular section of Canyonlands, is filled with jaw-dropping vistas and short but sweet hiking trails. Here are the best things to …
The South Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails are two of the Grand Canyon’s classic hiking trails. You can combine these two trails together to create one massive day hike or a two-day backpacking trip. It is a long, challenging hike but it makes for some incredible memories. With its long distance and nearly a mile of elevation gain, this is …
Arches National Park is a wonderland of desert vistas, short hiking trails, strange rock formations, and you guessed it, arches. Not only will you find over 2,000 arches here, but you will also see hoodoos, fins of sandstone rocks, massive mesas, and balanced rocks. Here are the best things to do in Arches National Park. About Our Experiences in Arches …
Hiking the Zion Narrows is a very unique experience. For miles you hike through an endless slot canyon with the North Fork of the Virgin River as your hiking trail. There are two ways you can hike the Narrows. Most people hike it from the bottom-up, an out and back journey that takes you through some of the most scenic …
When you think of the Everglades, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Mosquitos, alligators, and hot, humid weather? Yes, you can find those things here (and in great abundance depending on the time of year you visit), but there is so much more to the Everglades than hot, sticky weather and dangerous wildlife. Everglades National Park is …
If you like the idea of exploring sand dunes, climbing down into an extinct volcano, hiking through canyons, and seeing one of the United States’ most unique landscapes, Death Valley is calling your name. With 2 days in Death Valley, you can see the main highlights, although more time allows you to explore further. Here is our two day itinerary …
When you think of Death Valley, what is the first thing that comes to mind? A barren desert landscape, crawling with scorpions and rattlesnakes? Yes, you can find that here, but there is so much more to Death Valley National Park than a forbidding desert landscape. We spent several days touring the park and fell in love with this place. …
Death Valley National Park is filled with unusual spots to visit and the Racetrack Playa may be one of the most bizarre. This is the place to see those mysterious sailing stones…the large rocks that somehow glide over this dry, muddy surface, leaving imprinted trails behind them. This is not a spot you can just visit on a whim. Getting …
In an attempt to catch the last of the autumn colors, Tim and I went a road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains in early November. We spent a weekend exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park, using Gatlinburg, Tennessee as our home base. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the United States’ most visited national park. It actually receives twice …
Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks sit side by side in central California. Filled with alpine peaks, deep canyons, and the largest trees in the world, you could spend several days here. However, if you only have one day, you have just enough time to visit the highlights of both parks. We visited Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park on …
Summiting Mt. LeConte is one of the Smoky Mountains great hikes. It is a long way to the top but it’s an interesting experience, hiking through caves and along trails that, at times, cling to the side of the mountain. On a clear day, the view from the top of Mt. LeConte can be magnificent. There are several ways to reach …