OT: National Park Week; What's Your Favorite?
Very OT, but it is National Park Week, so I thought it'd be fun to discuss the best of the US, especially as the weather is finally starting to warm in most of the country.
Where are your favorite spots? Any you haven't been impressed with?
I still have a lot to get to for the first time, but the best I've been to so far would probably have to be Zion in Southern Utah. Incredible hiking and such unique landscape. Angel's Landing is unnerving, but if you can handle heights, an all time favorite.
After that, I'd have to say Death Valley in California (Vegas is the closest airport) would be my second; it really pleasantly surprised me and is one of the more underrated parks. You can only really visit between November and March if you want to be active, but it's huge (largest in lower 48), extremely remote/quiet/peaceful, lots of unique landmarks (Dunes, Artists' Palette, mountains, Badwater Basin/salt flats) and even snowy hiking trails in the winter to juxtapoze with the barren desert floor (I visited in January, would definitely die there in July but some ppl think it's an experience to see the heat).
Although I don't think I've ever been to a national park/forest I didn't like, I think Joshua Tree in SoCal near Palm Springs is a bit lackluster. The trees are unique, but otherwise it's just normal desert and relative to the other parks in the region, doesn't pack much punch. Although it is a great park for people who like to camp, and you can do it most of the year (probably its biggest draw).
April 25th, 2018 at 12:56 PM ^
Shenandoah rules. Haven't been to many national parks but Shenandoah is worth it.
Also - a reminder to everyone in real America - all of the parks here in DC are technically national parks. And all the museums are free (well the government-run ones at least).
The Teddy Roosevelt Memorial which almost no one knows about is also great - hidden gem right in the district. I think it might be my favorite.
I was living in DC for five years before I found that place? Truly is a hidden gem. Great place to walk on lazy Saturday afternoons.
April 25th, 2018 at 10:09 PM ^
Yep - it's on an island in the river between the Mall and Arlington, VA. It's a good bike ride too. The monument itself is great and really hidden.
April 25th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
My personal favorite is Yosemite. So humbling to stand in the middle of the valley and see all this beauty rising straight up around you. Not to mention the trails up to Verona and Nevada Falls.
Second would probably be Acadia.
Agree with the comments about Yosemite. It has become my favorite park. The valley is spectacular and there's just something about standing next to and being completely dwarfed by a 2,000 year old giant sequoia. Can't wait to see Mariposa Grove when they re-open it this year. Nine of us, arm to arm, could't get around one of the giant sequoias. Would like to get to Sequoia NP as well.
There's a surprising amount of variety in Olympic NP. Everything from mountains, glaciers and about 70 miles of untouched pacific coastline.
April 25th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
Sequoia is great too. Had an awesome hiking trip there last May. Saw a few bears too and cool to hike on feet of packed snow while it's 70 degrees.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
Yup, I did! So pretty, but boy are those roads are hard on your brakes.
I saw a bear right in the middle of the trail, eating ants from a log. I waited for a while about 30 yards off or so until a group of 5-8 of us had gathered coming down. We took a wide berth off trail to go around. He knew we were there, but was more focused on the ants.
After that, stayed with 3 German exchange students I met the rest of the way down as I didn't want to be alone haha.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
so much wildlife, mountains, sea creatures.
what is hard to keep in perspective unless you get very close, is that the glaciers calve (break off parts) pieces of glaciated ice that are literally the size of office buildings. they make a tremedous cracking sounds and when they hit the ocean, they create mini tsunami waves. kind of like watching the blue angels, it is not something i get bored with.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
I went there last year. I was somewhat skeptical of the glacier cruise at Kenai Fjords; it was relatively expensive (~$150?) and after all the amazing hiking prior on the trip I wasn't looking forward to sitting on a boat for a few hours.
However, it ended up being a highlight of the trip. Amazing wildlife, the glacier calving was unexpectedly enthralling and the overall experience was unforgettable. Denali will always top my list since there is nothing like a national park the size of a state that you can hike/camp in at your leisure (with some of the best wildlife in the world). But Kenai would hands down be my vote for those who are older or not as interested in hiking. It was just as special and much more accessible.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^
Rocky Mountain National Park is stunning.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
Did you even grow up in Michigan if you didn't at least once in your childhood sprint down sleeping bear dunes only to faceplant and front flip your way down, while bitching and moaining your whole way back up?
April 25th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
Glacier National Park is by far the most beautiful park I've been to. But watch out for bears in the backcountry; there are about a million of them.
Yellowstone is also incredible because of the geothermal stuff and the plentiful and easy-to-find wildlife. The backcountry is solid but no Glacier.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
So many great parks but Yellowstone is hard to beat because of the unique geothermal aspects the park includes, its wildlife, scenery, and a supervolcano ready, willing and able to screw up a vacation every 600,000 years or so.
Locally, of course, Sleeping Bear Dunes is very interesting and beautiful in its own right.
Then there is Utah, Pacific NW, Colorado...we are lucky to live in such a beautiful country.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
Followed by Dodger stadium. 2 oldest national parks.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:05 AM ^
Chaco Canyon is probably my favorite, but if you live in the DC area, you should get to the C&O Canal NHP. Rock scrambling around Great Falls there is a good time.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
At Denali, we got on this litle park van that was taking us somewhere, and the driver saw my shirt and said, "Oh man! You should have been here this morning. I had to stop and let a wolverine cross." Sigh. Missed it by that much.
Favorite is probably Grand Canyon. Although Denali would have taken first easily... alas.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
Another vote for Glacier. Sad the wildfires did so much damage last summer.
Each park has its own unique features and our country is pretty remarkable when it comes to natural beauty.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
Olympic was awesome. Very diverse eco-systems in close proximity to each other: coastline, alpine, rain-forest. I was there on a weekend in late April when it wasn't overly crowded, a classicly cloudy and wet weekend. That whole drive, 101 around the Peninsula, I recommend it. Plenty of non-National Park sites to see. I also encountered a bunch of Michiganders in Quinault.
Everglades I hit earlier this year - the weekend before the Super Bowl. It's very unique and in visiting you appreciate the landscape (and how we really should be preserving it vs. expanding Miami and Fort Myers even more than they already are). It wasn't breath-takingly beautiful like many other parks - but it made up for that in terms of being fascinating. Not sure I'd want to be there in the summer though. It was humid enough in January!
Great topic. There are, of course, really no wrong answers to this.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
I agree with Olympic. When you can see so much different stuff like that, it's pretty sweet. I think it's the best thing about the whole northwest (including Glacier).
Mount Rainier is pretty sweet too for those who love seeing snow in July.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:30 AM ^
Good to know. There's a good chance I'll be in the Seattle area this summer for a bit and I was thinking Olympic would be great to see. If anyone else has some recommendations around there for getting out of the city I'm welcome to hear it. If I go I also hope to do a little surfing in Westport.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
I'm sure there is somebody that lives there that can tell you better than me, but the family was just there for a couple of weeks over Labor Day.
Olympic was the highlight. As people above have said, you get to see all sorts of different ecosystems in one park. It is a long drive out of Seattle though, so unless you want to rush, you might want to stay in/near the park for a night to give you at least 2 days.
I really liked Rainier, but we did it after Olympic. That was a day trip from Seattle. The downside was, after seeing all the different ecosystems, Rainier's only real focus is just the mountain, so you spend a day circling your way up from the bottom. But, lot's of nice short hikes that the kids could hammer out.
Not a national park, but we did some whale watching. Drive out of town to get on the boat, don't board in Seattle or most of your trip is spent boating out to where the whales are. So start from Port Angeles, Anacortes, or San Juan Islands.
i live at the base of Mt Rainier National Park. I'm a lil partial. Rainier is great from Late July to September.
i live at the base of Mt Rainier National Park. I'm a lil partial. Rainier is great from Late July to September.
It's not as good as Rocky Mountain National Park --- IMO --- but it's still very good.
This was a very long day that I did (limited time up there, so fitting in as much as I could), but a couple recommendations. (1) Hiking Mount Si, which is about 20 miles east of Seattle. It's honestly a bit dull going up (SO MANY switch-backs) - but the view up top makes it worth it. (2) After Mount Si, drove I-90 and US-97 over the Cascades out to Wenatchee, through the Columbia and Methow River Valleys to Winthrop, and Washington 20 through North Cascades Park. Did a short hike up in North Cascades and then down the other side - when you again hit I-5 you're only 45 miles north of Seattle. Washington 20 has a bit of a "Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park" feel to it.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:48 PM ^
Agreed. I had a chance to explore North Cascades last September while on a last-minute trip to Seattle. Surprisingly accessible via 20 and worth every second of the view. Also paired that with a sunset cruise along Chuckanut Drive (beautiful views of the bay) to grab dinner in Bellingham. Next time I'm in PNW, I'm heading back.
That drive is great. The under-appreciated Whidbey Island is also right there (I'd argue that the Deception Pass bridge ranks up there with the Bixby Bridge at Big Sur), and from there it's just a ferry ride over to the Olympic Peninsula.
The more I think about things, if one is wanting to do multiple National Parks in a limited amount of time: North Cascades + Olympic + Mount Rainier may be the best combination out there. All extremely accessible from the big-city of Seattle.
To all the posters here --- this is a GREAT thread. Absolutely perfect sort of topic for the off-season. Life may be tough at times, but it's nice to be reminded that we're fortunate to live on such a beautiful planet.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
Oh, yeah, the Olympic. Fought a fire there at the same time it was raining on us. Miserable.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^
Absolutely did not like Smokey Mountain NP, maybe it was the because it stormed real bad while backpacking and everything got soaked, but I also don’t enjoy being in the forest the whole time, need actual mountains!
April 25th, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
Ok, I'm both a nerd and an east coast homer, but the geology of the Appalachian mountains is pretty cool. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Appalachians
The short version is that the Appalachian mountains used to be on the scale of the Himalayan mountains. The Appalachian mountains, however, date back to the days of Pangea and have suffered an incredible amount of erosion.
You're right. The Appalachians aren't the grandest mountains around today, but they are kind of the granddaddy of all mountains.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
Awesome info.
I've hiked around "actual mountains", but...not actual mountains are still really fucking awesome. I don't live in Michigan now, and I absolutely wouldn't mind moving back there, but the biggest thing I'd miss would be mountains right in my vicinity.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
My favorite is Shenandoah National Park, but that is mostly for sentimental reasons. I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Also, because it supports a massive stretch of the Appalachian Trail.
Yosemite is a close second. It has so much more to offer than most people ever see.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
The two ends of the trail are probably the toughtest. North Georgia and the Great Smoky Mountains on the South and the White Mountains on the North. Virginia is generally considered some of the easiest walking on the trail -- with some of the most frequent views given all the ridge walking.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
There's a lot of Appalacian Trail in Shenandoah, but let's not overstate things. 101 out 2,200+ miles hardly qualifies as massive.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
But it is 100+ miles of the 500+ miles in Virginia. People on the AT talk about the Virginia blues because the state is nearly a quarter of the AT. Shenandoah is a bit of a reprieve for a lot of folks on the AT because it is great walking -- less pointless ups and downs than you get elsewhere -- and because the opportunities to eat real food are greater.
But your point is well taken.
Despite my earlier snark, I could not agree more. It does not matter if it's 5% or 99% of your trek; 101 miles is always a long stretch.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
I just got back from backpacking in Shenandoah. What a beautiful park. It's also very approachable for less outdoorsy types. Because Shenandoah is long, narrow, and split by Skyline Drive, you can access nearly anything in the park after a quick drive and a short hike.
That said, my all time favorite park is probably Rocky Mountain or Pictured Rocks.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
Yosemite is hard to beat, although truth be told I've been to only so many national parks. For anyone who's been to Maui and been to the summit of Haleakala, you may not see a better place for a sunrise on the entire planet. And biking down the mountain afterward is so worth getting up at 2am to get to the top of the mountain. I imagine Haleakala is part of a national park, or at least a state park.
Outside the country, has anyone been to Banff National Park in Alberta? Specifically Lake Louise? The chateau with the backdrop of the lake and the mountains is one of the most jaw-dropping sights I've ever seen. Didn't know you could find a lake with water that clear anymore.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
Have a favorite trail in Yosemite?
I might try to go for a few days in May during the week, as hopefully it won't be too crowded. Just need to confirm I can take 2 days off work.
Depending on your hiking ability, take the Panorama Trail from Glacier Point over to Nevada Falls and then down to Vernal Falls on the way back to the valley. For a shorter hike, the 4 mile trail from Glacier Point to the valley floor has some great scenery as well.
I've wanted to take the hike and climb half dome but the permit deadline is March 31st and I realized it too late the year I went. There are some last minute permits issued but hard to come by. Make sure you go to Mariposa Grove, which I think reopens this year.
That said, just about any hike in and around the valley is spectacular.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:30 AM ^
Delicate Arch / Wall Street - Arches NP
Old Faihful / Grand Canyon of YS Falls / Herd of bison right next to parking lot (within 20 feet) - Yellowstone NP
Tide Pools at base of sea stacks at low tide (filled with orange and purple starfish, anenomies +) / Hoh Rain Forest / Hurricane Ridge / tallest spruce 225' - Olympic NP
3 mile hike down into the Hoodoos and back up - Bryce NP
Narrows trail - Zion NP
Grand Canyon vista from south rim, GC NP
Yosemite Falls, Valley view from Glacier Point - Yosemite NP
Tallest Redwood 367' x 20' D - Redwood NP
Biggest Sequoia (Gen Sherman tree) 275' x 30' D / Saw a cougar off of the road to Mineral King - Sequoia NP
Dante's Lookout, Cooler out of breeze than in breeze off desert @ 125 degrees (like opening an oven door) - Death Valley NP
Hike to and thru Long House - Mesa Verde NP
Not NP - But truly memorable
Antelope Canyon - slot canyon near Page, Az (Navaho Res)
Monument Valley - NE of GC NP (Navaho Res)
April 25th, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
I spent a day at Mesa Verde last summer and really enjoyed it.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^