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 11:16 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
tour of Gettysburg and it was a great experience. We rode right up where Picketts charge was. Great way to see the entire park in one day.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
Spent lots of time in both and they are beautiful.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
As a current employee of both these parks I gotta give 'em a shout out. Guadalupe Mountains NP is great if you're in to backcountry hiking. It also contains the state high point for Texas. And being quite far away from cities gives you some great sky watching during the night.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
Have you hiked Sierra Blanca?
I don't know if you're talking about down in Texas on I-10 or up in New Mexico by Ruidoso, but either way no, I have not. I'm looking to get away from Guadalupe one of my weekends and hopefully up towards Alamogordo or somewhere near there and I might check it out.
I meant the New Mexico one. The Crest Trail goes from the Ski Apache parking lot up to Lookout Mountain, and from there Sierra Blanca. It's on reservation land though, so you're supposed to get tribal permission to climb Sierra Blanca. You can stop by the tribal office in Mescalero and ask. Otherwise, around Alamogordo, there's White Sands National Monument, which is pretty awesome, and the White Sands Missile Range has a little museum and "missile park" full of rockets, including a V-2 that they backwards engineered from the Germans in WWII. A little down the road from there is the Aguirre Springs Campground and the trailhead for the Pine Tree Loop, another good hike that overlooks the missile range at one point.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
The most I remember about Carlsbad Caverns was that half of the other visitors were speaking Spanish and the lot was full of cars I did not recognize with Mexico plates. So it is an international destination - as are most of the parks.
Quick question! The "M" up in the mountains on McKittrick Canyon, does it stand for Michigan? That's what I claimed when we visited a couple of years ago. Want to go again and spend more than a few hours there. The fossil trail is on my to do list, also scaling the Guadalupe.
Not many have mentioned the few NPs in Texas. I like Big Bend NP a lot.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
My hipster national park pick is Black Canyon of the Gunnison - best park you've probably never heard of.
Super steep and narrow river canyon cutting through the Colorado Plateau. The hike from the rim down to the river and back is one of the few really trilling trails in the park, but man, it alone is worth it.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:48 AM ^
I was going to say the same thing. Highly underrated park.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
beautiful park. Some breath taking views from the top of it.
I third this. Black Canyon was ah-maz-ing.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
Picture Rocks National Lakeshore
Collegiate Peaks Wilderness - Great for backpacking, camping, and climbing some 14ers.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
I've been trying to put a trip together this summer to go to one I haven't been before. Yosemite and Zion have been my favorites so far, in that order. Yosemite is great at all times of the year, and the view at Zion (as well as the hike itself) is spectacular.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
Including Grand Canyon (multiple times; it still fascinates me), Zion, Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountain, Acadia, Joshua Tree, Hawaii Volcanoes (very cool), Haleakala, Petrified Forest, Glacier Bay, Saguaro, and Sequoia. Sometimes, the visits are like the Grand Canyon scene in Vacation, and others are longer.
Glacier in Montana is for me the most beautiful. The scenery is stunning.
We hit both Glacier and Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper on the same trip. If you haven't been, make it a priority.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
I've been lucky enough to have visited a lot of the national parks and all have been great. Just got back from a spring break trip to Utah and Arizona where we visted 5 national parks. I was really impressed with Zion. Loved hiking The Narrows and Angels Landing.
Favorites out of all that I have visted would have to be Glacier Bay (in Alaska), Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. Hard to pick just one. Have not been to Glacier (in Montana) but hope to get there this summer.
Thanks for the topic. Trying to recall all of the parks I've visited (not including those when I was a kid). Brings back some great memories. Not including the favorites listed above I've been to Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountain, Denali, Kenai Fjords, Everglades, Acadia, Saguaro, Mammoth Cave, Wind Cave, Carlsbad Caverns, Badlands, Gateway Arch, and national lakeshore Sleeping Bear Dunes.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
Yosemite
April 25th, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^
Big Bend NP on the Texas/Mexico border is very interesting. It's one of the lesser-known parks, is pretty remote, and the hiking and views are fantastic.
Here's some shots from our 2017 hikes up the Santa Elena canyon which bounds the Rio Grande:
And of the Grapevine Hills trail:
Darn! missed this comment before commeting above. Living in Houston, I consider this my backyard park :) Loved the quiet and solitude.
April 25th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
Huron national Forest in the northern lower pennisula is my reset button. Everytime I hike the paths or swim in the river...
That said Bear Lodge in the Devils tower national park is the most impressive, and spiritual, place I have ever visited.
jdon
Glacier
Mt Rainier
Yosemite
Teddy Roosevelt Grassland
April 25th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^
Angels landing is incredible.
Yosemite has so many incredible hikes.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
Crater Lake b/c fighting forest fires for the Forest Service, we were stationed on the Umpqua National Forest just outside Crater, which had the nearest women and booze.
Glacier National Park, same reason: when I was on a different fire crew on the Flathead N.F.,Glacier had the nearest women and booze.
Yellowstone and Carlsbad get honorable mention because they were two of my most interesting fires.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
I will say it is a tie between Isle Royale Natioal Park because it is naturally preserved, and Yellowstone National Park because of it's wildlife.
April 25th, 2018 at 10:35 PM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
Teton National Park is probably my favorite. I actually think it's way better than Yellowstone. Been to both multiple times. But Acadia National Park in Maine is very underrated. Went there a year ago and was really impressed. Not the same typie of wildlife that you would see at the others, but just as scenic in its own way and great hikes that are easily accessible. And Bar Harbor is a cool place to visit right next door.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
I love Acadia, too. The carriage trails are a great place for riding bikes.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
Zion. I havent been there in 20 years but I remember the hiking was amazing and I can't wait to go back. The number and variety of parks out west is stunning.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
Comerica National Park.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:16 PM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
2nd the comments on the accessbility of Acadia--one benefit is, although you can do the typical hiking etc, if you have very young/old with you, you can access quite a lot even by car.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
Favorite that I have visited is Mt. Ranier National Park (Washington State).
Want to visit the most: Glacier National Park
April 25th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
April 25th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
Mine are both pretty common ones... I spend summers outside Glacier Nat'l Park in Montana so that'd be my choice. It definitely is getting more and more crowded in the summer however, so I also escape to trails in the adjoining Flathead national forest which has almost as much beauty and about 1/100 of the people. I've also spent a lot of time in Yellowstone and love that area for its geology.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^
I don't consider myself to have been to many national parks, but then people list off some great ones and I think about how much I enjoyed them when I visited, so I'm not that bad off.
I've spent significant time in Rocky Mountain twice, so that's probably the one I have most experience with. I enjoyed my brief trip to Yosemite and thought it would be a great place to spend a week if I could afford to spend a week there. Sequoia was a long daytrip from Lancaster when I lived there and it was one of the most unforgettable trips of my life. The mountains, the incredible trees, all of it. I've never forgotten it.
But how am I supposed to pick a favorite of any of these parks? They're all amazing.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
Depends what expeirence you are looking for but cannot go wrong with any of these:
1. Glacier - Just beautiful
2. Zion
3. Rocky Mountain
4. Mesa Verde - Very cool Native American history
5. Badlands / Yellowstone
April 25th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
I would say Zion was fantastic. You can fly into Las Vegas and get to Zion, Arches, the northern part of the Grand Canyon. I have not been to many of the parks mentioned but I would put Utah parks as the best I have visited.
In early May we have a trip to Yellowstone before my son starts work at Sleeping Bear. Seems like a portion of the park will be closed due to snaow but should also be less crowded.
I like the parks in the west becasue they are so different than the midwest.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
Utah is has amazing national parks. Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Arches all in one state.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^
My National Park experience is mostly on the west coast. With that said I would have to say Zion and Glacier are my favorites.
NP I want to go to:
Point Reyes National Seashore
Smoky Mountains
Biscayne in Florida
Acadia in Maine
South Padre Island National Seashore in Texas
April 25th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
Least visited National Park, but most re-visited! If you go, make sure to portage a kayak or canoe so that you can really see the island.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
Least visited National Park, but most re-visited! If you go, make sure to portage a kayak or canoe so that you can really see the island.
April 25th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^
My experience with National Parks is limited and I imagine they are all worth going to as every single one I've been to is great. I highly recommend southern Utah. Particularly the San Rafael National Recreation Area, the Wedge Overlook is a place you can camp right next to a canyson called the Little Grand Canyon, it's free, it's not crowded, and it's spectacular. Arches is cool, Zion is cooler, anything around there is great. I'll be canoeing down the Colorado River in that area in June this year and can't wait. The parks out west are a revelation if you've never left the greenery east of the Mississippi.
Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Isle Royale are on my must do list. Isle Royale next summer!
Any paranormal enthusiasts/nerds on here like me? Ever hear of David Paulides?
Paulides is a former cop detective who has been studying bizarre disappearances in national parks for decades. He claims that over the years as many as 1,500+ people have gone missing in national parks under suspicious circumstances (these do not include cases of suicide, murder, assault, deliberate disappearances, acts of nature and animal attacks which he tries to rule out).
He claims that a number of them have eerie similarities - in some cases they disappear from areas with other people close by. They often turn up mysteriously far from where they vanished or they reappear in areas that had been searched multiple times. Sometimes they're found alive and have no idea what happened to them/can't remember anything. Paulides has written a bunch of books about this and claims that the USNP system has no method for tracking missing persons. If you ever listen to an interview with him, it makes for some serious scary shit. Makes me want to stay out of national parks haha.
While it seems like he is a dogged and thorough researcher I feel like there's something about it that is bullshit, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Wanted to see if anyone else had heard about this.
I have heard of him. One of my very few non-sports related interests is Bigfoot. Fascinating to hear all of the encounters all over our country from so many people.
I fear the people more so than the wild animals. I've seen some strung out weird people walking through these parks. I like Rocky Mountain National Park.