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).
In one of the interviews he said a ranger told him that in one of the parks they have people who live there off-the-grid (like the mole people in NYC subways) and the park service can't control them and I was like 'yikes'.
Beautiful country. For a few years, I was hunting deer and elk on the north side, Pyramid Peak area iirc, and would go up there in July and August to scout and fish for cutts.
But Great Basin National Park is great.
Amazing hike (not too incredibly long, not too incredibly steep) with great scenery! Some of the oldest trees in the world are in this park. We went in late July and it was virtually empty...felt like we had the whole park to ourselves.
Definitely take the tour of Lehman Caves while you're there. Very few places in the country where you get breathtaking above ground and below ground scenery in the same park.
Zion is certainly amazing and Angel's Landing is spectatcular and terrifying (I had to turn back at the third set of chains due to uncontrollable whimpering), riding mules through Bryce Canyon was unforgettable, especially on a cloudless spring day where it was 40 degrees at the top of the canyon and 60 degrees in the canyon. Most see the canyon from the lookouts but hiking or riding through the canyon itself gives a different perspective.
not even close
Got married on the valley floor at what was the Ahwahnee a couple years ago, so I'll have to vote for that.
I'd say Zion is my favorite to visit if I'm car camping. Glacier was my favorite to backpack. I'd love to make it up to some of the parks in Alaska but I'll have to wait a couple years to make those trips.
The OP mentioned Joshua Tree, and I'd have to agree for the most part. The best part about Joshua Tree is the evening / nights there. I have some great star pics from camping on the plateau there.
I've made three trips to Isle Royale with a canoe. Love the backcountry there.
Rocky Mountain is my #1. I've fished, hiked and guided Rocky for 25 years, worked a bunch of years in Estes, and have a little place 5.5 miles from the park boundary. I'll never fish everything, but I'm getting close on the east side.
I have been fortunate to camp in almost every National Park unit in the system.
Capitol Reef (one of the Utah "Mighty Five") is one of my favorites despite being one of the least-visited Parks in the country. Lots of great canyon hiking. The campground sits in an orchard of fruit trees. There's a great diner up the road for breakfast. It's way off the beaten track, but it's worth a visit.
I would also recommend the Southern Unit of Canyonlands (another of the "Mighty Five"). Stunning views on the drive in...awesome red rock formations, petroglyphs, etc. Many of the campsites are in hollowed-out caves or under rock overhangs...bats stream out at dusk. No civilization for miles, so the nights are crystal clear and the stars abundant.
There are other parks with equal or more spectacular scenery or wildlife, but the ease of getting around in Arches to see the variety of geologic landforms coupled with that glorious high desert heat and low humidity make it a must-visit for me when I'm in Utah. Moab Brewery is a great place to unwind after a day in the July sun.
The last time I was there, the park was virtually empty at sunrise, and it wasn't that busy at high noon, either. Most people aren't wild about 96 degrees in the Utah desert in July, but I can't get enough of it.
Zion and Bryce are hard on its heels, though. I've spent only a day in Canyonlands and haven't been to Capitol Reef yet.
The under rated park is Zion in Utah. Stunning, nice small town nearby and several other national parks very close by
All great advice - I'd vote for Grand Canyon as well, but I've done the 21 day trip on the river there (twice), and that experience is surreal...
Some of these are one-trick ponies (though the pony is DAMN good); e.g., Zion, Arches, Bryce, Grand Canyon. They're great, but I like a little more variety.
My favorite abounds in all sorts of beauty: Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I'm lumping them together because they are actually connected (by the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Pkwy.) and, regardless, are just a few miles apart. The geology couldn't be more different: sheer fault scarps and glacial features at Grand Teton, and volcanic hills at Yellowstone. Yellowstone has deep gorges, spectacular geothermal features, and probably the best accessible wildlife in the lower-48. Grand Teton has incredible hiking and mountaineering trails, gorgeous lakes, and draw-dropping alpine scenery. Visiting either or both in the fall is a memorable occasion.
Sleeping Bear Dunes is my favorite in the summer. You really can't beat those beaches.
Dry Tortugas NP is mind-blowing but is also mostly underwater. Great place to visit in the winter months if you like to swim.
Isle Royale NP is well worth spending a week on. Very remote. Shocking to see a moose face to face. It's like living a Wild Kingdom episode! The animals there don’t have fear of humans.
I know this is technically not a national PARK, but White River National Forest comes to mind for me because I am an Aspen/Snowmass guy when it comes to nature. Obviously an incredible spot year round.
It's the most photographed place in the state, but pictures still don't ever do Maroon Bells justice.
Honorable mention to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Nothing like Up North in the summer!
Spent 8 days there a few years ago. Eight hour horseback ride from the trailhead.
Kind of like asking "What's your favorite ice cream, or beer, or Irish Whiskey, or..." I'll go with Yosemite but I'm not picky
April 25th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
is my favorite from the ones I've ever visited. 5 dunes over 700 feet high with the highest being 750 feet high. It's really amazing to see in person. It's like being on another planet.
The ones I want to visit the most would be Isle Royale National Park and Redwoods National Park.
Most people don't know these even exist. I LIVE in Colorado and didn't know they existed until I had spent 3 months here. The 14K+ feet Sangre de Christos and Mount Blanca on one side, the high desert of the San Luis Valley on the other side. Pikes Peak and Mount Elbert and Mount Evans get most of the press --- but I personally view Mount Blanca as THE most amazing mountain in all of Colorado.
But, back to the Dunes. It's simply amazing that some of the World's largest sand dunes exist amidst the heart of the Rocky Mountains of all places!
And, back to your "another planet" comment --- dependent upon how much one has listened to Art Bell at 3 AM (I'm admittedly a bit of an insonmiac), one may come to believe that the San Luis Valley is the "UFO sighting capital of the World." It has gained the reputation as such. Maybe those Sand Dunes are our connection to the world beyond.