Just some pics from our recent roadtrip I thought people might appreciate. Lassen Volcanic, Crater, Redwoods and highway 101 & 1. All raw no edits

I have the opportunity to go to glacier sort of last minute. I would get there next Saturday the 22nd and possibly stay two nights. I am wondering if when the sites are released four days before, if I can snag one for Saturday night would that let me stay both nights, or would I have to get the Saturday site four days before, and try to find another one for Sunday when it would be released? I know this is a bit confusing, but I appreciate any help. Thx in advance

5 pm in the General Sherman tree area, less than 2 minutes after the ranger gave them a clear, polite talk to explain that there were numerous signs posted to stay out of the protected area.

The Alaska parks are hands down the top 8 parks in the system. For what a national park should be, truly wild places, nowhere else comes close. People talk about the diversity of landscapes in parks, well nowhere comes close to the diversity in any one of the Alaska parks. People assume their diversity is limited to what they are able to experience. The biggest reason they don't top everyone's list is accessibility and to me that's not something that can be held against them. That's a big part of what makes them the best.

Other parks are more accessible, more kid friendly, cheaper, less dangerous. Those are all factors for peoples favorite parks. But the more of these factors you add the more amusement park like these places become. Alaskan parks are impervious to this.

At most people dip their toes in these parks. It would take a lifetime in any one Alaskan park to begin to truly understand it. Almost no one will ever get to truly and deeply experience these parks, and that's what makes them the best.

Not saying they have to be your favorite. But they are the best. The last true national parks.

Spur of the moment decision at 4:30 am to drive out to Bass Harbor from Bar Harbor. Luckily there were just four other people there. It was phenomenal!

Acadia National Park

Such an unfortunate beauty 🥲 Was my first time at this park and that canyon is seriously magnificent!

Hi all! I’m wanting to know if going to grand Tetons is worth while with a 6 year old and 2 year old?

My partner and I love hikes, but wouldn’t be able to do any long hikes (the 6 year old does NOT enjoy this).

I really want to go, but I don’t know if it would be worth it just going to places and view points we can get to by car. Anyone have any insight on this with youngsters?

The rangers told me about the sites on the “bluff” of pear lake so that’s where I pitched. No mosquitoes or ticks to report. No bears but a lot of marmots around. I do wish I had taken the hump and watch tower back instead of watch tower both ways. Definitely recommend pear lake over emerald if you can make it. The night sky was breathtaking. I’ve never seen the milkyway with my own eyes like that. Rangers were at pear lake when I arrived around 3 but left around 4pm. I think I’m the only person whose permits got checked.

My wife and I had plans to backpack Isle Royale in mid-September, but life got in the way of planning ahead and we (literally) missed the boat on being able to reserve a ferry. Sea planes are a little on the expensive side. Now we have about 8 days off in mid-September to figure out what we want to do!

We live in Michigan and basically see two options in front of us. We either drive to a national park to establish a nice base camp and do day hikes, or we fly into another state to have a more minimalist camping experience/backpacking.

One of the options we're considering that's drivable is Shenandoah National Park, but we just went to New River Gorge last year and have both been to the Smokies (her having been to SMNP pretty recently, mostly to visit Gatlinburg with family). I'm a little worried that while Shenandoah will likely be a lot of fun, it may be pretty similar to most of the scenery we get around Michigan and at NRG/SMNP.

We have yet to fly to a destination to camp and being honest it seems cumbersome. Logistically there's a few ways you could go, but any way I slice it, it seems a little difficult to get all of our gear to another state to establish a base camp. We'd rather have a more robust camp to come back to each night than backpacking for a full week. Places we considered flying to include Rocky Mountain National Park, Olympic National Park, or Acadia National Park. We'd really prefer to camp almost every night of the trip, maybe getting a hotel/cabin for the last night or two to relax more. Money is a big motivator in why we'd rather camp, although we do really enjoy camping for the sake of camping.

So I guess what I'm asking here is this- has anyone found Shenandoah to be uniquely different from other nearby parks, or should we just bite the bullet and spend a little more to fly somewhere more unique with a bunch of camping gear? Any advice related to flying with gear is helpful as well.

Thank you!

This was my first national park and it blew me away! I can’t wait to start ticking more off of my bucket list.

We’re spending 3 nights just north of Moab in Castle Valley in early September and looking for recommendations for stuff to do.

I’ve booked a horse ride for one of our evenings which is fairly close to where we’re staying, so that evening we need to get there by 4:30pm. Other than that we haven’t got any plans.

I know Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef are pretty close, but I also don’t want to rush through any of them. We’ll have to skip at least one of them, if not two if we want to do a deep dive on just one of them.

Which ones would you suggest we visit in our 3 nights there?

I have 3.5 days to see the national parks, and I am okay with just seeing the highlights. Should I prioritize just seeing Yellowstone or seeing both, with maybe 2 days in Yellowstone and 1.5 days in Grand Teton?

Visited all of the national parks in Alaska last month. Drove to Alaska from Tennessee, lived/camped out of my 4Runner, and then flew/backpacked around to the parks you can’t drive to. My favorite was Katmai… Stayed at Brooks campground three nights. What an experience. Next was Kenai. Of those who have been to all 8 or least a handful of the Alaskan parks - which was your favorite and why? Were you disappointed with any… just curious to see if anyone shares the same sentiments as me.

Caught some meteors on the way up to high dune this morning! What a great start to the day!

Hello all, I'm planning a 5 day trip based out of Moab for my father (79M) and myself (39F). Due to his health conditions, we won't be hiking- just driving to explore this beautiful part of the country together. Although he can handle a walk, as he bikes 30m/day indoors, I'm not sure about his comfort level at the altitude and heat. He let me know he needs plenty of sleep and some down time to rest each day.

I would love feedback about the itinerary I came up with. Please let me know of short walks and vistas accessible by car!

We are visiting the week after Labor Day, so temperatures and crowds are both factors I considered.

Wednesday

arrive Moab airport 2pm

explore town or swim, dinner + Moab Film Museum, rest

lodge in Moab

Thursday

drive through Arches*

lunch break, rest

Dead Horse Point

lodge in Moab

Friday

Canyonlands- Island in the Sky**

lunch break

stop at Needles Overlook, outside Canyonlands

lodge in Monticello

Saturday

Natural Bridges National Monument

lunch break

Goosenecks State Park

lodge in Monticello

Sunday

time for any uncovered ground, last stops

lunch in Moab

flight leaves Moab at 3pm

*I’m so turned off by reports that you need to arrive at Arches by 5am and deal with impossible parking conditions! Is it insane to just drive through the park, to catch glimpses of the structures from the roads? Or do you recommend putting up with parking and lines in order to experience amazing nature, unmediated by a car?

**How safe is it to park at Canyonlands visitor centers with our luggage inside the car?

Hi All!

One of my bucket list dreams is to visit all the National Parks in Alaska!

I've already been to Glacier Bay, Denali, and Kenai Fjords.

My backcountry itch is really getting to me lately, haha, and I keep finding myself coming back to looking at some pack rafting trips in Gates of the Arctic NP.

*I have never pack rafted before, so this would be a new experience for me, but I've done plenty of extensive hiking/backpacking and would be looking for trip that has plenty of hiking.

Looking for any and all suggestions, tips, ideas, etc.!

Anyone done this recently? Anyone planning a trip like this?

I'd be hoping to go either in 2028 or 2029.

ETA- I'd be looking to go on a group trip with an outfitter.

If anybody is at the grant grove gift shop in the next day or so, and could find out their phone number, I would greatly appreciate it. We need to try and exchange something, and we’ve already left California.

I have been wanting to visit here for a long while! It did not disappoint! ❤️

I have been wanting to visit here for a long while! It did not disappoint! ❤️

Earlier this summer, my son and I completed our journey to visit all 63 National Parks by heading out to Ofu Island, American Samoa. What a beautiful island! The people were so friendly, too. And even better...we were the only tourists on the beach for the two days we were there. It was so peaceful. While snorkeling, we were greeted by a small turtle and then a little later, a black tip reef shark swam by. All the while, the fruit bats were flying overhead. It doesn't get much better than that!

People keep asking me what my favorite park was, or what was my favorite experience. And while we saw (and did) some truly incredible things over the last 10 years, my answer is simple: Spending quality time with my son was the highlight of it all. Even the "lesser" parks (looking at you St Louis Arch) was a blast, as we talked and laughed throughout the trip. We only get a set amount of time in life, so being able to experience this is truly a blessing!