Favorite National Parks

[Dashinka 24,402]

In the theme of our current vacation to the Arches/Canyonlands area in Utah, just wondering what everyone’s favorite National park/monuments/seashores are?  I still love Death Valley, but the others we have visited, Yellowstone, Badlands, Arches, Grand Canyon, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Mt. Rushmore, Cuyahoga Valley, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Indiana Dunes, Cumberland Gap are all great in their own way.

[TBoneTX 45,043]

Big Bend.

Big Bend Ranch State Park (near Big Bend National Park) is also wonderful.

[SalishSea 17,751]

Olympic National Park and the Olympic rainforest are amazing.  Mt. Rainier, too.

[Dashinka 24,402]

8 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Olympic National Park and the Olympic rainforest are amazing.  Mt. Rainier, too.

We want to get up to Glacier, Olympic, and Rainier one of these days.  Hitting Natural Bridges today, and heading to Great Sand Dunes this weekend.  Also need to find time for Isle Royale at some point.

[SalishSea 17,751]

4 hours ago, Dashinka said:

We want to get up to Glacier, Olympic, and Rainier one of these days.  Hitting Natural Bridges today, and heading to Great Sand Dunes this weekend.  Also need to find time for Isle Royale at some point.

Are you RV'n?

[Dashinka 24,402]

5 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Are you RV'n?

Motel

[millefleur 5,046]

Not a national park but Monument Valley.

[Talako 781]

Favorite would be Olympic National Park.  Coolest most recently visited would be Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.

[Mary Lou 681]

Valley of Fire in Nevada

[millefleur 5,046]

3 hours ago, Mary Lou said:

Valley of Fire in Nevada

Never heard of that one. Looks amazing!

 

I forgot to add that Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is also pretty amazing. It's the most remote and deserted one I've been to, and that's always a good thing. I remember visiting the Grand Canyon on a freezing cold day in December and it was so packed with tourists it felt like Disney World!

Edited October 15, 2021 by millefleur

[Dashinka 24,402]

On 10/14/2021 at 10:26 PM, millefleur said:

Never heard of that one. Looks amazing!

 

I forgot to add that Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is also pretty amazing. It's the most remote and deserted one I've been to, and that's always a good thing. I remember visiting the Grand Canyon on a freezing cold day in December and it was so packed with tourists it felt like Disney World!

I know what you mean.  We visited Grand Canyon in January a few years ago and though not completely packed, it was very busy.  I was amazed at the differences between Arches and Canyonlands.  Arches was typically a 20-30 minute wait just to get through the gate, never a wait at Canyonlands even in the northern section, but the Needles district was amazing relative to hiking.  We have not been up to ND yet, but would probably do T. Roosevelt NP at some point.  I will say that Death Valley (except for Badwater Basin) is not busy at all.  We hiked Telescope Peak one day and saw 11 other people the whole day.

[Dashinka 24,402]

OK, so visited a few more this past week, Zion, Bryce, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  First Zion, the main park was a complete zoo even in the middle of the week, but the East side and Kolob Canyon areas were quite nice and not so busy.  Bryce was amazing, the reddish hoodoos and rock formations were breathtaking and the hiking was great.  The North Rim of GCNP was also quite interesting and beautiful.  We hiked a bit down on the North Kaibab trail (about 2000 ft into the canyon), and also drove along the scenic drive which offered some great vantage points.  It was definitely much less busy than the South Rim area.

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,043]

On 9/29/2021 at 2:37 PM, TBoneTX said:

Big Bend.

Big Bend Ranch State Park (near Big Bend National Park) is also wonderful.

Been to these yet?

13 hours ago, Dashinka said:

visited a few more this past week, Zion, Bryce, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

You know, you've been to so many that you ought to consider writing a travel guide, or at least some articles for travel magazines.

[SL2024 61]

I haven't been to any yet but have been looking at either Yellowstone or Yosemite

[Dashinka 24,402]

On 10/2/2024 at 5:13 PM, SL2024 said:

I haven't been to any yet but have been looking at either Yellowstone or Yosemite

Yellowstone is great, and Grand Tetons is just South of Yellowstone.  The hike along the canyon rim was amazing, and the hikes around the hot pools was great.  It can get really busy at Old Faithful, but otherwise in late September it wasn't too bad.  One note, October 1, much of the park amenities shut down in both Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in preparation for Winter.  If looking to California, you might want to consider Death Valley.  The hikes there were amazing, and since we do not like it really hot (my wife actually does, but I convinced her to avoid July/August based on my work trips there) we visited in mid-October and it was not too busy.  It really depends on what you like, we enjoy geologic formations, so DV, and the parts in Utah and Arizona are definitely on our favorites list.

 

On 9/30/2024 at 10:15 PM, TBoneTX said:

Been to these yet?

You know, you've been to so many that you ought to consider writing a travel guide, or at least some articles for travel magazines.

Not yet.  Big Bend, Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains are on the list.  Planning on Glacier, and possibly Teddy Roosevelt next year, but also considering Acadia.

 

There are so many guides and YT videos out there.  We like to find the less traveled trails in the popular parks and scope those out.  Our favorite hike is still Telescope Peak in DV, the view from the top (a little over 11k ft) is just amazing.