Often called “three parks in one”, Olympic National Park encompasses the towering Olympic Mountains, one of the world’s largest temperate rain forests and a long stretch of coastal wilderness. Boasting a huge biodiversity, it’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve.
As its name suggests, the park’s main feature and the reason for its historic popularity are its numerous hot springs. Known as the “Valley of Vapors” by Native Americans, who had been visiting the area for thousands of years to bathe in its healing waters, modern development began when the thermal waters were federally protected in the 19th century.
One of the less-known national parks in the USA, Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park allows you to stand where ancient forests fell and hike where dinosaurs once roamed. It’s one of the best places in the country—if not the world—to see fossils from the Late Triassic.
Awe-inspiring, unique, bedazzling and perfect. These are just a few words that have been used to describe Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. By all accounts and standards, it’s one of the most enticing national parks in America. And unsurprisingly, there are plenty of things to do in Crater Lake National Park.
More than anything, it’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s variety that makes it such an attractive park. From photogenic waterfalls, mysterious woodlands and marshes to a historic railroad and a fantastic riverside bike trail, Cuyahoga Valley combines nature with history and culture.
Home to the world’s densest concentration of rock arches, Arches National Park is one of the most photogenic national parks in America. During my three-day visit, I, naturally, spend a good chunk of time playing with my camera. This post contains a selection of my personal favorite Arches National Park photos.
In total, there are seven national parks in the USA that lie partially or entirely on islands. All but two of them lie in a (sub)tropical region, making them without question the best national parks for summer vacations. The other two, just because of their northerly location, are also best visited in summer.
The very symbols of the American Wild West, huge numbers of saguaros dot the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. These tall, branching cacti dominate and characterize the region. Near the ever-expanding urban sprawl of Tucson, this unique landscape, and its flora and fauna, is protected in Saguaro National Park.
The definition of a thru-hike is the end-to-end completion of a long-distance hike in one hiking season. For most people, it will be impossible to thru-hike any of the three major long-distance hikes in the US. What is possible, however, —with some willpower, planning and cooperative employers—is hiking these nine awesome thru-hikes under 1,000 miles.
Although it’s the national parks that get all the spotlight, it’s often the state parks where families, friends and couples go for weekend outings. Whether it’s for a Saturday hike, a Sunday picnic or an overnight camping trip, the state parks in America might just be more closely interwoven with people’s everyday life than their national cousins.
Shenandoah National Park protects a long and narrow section of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in central Virginia. It comprises 311 square miles (805 square kilometers) of mountains and meadows, …
Caroline and I spent four days and three nights in Death Valley, exploring the park in depth and hitting a few of its greatest hiking trails. The photos in this blog post portray the sheer majesty of Death Valley’s epic landscapes, as well as some of its smaller, less obvious features.
From the calm waters of the Missouri River to the lush Pacific Northwest forests of the Cascade and Siskiyou ranges, national monuments in the West feature a wide variety of ecosystems, wildlife and landscapes. If you’re looking for new adventures in 2018, consider adding these beautiful public protected lands to your list.
They embody everything that’s great about nature in America, but national parks aren’t necessarily impossibly remote or difficult to get around in. Often, it’s the contrary, in fact. Although they are the epitome of natural beauty and wildness, most of them are surprisingly accessible.