When did you last visit a national park?

[old_gregg]

thinking about going this saturday around 8:15 pm mst.

[Pelado]

thinking about going this saturday around 8:15 pm mst.

Dude, don't miss the game. Kalani was just using the PSU and LSU games to make Utah think our offense sucks. It's a long con.

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[Scott R Nelson]

Thanks for the tip. We're looking at Channel Islands and then Joshua Tree once it's cooler.

Make sure you reserve tickets on the ferry a few days ahead of time for Channel Islands.

We went to Santa Cruz Island when we went out there and wanted to get to Anacapa Island, but the next time we were in the area there were high winds and rough seas, cancelling any trips out there.

[beefytee]

Man this is devastating.

Half the park scorched in a single day.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ions-1.4285153

Lots of memories of those places in those pictures.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Man this is devastating.

Half the park scorched in a single day.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ions-1.4285153

Lots of memories of those places in those pictures.

We were supposed to spend Sunday in Waterton, but didn't because the park was already shut down. Prior to that, Banff was very smoky although we still had a great time. Monday and Tuesday in Glacier were very good, but the western half of Going to the Sun Road was closed due to fires around Lake McDonald. We were still able to hike the High Line Trail and then up to Grinnell Lake but both areas were fairly smoky. Sad.

Happily, today in Yellowstone was beautiful despite brief, occasional showers in the late pm.

[Pelado]

We were supposed to spend Sunday in Waterton, but didn't because the park was already shut down. Prior to that, Banff was very smoky although we still had a great time. Monday and Tuesday in Glacier were very good, but the western half of Going to the Sun Road was closed due to fires around Lake McDonald. We were still able to hike the High Line Trail and then up to Grinnell Lake but both areas were fairly smoky. Sad.

Happily, today in Yellowstone was beautiful despite brief, occasional showers in the late pm.

Will you be passing through the Treasure Valley during your trip?

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[PaloAltoCougar]

Will you be passing through the Treasure Valley during your trip?

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Sadly, no. We drop down through Jackson tomorrow and then on to SLC.

[BYUMizzou]

Just got a family pass for all national parks, lands and areas thanks to the every kid in a park program.

Works for any 4th grader.

Word of caution about this pass if you plan on using it and happen to exit the park without your 4th grader. About half the time the attendant at the gate will want to know if your 4th grader is physically with you. I like to get up, go hiking, explore, and maybe take some photos early in the morning before the masses get out and limit your elbow room. On occasion I've left the park to access a particular trailhead that is outside of the park boundaries, and the gate attendant has hassled me about getting back in without my 4th grader in the car. Most of the time when I explain that they're in the camper inside the park, probably still asleep, they let back in with no hassle, but last summer at Grand Teton, they made me pay an extra entrance fee and would not honor the 4th grade pass because my 4th grader wasn't in the car.

[BYUMizzou]

So, what is the last national park that you visited?
What will be the next one?
How soon?

A great trip if you have roughly 10 days is to visit Niagara Falls National Park, then hit the state parks in upstate New York. We did this trip this summer.

Niagara Falls itself takes about 5 hours to see everything you need/want to see. If you drive in and park at the upper end of the park, there's a nice path downstream along the upper Niagara river down to the falls. It takes a couple of hours to walk down and view the falls from the various vantage points from the top of the falls. After you've done that, it's worthwhile to go down to the base of the falls. They call it the "Cave of the Winds" attraction, even though the actual Cave of the Winds collapsed in the 1950s and no longer exists. Basically they have wooden walkways built in an area at the base of the falls and you get the experience of walking around and experiencing the spray and wind turbulence that the falls create.

If you want to stretch Niagara falls into two days, my suggestion would be to take a jet boat ride up the river on day 2. The lower Niagara river is filled with class 5 and 6 rapids. There are two commercial companies you can book a jet boat ride on - Whirlpool Jetboat Tours or Niagara Jet Adventures. We used Niagara Jet because their boats have a covered portion and an open "wet deck" in back. The covered dry portion of the boat was nice to have access to for my 6 year old. (Shameless promo video for the jetboat ride: https://youtu.be/OJ0atTovy-E )

After leaving Niagara, there are a bunch of NY state parks within 100 miles that are absolutely fantastic. They include:

Watkins Glen:




or Letchworth State Park


The kids' favorite park was Stony Brook. Unlike Letchworth and Watkins Glen where they wouldn't let you in the water, in Stony Brook, you basically had to walk up or down the river to see the park.




We also spent a night in one of the state parks on the south shore of Lake Erie. There are a couple of parks with big sandy beaches that are a cheap substitute for visiting Hawaii or Miami's south beach. All in all, it was a fantastic trip.

[Scott R Nelson]

A great trip if you have roughly 10 days is to visit Niagara Falls National Park, then hit the state parks in upstate New York. We did this trip this summer.

Not trying to be picky or anything, but Niagara Falls is a State Park. Still totally worth the visit. I was last there in 2001. I remember having to cross into Canada to see the good stuff.

[BYUMizzou]

Not trying to be picky or anything, but Niagara Falls is a State Park. Still totally worth the visit. I was last there in 2001. I remember having to cross into Canada to see the good stuff.

I didn't believe you, so I went and looked. Yep. It's a state park. Which is weird because the entire area is designated a National Heritage Area and administered by the National Park Service. I know when I planned the trip, my jumpoff point for most of the plan was the National Park Service website http://www.discoverniagara.org/

But clearly, it's considered a state park. I stand corrected.

[Scott R Nelson]

I recently visited Biscayne National Park for the first time, plus spent some more serious time in Everglades National Park. I now understand a lot more about the value of mangrove trees as well as the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the southern tip of Florida. Developers came close to wrecking the environments in both places.

My sister has lived in South Florida for more than 25 years and that was her first visit to Biscayne. Now she wants to take everybody that she knows there. I keep telling people that they should at least go visit the national parks near them.

[BigPiney]

In the past three weeks we hit Glacier, Banff, Jasper, craters of the moon and my son and I did the My Whitney portion of Sequoia.

Other than some rain in each it was incredible. Jasper was awesome. That portion of the Canadian Rockies is amazing. Standing on the top of a mountain at 10 at night, watching the sun still an hour from setting is other worldly.

The Many Glacier valley of Glacier was a highlight there.

Spent Canada day at Lake Louise and got free cake from that fancy hotel. Just happened to be one of the lucky 750 people there at the right time. Best buttercream frosting I have ever had.

Camping in Canada is pretty fun. Along with your campsite you get a fire permit. They have huge piles of firewood and you can burn all you want. Smores every night!

[chrisrenrut]

Visited Devils Tower today for the first time. Pretty fun little hike around the tower, and watching some climbers about half way up. I had no idea north east Wyoming was this beautiful. There is some very nice mountains and forests, and fun roads for motorcycle riding. (Stupid iPhone sideways pictures)

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