Our nation is FULL of diverse, unique, and breathtaking landscapes! National parks help preserve, protect, and honor these sacred places. There are 63 parks in the USA, and so far, Kyle and I have explored 9 of them. Needless to say, we are NOT experts and have barely scratched the surface of this natty park world! However, we love being outdoors, learning about mother earth, exploring nature, and hiking- all of which can be done at national parks! Todays blog will highlight the 9 national parks we've visited!
but first, lets chat!
Most national parks have a main scenic road that weaves through the park, allowing you to have epic views from the comfort of your car! In addition, there are pull-offs for easy access viewing areas. Many people visit parks solely by driving and viewpoints! While we naturally do this, our main joy comes from hiking within the parks. In our opinion, hiking (or even trail running) is the best way to immerse yourself in all that the park has to offer!
Due to our travels starting in April, we have hit most of these parks during the busy season (spring to fall, with the peak being summertime). Here are ways we beat the crowds and maximize our park experience:
Start early! People are usually on vacation while visiting these parks and aren’t in any rush- so use this to your advantage! Kyle and I start most of our hikes between 5 and 7 am. We have never waited in line to enter a park! The early bird gets the worm, y'all! Another perk to early mornings is the incredible sunrises! Pack a coffee & enjoy the view!
Choose the longer/harder hikes! By choosing these hikes it will naturally ween people out! We aim for moderate/hard hike levels. This is also a great way to see more of the park! Harder hikes will challenge you and create an opportunity for deep thinking/self-growth. This sounds cliche but it is so true! Kyle and I always say our best ideas and deepest conversations are during long, challenging hikes.
If schedules allow, do the “busy” park attractions Monday-Thursday! Weekends are busy-obviously! We try to avoid the main spots Friday-Sunday if possible!
Do your research early and plan ahead! Before every park, we map out our routes/hikes/sleeping spots. This saves us so much time! Pack your bags the day before, plan out your meals, download your hike, ect! Kyle and I use “All Trails” for all of our hiking needs. This app is incredible! You can access a lot of information for free, but we recommend the subscription due to the extra perks. It allows us to download trails ahead of time, read reviews, check the forecast, gain trail knowledge, and so much more! Time is valuable! Maximize your time by having plans.
Without further ado, here is a recap of the 9 parks we’ve visited (from April to now) and our experiences at each!
UTAH
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK
Arches is located 5 miles north of Moab, Utah. It is known for its stunning red rocks and incredible arch formations (hence the name). While we only spent one day here, we felt like we saw everything we needed to! Arches scenic drive stretches for 25 miles and offers many viewpoints. Our morning started with sunrise coffee at Panoramic Point (pull-off viewing area). This spot has incredible views. We chose to hike Devils Garden Trail, which is an 8.5-mile loop. This trail was the perfect one to showcase Arches. It was a challenging hike due to mild scrambling in some areas (scrambling in hiking is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using your hands for balance and holds).
Since Arches is close to Moab, we headed there for a post-hike meal! One of our guilty pleasures after long/difficult hikes is finding a nearby pizza or burger place. Check out “Canyon Pizza Co” for some delicious thin-crust pizzas!
CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK
This park is also near Moab, which makes for a great 2-for-1! It is located roughly 35 minutes southeast of Moab. Canyonlands is known for its desert landscape with mesas, canyons, and towering rock pinnacles. The Colorado River flows through it as well. Fun fact: it is an International Dark Sky Park, making it a magical place to stargaze. We were up and at it early and did a 6-mile loop hike called “Neck Spring Trail”. This was a great canyon hike that took us down into the canyon and then back up/out. We also drove the scenic drive which is about 34 miles roundtrip. (While we don’t prefer it, scenic drives are an easy way to see parks when you have little time)!
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Bryce Canyon National Park feels out of this world! This park is located 5 minutes from the town of Bryce Canyon. With such unique rock formations, we felt like we were on Mars! A popular spot (for a reason) is sunrise/sunset point. Most people only visit this spot as a viewing area, so we recommend hiking the “Navajo & Queen Garden Trail” to walk among the insane rock formations! The hike was a moderate, 3-mile loop. Fun fact: Bryce has the largest collection of hoodoos (which are unique rock pillars and pedestal formations) in the world! You can see them in the photos below!
Our second hike in Bryce Canyon was in their wilderness section (several national parks have wilderness forests which are considered more “remote” areas within the park. This is also another way we beat the crowds because most people don’t visit these areas within the park). We hiked the “Fairyland Trail” which was an 8-mile loop. This showed us the diversity of Bryce Canyon! Completely different views and terrain. All in all, Bryce is a top national park due to Its unique "out of this world" red rocks!
ZION NATIONAL PARK
Zion is located in Springdale, Utah. This park will forever be a favorite for us. Back in May of 2022, we got engaged here! So this park holds a special place in our hearts. In 2022, we spent a long weekend in Zion and did most of the main attractions: the Narrows, Emerald Pools trail, Canyon Overlook, Scout Overlook, and the Watchman Trail. All of these trails were amazing! We recommend the Narrows for a unique hiking experience in the canyons and the Watchman for a great sunrise spot! Canyon Overlook is a wonderful sunset spot but gets busy/crowded. When visiting this park, take advantage of their free shuttle system! It is a great way to see the park and explore hiking trails without getting stuck In traffic or wasting gas money. It offers hop-on/off services to most of the park's best features. This is how we got around our first time in Zion!
The second time around we had less time and wanted to explore a new area: East Zion Wilderness. The trail was called “Observation Point via Steve Spring Trailhead”. It is labeled as a 9.5 mile out and back hike but it ended up being 11 miles (Kyle was navigating…shhhh). This hike was a challenge! Steep climbs and some hefty switchbacks (with narrow edges), but the views from Observation point make it all worth it! Zion is often ranked as a top 5 national park in the US for a reason! The diverse rock formations and incredible canyon make for a spectacular combination. If it isn't already, I recommend putting this magical park on your bucket list!
Another great feature of this park is its proximity to Springdale, UT. The town butts up to Zion’s entrance! Everything is walkable, there are cute shops, and lots of delicious restaurants. Places we ate at & would recommend:
Breakfast at MeMe’s Cafe
Pizza/beer at Zion Pizza & Noodle Co
Coffee at Feel Love Coffee
Mexican food at Oscar’s Cafe
Perhaps one of our favorite parts of visiting Zion is eating at Cordwood in Zion Mountain Ranch! This ranch is located east of Zion on Highway 9 heading towards Bryce Caynon. The ranch offers lodging and is home to a roaming buffalo heard (and several other farm animals). The restaurant, Cordwood, offers a delicious farm-table dining experience. We celebrated our engagement there in 2022 and made it our mission to go back! This past April, we visited again for dinner and breakfast (our server convinced us that we had to come back for the gravy and biscuits In the morning...so of course we did!!!). If you are in the area, definitely visit Cordwood!
CALIFORNIA
YOSEMITE
So far our favorite national park is….drum roll please….YOSEMITE! Yosemite National Park is located in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains on the east side of the state. Yosemite has it all; mountains, flowing rivers, granite cliffs, sequoia trees, waterfalls, meadows, and lakes! The park is extremely diverse. You physically can’t get bored when visiting. From someone who wants to drive around and view sites with short walks/hikes, to those who want to summit/climb El Capitan or Half Dome…there is something to offer for everyone and perfect for hikers of all abilities! This park is rated as one of the best national parks for a reason!
Hikes we did: Mairposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Trail, Vernal & Nevada Falls Trail, and Upper Yosemite Falls. All of which were over 6 miles and rated hard on AllTrails. But the views are ALWAYS worth the climb!
Other stops we hit: Tunnel View, Bridalveil Falls, Merced River, Curry Village (yummy pizza & beer at the Deck), and the Ahwahnee Hotel (great spot for a nice cocktail)! Two things we wish we would have known prior:
Plan for 4 or more days here. There is so much to do and several things are spread out and require decent drive times.
Visit in late summer/early fall! Due to the mountains here, the snow stays late! It still made for a beautiful time of year, but after speaking with some locals, the recommended month is late August (shhhhh!!!)
We cannot wait to visit this park again someday!
SEQUOIA
After our time in Yosemite, we drove 2 hours and 45 minutes to Sequoia National Park. We had limited time here and only spent one day exploring. Sequoia trees are the largest species of trees in the world (based on volume). Fun fact: there are over 8,000 species of Sequoias in this park. AND the largest tree in the world lives here: The General Sherman (52,508 cubic feet). To walk among these gentle giants is surreal! The hike we did to see it: Circle Meadow Loop via Sherman and Congress trail!
Another must-do hike in Sequoia: Moro Rock at sunrise! A shorter hike, ending with a climb up the rock to a lookout spot. The panoramic view here is breathtaking.
Although our experience was short-lived, we enjoyed our day trip here and would love to explore more someday.
OREGON
CRATER LAKES NATIONAL PARK...kinda?!
This may be of shock to you, but Oregon only has one National Park! With how beautiful and diverse this state is, one would think it deserves more natty parks! We arrived in Oregon in early May and our first stop was Crater Lake National Park. Over 7,000 years ago, Mount Mazama erupted and formed a lake, which is now known as Crater Lake. This lake is known for its rich blue water. Driving into this park, our anticipations were high! We had a rude awakening when we drove 10 minutes into the park and saw 6ft of snow on both sides of us (in May). Needless to say, we did not do our proper research beforehand…the lake was covered in 5 feet of snow. We still managed to hike around and take in the snowy scene, but we can’t officially say we’ve seen the bright blue lake like you see in pictures! We laughed it off and continued on our Oregon adventures!
Unfortunately, we do not have any recommendations or feedback regarding Crater Lake. (Well, besides that you probably shouldn’t visit in May)!
WASHINGTON
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
After our previous epic fail in Oregon, we recovered in Washington! Washington is home to 3 national parks: Mount Rainer, North Cascades, and Olympic. Each park is far from the other, and due to our route, we had to stick to one. Olympic is massive and known for its diverse ecosystems! The scenic loop takes about 8 hours! We spent two days in the park so we had to be specific about which areas we visited. The hikes we did were Devil's Punch Bowl via Spruce railroad trail, Marymere Falls, Sol Duc Falls, and Mount Storm King. We also drove through the Hoh Rainforest and explored that area. As expected, It rained A TON!
If time had allowed, we would have loved to visit Mount Rainer and North Cascades because they both look amazing! But we'll save those for our next adventure in the PNW!
MONTANA
GLACIER NATIONAL PARK
Glacier is located in the northeast region of Montana and borders Canada! Glacier reminded us of Yosemite In several ways! We could have easily spent 4-5 days exploring Glacier because there are so many incredible hiking trails. However, we only had about 24 hours to see the park. Glacier is known for having one of the most iconic roads in the world- “Going to the Sun Road”...and lemme tell ya...It truly is magical! The 360 views are incredible and will take your breath away. Most people enter the park through West Glacier (the closest entrance to the Kalispell/Whitefish area) so they get to drive it north and south. For us, we visited Glacier on our way home from Canada. So, we only drove the road south! We entered at the Saint Mary entrance and did two trail runs during our stay. Our first was Baring, St. Mary, and Virginia Falls via the Pigeon Pass trail. It brought us to a beautiful waterfall. The second was the Highline trail. The Highline trail has officially been added to our top 5 favorite hikes EVER! It was spectacular!!! It's a lengthy one, totaling 15 miles. However, it is worth the trek! The views were incredible and the trail had it all: glaciers, valleys, rivers, mountains, and wildlife! It gave us a great representation of the park during our short stay!
If you plan to visit the Kalispell/Whitefish area, don’t miss out on this park! BUT, be sure to plan a few days here to fully grasp everything this park has to offer!
ALL IN ALL,
Every park was beautiful and unique in its own way. We are thankful for God's beautiful creations and that our nomadic lifestyle allows us to explore so much of His kingdom!
In the coming weeks, we plan to visit two more iconic parks: Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons! From there we will take a break from the national park scene and begin our journey east. Until then, happy hiking y'all!!!
If you have questions about traveling to any of these parks, hikes we did, or would like more information, please reach out to me via email at zoethompsontravel@outlook.com and I would be happy to assist!
I used the National Park Services website for up-to-date information and fun facts about parks. You can learn more at: www.nps.gov
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