Favorite National Park?

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48secDunk
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10:10p, 12/1/19
AG
Thank you to everyone who has posted. This is such an incredibly helpful thread. I'm currently planing a 10 day trip to Utah to see the Mighty Five National Parks next June, and the advice and ideas on here have been awesome.

In case anyone else is planning a trip, just know the hotels are filling up fast. Both the Zion and Bryce Lodges are booked for June.

Recently, went to the Grand Canyon and took this pic:




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nosoupforyou
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In reply to 48secDunk • 6:35a, 12/2/19
AG
That'll be a great trip If you look in this thread and under the Utah thread that is separate from this one, you will see my 12 day/11 night RV trip itinerary from Phoenix to Vegas hitting everything in between

I was able to use these boards, as well as tons of other research to plan that family outing and it was the best trip ever

We went the last week of May so weather will be similar, but it gets hot the later you go so hopefully you're going early June to enjoy it a little more before the heat
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48secDunk
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In reply to nosoupforyou • 11:27a, 12/2/19
AG
Thanks for your help NoSoup!

I've actually been using some of your ideas to put together an itinerary. Your posts have been very valuable. I've booked most of the hotels, and have a pretty good idea of what we are going to do each day. I was wondering if I could email you my itinerary when finished?
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nosoupforyou
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In reply to 48secDunk • 11:38a, 12/2/19
AG
absolutely - send me a PM
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nosoupforyou
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In reply to 48secDunk • 11:54a, 12/4/19
AG
just realized.. you have no stars...reply with your email and I'll shoot you a note right now - then you can delete it
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SbisaVictim95
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12:29p, 12/4/19
AG
Sticking with the OP's requirements of outside the top 10 I have to go with Denali and Glacier Bay National Park.
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Pro Sandy
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In reply to SbisaVictim95 • 7:48p, 12/4/19
AG
Denali you've got to get off the bus!
I hiked Stony Dome when there.



Stony Dome


A young Pro Sandy on Stony Dome


Grizzly while hiking

Only got to see The Big One from a plane



Glacier Bay got to watch Margerie Glacier calving for about an hour when I was there in 2008



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AgRyan04
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9:29p, 12/21/19
Add another park to the checklist....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/2721726001
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mpl35
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9:42p, 12/21/19
AG
At least I've been there.
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BSD
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In reply to mpl35 • 1:10p, 12/22/19
AG
mpl35 said:
At least I've been there.


At least it's somewhere I want to go. A revisit to Carlsbad is always nice. Guadalupe Mountains too.
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mpl35
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In reply to BSD • 1:29p, 12/22/19
AG
BSD said:
mpl35 said:
At least I've been there.


At least it's somewhere I want to go. A revisit to Carlsbad is always nice. Guadalupe Mountains too.


True. Beats the crap outta the gateway Arch
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BSD
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9:45a, 12/31/19
AG
Yeah, I'm still bitter about the Arch. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time bonding with my son and we saw some cool sights, but I would have much rather been are somewhere more...nature-y.
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Head Ninja In Charge
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7:03p, 12/31/19
AG
White Sands is second only to Yosemite as my favorite national natural landmark in the States. Golden hour there is a feeling I can't describe. Feels like another planet and is straight up the most beautiful thing I've seen with my own eyes.
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Wicked Good Ag
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In reply to BSD • 7:12p, 12/31/19
BSD said:
Yeah, I'm still bitter about the Arch. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time bonding with my son and we saw some cool sights, but I would have much rather been are somewhere more...nature-y.


Couldn't agree more on the nature thing but we loved the Arch and Dred Scott courthouse
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Head Ninja In Charge
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1:36p, 1/12/20
AG
A couple of pics from Big Bend two days ago.

At the top of Lost Mine:



At the bottom of Santa Elena:
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BSD
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In reply to Head Ninja In Charge • 2:51p, 1/12/20
AG
Nice! The road to Santa Elena was closed when we went last New Years (govt shutdown) so I'll need to go back. Well, that and I love it out there.
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AgRyan04
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In reply to Head Ninja In Charge • 11:54a, 1/13/20
I need a Big Bend trip
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BSD
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In reply to Head Ninja In Charge • 6:25p, 1/14/20
AG
Head Ninja In Charge said:
White Sands is second only to Yosemite as my favorite national natural landmark in the States. Golden hour there is a feeling I can't describe. Feels like another planet and is straight up the most beautiful thing I've seen with my own eyes.


Just booked a trip to White Sands for a weekend in Feb. trying to decide if I want to camp out there. Any recs or suggs on other things to do are welcome.
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AgRyan04
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In reply to BSD • 11:55a, 1/15/20
The New Mexico state parks are supposed to be really nice and I know that there are a couple of them fairly close, I believe one is Oliver Lee State Park.

Depending on the route you take, you could also hit Carlsbad and Guadalupe Mtns pretty easily
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BSD
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11:38a, 2/22/20
AG
currently at White Sands. Hope to get better pics later in the day. Been busy sledding all morning!

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Bachelor99
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2:51p, 2/22/20
AG
for those that have been, how does white sands compare to great sand dunes in colorado??
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mpl35
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In reply to Bachelor99 • 2:58p, 2/22/20
AG
Bachelor99 said:
for those that have been, how does white sands compare to great sand dunes in colorado??
. White sands doesn't heat up the same because of the material of the sand. The dunes are very ..... white

Great sand dunes is much more interesting imo. The mountains are there. You have medano creek flowing around the dunes.

Great sand dunes >> White sands.

There is a reason one is Johnny come lately
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nosoupforyou
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In reply to Bachelor99 • 4:46p, 2/22/20
AG
Bachelor99 said:
for those that have been, how does white sands compare to great sand dunes in colorado??


We loved Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Utah.. near Zion NP
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BSD
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In reply to mpl35 • 8:53p, 2/22/20
AG
The dunes in CO are much larger, too.

Both will apparently never come out of your clothes, though. I actually brought old shoes so I could just toss them.




This was park #36 for us. Next up is a revisit of Zion and Grand Canyon over spring break.
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mpl35
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12:52a, 2/23/20
AG
Death Valley National Park

Grabbed my son after school on Valentine's Day and headed to the airport. Quick flight to Las Vegas and my wife picked us up - she was already there for work. Spent the night in vegas and headed to DVNP Saturday am.

Got to Furnace Creek and grabbed our jeep rental for the 6-8 round trip drive to the Racetrack Playa. The road didn't really need a jeep - it was just a bad washboard for HOURS. On the way I snapped this picture. You can see the dust of another jeep ahead.


Another hour later and we finally got to see the Racetrack:



The north end of the playa is 1.5 inches higher than the south end. The northern area is dominated by the 73 foot tall "Grandstand."


The surface of the playa was interesting:


What makes the Playa interesting is that this is only one of two places that stones move on their own across the surface and leave this unique tracks:

In reality they form when it rains. The rain freezes and rocks and boulder move due to the wind.


On the way out we stopped at Ubehebe Crater.


For sunset we drove back past Furnace Creek to see Zabriskie Point:


Sunday morning we got up and drove 45 minutes to Dante's View. It provides a great of Badwater Basin, Telescope Peak and the entirety of death valley.



After that we drove down to Badwater to walk out on the Salt Flats and see the lowest place in North America.





After that we headed up to Stovepipe Wells for a hike up Mosaic Canyon.



Then back to Zabriskie Point for stars. Not very good at astro-photography but you have to at least try in DVNP!



Then Monday morning headed back to Las Vegas to fly home. Nice three day weekend. The local elementary school likes to give the kids a 3 day weekend each month.
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BSD
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9:15p, 3/22/20
AG
Some Spring Break pics (all re-visits):


Zion
(My son hitting the top of his climb!)






Bryce Canyon


Horseshoe Bend


Grand Canyon
(Morning view)


Afternoon views
https://imgur.com/a/dR4B9PO




Petrified Forest



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AgRyan04
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12:37p, 5/16/20
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

Plans for the next few months have been crazy to keep up with. We have a bunch of things in the air - have 7 or 8 nights in Headwaters Campground booked in Tetons with our trailer for beginning of July that we're going to have to cancel because our kids summer camp in Colorado canceled....have backup reservations to cabin camp in Glacier over the same time period that we're going to have to cancel because I don't think Montana's out of state visitor mandatory 14 day quarantine is going to be lifted by then.

As a replacement, we've got a few nights at a campground in Estes Park for our trailer.

My son and I have had a northern California trip planned at the end of July since the fall....Lassen Volcanic, Crater Lake, & Redwoods. Since I now have a ton of vacation days (from March & April canceled non-NP trips) I've tagged on another week and we've added Pinnacles and I've been able to piece together 6 nights in Yosemite.

Right now we have five different rooms in Yosemite Valley Lodge and one in a tent cabin in the White Wolf campground but, ultimately, I'd like to replace as many of the lodge nights with Yosemite Valley tent cabin nights, but I haven't seen one of those pop up as available yet). I think I'm going to probably also replace one of those nights (probably our first night) with a night in Sequoa/Kings. Their lodges all look like they have quite a bit of availability. I'm trying to temper my excitement because it's California and they'll figure out a way to force me to cancel.

How are y'alls plans coming along?
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FancyKetchup14
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 1:34p, 5/16/20
AG
AgRyan04 said:
because I don't think Montana's out of state visitor mandatory 14 day quarantine is going to be lifted by then.
If you drove in...how would they know how long you have self-quarantined?

I'm asking because I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment (unemployed), and am going to go do a road trip and hit some national parks and sites along the way. I plan to hit Bryce and Zion, then go up and see Lake Tahoe (Nevada side because South Lake Tahoe is doling out $1000 fines to out of state visitors at the moment), pop over to Bonneville Salt Flats and SLC then up to Teton, Yellowstone, and maybe Glacier, and come back to Texas.
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nosoupforyou
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In reply to FancyKetchup14 • 2:19p, 5/16/20
AG
Looks like a pretty great trip Once you pull out a map you can see it but you might start from New Mexico over to Phoenix and Sedona then work your way up through the Utah state parks, the Tetons, and if you can make it to glacier in Montana you won't regret it!

I've done each of those steps on multiple trips so as you put your plan together keep us posted because many of us can help you plan an awesome trip
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mpl35
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 2:28p, 5/16/20
AG
If you go through Lassen make sure you see Burney Falls north of there by 30-60 minutes
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FancyKetchup14
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In reply to nosoupforyou • 2:33p, 5/16/20
AG
nosoupforyou said:
Looks like a pretty great trip Once you pull out a map you can see it but you might start from New Mexico over to Phoenix and Sedona then work your way up through the Utah state parks, the Tetons, and if you can make it to glacier in Montana you won't regret it!

I've done each of those steps on multiple trips so as you put your plan together keep us posted because many of us can help you plan an awesome trip

Thanks for the suggestion on Sedona! I've heard its great. I'll likely camp there one night and do some sunrise hiking. Depending on Grand Canyon's accessibility, I might do a hike. It's been 15 years since I've been. But I'll take sunset photos there as a consolation prize. Plan to hit Horseshoe Bend as well.

Once I get a route mapped out I'll try and remember to come back and share to get advice.
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BSD
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 4:35p, 5/16/20
AG
We've pretty much given up on vacations for this year. We are still booked for Yellowstone but I have no clue what they plan to do as far as opening up hotels. I tried to book cabins instead (which worked for Grand Teton) but the dates are working out. Of course, if I drive we could camp, but my wife would not be on board with that. Honestly, getting out of Texas going west from Houston is beating so I don't really care to do that either.

definitely do Sequoia. Crescent Meadow at sunset is one of my favorite hikes. Only a few miles but spectacularly quiet and beautiful.
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nosoupforyou
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In reply to FancyKetchup14 • 4:40p, 5/16/20
AG
FancyKetchup14 said:
AgRyan04 said:
because I don't think Montana's out of state visitor mandatory 14 day quarantine is going to be lifted by then.
If you drove in...how would they know how long you have self-quarantined?

I'm asking because I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment (unemployed), and am going to go do a road trip and hit some national parks and sites along the way. I plan to hit Bryce and Zion, then go up and see Lake Tahoe (Nevada side because South Lake Tahoe is doling out $1000 fines to out of state visitors at the moment), pop over to Bonneville Salt Flats and SLC then up to Teton, Yellowstone, and maybe Glacier, and come back to Texas.
looking at a map now - the decision to go to Lake Tahoe is a big one - if that's priority, then do it and remove most of the Utah items I have listed... but... you could do a trip that goes the following: (this is my Utah trip from last year with adding Bonneville and the rest..

Phoenix 0 nights Camelback Mountain
Sedona 1 night Sedona, Slide Rock SP, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell
Page - 1 night Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley
Monument Valley 1 night Arches National Park
Moab 1 night Canyonlands, Dead Horse State Park
Moab 1 night Goblin Valley SP, Little Wild Horse Canyon SP, Capitol Reef
Torrey 1 night - Boulder, Escalante Petrified Forest SP
Bryce Canyon 1 night Bryce Canyon, Kodachrome SP
Mount Carmel 2 nights Zion National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP
Bonneville Salt Flats - Salt Lake City
Jackson Hole, Wy
Yellowstone, WY
Glacier, MT - West Glacier, East Glacier, Waterton National Park - Canada


Good luck deciding what all to do - it'll be awesome - Utah gets hot so early June is fine - Jackson Hole is awesome in July though so no issues with heat then..
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BSD
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In reply to nosoupforyou • 5:25p, 5/16/20
AG
Just a heads up: Antelope Canyon has been closed since March 15th or so. We were scheduled to be there March 15.
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nosoupforyou
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In reply to BSD • 7:15p, 5/16/20
AG
Frustrating place for us.. it started raining that day (last summer) so we didn't get to do see Antelope Canyon
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