My favorite is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in Minnesota. What is yours?
I completely agree. Why should OP go? This place is beautiful! Glacier has plenty of unique and interesting human and natural history. Glacier has pretty much all of its original plant and animal species. There are grizzly bear, black bear, moose, mountain goat, wolverine, lynx, and plenty of other wildlife. It borders Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada (get your passport). These two parks together were designed as the first international peace park. Most of all, due to climate change the largest glaciers are expected to be gone by 2030.
Long story short, I stepped on a rotted out log and my leg fell through. I severely sprained my ankle and a shard from the log shoved up in to my foot like shrapnel. I was bleeding everywhere and I couldn't walk. My girlfriend weighed 110 pounds soaking wet. I weighed 180. She couldn't help me walk, I was too heavy. She had to go get help. Two guys helped me down. I was the first ever patient at the newly built Glacier National Park Emergency Medical Center. -It was basically one room. There was a PA there that stitched me up. Prior to the stitches he asked my girlfriend what she was studying. She said "biology" and that she wanted to be a doctor. He said, "oh, then come over here, I'll let you observe. If you look right here..." (he pointed to my exposed ligaments) BAM! My girlfriend fainted and hit her head on the ground. She was the 2nd patient ever at Glacier National Parks new ER center. She changed her major.These two parks together were designed as the first international peace park.
I didn't realize that, thanks. I spent a lot of time in Glacier. I went to the University of Montana in Missoula. I once went on a trip to Glacier with my then girlfriend. We camped beside Lake MacDonald. We went on a day hike and I decided, like an idiot, to wear my Teva sandals. While walking the trail a deer stepped out in front of us. It was about 4 feet away, I could almost touch it. It led us down the trail for about a quarter mile almost within arms reach the entire time. It was magical. Then, it jumped off the trail down in to a cleaning. There were about 20 other deer down in the clearing. I decided to go off the trail and follow. I was sure the deer was inviting us...
Oh, wow. Injuries in the wilderness are scary, especially one as serious as yours. I'm glad your girlfriend was able to find help. How long did you have to wait for her to return? Hopefully you were able to continue enjoying the park after this unfortunate accident... I will never trust deer after this story. Thanks for sharing. Lucky I have nothing but good memories from my time in the park. I saw my first moose and grizzly there, but kept my distance.
Like I said, I have been there many times. Probably more than 20. I have mostly amazing memories of the place.How long did you have to wait for her to return?
Long enough to start wondering, "do bears smell blood, like sharks do?"Hopefully you were able to continue enjoying the park after this unfortunate accident..
We were more or less "tent bound" after that. Which, wasn't so bad really.
I really love Big Bend deep down in southwest Texas. It's incredibly remote (70 miles from the nearest major town, 235 miles from the nearest major airport) so you have to have some dedication to visit. It's incredibly diverse, in terms of landscape, flora & fauna and climate. It's also the only national park to have an entire mountain range entirely within the boundaries of the park (the Chisos). It's bordered on the south by the Rio Grande, and the park includes a ferry based border crossing to Mexico at the small village of Boquillas. There are lots of hikes and plentiful places to camp, plus it's an International Dark Sky park, identified as having the darkest sky in the continental US. I also like that it's the one of the least visited parks in the country, so you can go on hikes and literally see no one else on the trail for the entire day. If you want a park where you can get away from it all, this is the place. All that said, you probably don't want to go in the middle of summer when temperatures are often over 100° F. If you're looking for someplace to go in the fall or spring, this is it.
Mammoth Cave is one of the most unique national parks I've been to. Most place you get hills and trees and wildlife, and that is all awesome. But with Mammoth cave you get one the largest cave systems in the world. There are a bunch of different tours that you can go on to get a sense of the enormity of the cave, but my personal favorite is the Wild Cave Tour. Two guides take you through the "back alleys" of the cave. You end up crawling and sliding and climbing for around 6 hours in some very dark, very tight areas. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who is in anyway claustrophobic and not in at least decent shape, but it is definitely a lot of fun.
Banff National Park, since it's within my reach. The mountains are gorgeous, and there is just soooo much to do. Skiing of all kinds, hiking, swimming, running, along with the wildlife and nature and fresh air... We're in full tourist season now though, I recommend visiting at season edges.
How busy is Banff in the winter? Are there just as many tourists as in the summer? I'm a fan of snowshoeing and would love to spend a little time in Banff poking around.
Still a fair amount - not nearly as many as in the summer, there are more locals visiting the mountains for skiing and boarding. I would definitely recommend it! If you aren't REALLY attached to staying in the park, get a hotel or something in Canmore - it is literally just outside the borders and is way cheaper for that reason. Plus, it's right by Kananaskis Country, if you want to snowshoe around there.
The Needles in the Canyon Lands N.P. Is a jewel. Story: I'm not up on all the astronomical happenings, and got caught of guard by the Hale-Bopp comet. We could not guess what it was, at first we thought it was some one on the Mesa with a weird flash light, but the scale wasn't right; the the air plane theory was floated and shot down, it did't move fast enough; then we smoke a bowl and concluded that the universe had just been sliced open, and the wound was left to flap in cosmic breeze, and left it at that.
I'm cheating a little because it's not actually my favorite, but if you're ever in the Midlands of South Carolina, definitely check out Congaree National Park. It's not the largest or the most beautiful, but it's very different from anything you've probably seen before. It's technically a "bottomland hardwood forest" -- I would call it a swamp -- and there is very little of that biome left in the US. Much of the park is a floodplain with endless cypress trees with their little knees sticking up out of the water. There's a boardwalk near the visitor's center because it's almost always too wet to walk through that area, but even the boardwalk floods when it rains a lot. It's perfect if you want a break from the breathtaking mountains, valleys, and canyons that dominate many of the National Parks.
Hammocks Beach State Park in North Carolina. You can kayak or take a 15 minute ferry ride across the waterway (watch for dolphins) to the uninhabited Bear Island. There's a half mile hike from the ferry across the island to the ocean. There's a bath house and life guard and then camp sites are every tenth of a mile down. Sites are in the dunes and each has a picnic table. The day trippers leave around 5:30p or so, then it's just you and the ocean. Occasionally you'll see a neighbor camper but it's a beautiful trip full of lagoon sunsets and moonlit ocean. If it's a good summer you'll see turtle nests marked by the rangers on your walks.
Fever, I'm not sure if you still check Hubski, but this post/question has you written all over it.
Dixie national park. We arrived there after a hellish camping trip (which is why I can't even remember what state it was it) it was the first camp-site we'd seen with shade and comfort. Not "trailer park, stay home" comfort, but the kind you want on a camping trip. It was a beautiful forest with great hiking and friendly campers. Maybe it was because of the poor status of the other sites, but I really recommend it. Also the sand dunes of Colorado are great. They look beautiful on the sunrise and set, plus the art communes sprinkling the area make the trip worth it. People come to paint the dunes and stay for the mountains. It's a magical place.
Adirondack State Park in upstate New York. It's my favorite because it's full of non-technical summit hikes that are challenging and doable to a weekend amateur hiker. There are many summits under eight miles round trip, and the longest are under twenty. The views from a bald summit above the tree line can't be beat.
Depends on the continent! North America: (Now admittedly I've only been to a handful, but I still think I can weigh in on this one!) Great Basin National Park is one of the most gorgeous places I think I've been so far in my short life. Brilliant hiking and a pretty amazing cave system, as well as some of the oldest trees in the world! It's also one of the least visited National Parks in the States and also one of the darkest at night! So if you go, check out the stargazing programs! :D Back in Australia, you just can't go past Kakadu. 100% genuine Australian outback!
My favorite national park is Shenandoah in Virginia. Running through the park is the 105 mile long Skyline Drive if you just want to go for a peaceful cruise through some beautiful mountains. Additionally there are also beautiful scenic overlooks, hiking trails, and campgrounds. I think it has a nice mix of amenities for casual outdoor visitors and dedicated outdoor enthusiasts alike, plus it's one of the most beautiful places I've visited in my life.
Here in the UK, the Lake District is an incredibly beautiful part of the world. The peaks and crags outshine anything else I've seen on our shores, there are loads of fells to be conquered, and there's very good pubs and beer in the mix too! Had a great couple of days there last week. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly to any visitors!
Waipoua Forest, a few hours drive north of Auckland, New Zealand. There's not much to do there except walk in an old-growth forest, but it's worth it, just to visit the old man, Te Matua Ngahere
Here's the story of the Kauri tree :
In the beginning before the world was light, Rangi the sky-father and Papa the earth-mother, were bound together, their offspring trapped in the darkness between them. The sons became desperate for light and space, so agreed to separate from their parents. The strongest among them, Tane Mahuta, put his shoulder to Papa and thrust upwards with his powerful legs, disregarding the protests of a weeping Rangi and Papa, as they were wrenched away from each other’s embrace. Tane Mahuta pushed upwards with all his great strength, until Rangi was forced far away up into the sky, and Tane held him there, letting the light shine in.
For me, it's Yosemite. I did National History Day one year, and the theme was turning points. Yosemite was given by the Federal Government to the State of California to protect "for resort and recreation" in 1864, making it the first national park in all but name. My argument wa that this pretty much launched the American conservation movement. Since then, Yosemite has become something of a Zion for me, a Heaven placed here on Earth. I visited it just about a week and a half ago. It surpassed all my expectations. It's not as built up as Yellowstone, which was nice. The history of the place was alive everywhere. And the scenery, especially the Valley itself, cannot be described in words adequately. Absolutely wonderful.
Denali National Park I have called this land home my entire life. There is something magical about this place that defies language. I've been to a lot of places all over the world and nothing has affected me in the same way as standing atop a mountain in the Denali range looking out over tundra and forest. Gliding on skis through feet of powder in January. Flying through the forest on your bike in June. Enjoying the calm of a thousand different lakes in your kayak in August. This is one place where Nature is still the predominant force and the land around you is truly wild.
It all depends on what you want to do! The summer is hard to beat. With the sun being up and shining around 18-24 hours a day in the summer months, it is always a good time coming up between June-August. That is when you'll enjoy temperatures of around 55F- 80F. The weather up here is very sporadic so you'll probably enjoy everything from sunshine to storms in a few days alone. We have world renown train tours that can take you to a good amount of the state and provide you with virtually limitless options for activities, whether you are looking for something to fill your day or want to go on a multi-day backpacking trip. It is also a good place to not plan anything specific and just let your whims take you! Come up and get lost for a bit, I highly recommend it.