Travel Guides
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A guide to visiting Waterton Lakes National Park
The beauty of the Canadian Rockies is something that can’t be fully captured with a camera. You have to be there to truly understand the immensity of the mountains and the power of a glacier. You have to be there to look into a lake and see straight to the bottom because the water is… Continue reading
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A comprehensive guide to visiting Zion National Park
When I started planning our late-May trip to Zion National Park this past January, I was already far too late. This was entirely my own fault. I’d put in for an Angels Landing permit and decided to hold off on booking anything until we found out because, quite frankly, if we couldn’t hike Angels Landing,… Continue reading
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A comprehensive guide to Arches National Park
When I was a kid, there were a couple girls in my school whose families would head to Moab, Utah every single year for spring break. I never really understood the allure of returning to the same place over and over again when there are so many other things to see, but in retrospect that… Continue reading
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A guide to visiting Yellowstone National Park in the winter
I’m in the process of doing a complete overhaul of my old Yellowstone National Park posts because, well, they’re old and in dire need of an update. Given my many visits to the park over the years, it’s a large undertaking. We’re also headed back to Yellowstone this coming summer, so I’m going to wait… Continue reading
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A winter snowcoach adventure in Yellowstone National Park
As mentioned in a couple previous posts, this past Christmas we eschewed traditional gift-giving in favor of travel. Specifically, an overnight trip into the heart of Yellowstone National Park. Despite visiting many times, a winter overnight was something we’d never done, largely due to the expense. Only the northernmost road in Yellowstone remains open to… Continue reading
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A guide to visiting Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico
Never go to New Mexico and Arizona in July. This isn’t a lesson we’ve just learned. After previous family summer vacations to southern Utah and the Grand Canyon, we weren’t at all unfamiliar with the unpleasantly high temperatures and dehydratingly low humidities of the southwestern US in the middle of summer. In fact, we initially… Continue reading
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A guide to visiting Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado & Utah
For at least 10,000 years, the desert southwest has been inhabited by humans. Initially, nomadic groups roamed through the region, but starting in about 500 CE, as farming proliferated and life became more stationary, permanent settlements were constructed. Over the next 700 years, thousands of dwellings of many types were built throughout the region, generally… Continue reading
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A guide to visiting Brainard Lake Recreation Area
(Updated May 2025) Brainard Lake Recreation Area was one of the first places we visited after moving to Colorado and has been a frequent destination of ours ever since. It’s a great place to take out-of-town visitors for some lovely scenery and short, relatively easy hikes. The longer hikes at Brainard are some of my… Continue reading
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A comprehensive guide to visiting Rocky Mountain National Park
(Updated May 2025) Looking back, I realize I always took for granted that I used to live relatively close to a national park. Then I moved to New England, where the nearest “mountains” weren’t really mountains and the nearest national park was a full day’s drive away, and I realized how much I missed it.… Continue reading
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A comprehensive guide to visiting Glacier National Park
(Updated May 2025) I know some people have a hard time answering the question “what’s your favorite place you’ve ever been?” Not me. Hands down, it’s Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies (and yes, I know those are technically two separate places). In fact, I love Glacier so much that we originally planned to… Continue reading