US National Parks
All US national parks and NPS-administered sites
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Hiking to Kolob Arch – Zion National Park, Utah
“I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to this, but how do you feel about hiking 14 miles in one day?” I asked my husband as I was assembling our Zion itinerary. Predictably, he wasn’t enthused. To be honest, I don’t love hiking 14 miles (22.5 km) in one day either. It’s something I’ve… Continue reading
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A comprehensive guide to visiting Zion National Park
(Updated May 2026) 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… Continue reading
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A photo a day: desert southwest edition
Two years ago, shortly after we returned from Glacier National Park, I put together a post sharing one photo from each day of the trip. I ended up writing many additional posts detailing our time in the park, but in the meantime, that post gave me the chance to share some of my favorite images… Continue reading
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Winter hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park
I didn’t intend to take a break from blogging but, to be honest, it’s been a slow start to the year. It was snowy and windy in the mountains almost every single weekend and, as a result, January and February came and went and we didn’t make it out to snowshoe or cross country ski… Continue reading
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Hiking to Druid Arch – Canyonlands National Park, Utah
A few years back, we visited The Needles district of Canyonlands National Park for the first time. Unfortunately, with just one day there, we were forced to make a choice: hike all the shorter trails or hike one 11+ mile (17.7 km) trail. We opted for the former as it would allow us to see… Continue reading
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Hiking Devils Garden Loop – Arches National Park, Utah
One really nice thing about Arches National Park is that many of the arches are easily accessible. A couple can be seen from the road, and a handful of others can be reached via a short, relatively flat and easy walk. But way up in the northernmost reaches of the park is a trail to… Continue reading
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A comprehensive guide to Arches National Park
(Updated May 2026) 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… 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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Visiting the lesser-known parks and monuments in the Four Corners area
As you’ve been reading about for the last month, this summer’s eight-day roadtrip took us on a loop from Colorado to northwestern New Mexico and then across the border into northeastern Arizona. The largest chunks of time were spent in the four parks and monuments I’ve already covered, but we also made a few shorter… Continue reading
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A tour of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona
I don’t remember when I first decided I wanted to visit Canyon de Chelly. I think it was one of those things where I heard about it or saw a photo that really captured my interest, and from that moment on, it was on my list of places to visit one day. So when we… Continue reading
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A colorful visit to Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
After three days in New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon, our desert southwestern adventure continued at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. It was a bit of a drive, though we’d be gaining an hour because Arizona does not observe daylight savings time. I’ll admit, after visiting Escalante Petrified Forest State Park in Utah a few years… 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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LBJ National Historical Park and Presidential Library, Texas
Despite falling somewhat in the middle of the “which state is home to the most US presidents” list, Texas actually tops the list of “which state has the most presidential libraries” with three. Of those three, though, only one commemorates a president who was actually born in Texas: Lyndon Baines Johnson or, as he’s commonly… Continue reading
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Spanish colonial history at the San Antonio missions
If you say the words “San Antonio” and “missions,” the first thing to come to mind for most people would probably be the Alamo. And while the Alamo is indeed a former mission, it’s just one of the more than twenty Catholic missions built by the Spanish in the early 1700s. It’s also – and… Continue reading
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Chimney Rock, Yucca House, and other southwestern Colorado snapshots
For the past couple weeks, I’ve been recounting our Memorial Day weekend trip to southwestern Colorado to visit the Ancestral Puebloan ruins of Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients. We also made brief stops at two other nearby national monuments, a roadside attraction, and spent some time in the town of Cortez. Since none of… 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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Desert dwellings – Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado
Memorial weekend is a tricky time of year for Colorado adventures. Three years ago, we went to the drier and more desert-like western part of the state and the weather was perfect. Two years ago, we went into the mountains and got snowed on. So when I sat down to plan this year’s Memorial Day… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes
Bear Lake Trailhead to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes is one of the first hikes we ever did in Rocky, way back when we were barely acclimated and still so new to exploring the park. It’s a hike we’ve repeated at least half a dozen times since, in all manner of weather and trail conditions.… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park: winter hiking in Glacier Gorge
I’ve hiked in Glacier Gorge in the summer. I’ve also hiked in Glacier Gorge in the winter. A lot, in fact. Winter in Glacier Gorge is one of my favorite things in Rocky. And while I’ve published posts on Sky Pond in summer and Sky Pond in winter and Black Lake in summer and Black… Continue reading