Favorite national parks/monuments?

[hana]

I'm hoping to do some traveling soon with dd, 10, and ds, 8. I especially hope to explore the Southwest, but may end up in other areas. What are your favorite national parks or monuments (and which states are they in)?

[anissa]

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky was pretty neat but not in the area of the country you are visiting. There are probably several great parks out west! As a child we did the grand canyon/ yosemite thing - really cool! Good luck!

[regentrude]

Grand Canyon (AZ) - rather obvious choice. Very impressive, must see, but too many people at the rim. Great if you hike in away from the well-trodden paths.

 

In Utah we love:

Zion NP - again, very busy, off season is better than summer. Great Canyoneering (needs permit)

Bryce is impressive, but there is not that much to do except for short hikes. For similar scenery and fewer people, visit Cedar Breaks National Monument, a few miles further. Bryce and Cedar Breaks are at higher elevation and much cooler in Summer.

Natural Bridges NM is wonderful and not too full; they still had open camp sites on 4th of July last year

Arches NP - hot if you go in Summer. I would like to go there in Spring and avoid heat and people.

 

In CA:

Yosemite; Sequoia/Kings Canyon

all are fantastic! Yosemite is very crowded. Kings Canyon is much less known and similar High Sierra landscape.

 

Joshua Tree

interesting granite boulders and Joshua trees. Great rock climbing. My favorite time is spring when the desert blooms.

[Ferdie]

Another vote for Zion, Bryce and Yosemite. I liked Arches too, but if you are short on time I would visit Zion and Bryce first. We were there during the second week in June last year and it wasn't too crowded yet.

 

Have fun!

[Stacia]

I loved getting to see Mesa Verde (in CO).

[emeraldjoy]

I second Mesa Verde....was absolutely amazing.....still catches my breath thinking about it now..and they have a nice and cheapish campground. We also did Chaco....there are several of those ancient cites in the same area.

[Chris in VA]

Don't know if it's a natl park or not, but we really enjoyed Palo Duro Canyon.

 

Yellowstone has got to be my personal fav, tho, with Rocky Mt NP coming in a close second. Not sure if they are out of the way for you, tho.

[msk]

I love both Yellowstone and Mesa Verde!

 

If you end up at Mesa Verde, the Ute Mountain Tribal Park (on the "other side" of the mesa) is amazing, if you're willing to go with a guide-- the sites are empty of tourists and there are still artifacts on the ground.

 

This web page has links to a bunch of archaeological sites in the Southwest (some national parks/monuments, some not) that you might be able to fit in between your other destinations: http://www.cdarc.org/what-we-do/exhibits/visiting-places-of-the-past/.

 

It's also really interesting to visit a pueblo, particularly if you're visiting archaeological sites; in some ways it helps me to imagine how people in the ancient sites lived, while also seeing a modern way of life that's quite different from what many of us are used to. Acoma, Taos, and some of the Hopi mesas are especially interesting. Wikipedia has a main page with links to individual pages with some photos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo). (These aren't national parks, but several are historic landmark districts or UNESCO world heritage sites.)

Edited April 20, 2011 by msk

[HappyCamper]

Great topic! Yosemite is crowded, but great fun - especially with the many ranger activities for kids. We try to go every summer (contributing to the crowds). Our family favorites are Sequoia NP, Olympic NP, and Glacier NP. This summer we are headed for Isle Royale NP in Michigan! :auto:

[Amira]

I love Yellowstone and lots of parks in Utah like Arches and Zion. One smaller Utah state park that I like is Goblin Valley. It's a great place for hiking and climbing. I've been there with kids of all ages.

[flobee76]

Yes, Yosemite is VERY crowded, but well worth it. It's so beautiful there. We go every summer as well!

[Ravin]

Don't know if it's a natl park or not, but we really enjoyed Palo Duro Canyon.

 

 

Palo Duro is very cool. It's a Texas state park. I grew up in Canyon, the closest town to it.

 

I also recommend Mesa Verde in Colorado, the Petrified Forest National Monument, and Carlsbad Caverns, which is a national park in NM.

[Momling]

I loved the town of Moab -- with Arches and Canyonlands right nearby... Add in Zion and Bryce and the Grand Canyon and you're set!

[Mothersweets]

I second (third?fourth?) Mesa Verde. My father took me, my sister, and three of our friends to Mesa Verde one summer. The poor man. He had to endure hours of rock music and five loud female teenagers. The trip was his idea, though. :D It was a lot of fun. Even as self-absorbed teens we all really enjoyed it.

 

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is very cool, too. It isn't too far from Roswell. My grandfather grew up in Roswell (no, he never saw an alien) and he remembered going to the caverns with his dad. This was back in the late 20s and they would lower you down into the caverns using a rope and a large bucket. :scared: But don't worry, the last time I went they had remodeled the visitor's center and you could get down into the caverns in an elevator. :) I've been there twice but have never managed to be there at the right time to sit and watch all the thousands of bats come flying out of the caverns at sunset.

 

I used to live in AZ and one thing my family did that I really enjoyed was going to the Sonoran Living Desert Museum just outside of Tucson. It was really beautiful. We did go in late April so it wasn't too terribly hot yet and many of the plants were still blooming.

 

The Royal Gorge in Colorado is neat, too. Another thing in SW Colorado near Mesa Verde (Durango) is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

 

I'm sure you'll have a memorable trip no matter what you do. Have fun!!

Edited April 20, 2011 by Mothersweets

[creekland]

I pulled out an old scrapbook from 2004 where we had our whole family independently rank 27 places we had gone on a trip. Some of those were National Parks.

 

1st place for 4 of the 5 of us was Bryce NP in Utah. Granted, there's not enough to do there for a week, but for a couple of days and short hikes (plus camping) it was nigh onto perfect - and stunning in beauty. My youngest (who was 8 at the time) ranked it 17th. 1st for him was Grand Teton NP.

 

2nd on the list for 4 of the 5 of us was Mesa Verde. Hubby was the dissenter this time and ranked it 12th. He put Zion NP 2nd.

 

3rd for three of us was Badlands NP (SD). It's not exactly the direction you are talking about. Yellowstone and Grand Teton got the other two third votes.

 

Now that we've taken a couple of other trips and have seen a little bit more, we usually recommend Yellowstone, Bryce (and Zion and Grand Canyon since they are all close together), Badlands, Mesa Verde - coupled with Chaco Canyon if possible, and Sequoia (CA) to our eastern friends when they travel west. Arches can be a fun visit too, but yes, it's hot in the summer.

 

Interestingly enough, the Grand Canyon wasn't as big of a hit with us as we expected it to be. Having talked with others who have gone there (from the east anyway) we've come to the conclusion it's because we've "seen it before" (on commercials or all sorts of advertising and in various pictures). When you get there, it is stunning to look at, but mentally our mind went, "yep, that's it - just like in the pics." If you go, we still recommend hiking and such things and trying to see different areas of the canyon (we've been to the west, south, and east rims and we've been to the bottom plus on the Colorado river, etc). It IS worth seeing, but everyone I've personally talked to who has been there and Bryce/Zion raves about the latter two since they are "different" than what has been in our mental pics. Hence, our emphasis to "see the others."

 

Enjoy your travels!

[Donna]

Yellowstone is my absolute favorite. The Grand Canyon, Painted Desert/Badlands, and Garden of the Gods are pretty cool to see, too.

[TheCoffeeChick]

We did our southwest National Park trip in the spring and the weather was abolutely perfect, between 60 and 70. Of the 15 NPs we hit, Arches was by far my favorite followed really closely by Zion and Tipanogos. I loved the hikes at Arches and it was before the "peak" season, so not crowded. Utah is gorgeous.

[Cinder]

We did the Grand Canyon trip last year--both rims--and it was a hit with us. Part of the awe was seeing the vastness firsthand. On our first day there we ended up being out later than we'd planned but because of that we got to see the sun set over the canyon. It wasn't *spectacular* (we see prettier sunsets out our window on a regular basis) and yet it was, in a way.

 

We also enjoyed Mesa Verde and the Durango & Silverton RR that a PP mentioned. Arches, not so much.

 

My main disappointment with the trip is that we didn't get to see more. Those western states are huge! There is much more that we wanted to see but we just didn't have time.

[unsinkable]

since you mentioned other places beside the SW --

 

Niagara Falls Sate Park, New York

 

You can ride the Maid of the Mist, walk to the Cave of the Winds and all around the park, including Goat Island. Go up on the Observation Tower, go thru the Visitors' Center.

 

It's AWESOME and you don't need a passport or any special enhanced ID to go here!

[Hyzenthlay in Pa.]

I took a road trip through New Mexico & Arizona 3 years ago, we were just finishing our Middle Ages/earth science year. We went to:

The hot springs in Jemez, N.M.

Valles Caldera, near Los Alamos

Ell Morro National Monument

Meteor Crator

Painted Desert & Petrified Forest

Grand Canyon

Monument Valley, Utah

Wupatki Sunset Crater Volcano , cinder cone volcano

Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, near earth & history of observatories

Kitt Peak, Tuscon night tour & observing, far out observing & eye viewing

Rock Hound State Park & City of Rocks State Park( volcanic tuff site), Deming area

The Very Large Array, Socorro, N.M. listening telescopes

Mineral Museum, Socorro

Valley of Fires State Park lava flows

Space Hall of Fame, Alamogordo, N.M.

Sunspot National Solar Observatory & nearby fossil hunting

White Sands, Alamogordo, N.M. & Lake Lucero tour ( need to plan & reserve ahead for this)

Roswell UFO museum

Carlsbad Caverns

[Luckymama]

Our family favorites:

 

Yellowstone NP

Grand Tetons NP

Yosemite NP

Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP

(Pikes Peak)

Mesa Verde NP

Arches NP

Grand Canyon NP (4 of the 5 of us---that's where dd16 discovered she is afraid of heights :eek: )

Dinosaur National Monument (UT and CO)

Golden Spike National Historical Site (UT)

Zion NP

Bryce Canyon NP

Petrified Forest NP

Acadia NP (Maine)

Independence National Historic Park (Philadelphia)

[hana]

Thank you so much for all the great ideas. I grew up near Acadia National Park. :-)

 

On our definite list:

Mesa Verde

Carlsbad Caverns

White Sands

Grand Canyon (South Rim only, just for a quick visit)

Zion

Bryce

Capitol Reef (no one mentioned this, but one of my older daughters worked on the trails here in the Americorps)

Yosemite

[Mothersweets]

Please update us when you get back! Sounds like you'll have so much fun.

[Jamee]

All of them! We plan a route and see which ones are there and/or try to hit as many as we can along the way. This last summer we did I-90 and saw Yellowstone, Custer's Last Stand Battlefield, Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Minute Man Missle Site and Pipestone. Pipestone, in MN was a very unexpected surprise and one of the highlights of our trip--we went there because my guys had never been to Minnesota.:tongue_smilie:

 

Zion, Bryce, Arches and Dinosaur are favorites too. As far as caves go, Carlsbad was favored over Mammoth. White Sands in NM was great fun too--you can buy sleds there and sled down the doons! Get yourself a pass and Park Passport and have fun!:auto:

 

ETA: Just saw that Yosemite is on your list. You can also check out Sequoia and King's Canyon--we drove through the park in one day, stopping at the main sites. On the east side of the Sierras, Devil's Postpile is a spot my family went to and enjoyed--it's on our list as I've not been with my family yet.

 

At Carlsbad, make sure you stay to see the bats if you're there during season. WAY COOL!!!

Edited April 22, 2011 by Jamee

[creekland]

Thank you so much for all the great ideas. I grew up near Acadia National Park. :-)

 

On our definite list:

Mesa Verde

Carlsbad Caverns

White Sands

Grand Canyon (South Rim only, just for a quick visit)

Zion

Bryce

Capitol Reef (no one mentioned this, but one of my older daughters worked on the trails here in the Americorps)

Yosemite

 

Sounds like a great trip! I agree with adding at least Sequoia if you go to Yosemite. Yosemite has big sequoia trees, but Sequoia has the biggest (by volume) in the world (the General Sherman) and nice trails.

 

Capital Reef was a nice short stretch break for us. If you're there when the fruit is ripe, you can pick some, but it sounds like you'll be earlier in the season.

 

Carlsbad is the best cavern system in the US IMO. When we first got there one of the rangers told us that afterward we'd be comparing all caverns to it. We scoffed at the time as we've been to oodles of caverns. Turns out, he was right. It's just really, really impressive. It might be more crowded when you go. We went in Sept and had the place almost to ourselves (relatively) plus saw the bats. They told us summer has huge crowds.

 

Be sure to write when you get back! Since all of our trips for the next few years revolve around college visits, I need to have "real" (to us) trips vicariously through the hive!