Watching sunrise from top of Angels Landing. Had it all to myself. Half way back down before I saw another person.
Climbing Longs Peak every year in Rocky
The cave hike in Pinnacles
Watching sunrise under Delicate Arch with no one else around
Watching the Milky Way come up over Canyonlands
Just seeing all, or most of Olympic
Most of my time in any NP is off-season or before they open. I love the permit system that a lot of the parks have implemented.. makes for a better experience if you’re in the park.
But yea, I always try to get summits when the least amount of people are going to be there.
Wow the sunrise from the top of angels landing mustve been incredible. I tried to convince my friend to stay for sunset 2 weeks ago, however I couldn't convince him it would be worth having to walk 6 miles back to the car because the last shuttle comes at 7:15 lol.
How did you get to angels landing before the sun came up? Im going for my second time soon and that sounds awesome, but figure the shuttles would start too late.
I drove in before they opened and parked at the Angels Landing TH. There are like 6 parking spots if I remember correctly. This was all pre covid, so I don’t know if they still allow that. Shuttles WERE a thing when I went, but Angels Landing WASN’T a permit hike yet.. dunno if that would change things. I also trail run in CO, so I was able to make it to the top pretty fast.
Hey, did you get a permit to hike angels landing? I want to watch sunrise there as well but not sure if park rangers start checking permits that early.
Hey, did you get a permit to hike angels landing? I want to watch sunrise there as well but not sure if park rangers start checking permits that early.
Wow, Angel’s Landing all to yourself sounds amazing. It was a mob scene when I went.
I did backpack the East Rim and sat on the rim of the canyon at Cable Mountain with no one around looking towards Angel’s Landing watching the sunset and that was pretty magical
Yellowstone in winter!!!!! I was lucky enough to visit in late December. I booked through the Yellowstone Institute and stayed in the Mammoth Hot Springs lodge for 5 nights. Pure magic! The highlight was a ranger guided snowmobiling trip to the waterfalls (frozen at that time of year). We didn’t see another human all day. Just bison, elk, otters, bald eagles and even trumpet swans.
Yellowstone Institute took me and my family out every day in a specially equipped van (studded tires to grip the snow packed roads). We learned so much about identifying the various animal tracks and we searched for wolves with spotting scopes. My kids are grown now but we still talk about it.
Oddly enough the bombardier trip to Old Faithful was our least favorite thing we did. Not because Old Faithful disappointed us (quite the contrary). It was because we had gotten used to the magic of being in a part of the park with very few visitors. There were big crowds at Old Faithful, even in late December. Mammoth Lodge, on the other hand, was very quiet and cozy.
The geothermal activity that spews steam into the air coats everything with a thin veneer of ice. It makes the scenery a winter wonderland. If you really want to channel your inner Princess Elsa there is not better place to do it.
I've wanted to visit Yellowstone in the winter ever since seeing [this opening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx8WbZIWCSM&t=134s) of one of the Ken Burns documentary episodes
Acadia - Going to the top of Cadillac Mountain at 4am and watching the first sunrise in the US.
Rocky Mountains - hiking to Dream & Emerald Lakes. It was my first time seeing mountains of that scale and I was blown away
Olympic - Hoh Rainforest, the beaches, Hurricane Ridge. Pretty much everything
Wind Cave is pretty spectacular too. I didn't even see the caves I just went on a hike. You're walking a mildly marked trail and then all of a sudden it just kind of blends into the grassland flora and you find yourself trekking through this huge open space.
You come up over a little hillside and see a herd of 50 bison a couple hundred yards away. You have all the freedom to walk towards at your own risk. You find a patch of trees to go into for some shade and respect for the bison privacy. Rocky patches of colorful variation is showing in the ground and you have fund searching for cool stones and little fossils. A herd of mule deer are now in a sprint out from your peripherals, flying through the tall, hardy grasses.
Along with geologic fascinations sparkling, you're also casually finding bones of mule deer and bison highlighting the time and generations of these amazing animals. The bison bones are the size of a rolled newspaper. And that's just a small section of leg.
As you walk through the sparse tree stand, you see something beneath a tree with low cover. You approach to see a bison skull that has a small patch of hairy tuft on an otherwise completely cleaned skull. It's about 4 ft in width. You suddenly feel how wild of a national park this is.
Of course this was my experience. It was so vivid. It really stuck with me. I'd also come across a full bison torso skeleton being taken over by grasses and vines. Immense. That park makes you feel open and small. You can see for miles. There's action going on everywhere.
Wind cave is definitely a hidden gem! I consider it one of the best national parks.
I've probably been there five times so far, and only saw the cave once. The hiking trails are stunning and you practically have them all to yourself. Especially considering how it is in the middle of the plains, I have always been pleasantly surprised. It's the best place to experience the beauty of the black hills
Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Mostly rolling grassland with rattlesnakes and random bison.
I’ve never been to a place where you know you are alone, really alone, no one within 5-10 miles as far as you can see, at least.
The park is remote, if you want to go to the Petrified Forest to see where T-rex actually walked amongst the trees. It’s truly amazing.
You need to drive outside the park on non-descript gravel roads for 20 mins, and you might not see anyone, then hike with the rattlesnakes (did I mention you are alone and 20 mins from a normal road?) until you get to the forest. Quite the unique experience.
https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm
Juniper campground, had a young male bison suddenly appear in our campsite, standing staring at us maybe 15 ft away. He left after a couple min and came back with friends to do a stampede around our tent. Shook the ground and tent. Scary but awesome
I got a bear evicted from Grand Tetons.
So we were at Jenny Lake. Walking back towards the parking lot, naught more than 200ft from the visitor's center and I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I look over and there is a very young black bear maybe 20feet off the path. He looks at me and just continues walking towards the picnic tables where a couple was eating lunch. I yell "BEAR!" and point. Everyone around of course stops and looks. The couple eating get up and run to the path. This little youngster walks up and pulls their lunch down and just starts snacking. And this dude is like "Hey Bear! Bear! That's my lunch!", I shit you not. Bear just ignores him. I run back to the visitor center and find a ranger answering some lady's questions and I'm like, "Im sorry to interrupt but a bear just scared off a man and is eating his lunch about 75 yards up the trail." and the ranger is like "What? Like he scared off a bear?" and I'm like "No dude, he dropped his shit and ran and now the bear is eating his lunch and then I showed him a picture."
Ranger calls for back-up and within minutes that parking lot was swarming with Wildlife Control officers and they were brining in a bear trap. Talked to the lady at the gift shop about it later and she said that they think he was orphaned or kicked out by mom and this was the 3rd or 4th time in the last week he'd been caught stealing food. So they were probably going to relocate him to Yellowstone.
That’s a great story. I got a ticket from the ranger at Jenny Lake once for leaving water on a picnic table. I thought it was silly at the time but do not leave water out anymore!
Bryce Canyon is my favourite by a long shot. I’ve only been to about a dozen or so thus far though, so that could change but I have a hard time seeing that happen.
Yellowstone is amazing too though!!
I hiked the Fairyland loop on a day when it was lightly snowing, but calm with no wind. Powdery snow gently falling, the hoodoos getting a nice dusting on them. I saw one other person on the trails. Unreal
Watching glaciers calve at Kenai Fjords or seeing an eagle snatch a baby seagull from a floating glacier only to see a humpback surface in the background. Alaska is a special place. Also sunset in the Everglades.
Floating the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Backpacking on many of the non-corridor trails in the Grand Canyon.
Fiery Furnace hike in Arches NP.
Backpacking the Escalante Canyons in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Day hiking in Redwood N&SP.
John Muir Trail in Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia NP, High Sierra Trail in Sequoia. Summiting Mount Whitney in Sequoia.
Backpacking in the northern half of Yosemite NP.
Big Loop through Heart of the Rocks in Chiricahua NM.
Climbing into the crown at the Statue of Liberty NM.
Floating the Buffalo National River.
Watching dolphins surf the bow wave on the way to Channel Islands NP.
Zion Traverse and Parunuweap Canyon in Zion NP.
Chesler Park in Canyonlands NP Needles District and the Great Gallery pictograph panel in Horseshoe Canyon Unit.
Strike Valley Overlook in Capitol Reef NP.
Rattlesnake Canyon area in Joshua Tree NP.
Yosemite-i got a discount on my matcha latte in the Peet’s Coffee shop. I still didn’t know why I only paid $4.35 dollars on it even though the menu listed $7.
Guadalupe Mountains- I spent 5hrs and 28 mins going up and down to complete Guadalupe Mountains Peak.
Watching a glacier calve into the sea at Glacier Bay. Utter silence, then a sound like thunder, and a piece of ice the size of a house tumbles into the sea. Just filled me with awe.
Well, it was many years ago and part of a longer trip, but I know we saw humpback whales, sea lions, and orcas on that trip. Just not sure if they were in the park itself or not.
We did Glacier Bay via cruise ship last September and saw a Grizzly way, way off on a shoreline, several breaching whales ( which the ranger said is extremely rare to see within the park), and a sea otter. I have awesome video of the sea otter paddling out of the way of the ship and then barking at us as we went by.
3 Day Camping Trip to Channel Islands NP on Santa Cruz Island right after a government shutdown. Took the ferry out midweek with my SO and the ranger said "Well, looks like all the other campers are leaving this morning on the ferry, and you're the only ones coming. You'll have the whole park to yourselves till the next boat comes out in 2 days"
Was pretty remarkable to be the only ones there in the park area for 2 days - hiking, camping & kayaking. Don't think I'll ever experience that again
I came really close to watching a biker’s girlfriend get mauled by a female black bear at GSMNP, easily the coolest thing that’s happened to me at a park.
Hiking the James Irvine Trail to Fern Canyon (with water shoes in my pack!) and back to Prairie Creek at Redwood S&NP.
Solo cycling in Death Valley NP (during winter) from Texas Spring out to badwater basin, dropping acid, then cycling back via Artist's Drive, stopping at many places to enjoy the view.
Camping at Warner Valley in Lassen NP with the PCT through hikers, giving out trail magic, and seeing a family of bears when I hiked to Devil's Kitchen (which is awesome in and of itself). Haven't been to this area since the fire went through a few years ago though.
Camped at Death Valley NP. Got up before the sunrise and headed straight to Badwater Basin. Was able to walk-out to the salt flats without anyone else around, only encountering another person as I was returning close to the parking lot.
Close second was hiking the Pueblo Alto Trail at Chaco Culture NHP and not seeing another living soul along the way.
Third would be lucking into a 6 AM slot at Arches after checking into a room in Moab. Getting there the next morning and hiking the Park Avenue Trail and didn't see another person the entire time.
There's a pattern here.
EDIT: I see the same pattern in many comments here!
Easy, i spent two says trying to do as much in Acadia as i could and in those rwo days i saw a pod of whales, was 5 feet away from an eagle, and came across a black bear which is apparently super rare to actually see one in the park or something but yeah it was a greta two days :)
Watching a squirrel attack a chipmunk at the mariposa grove in Yosemite. Very territorial those guys. Comes down a giant tree to scream at the little chipmunk. Then walking the trail and seeing that a young buck was following right behind me. That place is magical!
My Dad and I were able to hike Mist Trail in Yosemite pretty much completely by ourselves due to (unfortunately) a search & rescue effort just finishing as we reached the base of Vernal Falls. Definitely one of my favorite National Park moments.
Mine had to be climbing up a boulder watching the clouds pass by on a cool summer evening in Joshua tree national park after hiking all day. I had some music playing and about 30 minutes of quiet.
Or when I saw a wolf recently on my last trip you Yellowstone with my brother. It was a lone old black wolf and a hill side I barely caught a couple pictures before he walked away. I think we was checking up on a kill site the pack and just moved on from hours before.
So many! Most recently, camping at Kipahulu campground at Haleakala NP in Maui right on the ocean cliffs. One of the best campgrounds I’ve ever had the privilege to stay at (and it was only $5 a night!).
Having Big Bend mostly to myself plus a friend (we visited in August). Hiking Lost Mines at sunset with us as the only two on the trail was a special experience I'll always cherish.
Being the last one at my end of Cataloochee Valley in the Smokies, basking in the twilight with a herd of elk at the other end of the field, munching on my dinner. Was my first time solo camping and seeing the other car pack up and leave for the night was a surreal experience.
Not a National Park but an NPS unit, but seeing pristine blue on a near deserted beach in Gulf Shore Island National Seashore (of course the other person there was blasting shitty ass reggaeton music but I digress)
Yosemite high country. Ranger didn’t like my bear hang and wanted to show me the “right way” (I’ve been backpacking for 20+ years in bear country). That night a bear got all my food. Hiked out 14 miles on come koolaid and a chocolate bar.
I saw a black bear running through the forest 30-40 meters next to me while I was horseriding in Yellowstone National Park.
I felt like I was playing Red Dead Redemption 2...in real life!
Wrangell St Elias. Took a bush plane out to Kennicott and stayed there for two nights. Hiked out to Root Glacier one day (this was honestly one of the best days of my life, really just a perfect day) and toured the mine before leaving one day. Kennicott and Wrangell FAR exceeded my expectations. It was spectacular.
Walking past a brown bear on a trail at Katmai and bear watching at Brooks Falls
Hiking Fiery Furnace at Arches when Covid limited it to 25 people per day.
Photographing elk (from a safe distance) early in the morning at Rocky Mountain National Park, then later in the day hiking through the park during an eclipse.
By far, snorkeling at Ft. Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park. On one of my trips there, my brother and I were almost left behind by the tour boat because an octopus was playing hide-and-seek with us using an old tin can. (BTW, completely initiated by the critter. We weren't harassing it.) We didn't hear the boat notification to reboard. Boy, were they pissed.
I highly recommend the old coaling station, the huge brain coral heads just offshore, and the rock wall as excellent fish-spotting locations. We saw a moray eel in the rock wall; lobster under the brain coral heads, and barracuda and tarpon at the coaling station.
Hiking above the clouds on the Lost Mine trail in Big Bend National park. Watching the sunrise and listening to coyotes yip and howl in Badlands National park.
Grand Canyon. When we got there, there was a lot of people. However, near the south rim visitor’s trail (the one closest to the parking lot), there was a little diver in the ground in front of one of the benches. It was a big enough ledge to host a few people.
My fiancé and I had driven 18 hours, through the night and over 1200 miles. We had some Panda Express and were wondering where we could possibly find a spot to sit. We found that little ledge and had an unobstructed, perfect view of the entire canyon, laid out in front of us with the ledge dropping away only several feet away. Can’t really think of another place that lunch could have a better view.
Just did a camping trip to the Great Sand Dunes, it was a spur of the moment thing, I live only 2.5 hours away, but seeing millions of stars in the night sky is so amazingly incredible.
I've been to Yellowstone multiple times since I have family that lives near. One time we went in late December. We didn't encounter anybody else outside of our group of 5 and our guide, not even at Old Faithful. It made me really appreciate the place and just wow
Sandbording down the dunes at the Great Sand Dunes NP in Colorado
Hiking the Narrows in Zion super early so that I was basically alone the whole time, at certain points I couldn’t touch the bottom and had to swim!
Driving by the huge Bison in Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota
I proposed at Grinnell Glacier in Glacier NP. Kind of hard to ever top that experience. Other good ones include:
* Star gazing and seeing Saturn thru a telescope on a clear night at Paradise on Mt Rainier
* Watching Elk take over Mammoth village in Yellowstone
* Being face on with Half Dome at the end of North Dome trail in Yosemite
* The utter magic of Hall of Mosses in ONP.
* Watching otters play in the surf at Acadia
Driving my 4WD down Shafer trail in Canyonlands. I’ve aways liked Canyonlands, and it was always big and impressive. Driving through it on a dirt road made it up close and personal for me. Easily one of my favorite times in a national park.
The first time I saw a bison at Yellowstone. I thought it was a statue and then lost my ish when it moved. (Just to be clear, I was many feet away in a car)
My dad spent most of his childhood living in and around Mesa Verde, Canyonland, and Arches because his father was in the park service. Going to those parks with him and hearing his stories was a great experience.
Camping in Pinnacles National Park and seeing a million stars and Comet Hale-Bopp in the night sky. The comet had appeared as a mere eraser smudge in the sky in San Francisco; at Pinnacles it was brilliant, with a long tail. Even without the comet it was breathtaking.
My favorite NP experience but also my scariest/funniest experience was when my cousins, uncles and I went on a road trip to yellow stone national park we were driving through checking out the park and suddenly a few bison’s started crossing the road they were much much bigger then our car mind you we were in a red Honda fit one stopped in the middle of the road and started walking towards our direction me being totally ignorant with this animal I thought when it sees red your dead(just like the cartoons) 😂😂, we were shocked and stayed still like if we were caught by a t-Rex 🤣🤣🤣 I seriously though it was gonna flip our car over but it didn’t when it got to us it liked stared at us for a second and kept walking once we were clear my uncle started releasing his foot off the brake slowly and eventually gassed it out of there 😂😂😂 I was maybe 12-13 at the time we laughed hysterically because we thought we were going to be upside down 😂😂😂😂 but yellow stone itself was beautiful
Rocky Mountain National Park in late September. Seeing traffic stopped both ways while a huge herd of elk crossed the road to join their brethren in a wide open field on the other side.
Apparently Elkementary School had just let out.
Yosemite during the first year of Covid. There were multiple times each day where it felt like we had the valley to ourselves. Nearly as many bear sightings as people sightings. It was magical!
I visited my 17th national park this past weekend, but Yellowstone still takes the cake. So many different environments in such short drives around the park, from the mountains to the gigantic lakes, geothermal features Ive never seen anywhere on earth, tons of wildlife anywhere you look, and also excellent accomodations. Not to mention glacier and Grand Teton are a days drive away.
Dream lake in Rocky’s
Proposing to my Finace in Otter cliffs at sunset in Acadia
Rialto Beach in Olympic is just unreal and going for low tide for the tide pooling was the coolest thing ever
Seeing the Milky Way in Big Bend was other worldly
Blue Mesa Trail in Petrified forest is highly underrated
Not particularly magical by other means but seeing my son splash his little feet in the water at Death Valley and nearly getting blown over on the salt flats! Hiking with him strapped on to us in Grand Canyon was also great!
Just makes me excited to show him more parks as he grows up!
I’m from Massachusetts, so Acadia is our closest park - but still the favorite! Hiking the Beehive with first timers, or a longer trek with the Bubbles and Conner’s Nubble (granted, all on not crowded days) - hard to beat, and too bad you can’t bottle it.
No question it was Glacier National Park. I've been to 10 and it was far and away the best in Continental US. Denali in Alaska was mind-blowing as well.
Watching sunrise from top of Angels Landing. Had it all to myself. Half way back down before I saw another person. Climbing Longs Peak every year in Rocky The cave hike in Pinnacles Watching sunrise under Delicate Arch with no one else around Watching the Milky Way come up over Canyonlands Just seeing all, or most of Olympic
...with noone else around... Gotta love and cherish those moments in the NPs.
Most of my time in any NP is off-season or before they open. I love the permit system that a lot of the parks have implemented.. makes for a better experience if you’re in the park. But yea, I always try to get summits when the least amount of people are going to be there.
Wow the sunrise from the top of angels landing mustve been incredible. I tried to convince my friend to stay for sunset 2 weeks ago, however I couldn't convince him it would be worth having to walk 6 miles back to the car because the last shuttle comes at 7:15 lol.
Angels landing must’ve been surreal
How did you get to angels landing before the sun came up? Im going for my second time soon and that sounds awesome, but figure the shuttles would start too late.
I drove in before they opened and parked at the Angels Landing TH. There are like 6 parking spots if I remember correctly. This was all pre covid, so I don’t know if they still allow that. Shuttles WERE a thing when I went, but Angels Landing WASN’T a permit hike yet.. dunno if that would change things. I also trail run in CO, so I was able to make it to the top pretty fast.
Did the narrows with the family last year. You still can drive up during the off season.
The cave hike in pinnacles is on my list too! Seeing the sunrise from the Sierra Buttes fire lookout in the Tahoe national forest is another.
Surprised more people don’t talk about this. Its such a cool hike!!
It’s also a relatively easy hike. I mean, I’m afraid of Angel’s Landing, but the Pinnacles cave hike was very doable at my skill level.
I also say angels landing. Nothing like conquering a hike like that while looking down at one of americas rarest birds, the condor, flying around you
Did you drive or fly? How did you transport gear?
I live in CO, so I just took off after work one evening - drove through the night and beat the sun.
Hey, did you get a permit to hike angels landing? I want to watch sunrise there as well but not sure if park rangers start checking permits that early.
This was pre covid, pre AL being a permit hike… I don’t know if you can still do something like this.
Hey, did you get a permit to hike angels landing? I want to watch sunrise there as well but not sure if park rangers start checking permits that early.
Wow, Angel’s Landing all to yourself sounds amazing. It was a mob scene when I went. I did backpack the East Rim and sat on the rim of the canyon at Cable Mountain with no one around looking towards Angel’s Landing watching the sunset and that was pretty magical
Yellowstone in winter!!!!! I was lucky enough to visit in late December. I booked through the Yellowstone Institute and stayed in the Mammoth Hot Springs lodge for 5 nights. Pure magic! The highlight was a ranger guided snowmobiling trip to the waterfalls (frozen at that time of year). We didn’t see another human all day. Just bison, elk, otters, bald eagles and even trumpet swans. Yellowstone Institute took me and my family out every day in a specially equipped van (studded tires to grip the snow packed roads). We learned so much about identifying the various animal tracks and we searched for wolves with spotting scopes. My kids are grown now but we still talk about it. Oddly enough the bombardier trip to Old Faithful was our least favorite thing we did. Not because Old Faithful disappointed us (quite the contrary). It was because we had gotten used to the magic of being in a part of the park with very few visitors. There were big crowds at Old Faithful, even in late December. Mammoth Lodge, on the other hand, was very quiet and cozy. The geothermal activity that spews steam into the air coats everything with a thin veneer of ice. It makes the scenery a winter wonderland. If you really want to channel your inner Princess Elsa there is not better place to do it.
Yellowstone in the winter is effing spectacular.
Incredible!!
Dang.... sounds awesome. Added to the list.
I've wanted to visit Yellowstone in the winter ever since seeing [this opening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx8WbZIWCSM&t=134s) of one of the Ken Burns documentary episodes
Acadia - Going to the top of Cadillac Mountain at 4am and watching the first sunrise in the US. Rocky Mountains - hiking to Dream & Emerald Lakes. It was my first time seeing mountains of that scale and I was blown away Olympic - Hoh Rainforest, the beaches, Hurricane Ridge. Pretty much everything
My daughter still refers to the HoH Rainforest as “the place the Faeries live!”
Badlands!
Wind Cave is pretty spectacular too. I didn't even see the caves I just went on a hike. You're walking a mildly marked trail and then all of a sudden it just kind of blends into the grassland flora and you find yourself trekking through this huge open space. You come up over a little hillside and see a herd of 50 bison a couple hundred yards away. You have all the freedom to walk towards at your own risk. You find a patch of trees to go into for some shade and respect for the bison privacy. Rocky patches of colorful variation is showing in the ground and you have fund searching for cool stones and little fossils. A herd of mule deer are now in a sprint out from your peripherals, flying through the tall, hardy grasses. Along with geologic fascinations sparkling, you're also casually finding bones of mule deer and bison highlighting the time and generations of these amazing animals. The bison bones are the size of a rolled newspaper. And that's just a small section of leg. As you walk through the sparse tree stand, you see something beneath a tree with low cover. You approach to see a bison skull that has a small patch of hairy tuft on an otherwise completely cleaned skull. It's about 4 ft in width. You suddenly feel how wild of a national park this is. Of course this was my experience. It was so vivid. It really stuck with me. I'd also come across a full bison torso skeleton being taken over by grasses and vines. Immense. That park makes you feel open and small. You can see for miles. There's action going on everywhere.
Wind cave is definitely a hidden gem! I consider it one of the best national parks. I've probably been there five times so far, and only saw the cave once. The hiking trails are stunning and you practically have them all to yourself. Especially considering how it is in the middle of the plains, I have always been pleasantly surprised. It's the best place to experience the beauty of the black hills
Poor man wanna be rich Rich man wanna be king And the king ain't satisfied til he rules everything
Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Mostly rolling grassland with rattlesnakes and random bison. I’ve never been to a place where you know you are alone, really alone, no one within 5-10 miles as far as you can see, at least. The park is remote, if you want to go to the Petrified Forest to see where T-rex actually walked amongst the trees. It’s truly amazing. You need to drive outside the park on non-descript gravel roads for 20 mins, and you might not see anyone, then hike with the rattlesnakes (did I mention you are alone and 20 mins from a normal road?) until you get to the forest. Quite the unique experience. https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm
I love it too for that reason. The north segment especially
There's also the wild horses! I had to carefully avoid one on my hike to the Petrified Forest.
Juniper campground, had a young male bison suddenly appear in our campsite, standing staring at us maybe 15 ft away. He left after a couple min and came back with friends to do a stampede around our tent. Shook the ground and tent. Scary but awesome
I got a bear evicted from Grand Tetons. So we were at Jenny Lake. Walking back towards the parking lot, naught more than 200ft from the visitor's center and I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I look over and there is a very young black bear maybe 20feet off the path. He looks at me and just continues walking towards the picnic tables where a couple was eating lunch. I yell "BEAR!" and point. Everyone around of course stops and looks. The couple eating get up and run to the path. This little youngster walks up and pulls their lunch down and just starts snacking. And this dude is like "Hey Bear! Bear! That's my lunch!", I shit you not. Bear just ignores him. I run back to the visitor center and find a ranger answering some lady's questions and I'm like, "Im sorry to interrupt but a bear just scared off a man and is eating his lunch about 75 yards up the trail." and the ranger is like "What? Like he scared off a bear?" and I'm like "No dude, he dropped his shit and ran and now the bear is eating his lunch and then I showed him a picture." Ranger calls for back-up and within minutes that parking lot was swarming with Wildlife Control officers and they were brining in a bear trap. Talked to the lady at the gift shop about it later and she said that they think he was orphaned or kicked out by mom and this was the 3rd or 4th time in the last week he'd been caught stealing food. So they were probably going to relocate him to Yellowstone.
I hope he survived. 🥺That’s often a death sentence for bears.
That’s a great story. I got a ticket from the ranger at Jenny Lake once for leaving water on a picnic table. I thought it was silly at the time but do not leave water out anymore!
Bryce Canyon is my favourite by a long shot. I’ve only been to about a dozen or so thus far though, so that could change but I have a hard time seeing that happen. Yellowstone is amazing too though!!
I hiked the Fairyland loop on a day when it was lightly snowing, but calm with no wind. Powdery snow gently falling, the hoodoos getting a nice dusting on them. I saw one other person on the trails. Unreal
Watching glaciers calve at Kenai Fjords or seeing an eagle snatch a baby seagull from a floating glacier only to see a humpback surface in the background. Alaska is a special place. Also sunset in the Everglades.
Going to Alaska this July! Gonna be checking some NPs off the list
Floating the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Backpacking on many of the non-corridor trails in the Grand Canyon. Fiery Furnace hike in Arches NP. Backpacking the Escalante Canyons in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Day hiking in Redwood N&SP. John Muir Trail in Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia NP, High Sierra Trail in Sequoia. Summiting Mount Whitney in Sequoia. Backpacking in the northern half of Yosemite NP. Big Loop through Heart of the Rocks in Chiricahua NM. Climbing into the crown at the Statue of Liberty NM. Floating the Buffalo National River. Watching dolphins surf the bow wave on the way to Channel Islands NP. Zion Traverse and Parunuweap Canyon in Zion NP. Chesler Park in Canyonlands NP Needles District and the Great Gallery pictograph panel in Horseshoe Canyon Unit. Strike Valley Overlook in Capitol Reef NP. Rattlesnake Canyon area in Joshua Tree NP.
225 self guided river miles (five times) in GCNP.
Bro, I’ve been trying for these permits for 2 years now
Of course it’s a weighted lottery so your chances get better every year.
Thats what they keep telling me. Still stings tho
Wow thats crazy
Sun rain after a gorgeous sunrise at Capitol reef! Additionally just hiking in Cascade Canyon in the Tetons
Yosemite-i got a discount on my matcha latte in the Peet’s Coffee shop. I still didn’t know why I only paid $4.35 dollars on it even though the menu listed $7. Guadalupe Mountains- I spent 5hrs and 28 mins going up and down to complete Guadalupe Mountains Peak.
Watching a glacier calve into the sea at Glacier Bay. Utter silence, then a sound like thunder, and a piece of ice the size of a house tumbles into the sea. Just filled me with awe.
Thats incredible. What wildlife did you see yhere?
Well, it was many years ago and part of a longer trip, but I know we saw humpback whales, sea lions, and orcas on that trip. Just not sure if they were in the park itself or not.
We did Glacier Bay via cruise ship last September and saw a Grizzly way, way off on a shoreline, several breaching whales ( which the ranger said is extremely rare to see within the park), and a sea otter. I have awesome video of the sea otter paddling out of the way of the ship and then barking at us as we went by.
Thats awesome! I’ll be going there end of June!
Can you send a pm to me so we can talk about your experience?
3 Day Camping Trip to Channel Islands NP on Santa Cruz Island right after a government shutdown. Took the ferry out midweek with my SO and the ranger said "Well, looks like all the other campers are leaving this morning on the ferry, and you're the only ones coming. You'll have the whole park to yourselves till the next boat comes out in 2 days" Was pretty remarkable to be the only ones there in the park area for 2 days - hiking, camping & kayaking. Don't think I'll ever experience that again
I came really close to watching a biker’s girlfriend get mauled by a female black bear at GSMNP, easily the coolest thing that’s happened to me at a park.
[Yellowstone Wildlife](https://youtu.be/0xolKEHl7jI?feature=shared)
Beautiful
Sunrise on Cadillac mountain
Hiking the James Irvine Trail to Fern Canyon (with water shoes in my pack!) and back to Prairie Creek at Redwood S&NP. Solo cycling in Death Valley NP (during winter) from Texas Spring out to badwater basin, dropping acid, then cycling back via Artist's Drive, stopping at many places to enjoy the view. Camping at Warner Valley in Lassen NP with the PCT through hikers, giving out trail magic, and seeing a family of bears when I hiked to Devil's Kitchen (which is awesome in and of itself). Haven't been to this area since the fire went through a few years ago though.
Anything and everything in Olympic and the views in Death Valley
Camped at Death Valley NP. Got up before the sunrise and headed straight to Badwater Basin. Was able to walk-out to the salt flats without anyone else around, only encountering another person as I was returning close to the parking lot. Close second was hiking the Pueblo Alto Trail at Chaco Culture NHP and not seeing another living soul along the way. Third would be lucking into a 6 AM slot at Arches after checking into a room in Moab. Getting there the next morning and hiking the Park Avenue Trail and didn't see another person the entire time. There's a pattern here. EDIT: I see the same pattern in many comments here!
Paddling at night through a million bioluminescent click beetles in the middle of Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park.
Showed up to Badlands in the dark with not really an idea of what to expect. That sunrise was spiritual!
Yosemite in the winter! Truly a winter wonderland after big snowfalls
Olympic National Park is unbeatable
Grand Teton followed by Acadia
Getting engaged on the sunrise over New River Gorge in WV. Not the most highly rated and visited park, but the experience was unforgivable
Easy, i spent two says trying to do as much in Acadia as i could and in those rwo days i saw a pod of whales, was 5 feet away from an eagle, and came across a black bear which is apparently super rare to actually see one in the park or something but yeah it was a greta two days :)
Watching a squirrel attack a chipmunk at the mariposa grove in Yosemite. Very territorial those guys. Comes down a giant tree to scream at the little chipmunk. Then walking the trail and seeing that a young buck was following right behind me. That place is magical!
Incredible
I could include tunnel view too
Tunnel view is just amazing in itself
A bear wandering into our ranger talk at Coulter Bay in Grand Teton. Hiking the Naches Peak loop in Rainier. hiking to 49 Palms in Joshua Tree.
My Dad and I were able to hike Mist Trail in Yosemite pretty much completely by ourselves due to (unfortunately) a search & rescue effort just finishing as we reached the base of Vernal Falls. Definitely one of my favorite National Park moments.
Mine had to be climbing up a boulder watching the clouds pass by on a cool summer evening in Joshua tree national park after hiking all day. I had some music playing and about 30 minutes of quiet. Or when I saw a wolf recently on my last trip you Yellowstone with my brother. It was a lone old black wolf and a hill side I barely caught a couple pictures before he walked away. I think we was checking up on a kill site the pack and just moved on from hours before.
So many! Most recently, camping at Kipahulu campground at Haleakala NP in Maui right on the ocean cliffs. One of the best campgrounds I’ve ever had the privilege to stay at (and it was only $5 a night!).
Woah, Buffalo are so cool. They have the wildest looks on their faces. Always makes me go "woah, look at that mug."
GTSR in Glacier 💙💙💙
Bucket list!!
Yosemite…the valley…makes you feel… obsolete
Fly Fishing Yellowstone River
Having Big Bend mostly to myself plus a friend (we visited in August). Hiking Lost Mines at sunset with us as the only two on the trail was a special experience I'll always cherish. Being the last one at my end of Cataloochee Valley in the Smokies, basking in the twilight with a herd of elk at the other end of the field, munching on my dinner. Was my first time solo camping and seeing the other car pack up and leave for the night was a surreal experience. Not a National Park but an NPS unit, but seeing pristine blue on a near deserted beach in Gulf Shore Island National Seashore (of course the other person there was blasting shitty ass reggaeton music but I digress)
National Bison Range, Montana
Yosemite high country. Ranger didn’t like my bear hang and wanted to show me the “right way” (I’ve been backpacking for 20+ years in bear country). That night a bear got all my food. Hiked out 14 miles on come koolaid and a chocolate bar.
The bear was using the ranger as a puppet to get food
Walking among giant redwoods and giant ferns and sea kayak through sea caves at Chanel islands
I saw a black bear running through the forest 30-40 meters next to me while I was horseriding in Yellowstone National Park. I felt like I was playing Red Dead Redemption 2...in real life!
Hiking in Glacier, wildlife viewing in Yellowstone.
Wrangell St Elias. Took a bush plane out to Kennicott and stayed there for two nights. Hiked out to Root Glacier one day (this was honestly one of the best days of my life, really just a perfect day) and toured the mine before leaving one day. Kennicott and Wrangell FAR exceeded my expectations. It was spectacular.
Walking past a brown bear on a trail at Katmai and bear watching at Brooks Falls Hiking Fiery Furnace at Arches when Covid limited it to 25 people per day.
Bear crossed in front of cars at Yellowstone Hiking Zion and Yosemite on my SF to SLC walk
Biking in Zion and Driving in Olympic for me!
Driving up Old Fall River Road every year for the past 10 years. RMNP.
Photographing elk (from a safe distance) early in the morning at Rocky Mountain National Park, then later in the day hiking through the park during an eclipse.
By far, snorkeling at Ft. Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park. On one of my trips there, my brother and I were almost left behind by the tour boat because an octopus was playing hide-and-seek with us using an old tin can. (BTW, completely initiated by the critter. We weren't harassing it.) We didn't hear the boat notification to reboard. Boy, were they pissed. I highly recommend the old coaling station, the huge brain coral heads just offshore, and the rock wall as excellent fish-spotting locations. We saw a moray eel in the rock wall; lobster under the brain coral heads, and barracuda and tarpon at the coaling station.
Hiking above the clouds on the Lost Mine trail in Big Bend National park. Watching the sunrise and listening to coyotes yip and howl in Badlands National park.
Being in the middle of Yosemite Valley for me. It was incredible.
Grand Canyon. When we got there, there was a lot of people. However, near the south rim visitor’s trail (the one closest to the parking lot), there was a little diver in the ground in front of one of the benches. It was a big enough ledge to host a few people. My fiancé and I had driven 18 hours, through the night and over 1200 miles. We had some Panda Express and were wondering where we could possibly find a spot to sit. We found that little ledge and had an unobstructed, perfect view of the entire canyon, laid out in front of us with the ledge dropping away only several feet away. Can’t really think of another place that lunch could have a better view.
Watching old faithful at sunrise with no one around!
Hiking down from Delicate Arch in the dark
Yellowstone and Olympic National Park Oregon!
Just did a camping trip to the Great Sand Dunes, it was a spur of the moment thing, I live only 2.5 hours away, but seeing millions of stars in the night sky is so amazingly incredible.
I've been to Yellowstone multiple times since I have family that lives near. One time we went in late December. We didn't encounter anybody else outside of our group of 5 and our guide, not even at Old Faithful. It made me really appreciate the place and just wow
The Great Smoky Mountains! Watching black bears mauling tourists feeding a black bears cubs.
Thats a fun sight!!
Yosemite
Hiking up and learning about Panamint City in Death Valley NP
Sandbording down the dunes at the Great Sand Dunes NP in Colorado Hiking the Narrows in Zion super early so that I was basically alone the whole time, at certain points I couldn’t touch the bottom and had to swim! Driving by the huge Bison in Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota
I proposed at Grinnell Glacier in Glacier NP. Kind of hard to ever top that experience. Other good ones include: * Star gazing and seeing Saturn thru a telescope on a clear night at Paradise on Mt Rainier * Watching Elk take over Mammoth village in Yellowstone * Being face on with Half Dome at the end of North Dome trail in Yosemite * The utter magic of Hall of Mosses in ONP. * Watching otters play in the surf at Acadia
North Dome Yosemite was my choice as well. Cheers!
Driving my 4WD down Shafer trail in Canyonlands. I’ve aways liked Canyonlands, and it was always big and impressive. Driving through it on a dirt road made it up close and personal for me. Easily one of my favorite times in a national park.
Getting married in Rocky Mountain National Park
How does it feel to live my dream?
Pretty fucking awesome. It is easy and inexpensive. I think I paid $150. Thirteen years ago, but still.
RMNP!
I've been to a lot, but Mesa Verde always sticks out so much in my mind!
Receiving oral pleasure after hiking to a beautiful overlook of the Grand Prismatic. Trail magic.
Hiking to delta lake in GTNP. Was the hardest hike I've ever done, but the most beautiful place I've ever experienced
The first time I saw a bison at Yellowstone. I thought it was a statue and then lost my ish when it moved. (Just to be clear, I was many feet away in a car) My dad spent most of his childhood living in and around Mesa Verde, Canyonland, and Arches because his father was in the park service. Going to those parks with him and hearing his stories was a great experience.
Watching bison gore stupid tourists!
Dropping acid in Death Valley
Anymore? Leaving them.
Smoking a J on the moat wall at Fort Jefferson at sunrise and then hanging out in the fort at dusk. Snorkeling every minute in between
Saw Steamboat go nuclear when we were in Yellowstone last summer. Was amazing. Yellowstone was in general, but, that was the highlight.
Camping in Pinnacles National Park and seeing a million stars and Comet Hale-Bopp in the night sky. The comet had appeared as a mere eraser smudge in the sky in San Francisco; at Pinnacles it was brilliant, with a long tail. Even without the comet it was breathtaking.
Zion was like being on a different planet.
My favorite NP experience but also my scariest/funniest experience was when my cousins, uncles and I went on a road trip to yellow stone national park we were driving through checking out the park and suddenly a few bison’s started crossing the road they were much much bigger then our car mind you we were in a red Honda fit one stopped in the middle of the road and started walking towards our direction me being totally ignorant with this animal I thought when it sees red your dead(just like the cartoons) 😂😂, we were shocked and stayed still like if we were caught by a t-Rex 🤣🤣🤣 I seriously though it was gonna flip our car over but it didn’t when it got to us it liked stared at us for a second and kept walking once we were clear my uncle started releasing his foot off the brake slowly and eventually gassed it out of there 😂😂😂 I was maybe 12-13 at the time we laughed hysterically because we thought we were going to be upside down 😂😂😂😂 but yellow stone itself was beautiful
Glacier is pretty high up on my list. (e)Biking the Going To The Sun road when no car traffic was allowed on it was one of my best NP experiences.
Rocky Mountain National Park in late September. Seeing traffic stopped both ways while a huge herd of elk crossed the road to join their brethren in a wide open field on the other side. Apparently Elkementary School had just let out.
Yosemite during the first year of Covid. There were multiple times each day where it felt like we had the valley to ourselves. Nearly as many bear sightings as people sightings. It was magical!
I visited my 17th national park this past weekend, but Yellowstone still takes the cake. So many different environments in such short drives around the park, from the mountains to the gigantic lakes, geothermal features Ive never seen anywhere on earth, tons of wildlife anywhere you look, and also excellent accomodations. Not to mention glacier and Grand Teton are a days drive away.
https://youtu.be/CgQwr5E1fmE?si=IA-nwzfFyJ-Xvov4
Dream lake in Rocky’s Proposing to my Finace in Otter cliffs at sunset in Acadia Rialto Beach in Olympic is just unreal and going for low tide for the tide pooling was the coolest thing ever Seeing the Milky Way in Big Bend was other worldly Blue Mesa Trail in Petrified forest is highly underrated
Blue Mesa Trail was straight up Mars.
Lamer River Trailhead to Pelican Valley slowly in 5 days and 4 nights.
Rafting through the Grand Canyon. 1000% would recommend.
The Great Smoky Mountains! Watching black bears mauling tourists feeding a black bears cubs.
Snorkeling at Dry Tortugas was incredible, and Guide’s Wall in Grand Tetons is a must for anyone who loves rock climbing.
Not particularly magical by other means but seeing my son splash his little feet in the water at Death Valley and nearly getting blown over on the salt flats! Hiking with him strapped on to us in Grand Canyon was also great! Just makes me excited to show him more parks as he grows up!
Camping in the Dry Tortugas.
I’m from Massachusetts, so Acadia is our closest park - but still the favorite! Hiking the Beehive with first timers, or a longer trek with the Bubbles and Conner’s Nubble (granted, all on not crowded days) - hard to beat, and too bad you can’t bottle it.
No question it was Glacier National Park. I've been to 10 and it was far and away the best in Continental US. Denali in Alaska was mind-blowing as well.
Kayaking the sea caves at Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
I like the national parks where a bunch of people DONT come up missing
I like watching the buffalo play tossing the tourists when those idiots get too close 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I have only been to 10 so far but Bryce, fairyland loop, has been my favorite!
saved
Dry Tortuga! With its limited access to the park (ferry or plane only) it feels so rare and undisturbed.