When planning a trip, particularly one with reservations made in advance, I include what I label as “buffer days”. I try to have one of those per week of travel. Today was one of those, and we chose to go and do additional hikes in Cuyahoga N.P. We started off with the Beaver Marsh,… Continue reading Cuyahoga National Park, day 2
Tag: National Park
Cuyahoga National Park, OH
Today, we visit our first National Park during this trip. This one is very different from other National Parks we have visited, because it is set in an urban environment. It feels weird to be driving through residential neighborhoods to go from one trailhead to another. We started off at the visitor center, where we… Continue reading Cuyahoga National Park, OH
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde was a pleasant surprise. In our final planning phase, we found at that we were a bit early – still the tail end of winter at 7000 ft elevation… so the three “Cliff Dwelling” tours season only starts on May 6th. We were resigned that we might not see much. But much to… Continue reading Mesa Verde National Park
Canyonlands National Park
More Canyons… Canyonlands is really 3 parks in one due to the land masses being separated by two rivers that merge inside the park boundaries, the Green river and the Colorado River. We visited the “Island in the sky” section, which is the most developed part of the park. The Needles section consists mostly of… Continue reading Canyonlands National Park
Arches National Park
Unlike Capitol Reef, which is a small park, this one is a big and popular one. Not only is there an entrance gate as expected, but you also need a “timed entry vehicle pass” to even get as far as the visitor center. This was a miss in my planning, as this is National Park… Continue reading Arches National Park
Capital Reef National Park
The name seemed weird, because this is an inland National Park, but it makes the point that this was an ocean bed in prehistoric times. This is a park that’s easily done in one day. It has a nice scenic drive, and the scenery on this one is a bit like being in a one-sided… Continue reading Capital Reef National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Of all the parks we have visited, Claudette and I both agree that this one is the most amazing. We really looked forward to Grand Canyon, and were not disappointed. And Bryce is a Canyon too, but the color palette here is just amazing. Grand Canyon is stunning for its depth and width, but Bryce… Continue reading Bryce Canyon National Park
Zion National Park
We had a spectacular drive from the south entrance right up curvy roads and then back out at the east entrance of Zion National Park. The weather wasn’t nice enough for us to do any hikes, but most times it provided dramatic clouds to enhance our pictures. There is a part of the park that… Continue reading Zion National Park
Death Valley National Park
There is a lot to say about Death Valley, but the four highlights are Hair raising elevation changes and tight hairpin curves driving the RV towards the Park’s west entrance Death Valley holds three important records: Lowest point in Western Hemisphere at minus 282 feet Hottest location on earth (record high temperature at 137°F) Driest… Continue reading Death Valley National Park
A twofer: Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park
Our home base for these two parks is Visalia CA. During our preparation we had planned on doing one of these parks a day, due to winter road closures. we were stunned and elated when we were told at the entrance gate that the road between the two parks was now opened, and that the… Continue reading A twofer: Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park