What 5 National Parks do you..... - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

campermom · 08-31-2006, 08:55 PM

What 5 National Park Areas do you want to see some day?

Great Smoky Mountains
Grand Tetons/Yellowstone
Arches/Bryce/Zion/Grand Canyon
Glacier
Katmai/Denali

If I'm lucky, I might get to one in the next 5 years. The rest might have to wait til retirement. You've got to leave something to do, right?

Shannon · 08-31-2006, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by campermom

What 5 National Park Areas do you want to see some day?

Great Smoky Mountains
Grand Tetons/Yellowstone
Arches/Bryce/Zion/Grand Canyon
Glacier
Katmai/Denali

If I'm lucky, I might get to one in the next 5 years. The rest might have to wait til retirement. You've got to leave something to do, right?

I've seen Great Smokey Mountains, Zion and Grand Canyon but would love to go back to all three as all three trips were "whirlwind" trips with Justin's family when we were dating.

Gotta do a cruise someday and hope that might be a way to see a bit of Glacier, Denali, etc.

Want to do a full blown camping and backpacking trip in Yellowstone but never have the forethought and scheduling ability to plan it out far enough in advance.

Want to go back to Big Bend National Park, and to visit Guadalupe Mountains NP for the first time. I could go to Big Bend every weekend if I lived "nearby" (eg. Fort Stockton...hehe...not exactly a short drive, but hey, Texans go the distance to get to places they want to be!)

I'd like to go back to Zion National Park, that was another whirlwind tour that should've had at least a week devoted to it.

And Rocky Mountain National Park I've been to a half dozen times, but if I were rich, I would live in Estes Park and practically live in the park boundaries due to spending so much time there photographing, wildlife-watching, etc.

Ah, to dream...

ploddinTod · 09-03-2006, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shannon

Gotta do a cruise someday and hope that might be a way to see a bit of Glacier, Denali, etc.

We did a cruise of Alaska's Inside Passage from Seattle, which we felt was a once-in-a-lifetime splurge. We didn't have time to attach the Denali portion onto our trip.

But, oh, the beauty......glaciers, ice bergs, whales, bald eagles, sea otters, waterfalls. The list goes on.

Motorman355 · 09-04-2006, 08:26 AM

1. Crater Lake
2. Glacier
3. Grand Canyon
4. Hawai`i Volcanoes
5. Yosemite

boyntonhaus · 10-02-2006, 09:32 PM

This summer did Wind Cave, Mt Rushmore, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Put 4300 miles on the suburban! Had a great time. Yellowstone is incredible! Took my 2 teenage sons. they loved it. So did the wife. Can't wait to add some more to my list. The Utah canyons area sounds like an interesting place.

rockhill · 10-03-2006, 10:34 AM

1. Dry Tortogas
2. Crater Lake
3. Denali
4. Yellowstone
5. Grand Canyon

in no particular order...

Cajun Camper · 10-03-2006, 02:25 PM

After watching the Travel Channel this weekend, I want to do the 10 mile hike into the Grand Canyon to the Havasu Falls, where only 2% of the visitors go. You can go year round, the water is a constant 72 degrees and there is also a built in hot springs as jacuzzi.

http://images.google.com/images?q=ha...mages&ct=title

http://www.havasufalls.net/

riverrat · 10-03-2006, 07:40 PM

ITA Havasu Falls is definetly one of my most dreamed of destinations! It is absolutley breathtaking in pictures. I can only imagine what its like to actually be there. (((sigh)))

toejam · 10-05-2006, 07:47 AM

I usually avoid national parks because of all the regulations and the crowds. My favorite national parks are Current River/Jacks Fork in Missouri and Buffalo River in Arkansas because you don't pay to get in and don't need a permit to camp.

There are 2 I'd really love to see - Glacier for backpacking, and I'd like to kayak out to Channel Islands for wilderness camping and exploring.

And there are a few I've been to but would like to go back - Mount Rainier to climb the peak, I spent a week in Yellowstone and saw none of the backcountry, and I drove through Zion quickly and didn't get to hike.

Grand Tetons is maybe the most beautiful place I've been.

Texastrooper · 11-07-2006, 12:13 AM

Still on my wish list:
- Yellowstone
- Glacier
- The ones in Alaska like Denali and Katmai
- The ones on Hawai
- Crater lake
and many many more

Seen so far:
- Yosemite
- Death Valley
- Joshua Tree
- Zion
- Bryce
- Capitol Reef
- Arches
- Mesa Verde
- Canyon Lands
- Grand Canyon
- Big Bend
- Guadalupe Mountains
- Carlsberg Caverns
- Shenandoah
- Acadia

tinneyr · 11-07-2006, 01:55 AM

Only 5? I can't just stop at 5. This past summer we took a trip up to Acadia National Park. We considered it a non active vacation since I was on leave from the army and had not been doing my normal training routine. It of course was beautiful. Our favorites though are out west. Anything Utah. We love the canyons and views and seem to just keep going back to Zion, Bryce, Arches, Escalante... Everytime we see something new. As far as a list goes, it would be great to go and see the classics such as Yellowstone, Tetons, Ranier, Glacier, Olympic. The goal of course is to see them all. Next stop - Back to Big Bend.

DanInSA · 01-20-2007, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shannon

Gotta do a cruise someday and hope that might be a way to see a bit of Glacier, Denali, etc.

Do you mean Glacier Bay NP? Glacier NP is in Montana, on the Canadian border, and part of the Glacier/Waterton Lakes International Peace Park. It is an awesome place, especially to a native Texan like myself. It was my first "real" backpacking trip and I loved it so much I was hooked. A buddy and I did a 37 hour straight car ride, 5 day hike, and 37 hour car ride back a couple of years ago. I met fear when we were camping alone one night, in September of a poor vegetation year, and we could see a bear roaming down the hillside for food - from our tent! The valley we were in was the bear hotspot for the entire park at the time. We even had a ranger hike in during the same day just to put signs on the trees warning of black and grizzly bears in the area. Despite being scared out of my mind every time I heard something move, I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

By the way, longtime lurker, love the website.

Shannon · 01-20-2007, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanInSA

Do you mean Glacier Bay NP? Glacier NP is in Montana, on the Canadian border, and part of the Glacier/Waterton Lakes International Peace Park. It is an awesome place, especially to a native Texan like myself. It was my first "real" backpacking trip and I loved it so much I was hooked. A buddy and I did a 37 hour straight car ride, 5 day hike, and 37 hour car ride back a couple of years ago. I met fear when we were camping alone one night, in September of a poor vegetation year, and we could see a bear roaming down the hillside for food - from our tent! The valley we were in was the bear hotspot for the entire park at the time. We even had a ranger hike in during the same day just to put signs on the trees warning of black and grizzly bears in the area. Despite being scared out of my mind every time I heard something move, I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

By the way, longtime lurker, love the website.

First off, WELCOME ABOARD! Always glad to have a lurker come out of the shadows

Good catch on Glacier NP vs. Glacier Bay... truth be told, I'd be thrilled to visit either, so they're appropriately muddled together in my brain. Sadly, I've never even been to Yellowstone or a real visit to the Grand Canyon (vs. flying over it, "driving by" it en route elsewhere, etc.)