National park

[look 171]

What's your favorite NP? We have been to many on the west coast including western Canada. I have yet seen Arcadia or the Great Smokie Mt. On my bucket list.

[pwd72s]

Only one National Park in Oregon...kinda boring. (edit) Crater lake...the deepest lake in the USA.

[look 171]

I want to hear about the smaller ones only because ones we been have little to no crowds unlike Yosemite now but 35 years ago when I was a kid.

[mjohnson]

Death Valley is certainly not small, but it's very uncrowded once you get away from the two or three big "centers". It's our favorite, and IMHO the only reason to visit Las Vegas.

The big Utah parks in the winter are pretty empty. Some attractions at Zion are inaccessible from snow and ice, but Bryce Canyon in the snow is really awesome (and cold - the rim's over 8k feet if I recall correctly). With lower visitor volume you can still drive into places that other times of the year require shuttle busses.

What struck me about Glacier and Teton is that those mountains look like mountains! With a few exceptions the ones in CO are just taller bumps on ridges. If you asked my 9yo to draw a mountain she surely wouldn't draw Mt Evans (CO) - it'd be pointy like the Alps/Teton/etc... Teton was a zoo however after things opened back up in 2021.

(Acadia's on my bucket list - I as well haven't done much east of the Mississippi, besides Indiana Dunes and Sleeping Bear Dunes which were "local" to me growing up)

[Mike Andrew]

Small and no crowds? Only one comes to mind - Isle Royale - least visited national park. Maybe because the only way in is by boat or float plane.

[GH85Carrera]

Brice Canyon is wonderful. Not overly crowded.

Just get in a car in southern Utah, and drive a little. Stunning national parks are everywhere.

I have done Acadia in Maine, and the great Smokies are wonderful.



One of my favorite photos of my car in the Smoky Mountains area.

I would say my wife and I loved arches national park the most. After a most of a day there, we headed to Mexican Hat, Utah. It is a beautiful road, the comes to cliff, and a very slow winding very tight cars only, no trucks, motorhomes, or cars with trailers allowed decent to the valley floor. And a short drive to Mexican hat. We had motel reservations ahead of time, as there is just one motel there, next to a river. We filled up at one of the just two gas stations in town. The next day drive through the most spectacular parts of the USA, Monument Valley.

Also in northern Utah is dinosaur national park. If you are into dinosaurs, it is really cool, but rather crowded.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

We had motel reservations ahead of time, as there is just one motel there, next to a river. We filled up at one of the just two gas stations in town. The next day drive through the most spectacular parts of the USA, Monument Valley. .

Did the same last year on adventure bikes. One of the wild burro's that hang out at the fence bit my friends butt after we warned him twice. Best laugh of the trip.

[id10t]

Pennekamp ...

[Tobra]

Glacier Park, hands down.

If'n you seek smaller crowds, state park might be the ticket, DL Bliss in California, or Camp Wainapanapa in Hawaii for example

[glewis80SC]

Yellowstone, Tetons, Zion and Bryce...went to Redwoods last year and loved it

[craigster59]

Sequoia/King's Canyon and Lassen.

[GH85Carrera]

If you want a park that is beautiful, and really don't like crowds, Dinosaur National Monument in the Utah side is ideal. It is a bit north of Vernal, UT.

There is a small open range road that you drive up. Drive carefully, as we had to stop and wait as a small herd of cattle were in the road, and I had to drive through cattle manure and slow for some deer.

We then took a one mile hike to get to the lookout point for the photo above. We saw one other couple. So a total of two other people in the park. Not much of a crowd.

Then go on over to the Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado. Yes, there are two different Dinosaur National Monuments. The one in Utah has no dinosaurs bones to see, just beautiful scenery. The one in Colorado has a great museum, and the main display is a side of a mountain still with bones in the ground. They have a building built over it. You can touch a real fossil, still in the ground near the end of the tour.

The crowds are typical of popular national parks, but nothing like the Grand Canyon north or south rim.

[GothingNC]

I enjoyed visiting Denali a few times. Epic scenery !

[matthewb0051]

I went kicking and screaming when the Army moved me from Hawaii to El Paso, Texas. However, it was a great place to live and close to several national parks and lots of other cool stuff. We went to these:

Carlsbad Caverns
White Sands
Grand Canyon

[flatbutt]

I rode the Duc through Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park. What a treat!

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I rode the Duc through Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park. What a treat!

I drove my 911 up to the park. Be prepared to huff and puff trying to breath just walking around. Altitude will do that to flat landers.

It is pretty cool. My 911 felt like someone had hooked a trailer to it at 12,000 feet. Estes Park is just outside the park. Neat old hotel to see or even stay at. We ate lunch on the grounds on the 100th anniversary of the hotel's opening, on the 4th of July.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I drove my 911 up to the park. Be prepared to huff and puff trying to breath just walking around. Altitude will do that to flat landers.

It is pretty cool. My 911 felt like someone had hooked a trailer to it at 12,000 feet. Estes Park is just outside the park. Neat old hotel to see or even stay at. We ate lunch on the grounds on the 100th anniversary of the hotel's opening, on the 4th of July.

That happened to me on Pikes Peak and Mt Evans. Plus being absolutely freezing.!

[paulitr6]

30 years ago in May my wife and I got married in Rocky Mountain National Park
I guess were about due for a visit.

[Seahawk]

So much to see. I have got to get back out there:

[GH85Carrera]

One bit of advice, if you are a certified geezer and over age 65, go to the National Park service and get a park pass. For over 65 they are free. I have one I keep in my 911. I plan to use it this summer as I go through Joshua Tree park.

You will have to show your ID to match the pass, to get in. At Acadia park in Maine, we had gotten out of the car several times, and we locked my wife's purse in the trunk. I was still a puppy then and under 65, so we used her pass. We drove most of the park, and then came to a gate. The ranger scanned the pass and had to see my wife's driver's license. So I stopped the traffic as I got out, opened the trunk of the 911, and got her the purse, and she produce the ID. Off we went. So keep the ID handy close to the pass that hangs on the rear view mirror.



I guess if you are under 65, a park pass is a good thing, but you have to pay a small fee. Much easier than paying at each park.