Tag Archives: parks

View from Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah

Can You Socially Distance at a National Park This Summer?

As parks across the U.S. gradually reopened this spring, some took measures to maintain physical distancing between visitors—Yosemite and Rocky Mountain National Parks, for instance, now require reservations in order to limit the number of daily parkgoers. That’s a good first step, but there are additional strategies to utilize if you want to keep largely to yourself in the most popular parks. Remember that there are more than 10,000 national and state parks in this country. We’ve always recommended going off the beaten path, and these days that could be important not only for your enjoyment of the quieter back roads and emptier vistas, but for your health. Just be sure to read the CDC’s guidance on domestic travel, use “Every State’s Coronavirus and Travel Information” to find out about quarantines and restrictions in the places you plan to visit, and learn what’s open and closed in each national park via the NPS website.

Wake up early, and explore in the evenings too.

If you can’t bear the thought of skipping an iconic spot that’s on your bucket list—say, Yosemite Falls or the South Rim of the Grand Canyon—it will be essential to time your visit right. One traveler who visited eight national parks this summer told us that mask-wearing was sporadic and crowds common at top attractions and on popular trails, including Yellowstone’s narrow boardwalks. The earlier you get up and out the door, the fewer people you’ll see on the roads and trails. Know the typical flow of traffic in the park you’re visiting. Most people seeing Bryce Canyon National Park, for example, drive through it from north to south; if you start early, you’ll stay ahead of the crowds the entire day. At night, check out Bryce’s amphitheater by the light of the moon. It’s magical, and likely few people will be there.

Use the right park entrance.

Many parks have entrances that are less busy than others. In Yosemite, for instance, far fewer people approach from the east (a route that is open only in summer) than from the west. Be strategic about which entrance you use, keeping in mind that some may still be closed due to COVID-19 restrictions; you can find details on what’s open and what’s closed in each park via the National Park Service. Reader Amy Evers and her family chose the northeast entrance for their recent trip to Yellowstone, both because it’s the least-used access point into that park and because it’s the most convenient to wolf viewing in the Lamar Valley.

Don’t neglect state parks.

Near any national park, you’re likely to find one or more state parks that are nearly as spectacular, but less visited. Utah’s Goblin Valley State Park, for example, has a landscape like nowhere else on earth, with spooky hoodoos shaped like toadstools and witches and alien invaders. These hoodoos (thin spires of rock with curvaceous profiles) are quite different from the ones that have made Bryce Canyon famous: The former have rounded edges, as if they’ve melted into shape, while the latter are more rigidly striated. But even my well-traveled, adventurous Utah relatives have never been to Goblin Valley. This part of southern Utah is so remote that the nearby Henry Mountains were the last range to be mapped in the lower 48 states, back in 1872.

Take the road less traveled.

Rather than sticking to the interstates, plot your route along smaller roads; even if it adds time to the drive, you’ll likely be rewarded with better views (and maybe emptier bathrooms at the rest stops). If you’re navigating between Utah’s Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon, for example, taking Scenic Byway 12 adds less than an hour to your route. The most spectacular section of this road runs from Tropic to Torrey, with several miles of pavement that cling to the knife-edge of a mountain ridge with gorgeous canyons spilling down on either side dotted with scrubby pines, earning it the moniker “the Hogsback.” Byway 12 also winds through Capitol Reef National Park (one of the country’s few national parks that you can visit for free, since the highway runs right through it). Do be cognizant of local residents’ feelings about outsiders, though; while some communities are ready to welcome visitors, others are concerned that such an influx could overload their meager health-care services.

Avoid spots where people tend to congregate.

That means avoiding the commercial areas and visitor centers, and generally limiting your time indoors as much as possible. Instead, pack picnics, research trails before you leave home, download maps to your phone, and forego the usual souvenir T-shirt shopping session. Another good reason to come prepared: The number of available rangers varies by park and could be much lower than usual, and their Covid-era duties could be curtailed too. We heard from a traveler that rangers in one park were stationed in open-air booths to help visitors from a safe distance, but in another were much harder to find—which meant there was no one to help when rules-flouting visitors set up camp on restricted grounds or brought dogs into off-limits areas

Choose dirt over pavement.

Many park visitors barely leave their vehicles, doing so only long enough to snap a photo and move on to the next marquee sight. No matter where you are, the farther you head down a trail, the fewer people you’ll see. And it’s a national park, after all, so it’s virtually guaranteed to be scenic.

Seek out private accommodations.

Read Is This Hotel Safe? for guidance on how to choose the cleanest place to spend the night. A number of ranches out West have standalone cabins or cottages that naturally lend themselves to social distancing, and they are devising ways to keep meals and activities as private as possible. One family of readers from the D.C. area took a July road trip to parks in the Northeast, and we’ve rounded up more tips and strategies if you’re thinking of taking an RV trip yourself.

If you’re interested in a luxury road trip to see national or state parks, Ask Wendy who the right travel specialist is to plan your trip.

 

 

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a wooden walkway over a stream in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. Photo: NPS

Hike Trails and Stroll Through Gardens Without Leaving Your House

Staying home is the safe thing to do right now, frustrating as it is to have to hunker down indoors now that spring is here. So we’ve found ways to help you connect with the great outdoors—all over the globe. Take a break from the anxiety and escape to one of the parks, gardens, or wilderness trails listed below. Or, if you’re in need of a culture boost, check out our ideas for virtual museum visits, landmark tours, and live concerts. Know of other cool virtual outdoor adventures to keep us travelers happy? Tell us about them in the comments.

National Parks

Google’s virtual experience Hidden Worlds of the National Parks is very cool. Through a combination of immersive videos, 360-degree tours, and interactive photos, park rangers share the secrets of five U.S. national parks and the animals that live there: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico; Kenai Fjords, Alaska; Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Bryce Canyon, Utah; and Dry Tortugas, Florida. In one video, viewers fly with the bats out of Carlsbad Caverns; in Dry Tortugas, they “swim” through a shipwreck.

Hiking Adventures

To get yourself moving, though, see how far you can get on the Appalachian Trail…virtually, of course. Walk the Distance is an app that tracks your steps and applies them to the 2,000-plus-mile “AT” that stretches between Georgia and Maine. As you get farther along the trail, you’ll unlock checkpoints and see photos of your location. You can even see where your friends are so that you can motivate each other to keep moving. The app is available for iPhone and includes a few other routes as well, such as the Boston Marathon and some national park trails.

The YouTube channel Tall Sky Walker has a playlist of virtual outdoor hikes. The idea is to watch them as you’re on the treadmill, so that you feel like you’re actually on a wilderness trail instead of stuck within four walls. The scenery is gorgeous: a shoreline stroll around Moraine Lake in Banff; a snowy walk through Oregon’s Silver Falls State Park; a waterfall-to-waterfall hike also in Oregon. Even without a treadmill, these videos are worth the watch; they’re relaxing and serene, and yet surprisingly refreshing.

Train Trips, Drives, and Bike Rides

You can find plenty of virtual road trips and bike rides on YouTube. Virtual Road Trip’s videos compress drives through locales including the Delaware River Valley and the Hudson River Valley. The 4K Relaxation Channel features a bike journey along the California coast and a five-hour drive along Scenic Byway 12 in Utah (which is part of the American West you might not know about, but should).

Prefer to be a bit lazier? Sit back and soak in the Norwegian landscape as it crawls by in Slow TV’s seven-hour video of the train ride from Bergen to Oslo or the nine-hour train to the Arctic Circle, which you can watch in each season: winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Gorgeous Gardens

Gardens are getting into the game too. Stroll among the flowers of the United States Botanical Garden; walk through the trees of Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Rockford, Illinois; or feel fancy in the manicured park and gardens of the 18th-century Château de Bouges in France’s Loire Valley.

And since the coronavirus can’t stop cherry blossom season, you’ll want to find ways to watch those beautiful blooms. Cherryblossomwatch.com is an extensive website tracking the cherries in Washington, D.C. The National Park Service has a Bloom Watch too. If you have the patience, you can watch them grow live (and slowly) in Macon, Georgia, via a webcam partnership from Wesleyan College and Visit Macon. Or to feel a little immersed in the pink, head to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which has a virtual walk-through of its Japanese Hill-and-Pond garden and its Cherry Esplanade. (You can also explore other parts of the BBG via Google street view.)

Zoos and Aquariums

If you crave something a little “wilder,” plenty of zoos and aquariums are coming to the rescue. For instance, every weekday at 3pm ET, the Cincinnati Zoo’s Facebook page will feature different animals in a “Home Safari” video, in which zookeepers will share fun facts (hippos don’t actually swim!) and include a home activity for the kids.

Then there are all the live cams that are popping up. Monterey Bay Aquarium is giving everyone constant companionship with various video streams. Choose from the jelly cam, the coral reef cam, the penguin cam, shark cam, an open sea cam, and others. You can even gaze out over the Monterey Bay itself. Similarly, the San Diego Zoo is putting its animals in the spotlight. Get to know their apes, koalas, polar bears, and other adorable denizens. Watching them is addictive.

 

Be a smarter traveler: Read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter @wendyperrin, and Instagram @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

mountain view in Yosemite National Park, california

Avoiding Crowds in National Parks—Even at the Busiest Times

The U.S. park system is a national treasure that many parents want to share with their kids. But when you’re beholden to the school calendar, you’re forced to visit these parks at their busiest times of year: summer, spring break, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and other school holidays. Thus there are crowds. But there are also strategies for avoiding them. I’ve tested out many of these tricks at numerous national parks over the years, most recently when I took my son to Yosemite for spring break. Here’s what I’ve found works best:

family resting at Mirror Lake in Yosemite national park

A quiet moment of reflection on busy Mirror Lake. Photo: Ryan Damm

Use the right park entrance.

Many parks have entrances that are less busy than others. In Yosemite, for instance, far fewer people approach from the east (a route that is open only in summer) than from the west. Be strategic about which entrance you use.

Choose inside-the-park accommodations.

The entry gates are often the worst choke points in a national park; we spent an hour in the car inching our way toward Yosemite’s Arch Rock entrance on a Sunday afternoon in April. You’ll pay a premium for accommodations inside any national park—and you’ll have to plan far in advance, as many hotels and campsites book up as soon as space becomes available—but you’ll save a ton of time by only having to enter the park once.

child at a mosaic workshop at yosemite national park

Zeke focuses at a mosaic workshop put on by the Yosemite Conservancy. Photo: Ryan Damm

Hit the iconic sights well before 9 am.

Time after time, I’ve found that even the most popular spots are nearly empty if you arrive before 9am—and ideally earlier. I know it’s difficult to get kids out the door at the crack of dawn, but prep as much as you can the night before, and consider offering an incentive if everyone’s ready on time (an afternoon ice cream?). If there are iconic sights on your hit list—Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite, Old Faithful in Yellowstone, Inspiration Point in Bryce Canyon—make a beeline to those first. By the time the crowds have descended later in the morning, you’ll be off exploring less trodden trails.

Explore in the evenings too.

Evening is less crowded than midday and can be transcendent. I once took a stroll into Bryce Canyon’s amphitheater by the light of the full moon, and it was magical. Moreover, I saw only two other people on what’s usually a busy trail in daytime.

Avoid mealtime mobs by having picnics far from commercial areas.

After the entrance gate, the largest crowd we dealt with in Yosemite was at the Village Store, a grocery and souvenir shop in Yosemite Village. I’m glad my son has a memento to remember the trip—and he loved the mosaic-making workshop that he took at the Yosemite Art Center next door. But I’m even happier that we were able to avoid Yosemite Village’s mealtime crowds by packing a picnic each day—something we were able to do because we’d booked a vacation home rental in Yosemite West, a community that is technically outside Yosemite but on the park side of the fee gates.

child hiking through a narrow rock crevice in yosemite national park

The guide dangled the promise of “a rock we can walk through” to push my five-year-old along the trail. Here, we make the tight squeeze. Photo: Ryan Damm

Hire a naturalist guide to get you truly off the beaten path.

Our guide took us on quieter trails that were alternatives to the ones we would have chosen on our own, and he made suggestions for how to spend the rest of our time in the park. He also opened my son’s eyes to this new place in a way I couldn’t have, explaining everything from the strange phenomenon of frazil ice to the culinary techniques of the Ahwahneechee people who once populated the region.  If you’re seeking a superlative national-parks itinerary and travel arrangements, complete with the most knowledgeable and engaging guides, we know who to recommend:  Just write to Ask Wendy.

Choose dirt over pavement.

Many park visitors barely leave their vehicles, doing so only long enough to snap a photo and move on to the next marquee sight. When the roads are jammed, find a place—any place—to leave your car and hit the trails. No matter where you are, the farther you walk, the fewer people you’ll see. And it’s a national park, after all, so it’s virtually guaranteed to be scenic.

child learning about native americans in Yosemite national park

Our Yosemite guide shows Zeke the bedrock mortars made by Native Americans to prepare acorns and other foods perhaps 1,000 years ago. Photo: Ryan Damm

Interview park rangers.

When there are multiple ways to get to a popular spot, ask a park ranger which option is the least crowded. For instance, there are several different routes to Mirror Lake in Yosemite Valley. Our guide took us on a trail where we passed only a few other hikers, plus two school groups gathered in a glade; by contrast, the paved path that we returned on felt like a double-wide city sidewalk on a busy afternoon.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter @wendyperrin, and Instagram @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

pink flowers and green plants blooming along a road with a mountain in the distance in Denali National Park Alaska

Your National Parks Calendar: Which Park to Visit Each Month

National parks are not just for summertime. The United States national park system offers so much diversity—climates range from tropical to subarctic, and from arid deserts to lush rainforests—that in every month of the year you can find a park worth visiting.

ASK WENDY ABOUT A NATIONAL PARKS TRIP

 

January: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho

snowy scene of hot spring steaming in winter in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park in winter. Photo: tpsdave/Pixabay

This usually crowded park is almost deserted in winter, so services are quite limited, but the wildlife viewing is amazing, and the steam and ice create stunning scenes. You can go cross-country skiing, showshoeing, and riding in snowmobiles or heated snow coaches. If you don’t score a room at the one hotel inside Yellowstone that’ll be open this winter, you can visit on a day trip from Jackson, Wyoming.

Related: Insider’s Guide to Yellowstone

February: Saguaro National Park, Arizona

Saguaro cacti, desert national park Arizona

Saguaro cacti, Arizona. Photo: samuriah/Pixabay

This park’s two sections—the Tucson Mountain District and the Rincon Mountain District—lie in the Sonoran Desert to the west and east, respectively, of the city of Tucson. The weather there is not as extreme in winter, when daytime temperatures range from the low 50s to the high 70s (it can get up to triple digits in summer). Explore its trails by foot or horse to see the continent’s largest cacti, the namesake of the park.

March: Big Bend National Park, Texas

Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park Texas

Big Bend National Park, Texas. Photo: NPS Photo/Ann Wildermuth

With three strikingly different landscapes containing canyons, rivers, desert, and mountains, this remote area has much to offer: Navigate the Rio Grande by raft or canoe, soak in hot springs, climb the Chisos Mountains for a view into Mexico, or search for rare ocelots, jaguarundis, and jaguars. The park is a mecca for birders too, with more species observed here—over 400 at last count—than in any other U.S. national park. March and April are the best times to see the cactus and wildflower blooms.

April: Yosemite National Park, California

mountain view in Yosemite National Park, california

Yosemite National Park, California. Photo: tpsdave/Pixabay

Sparkling waterfalls (which are at peak flow in springtime), massive granite walls, and a lush valley full of wildlife make Yosemite a great option for your family’s spring-break adventure. Whether you’re looking for easy day hikes or technical rock climbing, a bicycle ride along paved paths or an overnight trek into the backcountry, Yosemite fits the bill—and you can easily combine a visit there with a few days in San Francisco.

Related: Watch: How to Make Family Trips Fun

May: Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Photo: Marty Behr

It’s natural to visit these two nearly adjacent parks in a single trip: In Zion, you look up at stunning vertical peaks, while in Bryce you look down from the plateau’s rim onto hoodoos and other mystical rock formations. And they’re readily accessible, just a half-day’s drive from Las Vegas. In spring, wildflowers burst into bloom, providing a gorgeous contrast to the red, orange, and yellow stone. At this time of year, the temperatures are generally moderate and the crowds thin.

June: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Grand Canyon view of the watchtower.

The watchtower in Grand Canyon. Photo: Mike Buchheit

The peak of summer sees crowds almost as huge as the Grand Canyon itself, which is up to a mile deep and 18 miles wide; go in June and you’ll have much more breathing room, as well as access to the far less visited North Rim (which is open only from mid-May to mid-October). Ask Wendy about who can arrange helicopter flights over the canyon, mule rides down to where the rocks are 1.8 billion years old, float trips along the Colorado River, and behind-the-scenes tours of sites not accessible to ordinary travelers.

July: Glacier National Park, Montana

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo: NPS/Tim Rains

High up on the Canadian border, Glacier has a very short season: The entire Going-to-the-Sun Road (the park’s star attraction, cut into an immense, craggy cliff with amazing vistas) is only open for a few months, typically from late June to October. In July, there will still be snow, but the weather is pleasant. These days, sadly, you’ll find only a few dozen glaciers left from the 150 that were here back in 1850. There are more than 700 miles of hiking trails to choose from, some of which skirt waterfalls and glacial lakes.

August: Denali National Park, Alaska

pink flowers and green plants blooming along a road with a mountain in the distance in Denali National Park Alaska

Denali National Park, Alaska. Photo: Shutterstock

Denali is mainly a summer destination, and August sees less rain than June and July; you’ll also benefit from the long days, with up to 21 hours of light. Here you’ll find some of the greatest wildlife on earth—grizzly bears, Dall sheep, caribou, golden eagles—as well as the highest peak in North America, for which the park is named. Make one of the area’s remote wilderness lodges your base, and you can explore the park by helicopter, foot, and kayak.

Related: Insider’s Guide to Alaska

September: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park in fall, Wyoming.

Grand Teton National Park in fall, Wyoming. Photo: NPS

Autumnal foliage, warm days, cool nights, and fewer crowds make early fall a lovely time to visit Grand Teton, its jagged peaks rising straight up from the plains with no warning. Hear what sounds like the rusted hinges of a screen door in the middle of the wilderness? It’s the bugle of a male elk, its mating call during this rutting time. Don’t make Grand Teton an afterthought tacked onto your trip to Yellowstone; whether you’re interested in summiting the Grand or fly-fishing on the Snake River, there’s plenty here to keep you busy for a few days.

October: Olympic National Park, Washington

Sunset from Mt. Olympus, Olympic National Park in Washington

Sunset from Mt. Olympus, Olympic National Park, Washington. Photo: NPS

In October, the weather is usually pleasant across all three of the park’s environments: the Olympic Mountains, the temperate Hoh Rain Forest, and the rugged Pacific coastline. There may be snow at the high elevations and some rain lower down, but the waterfalls will be flowing, and the area is very lush. Sunsets also tend to be spectacular at this time of year.

November: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

volcano erupting in Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. Photo: skeeze/Pixabay

November is shoulder season on the Big Island, so both crowds and prices are down. While it’s a bit rainier on the side of the island where Hilo and the national park are located, it’s typically dry and sunny on the Kona side. When you’re done exploring the park’s two active volcanoes, there’s plenty else to do: hiking, kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling with manta rays at night, zip-lining, sampling Kona coffee, and visiting one of the world’s premier astrological observatories, atop Mauna Kea.

Related: Insider’s Guide to Big Island, Hawaii

December: Joshua Tree National Park, California

Joshua Tree National Park

Southern California is full of adventures, including a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Photo: Visit California/Myles McGuinness

It can get cold at night in December, but the days in Joshua Tree are sunny with temperatures in the 60s (versus 110 or more in summer), making it ideal for hiking, with no crowds in sight. The park has two very distinct ecosystems: the low desert of the Colorado and the high desert of the Mojave, each with its own flora and fauna. The Mojave section also has some impressive granite monoliths and rock piles. Palm Springs is less than an hour away, so you won’t have to rough it while exploring the park—unless you want to.

ASK WENDY ABOUT A NATIONAL PARKS TRIP

 

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Gros Morne Western Brook Pond fjord, Newfoundland

8 Gorgeous Canadian National Parks For Your To Do List

Canada is one of the smartest summer vacation ideas for U.S. travelers. It’s close, it’s affordable, it’s not too hot, it’s blissfully uncrowded … and it’s got more than 40 beautiful national parks and reserves. Which are the best ones to focus a trip on?  We asked that very question of our Trusted Travel Experts for Canada. Here are eight parks for your To Do list.

By Land and Sea: Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve british columbia

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, British Columbia. Photo courtesy Destination BC.

Encompassing forest, beach, ocean, and more than 100 islets along British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, it’s the miles-long stretches of sand and the numerous hikes through the lush rainforest that make Pacific Rim a favorite of Trusted Travel Expert Sheri Doyle. You can get a taste of both environments on short loop hikes from the main parking lot; Sheri also recommends the Nuu-chah-nulth Trail from the Visitors’ Center to Florencia Beach, which gives you some insight into local history as well.

Peaks Aplenty: Jasper National Park

Jasper National Park, Canadian Rockies

Jasper National Park, Canadian Rockies. Photo: Travel Alberta

Snuggled in the Canadian Rockies, Jasper isn’t undiscovered, but to Sheri it always feels far less busy than the adjacent—and more widely known—Banff National Park. Hiking and wildlife are the draws here; Sheri’s favorite short jaunt is the Path of the Glacier trail to a gorgeous glacial lake in the Mount Edith Cavell area of Jasper.

The Hidden Gem: Kootenay National Park

Kootenay National Park, Canada. Photo: Parks Canada/C. Siddal

Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. Photo: Parks Canada/C. Siddal

Even less crowded than Jasper, but with mountains no less majestic, is nearby Kootenay. The park’s Radium Hot Springs provide a secondary attraction, and the same-named town, just outside Kootenay’s border, has more affordable hotels than you’ll find in Banff.

The Big Kahuna: Banff National Park

sunshine mountain lake banff national park alberta canada

Hiking on Sunshine Mountain in Banff National Park, Alberta. Photo: Billie Cohen

This is the country’s original national park, set in the dazzlingly picturesque Rocky Mountains. Sure, it can be busy—but Trusted Travel Expert Marc Telio recommends veering off the beaten path and taking the gondola up Sunshine Mountain for a hike far from the crowds. For Mount Norquay’s via ferrata—a series of cables, ladders, and suspension bridges bolted into the side of the mountain—you don’t need any technical know-how, but you will need a healthy dose of confidence.

Picture-Postcard Vistas: Yoho National Park

Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park.

Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park. British Columbia. Photo: Parks Canada/Karin Smith

This British Columbia park’s name comes from the Cree word for awe and wonder. The impression it leaves on contemporary visitors is no less impressive, particularly in late spring at Takakkaw Falls, ones of Canada’s highest and most dramatic waterfalls. Here, Marc loves going for a peaceful paddle on startlingly crystal-clear Emerald Lake.

The World’s Highest Tide: Fundy National Park

beach at low tide in Fundy National Park Canada

Fundy National Park, New Brunswick. Photo: Parks Canada/Dale Wilson

When the tide goes out in New Brunswick’s Fundy National Park, it does so decisively: The difference between high and low tide can be as much as 50 feet—the height of a four-story building. Time it right, and you’ll literally be walking on the ocean floor, among crabs, sea snails, and other crustaceans (plus the shorebirds that stop by for a quick bite to eat).

A River Runs Through It: Nahanni National Park Reserve

Virginia Falls, Nahanni National Park, Canada

Virginia Falls, Nahanni National Park, Northern Territories. Parks Canada/Charles Blyth

Little known to the general populace, this vast and remote reserve in the Northern Territories is world-famous among whitewater rafters and kayakers, who come to paddle the Naha Dehé (the South Nahanni River). It was named among the first class of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Nahanni called “one of the most spectacular wild rivers in North America.” Rapids aren’t the only water feature here: Virginia Falls is almost twice the height of Niagara, and Nahanni’s hot springs provide a natural antidote to the sore muscles you’re sure to acquire while hiking and paddling.

The Geological Wonder: Gros Morne National Park

Fjord Boat Tour on Western Brook Pond, Gros Morne National Park Western, Canada. Photo: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

Fjord boat tour on Western Brook Pond, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland. Photo: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

It’s taken Mother Nature millions of years to create the mountains and fjords that have earned Newfoundland’s Gros Morne its UNESCO World Heritage stripes; what you see on the surface today is actually deep ocean crust and the earth’s mantle, pushed up by the geologic process of continental drift. Western Brook Pond was clearly named with characteristic Canadian understatement: This “pond” is actually a spectacular, glacier-carved fjord that occupies an area of nearly nine square miles, with waterfalls cascading 2,000 feet down its cliffs. If you go to Gros Morne, Trusted Travel Expert Jill Curran recommends getting a taste of Newfoundland humor at Anchors Aweigh, a music-and-comedy show in the town of Rocky Harbour.

bear in Banff national park canada

Bear spottings are not uncommon in parts of Banff National Park. Photo: Travel Alberta

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three sisters formation Goblin Valley State Park Utah

The American West You Don’t Know About, But Should

Year after year, families flock to the American West to show their kids the region’s knockout scenery and rugged-cowboy lifestyle. And so every summer, the Grand Canyon’s viewpoints are choked with visitors, Yellowstone’s roads are jammed by wildlife-induced rubbernecking, and the guest ranches are sold out months in advance.

We’re here with a solution: Six key strategies that will help you avoid the crowds out west. I recently employed these tactics on a 900-mile drive around Utah, discovering breathtaking parts of the state that I hadn’t seen on numerous past trips through it, and having them largely to myself.

Wake up early.

Morning in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Morning in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Photo: Brook Wilkinson

The general wisdom is that the national parks are least crowded at sunrise and sunset. But when I stopped at Sunset Point in Bryce Canyon National Park at 6:00 p.m. on a Thursday in September, there were hundreds of people swarming the overlooks. By comparison, at 8:30 the following morning I had Inspiration Point almost to myself. The earlier you get up and out the door, the fewer people you’ll see on the roads and the trails. If you follow the typical flow of traffic in a park (most people drive through Bryce from north to south, for example) but start earlier, you’ll stay ahead of the crowds the entire day.

Sunset in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Sunset in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Photo: Brook Wilkinson

Seek out state parks.

Goblin Valley State Park Utah

Goblin Valley State Park, Utah. Photo: Brook WIlkinson

I uncovered plenty of spots that would easily earn national park status for their natural beauty—if only they didn’t face such stiff competition (Utah already has five national parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands). Goblin Valley State Park is just such a spot: It has a landscape like nowhere else on earth, with spooky hoodoos shaped like toadstools and witches and alien invaders. These hoodoos (thin spires of rock with curvaceous profiles) are quite different from the ones that have made Bryce Canyon famous: The former have rounded edges, as if they’ve melted into shape, while the latter are more rigidly striated. But even my well-traveled, adventurous Utahn relatives have never been to Goblin Valley. When I visited a few weeks ago to go canyoneering, I ran into fewer than a dozen other people in the park. This part of southern Utah is so remote that the Henry Mountains I could see in the distance were the last mountain range to be mapped in the lower 48 states, back in 1872.

Take the road less traveled.

The Castle, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Photo: National Park Service

The Castle, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Photo: NPS Photo

Google Maps will tell you that the fastest route from Arches National Park to Bryce Canyon or Zion is via I-70 and Highway 89. What it won’t tell you is that an alternate route, Scenic Byway 12, is one of just 31 designated “All-American Roads” in the United States. The detour adds less than an hour to your route—though we’d campaign for spending a lot more time enjoying the sights along the way. The most spectacular section runs from Tropic to Torrey, with several miles of pavement that cling to the knife-edge of a mountain ridge with gorgeous canyons spilling down on either side dotted with scrubby pines, earning it the moniker “the Hogsback.”

This route will also take you through Capitol Reef National Park (one of the country’s few national parks that you can visit for free, since the highway runs right through it).  There are a number of hikes you can do inside the park, and orchards of peach, apple, cherry, and apricot trees where you can eat your fill for free (or take a to-go bag for a nominal fee left in an honor box). Capitol Reef has a bit more foliage than other parts of this dry desert, and I found the contrast of deep green growth and rose-colored rock to be particularly striking.

Stay a while in smaller towns.

Burr Trail Outpost Boulder Utah

Burr Trail Outpost, Boulder, Utah. Photo: Brook Wilkinson

It’s tempting to make a trip out west all about the driving—the distances are vast, the small towns dotted between the geologic wonders seemingly unremarkable. At least, that’s what you’ll think if you arrive in the evening, check into a motel for a night’s sleep, and hit the road again the next morning. But if you make these communities a destination in their own right, spending enough time to scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find they’re as rich in character as the parks are in natural beauty.

Take the tiny town of Boulder, Utah, for example. Blink and you’ll miss it—literally—with just a smattering of commerce along Highway 12 indicating that you’ve reached, and then quickly passed, Boulder. The local population is so small that the elementary school has an enrollment of seven kids (and four teachers, making this parent of a kindergartener envious of all that undivided attention). But if you stop in to the Burr Trail Outpost, you’ll start to understand what makes this town tick: The work of dozens of local artists—pottery, textiles, metalwork, photography, and much more—fills the shelves, indicating the many creative types who have found the area’s beauty a reliable muse, and who now live side-by-side with the Mormon ranchers who settled Boulder. (As for that drip coffee and stale muffin you were expecting out here in nowheresville? Try a butternut squash mango smoothie, a fresh cinnamon roll, or a macchiato instead.) A few doors down is Hell’s Backbone Grill, a nationally acclaimed restaurant run by two female chefs and based on Buddhist values. Most importantly, the food is fresh (from the restaurant’s own farm a few miles away) and darn good, and that is a rarity in these parts. Also in Boulder is the Anasazi State Park Museum, on the grounds of an 11th-century Ancestral Puebloan village, reminding visitors that human history is as vital a marker on the surroundings as the effects of wind and water are on the landscape.

Create your own ranch experience.

Cougar Ridge Lodge, Utah

Cougar Ridge Lodge, Utah. Photo: Brook Wilkinson

If you’re yearning to get your kids comfortable in a saddle but the guest ranches are booked solid during school vacations—or you want a bit more privacy than the typical guest ranches offer, with their group activities and meals—consider the Cougar Ridge Lodge. Though it’s more cowboy estate than working ranch, the property has horse stables and a riding arena for lessons, and the owner can arrange guided horseback trips through the red rock country, as well as ATV tours, winemaking lessons, photography classes, and boating on Lake Powell. Rather than conforming to a dude ranch’s timetable, here the schedule is all your own. Cougar Ridge is enough of a secret that if you book one of the lodge’s four master suites, you’re likely to have the accompanying kitchen, great room, exercise area, and spa area all to yourself; it’s both grand and homey, as if a wealthy aunt who fancied herself a cowgirl had thrown you the keys to her country spread.

Go in fall or spring.

Chances are that you’ll want to hit a few of the west’s iconic spots as well, so we recommend traveling during the shoulder seasons to avoid the height-of-summer masses of tourists. In Utah, that’s October, November, February, and March, when temperatures are mild enough that you can spend the whole day outside (though nights are quite chilly in the high desert, so bring layers), but the crowds have thinned to a trickle in those most famous of places. In places farther north, the season starts later and ends earlier.

Ready to make your way out west? Ask Wendy who the right travel specialist is to plan your trip.

Goblin Valley State Park Utah

Goblin Valley State Park, Utah. Photo: Brook WIlkinson

*Disclosure: Utah’s Department of Tourism provided me with a five-day trip through Utah, free of charge. In keeping with WendyPerrin.com standard practice, coverage was not guaranteed and remains at our editorial discretion. You can read the signed agreement between WendyPerrin.com and the Department of Tourism here.

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At the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris France

How to Save Time and Tantrums in Amusement Parks: A 13-Year-Old’s Advice

Note from Wendy: The best way to beat lines, crowds, and meltdowns at amusement parks is, in my experience, to choose small, homespun ones and to go when the local children are in school. My family has done this everywhere from Paris to Sonoma, California, to Wildwood, New Jersey. But most families end up at gigantic theme parks—of the Disney, Universal, and Six Flags variety—on peak summer days. I’ve shared advice for how to save money at such places, but my 13-year-old, Charlie, has advice for how to manage your time:

 

The long lines and crowded pathways of large theme parks today mean you need to have a plan. With massive changes at major theme parks, such as the remodeling at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Universal bringing in Nintendo, and Six Flags’ constant addition of new attractions, it’s important to be a step ahead of the game.

 

At Legoland in Florida when he was 11.

At Legoland in Florida when he was 11.

 

Start with a ride at the back of the amusement park.

When you enter the park, your child will want to run to the first attraction he sees. But the ride at the entrance to the park always has a much longer wait than it’s worth. At Universal Studios, the “Despicable Me Minion Mayhem” ride is the first one, resulting in a wait time of 80 minutes, when it should really only be 30. It’s better to start with a ride toward the back of the amusement park and work your way around in a circle or the closest you can get to one.

 

Sleep in and stay up late.

Most families have a strategy of waking up early to be at the park within an hour of opening time, and that gives them a parking advantage. But those families go home well before the park closes because the parents are tired, because it’s late, or because the parents say it’s too late as an excuse for being tired. When those families leave, the number of people in the park is cut by about 65%, leaving 35% to enjoy short waits during the last three or four hours the park is open. If you arrive at the park later and depart later, you’ll get more bang for your buck. (Here’s an example: When our family went on the Disney Dream cruise ship, there was a 45-minute wait for the Aquaduck water slide during the day but no wait at all at 11:30 pm; I managed about ten rides between 11:30 pm and midnight.) In addition, some theme parks can be very pretty at night, so try to stay almost until the park closes.

 

Make breakfast or dinner reservations, but not lunch.

Theme parks often consist of one to three fine-dining establishments, and the rest of them casual dining or just small stands. Unless you make plans at the fine-dining places for breakfast (before you explore the park) or dinner (when you’re done), you shouldn’t try to get to a certain restaurant at a certain time because it may require that you traverse the entire park to get there, or require you to leave the park and re-enter when you are done. This could reduce your time in the park by a lot more than you think, and it could also throw off your system of traveling through the park. At lunchtime it’s best to just go with the place that’s closest, especially since many of the places serve the same food anyway.

 

Give your kids a five- or ten-minute time limit in the gift shop.

Gift shops in theme parks contain tons and tons of kids’ favorite characters, so your kids likely will drag you into them. You can give them a dollar amount they’re allowed to spend, but they will take forever deciding what to buy, since they will want something that does not deliver too much change back to their parents. I recommend giving them a five- or ten-minute time limit, depending on the store size. If you see a gift shop with a line, you should just avoid it altogether.

 

Doug and Charlie loved The Great Nor’easter thrill ride at Morey’s Piers.

At Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, NJ, at the age of 13.

 

To avoid gift shops completely, make that a condition of going to the amusement park in the first place.

If you want to spend absolutely no time in gift shops, which is in no way a bad idea, tell your kids this at the same time that you announce that you’re going to the amusement park, to save them complaining when you get there.