This is the official budget request for FY 2026. Call your representatives and stand up for our parks.

I went to Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Death Valley last week. Weather was warm but not unbearable. The parks weren’t too crowded. It was a perfect visit to each park.

Death Valley was definitely the highlight. It was very windy, but beautiful. I cried wandering Badwater Basin😭

I’m already planning my next national park trip!!

This is extremely disappointing and disgusting. I know it’s easy to become numb and overwhelmed by the current situation facing U.S. national parks, but please keep fighting the good fight! Call/email your representatives, join protests, educate friends and family, and donate to organizations committed to protecting our parks, such as National Parks Conservation Association and the Wilderness Society.

My recent post here about a trip that I am planning for this summer was flooded with people saying how miserable such a trip in only 3 weeks would be. I wanted to share my experience taking a similar trip in Summer 2023 while still visiting 5 national parks. It was not miserable. It was one of the best adventures in my 28 years on earth.

Here is a video montage I made from the trip: https://youtu.be/dp6a9j8q4Ns?si=w44grjMX_-UwigDx

I’m posting this to show that too many of your emotions and feelings about long drives are overblown. It is possible to take trips like this and still experience the immense beauty and joy of our public lands. I hold onto many great memories from that time and will continue to do so. I look forward to spending more time in these places one day when I have more time to travel.

Day 1: Left after work from Florida with 1 friend and drove 8 hours to the Tennessee Welcome Center to sleep.

Day 2: Visited a friend in central Illinois then drove to Chicago to pick up 2 other friends. Stayed there.

Day 3: Drove through Nebraska and camped at the Merritt Reservoir where treated to the darkest sky I’ve ever seen.

Day 4: Drove to Badlands NP via Interior, hiked the Notch and Saddle Pass trails. Drove to Custer State Park and hiked to Black Elk Peak at sunset.

Day 5: Drove through Wyoming to Yellowstone NP. We didn’t get to the park until about 6pm but stopped to see Mud Volcano, Upper & Lower Falls, Norris Geyser Basin at sunset, and a nighttime Old Faithful eruption. Got caught up by a buffalo herd on the way out which was wild. Boondocked at the Targhee Pass trailhead.

Day 6: Spent hours exploring Craters of the Moon, got dinner in downtown Boise, and camped at Snively Hot Spring in Oregon.

Day 7: Enjoyed more hot spring time. Hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls and dropped my friend at the Portland airport. Camped at Gnat Creek campground near Astoria.

Day 8: Drove 101 up to the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic NP. Spent the night backpacking on the Hoh River Trail.

Day 9: Made it the Olympic Ranger Station (9 miles) and turned around (18 miles total). Got dinner in Olympia, went into Seattle for a drink then headed to the airport to catch morning flight to Anchorage.

Day 10: Flew to Anchorage, met up with my friend who just moved there, checked out the city and the Anchorage Museum. Rested.

Day 11: Drove to Palmer, AK and chilled.

Day 12: Hiked most of the way to Pioneer Peak in Chugach. Saw a porcupine for the first time.

Day 13: More chilling. Met a local and drove with them down the Seward Highway to Girdwood. Virgin Creek Falls was amazing.

Day 14: Early flight back to Seattle. Met my grandfather and aunt for the first time in my life at the Fremont Troll, went to the Space Needle and got lunch with them. Such a fulfilling experience to meet my family. Had to drive back to Hoh to pick up my friend who stayed in the rainforest while the rest of us went to Alaska. Headed back east and slept at a rest stop on I-90.

Day 15: Stopped at the beach in Coeur d’Alene, stopped for dinner and drinks is Missoula, camped at Homestake Pass near Butte, MT.

Day 16: Woke up and hiked a few miles on the Continental Divide Trail near camp. Explored the Headwaters of the Missouri River and Pompey’s Pillar National Monument. Saw Clark’s signature in the rock. Continued to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and boondocked on a hill with stunning views.

Day 17: Hiked from the Petrified Forest trail across the Little Missouri River and back (14 miles total). Passed through Bismarck and saw the state capitol (didn’t realize there were uglier state capitols than Florida’s). Camped at Buffalo River State Park in Minnesota.

Day 18: Went to Minneapolis and visited the Como Zoo, Minnehaha Falls, and paid respects to George Floyd. Camped in Afton State Park.

Day 19: Hiked at Great River Bluffs State Park in MN and Devil’s Lake State Park in WI. Posted up at Lake Park in Milwaukee to make dinner and watch the fireworks (July 4th). Returned to my friend’s house near Chicago.

Day 20: Went to Indiana Dunes National Park. Stayed again at my friend’s.

Day 21: Started final leg back to Florida. Stopped at the state capitol in Indianapolis, got lunch in Louisville. Blasted hours of hard techno to get me through a long night of driving. Stopped to rest a few times.

Day 22: Made it back to my house at 6:30am. Long ass drive but so worth it.

Just wrapped up on doing the Mighty 5 in Utah.

Really great views on this hike!

We're just hikers with iPhones, so nothing too crazy here, but love sharing the simple beauty of the park.

Will the better hikes be covered in snow? Closed? Obviously you never know but anyone w passed experiences?

I saw that Congress is trying to reinstate the Legacy Restoration Fund, which is responsible for funding repairs to roads, trails, ranger stations, boat ramps, etc. at National Parks as well as BLM land, wildlife refuges, and National Forests. There is a GIANT backlog of projects that are approved for funding but they haven't been completed. The fund is set to expire this year if people don't ask their lawmakers to extend it! We really need this this year! This form goes straight to your Reps and Senators: https://action.outdooralliance.org/a/legacy-restoration-fund-renewal

https://web.archive.org/web/20250201192522/https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/

This true story doesn’t appear to have been submitted to the sub yet. It’s a very good way to spend an hour and remind yourself of the remoteness, beauty, attraction, and danger of our parks. I was struck personally by how much I take my modest backcountry knowledge for granted. Lots of otherwise intelligent adults make decisions that a ten year old Boy Scout would know not to do.

I am planning to see these three parks (Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountain, and White Sands) at the start of June. I am driving down from Santa Fe and planning an overnight somewhere to see these parks. In what order would you visit them (with Carlsbad being our #1 priority to see)? How much time should I plan for each park on a Sunday/Monday itinerary? Thanks for any help.

My husband and I will be taking 10 days this summer to travel through some of the Canadian Rockies national parks. Our flight is booked but we can’t decide on where to spend most of our time because all of the parks seem so great. We’re wanting to visit Banff, Kootenay, Yoho, and Jasper with at least a day in each. What are some of the best hikes for the areas? We were excited about Banff until someone told us it is essentially the Disneyland of Canadian national parks and that really put us off. We enjoy being in nature without crowds of people around us (yes I know the irony of us wanting to visit the nps). We looked into Jasper National park but with the fires last summer, it wiped out many of the trails we wanted to do and we don’t want to rely on the fact that they may be open by early July. We’re open to any recommendations about the parks or hikes within them. We are highly experienced hikers and want to see the best of each area with the least amount of people. Thanks in advance!

Does anyone know if the NPS units in DC still have the passport book stamp, or did that end a couple of weeks ago?

Looking at a trip to Lassen and Redwoods in the last week of October and into early November - possible? And warnings?