Visiting National Parks
Now that summer’s in full swing, it’s time to put on those hiking boots or sandals, gas up the car and head for the outdoors. America’s parks are top recreational destinations, and with more than 520 U.S. national parks and forests to choose from, you can easily find one that’s right for you, whether you have in mind a drive, a hike, a swim beneath a waterfall or a frolic at a beach. Be sure to take a picnic or try some local eats, and stop in the souvenir shop, too. To jump-start your vacation plans, Voyageur’s correspondents explore three parks, which represent a cross-section of natural settings—desert canyon, mountain peaks and sandy beaches. You’ll find each holds the promise of adventure.
By Annette McGivney, Cyril Manning and Larry Rice
Grand Canyon National Park
You’ve marveled at scenes like this on postcards and in coffee-table books, but when you actually lay eyes on the Grand Canyon—with its sea of red and orange rock towers rising from the abyss—it is almost too spectacular to be real.
Protected as a national park in 1919, the Grand Canyon exposes more of the Earth’s history than anyplace else on the planet. As you stand at various overlooks in the park, you can take in canyon views that are a mile deep and 18 miles wide, giving you a glimpse of more than 2 billion years of geology.
Tourists have been coming to gawk at this giant geologic phenomenon for more than a century, ever since the Grand Canyon Railway first made the remote landscape accessible to the general public in 1901. Today, with too many cars and too few parking spaces in Grand Canyon National Park, the train is still the ticket for getting to the heart of this natural wonder.
Your journey begins at the Grand Canyon Railway depot in Williams, 30 miles west of Flagstaff. You’ll arrive at the national park’s historic Grand Canyon Depot around noon. You’ll have a little more than three hours of exploration time before boarding the train for the return ride. The depot is located in Grand Canyon Village and just a stone’s throw from canyon overlooks, shops and restaurants. Consider packing a picnic lunch and stretching your legs on the Rim Trail. This mostly flat path winds through pine forest and leads to spectacular overlooks. Keep your eyes peeled for ravens riding canyon thermals.
For a pleasant three-mile round-trip hike, pick up the Rim Trail, due north of the train station, and follow it northwest to Maricopa Point. From the point—an excellent picnic spot—you can watch hikers directly below snaking down the switchbacks of the Bright Angel Trail. And about 2,000 feet farther down on the Tonto Plateau, you’ll see the cottonwood-lined oasis called Indian Gardens. If you peer some 5,000 feet down to the canyon’s bottom, you’ll catch the glint of the Colorado River’s green waters. Stare at this canyon panorama long enough, and it can play tricks on your sense of scale. Landmarks on the North Rim, 20 miles away, will look closer than features right next to Maricopa Point.
After your hike, get something cold to drink back in Grand Canyon Village. Or shop for Native American crafts, such as turquoise jewelry, at Hopi House, a pueblo-style building next to the rim just north of the train station. Before you know it, the whistle is blowing and it’s time to board the afternoon train.
Author Bio: Annette McGivney is the Southwest editor for Backpacker magazine.
Cape Cod National Seashore
On Cape Cod at this time of year, every smell says summertime—from the lobster rolls and clams served up at countless roadside shacks, to the sweet smell of coconut sunscreen and the cool, salty air that takes the edge off the sun-baked days. But Cape Cod National Seashore offers far more than beach umbrellas and sandcastles. These 40 miles of pristine coastline envelop a delicate, 40,000-acre ecosystem defined by its relationship to the sea.
Your gateway to the Seashore is a two-hour drive from downtown Boston. Salt Pond and Nauset Marsh introduce you to the beauty of this crooked peninsula, where more than 350 glacial freshwater ponds coexist with the rolling tides. Here you can pick up information on lighthouse tours and the area’s heritage of pirates, shipwrecks and sea rescues.
From here, take a leisurely hike along Nauset Trail and watch blue heron, osprey and other shore birds swoop through the grassy fields and swampy forest, plucking their meals from the streams and tidal creeks that cut through the land. By mid-morning, the trail will bring you to Coast Guard Beach, where you can survey the dramatic march of marshland toward the sea, enjoying the view in relative solitude.
Next, head to Wellfleet, where you can lunch on lobsters, oysters and clams at Beachcomber, just steps from the silky sand of Cahoon Hollow Beach. To explore this part of the shoreline, rent a kayak from Jack’s in Wellfleet and launch from the town pier. The mellow water here makes it easy to glide across the bay to Great Island, one of the park’s best-kept secrets. You won’t run into many other visitors as you skirt the sandy dunes and sloping stands of pine that mark this shoreline, but you’ll see plenty of shore birds, hawks and red-winged blackbirds.
You’ll also find plenty of quiet landings to beach your kayak, rest in the sun and hunt for fiddler crabs. This is the seashore at its most intimate; paddling back to town, now backlit by the dipping sun and framed against the immaculate harbor, your sense of the Cape is far richer than sunscreen and sandcastles.
Back on dry land, you’ll find no better place to wind down than at Race Point Beach, an old seafarers’ outpost at the tip of the Cape. Here, watch the setting sun wash the sky in tangerine and pink—locals and tourists alike attest that this is the most spectacular show on the Cape.
Author Bio: Freelancer Cyril Manning specializes in adventure, travel and health articles.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Heading northwest out of the Mile High City, you’ll soon reach the gateway
to “Rocky,” as the Rocky Mountain National Park is known to locals. The air is suddenly cool and sweet with the aroma of pine and spruce. And moving on—whoa, flatlander!—just as suddenly, you become aware that you’ve entered a very special place, a mountain kingdom to rival anywhere on this planet.
The temptation is to see everything—right now! But take some time to orient yourself before you set out to explore the park’s 416-square-mile wilderness.
First, stop in at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, near the park entrance. A free movie there gives an overview of the park’s features. Be sure to browse the bookstore for natural and cultural history books, as well as games and toys for the kids. (The Trail Ridge Road Adventure Sticker and Game Book is a favorite.)
Now you’re ready for the adventure to begin. Strap on those seat belts and get ready to take one of the most breathtaking drives in the national park system. Stretching 48 miles between Estes Park Village on the park’s eastern edge to Grand Lake on its western side, Trail Ridge Road (U.S. 34) is the highest continuous paved road in the United States. Eleven miles of this highway wind above the tree line, the elevation near 11,500 feet where the area’s evergreen forests come to an end, replaced by a rocky alpine world. Climbing to its high point at 12,183 feet elevation, Trail Ridge Road provides views of dozens of peaks, glimpses of animals (bighorn sheep, mule deer and elk are commonly visible), and dramatic wildflower displays, all from your comfortable car.
Set aside at least a half-day for the road trip, but leave time to stretch your legs. With 359 miles of trails, Rocky Mountain is a haven for hikers. The most popular trails begin along Bear Lake Road. Although most of the hikes in this area are short, the rewards are many. From the Bierstadt Lake trailhead, it’s an easy 1.5-mile jaunt to Bierstadt Lake, where the 19th century painter Albert Bierstadt created one of his dramatic images. Farther up the road is the Glacier Gorge Junction trailhead.
A lure here is Alberta Falls, a half-mile in. A little over one mile from the Bear Lake trailhead is Dream Lake, a favorite of photographers.
Indeed, there’s so much to do in Rocky you will surely want to return on another day in the not-too-distant future, ready to renew your exploration of America’s mountain roof.
Author Bio: Writer, photographer and outdoor enthusiast Larry Rice has traveled to seven continents from his home in Buena Vista, Colorado.
