LONG STORY SHORT By Jason Clark  There aren’t a lot of places on Earth that look like Badlands National Park. Set an hour or so west of South Dakota’s beautiful Black Hills, the canyons hills pinnacles badlands look like they belong on another planet. Or perhaps like they arrived here from one. 
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LONG STORY SHORT By Jason Clark  Here’s a tip for travelers looking to explore the Rocky Mountain range: Hit this national park first. You’ll appreciate it more. We first visited Rocky Mountain National Park in September 2017 as part of a vacation that also included Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, and with its smattering of fall colors, Rocky Mountain was a highlight of that trip. Our second visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, however, came less than a year after we hiked through Glacier National Park, Banff National Park, and Jasper National Park in 2023. These parks also fall within the Rocky Mountain range, which extends from New Mexico to British Columbia, Canada—and we found their features noticeably more striking than those of Rocky Mountain National Park. That’s not to say that Rocky Mountain National Park isn’t worth a visit, though. I just recommend starting here and working your way north, if you intend to see much of the Rockies. That way, the views only get better.  LONG STORY SHORT  Of the 426 documented miles of underground passageways in Mammoth Cave National Park, we have seen four. But those four were enough to convince us that this place is nothing like your average cave, both in terms of size and quality.  LONG STORY SHORT  Note: We didn’t get to do everything we wanted to in Guadalupe Mountains. High winds forced us to hit the road a day early, and as a result, we missed out on a couple hikes that may have changed our opinion of this park. Why is Guadalupe Mountains a national park? Apparently this is a frequently asked question, as it’s written on a white board at the visitor center. The answer: It’s one of the most well-preserved fossil reefs in the world. It was once part of an ancient seafloor, and its home to a plethora of fossils. That’s good enough for me, but the fact that the question needs to be asked also indicates how unremarkable these mountains appear at a glance.  LONG STORY SHORT  We’ve explored quite a few caves. Most of them fairly tight, with all the typical cave formations you’d expect. Carlsbad Caverns National Park also has the typical cave formations—but as the biggest cave we’ve ever seen, it has a lot of them.  LONG STORY SHORT  White Sands is one of the newer national parks, promoted from its “National Monument” status in 2019. Its dunes are notable for their sparkling white color, but during our visit, White Sands felt more like a national monument than a national park. We had fun, but it’s got one feature to explore and required only a couple hours of our time.  LONG STORY SHORT By Jason Clark  It’s rare to come across true hidden gems these days, but Chiricahua National Monument might just be one of them—for now. A legitimate candidate for promotion to “National Park” status, Chiricahua and its rocky pinnacles are still relatively unknown despite being arguably more interesting than some current national parks.  LONG STORY SHORT  No tour of the U.S. is complete without seeing our national parks and the natural monuments that call them home. In Yellowstone, visitors have to see Old Faithful. In Yosemite, Half Dome and El Capitan can’t be missed. And in Arches National Park, Delicate Arch demands a jaw-dropped stare. But just like all the aforementioned parks, Arches is much more than its signature site.  LONG STORY SHORT  When I think of the best hikes in national parks, a few come to mind: Nevada and Vernal Falls in Yosemite, Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon, Highline Trail in Glacier. Angels Landing and The Narrows in Zion National Park are right up there with them. The crown jewel of Utah’s Mighty Five, Zion has earned its place among our favorite parks to visit.  LONG STORY SHORT  Most of Southern Nevada is boring, monotonous desert. Anything of interest stands out with a bit more flair than you’d otherwise expect. Las Vegas certainly does, but Vegas has a less-famous neighbor to the northeast that stands out just as much: Valley of Fire State Park.  |
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