Your friendly guide to national parks, road trips, and all things outdoors
I know not everyone likes hiking. Not everyone can hike for one reason or another. I know not everyone has time to hike when they visit national parks. So that's why I decided to share a non-hiking drive through guide to Arches, one of my favorite national parks. While most of this doesn't require hiking, there…
Continue reading ➞ A Non-Hikers Drive Through Guide To Arches National Park
The first time I went to Island in the Sky in Canyonlands, I knew I liked it, but what I didn't know was that I missed a whole lot of it. I also learned that I like Island in the Sky a lot more than The Needles. This trip though, I knew there was another…
Continue reading ➞ Exploring Canyonlands: A Hike To Mesa Arch
Last year, almost an exact year, I did a post on my favorite hikes in national parks. Well, in the time that's passed, I've gone to new parks and I've gone back to a lot of parks. I've done a lot of new hikes in these visits and decided to share 10 more of my…
Continue reading ➞ 11 More Of My Favorite National Park Hikes
There are affiliate links in here. Last year I got the National Geographic Secrets of the National Parks book. I didn't really look through it until I was home recently. When I was looking through it to get ready for our trip to Zion, I saw a hike I hadn't heard of before. That hike…
Over the last few years, I've visited Zion National Park quite a few times. I've been to the main area of the park and down Kolob Terrace Road, but I hadn't been to Kolob Canyons yet. I didn't actually realize it existed until a few months ago. Crazy, right? Well, this trip it was our…
As you know, I was just in Wisconsin for about a month for the holidays. I had all these plans to do all kinds of fun stuff in the area and then it was freezing cold, like below zero the majority of our time there. So all those cool things I wanted to do have…
Continue reading ➞ Hiking Canyon Overlook Trail In Zion National Park
Capitol Reef is one of my favorite national parks so far. It has tons of awesome hiking. It's super close to other awesome parks. It has delicious cinnamon rolls and ice cream. And it's highly overlooked. I just wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from my visits, my favorite posts from the park,…
Continue reading ➞ My 11 Favorite Pictures From Capitol Reef National Park + Tips For Visiting
Badlands National Park is awesome in the summer, but I wanted to see it in the winter, covered in snow. Now that I've seen (almost) all the parks between Utah and Wisconsin in the spring or summer, it's time to see them in the winter. Everything just looks so different with a layer of snow.…
Continue reading ➞ Badlands Below Zero: Tips For Visiting The Badlands In The Winter
There are affiliate links in here. As you all know, or in case you don't, I love visiting and exploring the national parks. There are some that get tons of love and are some of the most famous national parks like Yellowstone, Zion, and the Grand Canyon, but I want to share a little bit about…
I loved Congaree National Park. I may have even put it in my top five. That's a tough list to make, but I think it's up there. I loved seeing all the bugs and other critters. I love the cypress trees with their knobby knees. I loved the boardwalk trail. All of it! We only…
There are affiliate links in here. Yes! 100% worth it. There you go. That's all. I kid. I'll break it down for you a bit more than that. Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes, but there are some things to consider before you take the (polar) plunge to visit Grand Teton National Park in the winter. …
Continue reading ➞ Is It Worth Going To Grand Teton National Park In The Winter?
Ahh, I finally have my pictures from the Smokies ready and I've been so excited to share them, and there's a lot of them, so I decided to share the best of the fall colors all in one post. Don't worry, you'll see them again, I just wanted to share these together. After all, it…
Continue reading ➞ The Best Of The Fall Colors From Great Smoky Mountains National Park
It's been a goal now for the last couple years to visit five new national parks a year. So far, it's gone well! And in total, I've been to 19 out of 59. Not too shabby. I've also been a lot more into learning about the parks. The Switchback Kids podcast is one of my…
There are affiliate links in here. After a few days in the Carolinas, we finally made it to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The first night we just drove through from the Blueridge Parkway to Gatlinburg. At first, I wasn't super excited about it, but that changed the next day when we went in to…
Continue reading ➞ Three Hairy Bears In Great Smoky Mountains National Park