The Daily Rave

[catherine]

We were offered a National Park pass about 20 years ago during a visit to Mammoth Caves with our two grandsons. The older grandson has special needs and a Park Ranger at the Visitor Center gave us one, no questions asked. We've used it extensively since then, our original National Parks Passport is completely filled with stamps. We also use the pass at Corps Of Engineers campsites during our annual 2-3 month wanderabouts, it gives us a 50% discount on camping fees.

Alan, can you give us a list of your top 5 National parks, and tell us why you rated them? I have a limited experience with them--there are a few in the Northeast, but nothing like the big ones--Yellowstone, etc. I've been to the Delaware Water Gap in NJ, and I've vacationed close to the Appalacian Trail in a couple of states, but never walked it. I'd love to hear the ones you would recommend. (Anyone can chime in here, but Alan's the one with the RV and a ton of stamps in his passport)

[Tybee]

My vote goes to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. Miss it so much!

[Alan]

Alan, can you give us a list of your top 5 National parks, and tell us why you rated them?

That's a hard question to answer since I don't think there's a bad National Park anywhere and each of the ones we've visited have been pretty spectacular. I guess I'd start with one of the newer ones that we actually haven't visited since it became a national park but spent 6 or 7 years white water rafting on it's two Class 3,4 & 5 rivers before it received its designation. That would be the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia where we rafted the New and Gauley rivers right up until the time we realized we were getting a little too old to be thrown out of the raft amid the boulders which create the rapids. In the picture below that's me in the back of the raft with the brown shirt and blue helmet, my wife is across from me in the yellow helmet and my youngest grandson is just in front of her in another yellow helmet.



After that I'd go with Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado which contains some of the best preserved Puebloan Ancestral sites in the country. We've been there twice and was a little disappointed during our second visit (during Covid times) when they wouldn't let us go into the dwellings but exploring everything up close on the first visit was spectacular.

My third choice would probably be the combination of Arches National Park and Canyonland National Park in Utah. Utah has an abundance of great parks besides those two such as Zion and Bryce Canyon, but Arches and Canyonland are the cream of the crop in my opinion.

For #4 I'd go with the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, specifically the southern rim. The terrain is simply magnificent.

#5 would be Yellowstone National Park which covers parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. We've been there 3 times and still haven't seen it all but its natural beauty and abundance of wildlife is breathtaking.

You'll notice that 4 of my top 5 pics are out west and I think that's probably because the landscape there is just so different from the eastern US and we find it a treat to marvel at all its wonders. We've been to just about all the western National Parks and the only remaining one on our bucket list is Glacier National Park which we hope to visit in the next couple of years.

We've also visited many state parks and if anyone is interested in visiting the most magnificent state park I've ever seen, at least in my opinion, don't miss Custer State Park in South Dakota. It strikes me as a smaller version of Yellowstone, with all the best features.

[catherine]

Great picture, Alan!

Thanks for the list. I haven't been to many states west of Minnesota, but I'd love to do a road trip out there! I'll keep your reviews in mind when I do.

[iris lilies]

Catherine when you say park, you probably mean nature in the great outdoors. But I like the historic sites run by the national Park service. We have some in Missouri that are not especially interesting to me, but I love the Lincoln Home National Historic site in Springfield, Illinois. It’s not just a house, it’s an entire block of Victorian era houses that would’ve existed at the time Abraham Lincoln lived there.

[rosarugosa]

Somewhat of a digression, but we live within shouting distance of the Saugus Ironworks National Historical site. Back around early covid times, they made a decision to keep the grounds open 24/7/365, although the tours and museum are on a limited seasonal schedule. This was great for us, giving us another lovely destination for walks. I often walk to the library at the center of town and circle home through the Ironworks. They have a little nature trail and a lot of native plants and river wildlife, and a group of Adirondack chairs that are always empty, just waiting for me to sit and watch the river. The second picture is the view from "my" chair.
ironworks dock.jpg
ironworks.jpg

ETA: This to me is a perfect example of a Simple Living pleasure, sitting and looking at the river with a new haul of library books on a beautiful day, all free!

[happystuff]

Have been to one or two National parks, but just recently got my passport book. I'm excited to start collecting stamps!

[SiouzQ.]

I LOVE Sleeping Bear Dunes in my home state! I LOVE all of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula as well.

Ditto on Arches (but not during the high season) and Canyonlands. One of my favorite local places close to where I live now in New Mexico is Tent Rocks (Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument) in the Cochiti Peublo.

I don't know how to turn them right-side up...

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[pinkytoe]

One of our favorite national parks in Colorado is the Black Canyon on the western slope side of the state. Unfortunately, dry lightening started some fires recently and it has been devastated.

[Alan]

One of our favorite national parks in Colorado is the Black Canyon on the western slope side of the state. Unfortunately, dry lightening started some fires recently and it has been devastated.

Black Canyon Of The Gunnison? We were there 8 or 9 years ago, very nice!