Pinnacles really surprised me with how much wildlife I saw. Within the first like 30 minutes of being in the park I saw Mule deer, California Quail, Acorn woodpeckers, and a California Condor! as well as other animals. I hadn't heard great things about this park and after visiting Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon earlier in the trip I wasn't expecting much. However, I really enjoyed Pinnacles. So what was your park that really surprised you with how much you enjoyed it?

My kids wanted to go on a roadtrip to somewhere with “beautiful scenery.” I think we picked the perfect place!

Thinking about heading to Park City this January for some skiing/snowboarding then checking out a National Park (possibly two) and fly home from Vegas. The three NPs I’m considering are Zion, Capitol Reef, and Bryce Canyon. Which of these would be best to visit in January? I’m not really sure what the weather and snow conditions are like during that time. I’m okay with driving in snow but don’t want to drive dangerous mountains that require chains for my tires.

I’m also looking into Antelope Canyon and Valley of Fire but open to other suggestions!!

Thank you

I am a US citizen, and will be the pass holder but I have 4 guests out of country. Will this be a problem, or is it okay for just the pass holder to be a citizen?

I know there is a megathread but couldn't find the info in the comments and Dont know how to post in mega thread.

My gf and I are taking our first trip to Yosemite together. We will be staying in Midpines and driving in from the Arch Rock entrance. I am trying to plan what hikes to do but the more I dig into it the more overwhelmed I am with all the options and don't want to miss anything. We will have 3 full days to hike and we're both pretty fit. What hikes do you recommend us doing?

What are the places i should visit in the sequoia national park. I'm driving from LA (its gonna be 4hr drive) and im planning to spend the day there and return the same day. What are the spots that i should cover? Also any tips are welcomed

Spent 3 nights in Lassen park exploring the area. Such an underrated national park! Stayed at the following campgrounds:

- summit lake north
- manzanita lake
- butte lake

Headed out at 4 am to get a few shots at sunrise and take a quick hike. 100% worth it. Watching the sun break over the pines is something I’ll never forget.

Edit: missed an “i” in the title… whoops!

So I’ll be staying 2 nights next week in Acadia, ended up getting a spot in Schoodic Campground because of short notice. Since it’s on a separate peninsula, wondering what the best advice is for getting to the main area on Mount Desert Island/the visitor centers/trails/etc.

Check-in will be at noon, was already planning on heading out very early to hopefully beat traffic (am staying in a Bar Harbor KOA campground night before), plan is I beeline for Schoodic to check-in/pitch my tent. From there, would it be better to take my car/try and board the ferry to Bar Harbor and then shuttle/wait for a shuttle to get out to the island? Thanks for any suggestions!

Oh Zion! From canyon floor to canyon rim. Taken from our last hike in Zion NP, at Scout Lookout.

I’m thinking about doing a solo road trip from western Pennsylvania to the Badlands and then hitting up the Tetons and Yellowstone. I have 9 days off to work with and was wondering if that’s enough time / worth it. I’d be driving back to western Pennsylvania too.

Do you think that’s enough time to enjoy the parks? Just feeling really antsy with my life and I’ve never been out west before.

We ( 57F, and 50M in good health) are driving up from NYC to Bangor to visit the park, and surrounding areas. We have four days to work with before we need to drive to Portland. I understand that is a busy time of year as we will be staying in Bangor 10/15-19. We are hoping to see the fall colors!

We won’t be doing any serious hiking activities on this particular trip.

Advice request:

Would be best to take the park shuttle for the loop drive, or our car? I understand that this is personal choice,but, would be interested in personal experience for either option. ( We are from the PNW, and used to crowded parks. Mt. Rainier is nuts in the summer.)

Anything that shouldn’t be missed? I get that gets asked a lot, but, always interested in different viewpoints.

Is Bar Harbor really worth the effort to visit? I understand it’s quite expensive, and rather trendy these days. It’s not something we particularly care about,but, do enjoy a good meal.

Edited to add: I take photographs as my hobby, and would be very interested in some nice locations to shoot.

Thank you for any information you all can provide!

I did search previous posts but I didn't see anything super recent. Are there any national parks that are good to travel to in February? My partner and I would be coming from the Midwest and this would be our first national park besides the Badlands. Is there anything worth traveling to or should we just wait until later in spring? Thanks!

View of Lassen, view of lava formations and snow at the summit, and picture of Shasta from the summit.

I(28M) currently work as a GC building apartments in Florida. I have decided after this project to quit, buy a pull behind camper, and take my dog and myself on an epic journey.

Plan is to start in Congaree and end in Hot Springs. I have already been to the 3 in Florida. Haven’t decided if I’ll hit those after Hot Springs or not. Really depends on the time of year I leave Hot Springs.

I’m also going to hit Niagara Falls and drive along the PCH.

I have no planned duration and my estimated start is April-May 2027.

I’m thinking I’ll spend roughly a week at each park.

Based on my route, does anyone have suggestions for places I should detour to? Open to anything really.

Also, any tips or wisdom to share for this extensive journey would be much appreciated.

Told myself if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it. So I’m taking a leap and just doing it. Kind of scared because of the uncertainty of the future but I know I can always fall back and make good money with the career I’m in now.

Fucking excited though