Category National Park Service

Mountain Farm Museum

The dawn mist lay heavily over the Mountain Farm Museum in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Mountain Farm Museum is an oasis of calm in the chaos of the Great Smokey Mountains, America's most visited National Park. Located on the North Carolina side of the park, this living history museum doesn't experience the same traffic density as similar attractions like Cades Cove. The Museum shares a parking lot with the Oconaluftee Visitor's Center with plenty of easy parking.

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Double Arch Trail

Double Arch - Arches National Park

We wing things. That's what we do. I've made a map of places we would like to go to and then base our routes on our final destination and what mapped points fall between our current location and destination. Exactly how our trip plays out each time is something we play by ear. In this case, we had ten days to travel to Oregon. Half way in, we discovered that we would be swinging by Arches National Park. Arches ranks as one of the most exciting National Parks that neither of us has ever visited. So, of course, we went.

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Devil’s Garden Trail

Woman in front of Landscape Arch in the Devil's Garden of Arches National Park, Utah.

The Devil's garden boasts a notably high concentration of arches, spires, and fins (narrow rock walls) in Arches National Park. Between the main loop and its many offshoots to iconic spots such as the landscape arch and the Double O Arch, hiking the Devil's Garden Trail can take anywhere from 1.9 to 7.9 miles with easy and difficult routes. If you are only going to make one spot in the Devil's Garden, it should be the Landscape Arch.

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Zapata Falls Campground

Perched in a truck camper at Zapata Falls Campground, outside Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado.

Most cars tackle the rough and rocky route to Zapata Falls for Zapata Falls, a relatively short but technically complicated hike/wade to an enclosed waterfall. In fact, there is even a parking lot at the base of the road, allowing hikers with low clearance cars to park and hike to the trailhead. But, for those with high clearance rigs and tolerance for profoundly bumpy roads, there is also a campground with breathtaking views.

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Yosemite Valley

Braving traffic to see Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Most pictures that you see of Yosemite are of and from the Yosemite Valley. This haven in the Sierra Mountains is flanked by El Capitan, Half Dome, and numerous other dramatic monoliths. It's no surprise that everyone wants to come here. But I do mean EVERYONE. Even in the fall, as we were, driving through Yosemite Valley is one extended traffic jam. Finding a parking spot is borderline Sisyphean. When we finally found a parking lot with space, we either walked or rode the bus. It's a beautiful place but the crowds are overwhelming.

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