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Big Bend Top 6 Family-Friendly Hikes

May 2, 2021 By Ross Nelson Leave a Comment

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Best hikes with kids at Big Bend National Park

Despite the mental picture we had of Big Bend and more broadly West Texas before arriving (that it would be flat and desolate), we were pleasantly surprised with both the beauty and genuine diversity of ecosystems in this park. We did some wonderful hikes and wanted to highlight those specifically in this post. As for logistics and itinerary, our other post on Big Bend dives into those details more fully.

These hikes are in order, but honestly the first three are ranked in order of our favorites and from there they are all equally enjoyable in their own right. You can’t go wrong with hikes 4, 5, or 6 and your availability of time and vehicle (especially 5 but also number 6 would be best to get to in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle) should determine which of them you will tackle.

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3 Perfect Days in Big Bend National Park

May 2, 2021 By Ross Nelson Leave a Comment

We were so wrong about Big Bend! I expected to be amazed at the vast flatness of the area and an overwhelming abundance of mesquite bushes as far as the eye could see. You know, to put it into a word, boring! Instead we were greeted by mountains — yes real, serious mountains as well as stunning canyons and beautiful views of the Rio Grande. To say we were surprised would be an understatement and this park has earned a special place in our hearts. This post is more focused on our itinerary for planning while this other post for Big Bend focuses on our favorite hikes.

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A Quick Visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park

April 12, 2021 By Ross Nelson 3 Comments

We, like I expect many others, are often driving near a National Park, like Great Sand Dunes, and decide to do a quick visit even if we don’t have time to see everything the park has to offer. Small parks are perfect for this type of visit and we have had some memorable and quick visits to Indiana Dunes, White Sands, Congaree, Badlands, Petrified Forest, and Theodore Roosevelt National Parks. Not everything has as much to see as one of the marquee parks like a Yellowstone, Death Valley, Big Bend, or Yosemite! I’d be quick to point out that this doesn’t diminish the special nature of a small park as it is often focused on a particular sight.

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An Unforgettable 1 Day in White Sands

April 11, 2021 By Ross Nelson 2 Comments

It is hard to believe how many National Park sites have sand dunes — Great Sand Dunes, Guadalupe Mountains, Death Valley (with 2 separate dunes!), Indiana Dunes, the Mojave Preserve, and many more in National Monuments and other federal lands. We have been to so many of them that one of Joy Joy’s classmates thought she went to the beach every time they have a break at school when in fact we go to the dunes!

I originally visited White Sands as a kid, so it was nice to be able to return and bring the rest of the family who had never been before! Thirty or so years ago I was distracted by the newfangled stealth bombers flying over our heads but this time the scenery and threat of rain was all we could focus on.

These dunes are well deserving of the recent upgrade to National Park status (signed on December 20, 2019) as they protect just over 40% of the world’s largest gypsum dunefield that is otherwise part of the White Sands Missile Range. While we would have liked to get to tour the nearby Missile Range Museum to learn more about the testing that is performed here, it is really tough if you aren’t in the military.

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2 Best Family Hikes in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

April 8, 2021 By Ross Nelson Leave a Comment

Best family hikes at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

If you aren’t a die-hard National Park visitor, or are not from the Texas/New Mexico area, I expect you may be wondering what this park, Guadalupe Mountains, is. Receiving just 172,000 visitors in the last report, it gets just 1% of the number of visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Most of those visitors will arrive the way we did, along Highway 180 between El Paso, TX and Carlsbad, NM.

Located just 25 miles west of Carlsbad Caverns, these parks are great to pair together into one visit. I’d suggest a day for each park as the minimum time to plan for and let Carlsbad take your priority as your ability to get an entrance ticket here is the most challenging part. We rented a home in Carlsbad, NM so we weren’t too far from either park.

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Our Best 5 Tips for Visiting Carlsbad Caverns

April 7, 2021 By Ross Nelson Leave a Comment

Top tips for visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Oh, caves… They are all so similar, and yet very different! After visiting the Mammoth Cave, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and Russel Cave units of the National Park Service we have been in some dark underground places! Someday we will cross off the last two park units named after caves – Oregon and Timpanogos Caves! Carlsbad Caverns is its’ own adventure and one we were glad to be able to visit!

Our top tips for visiting Carlsbad Caverns are as follows…

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1 Amazing Day in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

March 31, 2021 By Ross Nelson 1 Comment

1 day at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison is experienced pretty well in one day if you don’t plan to do extensive hiking or to visit multiple areas of the park (similar to Canyonlands, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and many others). That being said, you can also walk away from it having only driven the road to High Point without seeing much of what makes it special!

I should note that to truly experience this park you should do a river rafting tour or hike one of the trails down to the river itself. Due to our time available for our visit, this was not in the cards for us this trip. You can also visit the less popular North Rim, which we also did not get to do this trip.

So, how do you have an awesome day in Black Canyon of the Gunnison? Join me as I replay our day in the park! A note on photography – the time of day matters a lot for this park, and we went first thing in the morning during mid-July and the lighting worked out well. At other times of the day the canyon will be darker and photos will be harder to capture the beauty of the park.

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Top 9 Amazing Things to Do in Grand Teton National Park

January 3, 2021 By Ross Nelson Leave a Comment

I love Grand Teton National Park – its best views are super accessible, the amount of wildlife is impressive, and it is the epitome of the West for me. The hardest part wasn’t developing this list from our recent trip, but rather whittling it down to the top 9 things to do in Grand Teton National Park!

There is simply nothing more calming to my soul than mountains, and Grand Teton doesn’t hold back an ounce on that power. The craggy, powerful mountains dominate the park in a similar way to that which you’d find in Glacier, Mount Rainier, the Hurricane Ridge part of Olympic, or North Cascades National Parks.

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How to see the Best of Yellowstone in 3 Days

August 2, 2020 By Ross Nelson Leave a Comment

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While many plan for a whole week to visit Yellowstone, we didn’t have that kind of time and knew that we would be returning to Yellowstone another time. We decided to focus on the more popular activities in the park on this visit, so here is our itinerary on how to see the best of Yellowstone in 3 days with kids.

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Top 9 Things to Do in Yellowstone National Park

July 29, 2020 By Ross Nelson Leave a Comment

Yellowstone has always felt overwhelming to us. So overwhelming, that it was the 27th National Park we chose to visit and it was only the whole COVID epidemic and associated closures that made us decide to go there when we did. It is a really big park, with a lot to see and do. We don’t (ok I don’t!) like to settle into a single big park for a week at a time, but rather like to spend 3 or 4 days in a park and then move along somewhere else and compile a list of places we would catch if/when we return.

We’ve decided to provide a visiting Yellowstone during COVID post as well as this top sites post, and an itinerary post with suggested places to stay and how we did what we did in just 3 days!

So, without further ado, here are our top 9 things to do in Yellowstone National Park!

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Our top tips for visiting Carlsbad Caverns are as follows…

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