I am embarking on a roadtrip with a close friend here at the end of the month and I was wondering what National parks stood out to the community. We're looking to do a few backpacking loops at a few different national parks on our way from the southeast of the US to CO. We love collecting minerals, crystals, and good memories. Please let me know of some great hikes you all embarked on and which parks they were in! Happy hiking, orangeboy
Im not going to divulge exactly where we are starting and exactly where we are planning on going. Just want some tried and true hikes that will drop our jaws. I hike quite a bit in Appalachia and have done quite a few segments of the AT, hiked the entirety of the Art Loepe Trail, and many other trails both near my home and in Appalachia. Im no stranger to the mountains, but the rockies are a totally different ball park. Im interested in some hot springs ive heard about, and i would also like to visit some Pueblo dwellings too. Im not sure if theres any of those in CO or what, Ik they're in New Mexico forsure, i dont mind going there either. Its the journey for us not the destination. Oh I forgot to mention about the Ozarks... Anywho, id like to do a short hike in the Ozarks too, maybe a 30-40 miler, any outstanding places in the Ozarks yall would recommend?
Im not going to divulge exactly where we are starting and exactly where we are planning on going. Just want some tried and true hikes that will drop our jaws. I hike quite a bit in Appalachia and have done quite a few segments of the AT, hiked the entirety of the Art Loepe Trail, and many other trails both near my home and in Appalachia. Im no stranger to the mountains, but the rockies are a totally different ball park. Im interested in some hot springs ive heard about, and i would also like to visit some Pueblo dwellings too. Im not sure if theres any of those in CO or what, Ik they're in New Mexico forsure, i dont mind going their either. Its the journey for us not the destination. Oh I forgot to mention about the Ozarks... Anywho, id like to do a short hike in the Ozarks too, maybe a 30-40 miler, any outstanding places in the Ozarks yall would recommend?
Glacier, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glen Canyon Rec area, Arches, Canyonlands, Zion national parks are all places I have visited and enjoyed enormously.
If you're looking for a low key stopping point in between Appalachia and Colorado, perhaps give Shawnee National Forest a hike. Check out the Garden of the Gods. When I hike I'm not fond of seeing other people, really. A weekday at Shawnee is like having your own primal forest. Unfortunately, it's halfway to New Orleans from Chicago. Long drive for someone who works as much as I do.
Unfortunately i wont be able to make it out to Yosemite this trip. My car has 156,000 miles on it so i dont want to push it too far. However I will be getting a new vehicle soon and plan on making a full tour of the west coast when I do! Thanks everyone for replying!! I didnt expect such a speedy response. I will certainly have to stop at Shawnee! Garden of the gods here I come! Stoneycaverns- are all those parks you mentioned in CO? I know grand canyon isnt, ill probably save that one for a destination on the way to the west coast. Thanks again everyone for all the responses!!
No, most are in Utah, part of the grand circle tour. Glacier is nw MT. Mesa Verde is SW Colorado, near Durango.
Unfortunately i wont be making it to Utah, thats just a hair west of where I plan on ending up. Im only planning on being gone for around two weeks so i dont want to bite off more than i can chew. Stoneycaverns- I really appreciate the advice though, and all of those parks i'm writing down so ill visit them, probably on my trip when i get my new vehicle. Mesa Verde I'll definently hit though! Thanks again everyone for all the advice and stuff, happy toking!
pointswest- I'm an Eagle scout and I practice the principles of leave no trace. Never did i say I was going to harm an ecosystem by being an irresponsible and uneducated butthole. Stop trying to troll my thread and gtfo if you don't want to send positive vibes. I'm not trying to be aggressive, but your unwarranted response was out of the blue. We were all talking about our shared interest and passion for backpacking.I did mention stuff about collecting crystals, but forgot to mention about how we go to mines where they're already being extracted to collect them. Ill give you the benefit of the doubt though and give you some rep cred though, because i too really hate it when people disrespect the national forests. Do you have any national forest suggestions or what?
Any suggestions for national forests in Alabama or Mississippi? Or any suggested mineral hunting stops in these states?
I live about 5 minutes from the border of the Great Smokey Mountain national park and while I love going out and hiking there I can't stand the tourists. I do believe we are the most visited national park in the country and that kinda pisses me off haha. Fuck off with the cameras and slow driving and stop pissing off the elk! I prefer the winter season as I can't stand summer and I love going snow hiking, plus the roads are closed so no tourists. Edit: I want to make a distinction between tourists and genuine visitors to the park. The tourists are filthy trash leaving, slow driving, elk harassing, jerks. When people come to respect the nature here I don't have issues with them but sadly that is by far the minority. Just in the past year several elk were put down as tourists kept harassing them until they attacked and they are quite endangered here and confined to a very small area so every time this happens it is a shame.
On the east side of the country, I would suggest the C&O Canal Trail and/or the Great Allegheny Gap trail on a bicycle. There is over 300 miles with camping sights all along the way. The trail passes thru small towns each with it's own charms.
Yea thats not me, i dont have some huge ego and think that i'm betetr than everyone else. But ive noticed how belligerent some people are in the parks, disrespectuing wildlife and leaving trash. If you smell some chronic and see someone stopping everytime he sees a piece of trash, youll know thats me! Or some other handsome fella happy toking yall! And remember respect that mf wildlife. Fyi my friends ditched on me so I opted to fly out to Portland and explore that area a bit. Went to the Quinalt rain forest, some other parts of the Olympia national forest and i even got to surf in the Pacific ocean for the first time! i had a blast
Yea thats not me, i dont have some huge ego and think that i'm betetr than everyone else. But ive noticed how belligerent some people are in the parks, disrespectuing wildlife and leaving trash. If you smell some chronic and see someone stopping everytime he sees a piece of trash, youll know thats me! Or some other handsome fella happy toking yall! And remember respect that mf wildlife. Fyi my friends ditched on me so I opted to fly out to Portland and explore that area a bit. Went to the Quinalt rain forest, some other parts of the Olympia national forest and i even got to surf in the Pacific ocean for the first time! i had a blast