Smokies
Want to own a piece of paradise? As an American citizen, you already do. Thanks to Teddy Roosevelt, no matter where you live you’re likely to find a national park within driving distance of your house. Camping in one allows you an inexpensive way to satellite out to explore lakes, mountains, rivers, and wildlife just beyond your tent. Whether you car-camp or backpack, you’ll understand why more than 84 million acres are currently protected from private development and owned by all.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The most visited of the 58 national parks, Great Smoky Mountains is also the largest wilderness expanse east of the Mississippi, hosts the most biologically diverse temperate habitat in the world, and boasts some of the planet’s oldest mountains. With more than 521,085 acres split between North Carolina and Tennessee, the Smokies offer activities and more than 1,000 campsites for the whole family.
Things to do:
- Drive the Newfound Gap (down load the self-guiding podcast first!).
- Celebrate at the park’s diamond anniversary weekend June 13 to 15.
- Stay up late for firefly spectaculars, which peak in mid-June.
- Hike the 5.4-mile round trip to the sunny-day display at 80-foot Rainbow Falls.
- Relive nineteenth-century farm life by visiting the Mountain Farm Museum.
Glacier National Park
Glacier
Unrivaled in rugged scenery, Glacier attracts about 2 million visitors each year. With a trip this summer, you’ll beat the crowds expected for next year’s centennial celebration and have a chance to see the glaciers before they melt away (some predict it’ll happen as early as 2030). Most of Glacier’s campsites are first come, first served, so last minute trips to this Montana park can be a good option for spur-of-themoment types.
Things to do:
- Hike 11-miles out and back for a peek at the Grinnell Glacier.
- Gaze at the night sky for a show of the northern lights.
- Spot bighorn sheep and cross the Continental Divide on Going-to-the-Sun Road.
- Motor across Lake McDonald, the largest in the park.
- Cruise north of the border for a day in Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park.
Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes
The cool Pacific waters surrounding Point Reyes host as many as one third of the marine mammal species on the planet—as many as 20 varieties of cetacean, porpoise, and seal (as well as their largest predator— the great white shark). Visitation peaks during the winter migrations, but flower blooms, harbor seal molting and whelping, and backcountry-only camping draw visitors from the nearby San Francisco Bay Area year-round.
Things to do:
- Pick up a permit and build a bonfire on the beach.
- Paddle the sheltered ocean waters in Drakes Bay.
- Descend 300 steps (and climb a few more) to the lens room at the lighthouse.
- Build a castle on the sandy shoreline of Drakes Beach.
- Spot molting harbor seals on the headland.
Make a camping site reservation or get a permit: www.recreation.gov
All three of these parks have downloadable videos and podcasts to help you preplan and make the most of your visit. Here are a few of our favorites:
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
AT: Thru-Hiking or Through Hiking: http://www.thegreatsmokymountains.org/podcast/hunke_at_hiker.mp3
Audio Driving Tour: Newfoundland Gap to Sugarlands Visitor Center: http://www.thegreatsmokymountains.org/podcast/Tour_Newfound-Sugarlands.mp3
More Great Smokies Podcasts: http://www.thegreatsmokymountains.org/blog_podcasts
Point Reyes National Seashore
“Giacomini Wetlands Restored” by OpenRoad.TV with Doug McConnell: http://www.openroad.tv/video.php?vid=399
http://www.nps.gov/pore/photosmultimedia/multimedia.htm
Glacier National Park
Glacier Centennial Video:http://www.glaciercentennial.org/
Summer Backcountry Camping Video: http://www.nps.gov/archive/glac/video/backcountry_summer_med.mov
More Glacier Podcasts:http://www.nps.gov/glac/photosmultimedia/podcasts.htm
