Great Hikes out West
 

My parents are taking me and my little sis on a vacation out west to visit some of the national parks, and I was hoping you all could give me some great hikes that we could try.

This is a 17 day trip and we're trying to pack in lots of national parks, so as a result we won't be staying very long within each park.

The first couple parks we're gonna be in are Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons so I figured I'd start my research here. In Yellowstone, we're only doing the bottom half of the figure eight loop and we're staying here for two days and one day in the Tetons.

Thanks!

What other parks are you planning to visit?

Lee Ann

The official park sites are a good place to start. Here's the page for Yellowstone:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

...where I found a link for dayhikes:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisi...ayHike2012.pdf

~Liz

It's great that your folks are taking you to the National Parks and ok that you get to see many for a short time, so you can plan the next trip and decide where you want to stay longer.

What is your hiking history and what do you mean by great hikes? Do you want lots of elevation change, fantastic views, lots of wild life along the route? Do you want just short hikes or some really long ones.

If you go to www.nps.gov you can see maps of all the parks you will visit and get descriptions of various trails. You could then come back and ask more specific questions about a hike.

Everyone who answers will have their own favorite, most fantastic hike and you will get a variety of answers.

Arches National Park--Delicate Arch and Devils Garden
see Double Arch and Balanced Rock

Not far from Arches in Goblin Valley and Little Wildhorse Canyon

Zion-The Narrows and Angels Landing(don't know how old your lil sis is, but be careful on this one-it will get you attention)

Bryce-Navajo Loop/Queens Garden combo

Grand Tetons-Jenny Lake boat then Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point

Yellowstone--don't worry about hiking, you'll have plenty to do with just 2 days. I'd spend most of the day around Old Faithful Geyser Basin and the other day at Canyon. See Hayden or Lamar Valley early morning or late afternoon/evening for wildlife.

Rocky Mountain National Park- The Loch/Sky Pond

Great Sand Dunes-just take off walking

Mesa Verde-no hikes, just see as many of the ruins as you can
if you do hike-Petroglyph trail

Do the Wild Cave Tours at Wind Cave and Jewel Cave(must be age 16). Perhaps some hiking at Custer State Park and The Badlands.

You don't have to do any real hikes at Petrified Forest. I wouldn't go down to far in the Grand Canyon as it is twice as hard to come back up. Start early early early in the morning. Probably Bright Angel Trail, would be the one you would want to do(not sure though).

Best adventure for me ever out west is with www.deserthighlights.com in Moab/Arches

Have Fun!!

@Lee Ann We are also visiting The Grand Canyon, Bryce, Arches, and Rocky Mountains.

@Liz Thanks for the links, I'll definitely look into them.

@emalloy Great hikes as in the must-see sights in your opinion.

A National Park Pass for $80 will get you into all of them and is good for a year.

If anyone in your group is 62 or older, have them buy a Senior Pass for $10 (lifetime). It gets all of you in the vehicle into the parks.
I also love the hike out to Delicate Arch and also Landscape Arch.

If you are going to RMNP - be sure and understand the situation with Bear Lake Road. Right now to do any hikes that start from either the Bear Lake or Glacier Gorge trailheads - you have to get there in your own car, very very early, or take a shuttle - which has been having up to 2 hours delays.

http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisi...nstruction.htm

There are definitely other trailheads to go from - some of our favorite hikes that use different trailheads include Chasm Lake, Ouzel Falls/Lake and Twin Sisters.

In Yellowstone the signature hike is Mt Washburn. I's about 3.5 miles each way up to a ranger station.

The trail is a very smoth dirt road used to bring supplies up to the ranger station.

So what's the issue?

Well, the starting elevation is 8,800 feet and it goes up to 10,400 feet!!

I was sucking for oxygen after about two minutes.

I only do fairly easy hikes, less than 3 miles rt, and picking a favorite would be like picking a favorite child, I love them all for different reasons.

We come from sea level and what Myer says aboout sucking wind is so true. We have problems by 5000 ft on the first couple of days. Drink water, take it easy, give yourself time to acclimate, and stop if you feel bad.

My concern with visiting so many parks is that at the end many places may start to blend in.

Make sure you have a good camera, keep the date and time correct and keep a log of what you did and when.

Getting back to Yellowstone and the famous Lower Falls. There are several viewing areas. Artist Point for an overall canyon view but Redrock Point for the best view of the falls. I even got a rainbow at 9:30AM.

This requires a hike down to a viewing location. Not bad going down but a bit more strenuous coming up due to elevation.

If you wanted a great hike to Lower Falls there is a 5 mile loop that brings you to Artist Point. Once you start going back to where you parked, the crowds really pick up because no one wants to do the hike, just the overlook. Sounds like an awesome trip.
file://localhost/Users/davidshamritsky/Desktop/Documents/Pictures/Yellowstone/273CANON/IMG_7550.JPG
Just paste the link into the website bar and you will have a picture I took from the view at artists point

To view a photo it has to be somewhere on the web. That photo is on your PC. No good.

How you view a sight may or may not be determined by your method of getting there.

If your goal is to hike, fine.

You can easily get to Artists Point by car.

Redrock Point parking lot is at Lookout Point. Then you can walk out to Lookout Point or hike down to Redrock Point for a better angle of the falls.

We're definitely getting the national park pass, thanks.

@Tom - Nobody over 60 will be going, but thanks for the tip.

Thanks for the tip about Bear Lake road. We'll see how it works out when we get there as we would like to see Bear Lake. Chasm lake looks awesome, but it is a pretty long hike and I'm not sure if we would have enough time and energy to do it. By "great hikes" I was kind of thinking more of must-see sights and short trails. I guess my title is a little misleading.

Yea the high elevation is a little bit of a concern. My dad and I work out frequently so it probably wouldn't be too much of a problem for us, but not so sure about my mom and sister haha.

Thanks for the tip about Red Rock Point. It looks like a great place to see the falls in a more quiet location.

@spirobulldog Good suggestion about Yellowstone. I think that's basically what we're doing. We're coming from Cody to the Canyon and then over to West Yellowstone. The second day is going to be in the geyser basin, and a night at Old Faithful.

I heard one of the springs has an unmarked trail where you can look down on it. Do you all have any info on it? It might be the Grand Prismatic Spring.

Elevation isn't a show stopper unless it's in the range of 12-15000 ft.
3-6000 usually sneaks up on you even if you work out.

In Bryce which is at 8,000+ you'll definitely feel it coming up QG trail.

Walk slowly, drink a lot of water often, stop for frequent rests, wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunscreen even if it's hazy. And snack as required.

Then you should all be fine. There's no rush. It bothers some people more than others. However, at that elevation nobody should be incapacitated.

Elevation problems can happen to anyone - even those in prime physical condition. It's more how your particular body reacts to the change - not what shape you are in. I run half marathons, do yoga and lift weights, however I still have issues with elevation changes.

Drink LOTS of water, take it easy the first few days, and do some research on other aids (like taking ginger) etc. Some of them work for some people.

You might feel it a bit in Bryce and you will for sure feel it in Colorado. It usually won't bother you much until 6,000 ft+.
It has never been a problem for my daughter, but she did have a touch of a headache on our past trip.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see how each of us handles the elevation. We're gonna be going to Pikes Peak. Last time I was there was when I was two, and my mom said I got nauseous.