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Stunning 3 Days in Redwood National Park

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Redwood National Park

We came for 3 Days in Redwood National Park for the trees, but stayed for the unexpected and special beauty of the ferns, the beaches, and the tidepools! Here is how we had a stunning 3 days in Redwood National Park!

This park, much like Olympic National Park, has a lot more to it than people typically would think.  We came from the north on our way from Crater Lake National Park and a quick stop at the Oregon Caves National Monument.  The beauty of the drive through the mountains and along the Smith River on Highway 199 was special before we came upon the exit for the Howland Hill Road near Hiouchi, CA in the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.

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3 Unique Days in the Crater Lake Area

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Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake is the deepest and one of the most beautiful lakes in the United States.  It is also both easy to visit and hard to experience.  It is easy to visit because as long as the road is plowed you can get to see the lake itself often.  It is hard to experience because the shore is approximately 900 feet below the rim drive and only one path leads down to the lake itself.  Making matters worse is that the trail, as well as the boat rides that leave from it, are not open to visit for as long as you would expect and the boat tour was still closed in late June when we visited.  

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Fun 2 Days in Saguaro National Park

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Saguaro National Park. www.adventuringbeyond.com #nationalparkswithkids #saguaro #getoutside #nps #travelwithkids #MyNationalParks #familytravel

Sunshine, check. Cactus, check. Desert, check. Mountains, check. City, check.  Er wait, City?  Yes, Saguaro National Park is both in Tucson but in fact the two sections of the park are divided by the whole of the city.  I know this may sound like a detractor, but in both the Rincon Mountain and Tucson Mountain districts you will find that it is quiet, isolated, and feels wild enough to qualify as a National Park. 

Once you are done with your hike you can grab a great lunch or dinner or choose to return to your luxury resort and soak in the pool.  Or, you can camp, boondock, rent a home, or sleep in a cheap motel.  Obviously, one of the best parts of Saguaro is that it is so approachable and easy to visit.  

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4 Practical Tips for Planning a Houseboat Adventure in Voyageurs National Park

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Planning tips for taking a houseboat vacation in Voyageurs National Park. Tips include where to rent, which boat to rent, navigating, and what to expect for the cost. It makes for an amazing family National Park adventure! www.adventuringbeyond.com #nationalparkswithkids #voyageurs #getoutside #nps #familytravelblog #travelwithkids #MyNationalParks #familytravel

This summer we spent 3 fantastic days in Voyageurs National Park exploring the most beautiful National Park in our home state of Minnesota! Voyageurs is really like the Swiss Army knives of parks in that you can explore this area in many ways including houseboat, fishing boat, canoe, kayak, snowmobile, car on an ice road, hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and more!

We chose one of the best, and to my knowledge unique to this National Park, ways to explore – by houseboat! Yes, for those who are going to ask, you can rent a houseboat in National Recreation areas such as Lake Mead or Glen Canyon/Lake Powell, but not in a fully designated National Park.

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Complete Guide to 1 Day in New River Gorge National Park

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New River Gorge National Park

Our newest National Park, christened in January 2021, is New River Gorge National Park and Preserve! I have to say first that I am often leery of new National Parks because they can be a stretch to consider them worthy of that status when compared to their peers (I’m looking at you, Indiana Dunes). Rest assured that after exploring New River Gorge this summer this is worthy of being called a National Park!

Our visit spanned a few days including 2 full days in the park, so we will share this as a choose your own adventure plan where you could spend a single day doing either itinerary or combine them for a great 2 day visit! I will dispel one other thought right off the bat here as well — you do NOT need to be a whitewater rafter to enjoy the park. We did not choose to do that and still had a fantastic visit that left us wanting to return to the area.

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Big Bend Top 6 Family-Friendly Hikes

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Note: this post contains affiliate links.

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

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Best hikes with kids at Big Bend National Park

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

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Great Sand Dunes National Park

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

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White Sands Visitor Center
White Sands Visitor Center

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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Our Best 5 Tips for Visiting Carlsbad Caverns

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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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