Category Archives: National Parks

Happy Trails at Rocky Mountain National Park

  By placeswithkids | February 7, 2012 - 4:46 pm | , , , , , , ,
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Glacier basin Rocky Mountain National Park

Near Glacier Basin RMNP

With its amazing jaw-dropping scenery, it’s not surprising that Rocky Mountain National Park made it onto Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up. What was a little unique was the WAY they recommended seeing it – on horseback.

We’d already spent the morning driving the Old Fall River Road to what felt like the top of the world (at least for height-phobic me) and for our afternoon at Rocky Mountain National Park, I’d planned a two-hour trail ride with Glacier Creek Stables at 1pm, leaving us plenty of time to drive into our hotel near the Denver Airport before it got too dark.

Sigh . . . you know what they always say about the best-laid plans . . .

As you might have noticed from the pictures, when we reached the Alpine Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park we were at a seriously high elevation – as in 11,799 feet high.

Alpine Visitor Center rocky mountain NP

Alpine Visitor Center

To get to the Glacier Stables we needed to descend about 3000 feet over a very short distance, and somehow, going DOWN the mountain was more terrifying than going up. I crept down the mountain, my hands gripping the steering wheel so hard I was white-knuckled – because in my mind the next gust of wind was going to send us right over the edge of road.

How bad was it? So bad I refused to let my son open a bag of chips because the noise was distracting. Needless to say, we didn’t make the 1pm trail ride.

Thank goodness for cell phones. When it became obvious we weren’t going to make the ride, I pulled over, let them know we would be late and could we please get on their next ride at 3 pm?

The rest, as they say, is history . . .

Trail Ride in Rocky Mountain National Park

We had our trail ride in Rocky Mountain National Park later than expected (which the boys claimed wasn’t as exciting as their ride in Wyoming) and checked another item off our “500 List.”

Horse Ride Rocky Mountain national Park

Happy Trails

Seventy-three places visited, 427 to go!

 

Rocky Mountain National Park – The Road Less Taken

  By placeswithkids | January 31, 2012 - 11:10 am | , , , , , , ,
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scenic views at rocky Mountain National Park

Scenic views from Old Fall River Rd.

The last few lines of Robert Frost’s wonderful poem “The Road Not Taken” completely summed up our last and final day on our US Western road trip which we spent at Rocky Mountain National Park:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

There are basically two ways to drive to the top of Fall River Pass and the Alpine Visitor Center – the paved, scenic byway known as Trail Ridge Road or the gravel-one-way-only-formerly-an-Indian-trail road known as Old Fall River Road. Guess which one we took?? And like Frost’s poem, it made all the difference.

When we stopped at the Fall River Visitor Center, the park ranger convinced me that taking the slower, less populated (as well as motorcycle free) road was worth the trip.

Old Fall River road - Rocky Mountain NP

Old Fall River Road

Driving slowly (as in 15 miles/hour), I slowly edged my way up, hugging the side of the mountain when I could because there was no guard rail. The views were amazing and we found ourselves stopping often.

Our first break was to explore a waterfall.Waterfall off Old Fall River RoadAs the boys scrambled up and over rocks, my oldest decided to get a little TOO up-close and personal and fell in. Shaking my head, I threw him the keys to our car and he changed into whatever clothes he could easily find in the suitcases before continuing his adventure.

Wet clothes after a dip

The road was steep and although we found ourselves gasping at the scenery, I didn’t feel comfortable pulling over until we reached a flatter area and a mountain meadow. I truly think it was impossible to take a bad picture in this people-free area.Rocky Mountain NP

Soon after, we entered into the alpine tundra zone where snow never melts – even in the heat of the summer.

Glacial snow field at Rocky Mountain NP

Glacial snow

We continued to inch our way up to the top, the Alpine Visitor Center within sight until finally . . . we were there.

As we searched for a spot in a parking lot crammed full of motorcycles, tour buses, cars, and RV trailers, I silently thanked the park ranger for her recommendation to take the “road less taken.”

Alpine Visitor Center rocky mountain NP

Alpine Visitor Center

[box]Both the Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road are open seasonally. Check at park visitor centers to see whether they are open when you visit. [/box]

Next up: Our last stop on our US western road trip . . .

 

Wind Cave vs. Jewel Cave in South Dakota

  By placeswithkids | January 17, 2012 - 9:21 am | , , , , , , ,
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Wind Cave Tour

Touring Wind Cave

One of the many decisions I made when planning our family’s western US trip this past summer was whether to visit Wind Cave National Park or Jewel Cave National Monument. In the end, convenience and size won out and we visited Wind Cave National Park located a few miles from Custer State Park and the first cave to be designated a national park.

With Wind Cave only accessible via a ranger-led tour, we took the popular Natural Entrance Cave Tour, a 1 1/4-hour tour with moderate walking (and only a few instances of being completely in the dark) Tip: We used a flashlight app on our our iPhones to help light the way through some of the darker parts!

We saw the only natural entrance to one of the world’s longest caves (5th in the world)

Natural entrance to Wind Cave

Natural Entrance to Wind Cave

and the park ranger demonstrated why it was called Wind Cave.

Why Wind Cave

Why it's called Wind Cave

According to reports by its discoverers, Jesse and Tom Bingham, they were first attracted to the cave because of a whistling noise. They found the cave entrance and the wind blew so hard out, it knocked off Tom’s hat. Days later when they returned, the wind had switched directions and the hat was sucked into the cave. (It’s now known that the “wind” is related to a difference in atmospheric pressure – how boring).

Once we entered, we were treated to a lack of typical cave formations . . . no stalagmites or stalactites because Wind Cave is considered a “dry” cave. Instead, we saw numerous examples of a cave formation that makes Wind Cave so special – boxwork.

Boxwork in Wind Cave

Boxwork in Wind Cave

Made of calcite ridges that stick out of the ceiling and walls, the ridges form a box-like pattern, hence the name. And while boxwork is not unique to Wind Cave, the cave does have the most and best-formed boxwork examples in the world.

Boxwork in Wind Cave

Anne’s special note: A brief apology for my lack of posting – I tore my ACL while skiing on vacation and am recovering from surgery. I’m also following Mara’s example on The Mother of All Trips and trying to blog “like no one is reading” – focusing on content and my personal “voice” rather than site hits.

Kid-Friendly Trails in Badlands National Park

  By Anne Patrone | October 18, 2011 - 12:18 pm | , , , , , , , ,
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Summer sunflowers on the Prairie Winds Trail

Badlands National Park has some harsh landscapes, but for families interested in kid-friendly walks consider these two easy trails we took when we visited: the 150-foot Prairie Winds Trail and the quarter-mile paved Fossil Exhibit Trail.

We chose these two trails during our driving tour of Badlands National Park because I wanted to get the kids out of the car and looking at scenery. However, after our rattlesnake encounter, I knew I wasn’t going to get them on a more challenging hike that wasn’t “safe”.

Walking the Prairie Winds Trail is like taking a peaceful trip back in time to an era when covered wagons traveled west to settle America. Taking in these wide vistas of rolling plains with hardly a tree in sight is an awe-inspiring moment. We took the time to admire the beautiful scenery and to smell the flowers.

Endless prairie on the Prairie Winds Trail

Just a few miles away on the Badlands Loop Road was the short Fossil Exhibit Trail.

What used to live in this now desolate area

It’s hard to believe that this dry, dusty landscape with no drinkable water used to be lush meadows supporting a wide variety of dinosaurs and reptiles. Like the Prairie Winds Trail, the walk is short and easily accessible.

Along the Fossil Exhibit Trail

Fossils preserved in glass cases provide a sampling of some of the fossils (like this one of an Archaeotherium – a boar-like animal) excavated in the area.

Fossils of Archaeotherium

Surprisingly, there are a number of other family-friendly hikes in Badlands National Park like the Door Trail, Window Trail, and Cliff Shelf Trail (all under one mile). With enough cajoling, I probably could have convinced my guys to try the longer (1.5 mile) Notch Trail, but like them, I also wasn’t in the mood for more “unexpected” animals!

Beautiful Scenery in Badlands National Park

  By Anne Patrone | October 17, 2011 - 8:30 am | , , , , , ,
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Protected prairie land along Sage Creek Road

The name Badlands National Park conjures up images of barren landscapes filled with scenery that would make a pioneer cry, but the reality of this national park in South Dakota is quite different.

By the time we visited Badlands National Park on our Western US trip, we had already seen some amazing places in the United States – Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the general beauty that is Wyoming . . . how could a national park named Badlands compare??

Oh my . . .

An unending vista at the Prairie Wind Overlook

Forget the fact that we were greeted literally at the entrance to Badlands National Park by a rattlesnake and check out these amazing views . . .

At the Pinnacles Overlook
Bison grazing on the prairie
Eerie beauty at Panorama Point