Its been said that in many national parks, visitors don't trek far from the parking lots. Which is a shame, as there's so much to see and experience in the backcountry. How far do you typically roam into the backcountry during your national park vacation?
While "windshield" tours of Shenandoah National Park, the Natchez Trace Parkway, and even Grand Teton National Park can give one the sense of experiencing those parks, don't you really need to head down a trail to truly experience the park?
Tell us, travelers, how far from the parking lot do you roam when you visit a national park?
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Comments
While not a real backcountry hiker I will venture a long way from the parking lot. Basically day hikes.
Yellowstone NP I guess the furthest we went was about 5 miles.
Grand Teton NP about 6 miles
Smokey Mountain NP about 10 miles
Grand Canyon NP about 6 miles
Yosemite NP about 5 miles
Badlands NP about 3 miles
Denali NP about 1 mile
Acadia NP about 2 miles
day hikes, usually 3 - 5 miles one way
Depends on the park.
Glacier, I've been twenty miles into the backcountry, while at parks such as Yellowstone and Mount Rainier my farthest ventures were about ten.
I've been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon which is only about 7 miles from the trail head, however it's probably one of the most remote places one will ever visit.
At Denali I've venture only a few miles into the backcountry, however with so little development in this 6 million acre park, that one could get totally lost in the experience just a few hundred yards from the road.
My capacity's about 3 miles at altitude, 4 or 5 at sea level, and I always try to get out at least a mile or two.
Day hikes for me, usually. Three miles deep is good. I tend to hike extremely slowly, though. Six miles is an all day affair when you stop every seventeen feet to look at ferns or birds or lichens or centipedes.
We've backpacked in Zion, driven off-road in Death Valley, hiked to Wheeler in Great Basin and done nearly all 150+ miles of hiking trails in Acadia (mostly for our Acadia hiking guides, but also for pure pleasure). We try to get as far away from parking lots and crowds as possible.
I've been to 20 U.S. National Parks and always try to get out on a few day hikes. I've done most of hiking in Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Arches, and Yosemite. In fact, I've written a book about my times hiking in the National Parks, if anyone's interested in checking it out, The Adventures of a Day Hiker: An Exploration of America's National Parks.
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Day-Hiker-Exploration-Americas/dp/15089...
I am not brave and don't go too far, especially in the West. Thank goodness there are beautiful things to see close to the lots. We take boat rides, Ranger tours, and hikes of less than 3 miles. There are good things for all of us to see, thanks to fine planning by the Park Service.
My husband and I travel to a National Park once a month all over the country. We typically hike about 10 to 12 miles each day, carefully planning our itinerary. It is our experience that the trails are deserted after about 1 mile from the visitor center or road. For us, that is perfect as we enjoy the solitude of our beautiful parks! We live near Shenandoah National Park and belong to a local hiking club. There are many, many awesome hikes in that park! Alot can be combined for loops of extended length.