National Parks Traveler, Essential Guide, Winter 2014-15

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Western rivers are the lifeblood of the landscape, threading through canyons and sweeping past the plains. The Yampa is one such river, born high along the Continental Divide in Colorado and flowing steadily down to its confluence with the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument.

The scenery in this part of Dinosaur National Monument is outstanding. Unlike nearby Gates of Lodore and the Green River, floating down the Yampa River can seem like you’re in southern Utah, thanks to the towering sandstone cliffs.

Join National Parks Traveler as we float the Yampa in June with Holiday River Expeditions. From our put-in at Deer Lodge, Colorado, we’ll drift through wilderness landscapes of sandstone canyons down to the confluence with the Green at Steamboat Rock, and then pass through swirling Whirlpool Canyon and on to our takeout at Split Mountain.

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

This is the perfect trip for families with youngsters at least 8 years old. There’s plenty of river time, as well as time for hikes or simply relaxing with a good book as the Yampa drifts by. Around the campfire after dinner, noted national park historian Dr. Alfred Runte will broaden our knowledge on the parks and the national park movement.

Meals range from blueberry pancakes or made-to-order omelets for breakfast, wraps and deli sandwiches for lunch, and steaks, fish, or chicken for dinner. Special dietary needs can also be easily handled with enough notice.

We’ve reserved June 6-10, 2015, for Traveler readers. Pricing is $900 per person. To reserve your spot, call Holiday River Expeditions at 1-800-624-6323 and tell them you’d like to be on the Traveler trip. Or, book online at Holiday’s website by picking the Yampa River trip for June 6-10. Space is available for 18-22 travelers.

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Essential Park Guide / Winter 2014-2015

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On the Road Again From Death Valley’s dunes to the Natchez Trace’s long foot path, the open roads through the national parks offer a wonderful winter diversion.

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Your Yosemite Home Skip the lodge and turn a home in Yosemite National Park into your base camp for skiing, hiking, and more this winter.

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Wintery Lodges Whether you prefer snow and snowshoes, or turquoise waters and flippers, you can find a lodge or cabin to end the day in.

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Presents For Parkies Year-end gift-giving can easily revolve around national park adventures, whether you’re looking for a pack, tent, or book to help plan your trip.

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Sand or Snow, It’s Your Choice You can spend this winter skiing through Acadia National Park, imagining a soldier’s life during the Revolutionary War, or counting tangs at Virgin Islands National Park.

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On the cover

Armchair Travels Exploring national parks in Patagonia or New Zealand might seem like a pipe-dream, but let us entice you to make it a reality.

Editor Kurt Repanshek Special Projects editor Patrick Cone Director of Development Dayna Stern

Bingo in the Parks Wildlife bingo in the National Park System can take you from Elephant seals at Point Reyes National Seashore to Mutton snappers at Dry Tortugas National Park.

art director Courtney Cooper publishED by

Yellowstone’s iconic bison come well-equipped to deal with whatever the park’s winters can toss at them.

Photo by Deby Dixon, Running Wolf Nature Photography

Essential Park Guides are published by National Park Advocates, LLC, to showcase how best to enjoy and explore the National Park System. National Park Advocates, LLC, P.O. Box 980452, Park City, Utah, 84098. © 2014 Essential Park Guide, Winter 2014/2015. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

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Anhingas routinely hang themselves out to dry, so to speak, after spending time in the water / NPS

Winter Doesn’t Have To Be An Off-Season

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hen it comes to construction skills, male Anhingas are slackers. Oh, they’re good at pulling together nesting materials, but that’s about it. Instead of turning the sticks, twigs, and leafy greenery they collect into a nest for their mates, they stash the materials in trees and let the females build the actual nest.

You might not see this behavior when you visit Everglades National Park or Big Cypress National Preserve next door, but walk down the Anhinga Trail in Everglades and you’ll no doubt pick up on some other behaviors specific to the species.

For starters, you’ll likely see some of these odd birds roosting in trees with their wings spread wide apart. This is how they dry off after swimming underwater – yes, underwater – in search of a meal. And once they spy a fish, they don’t grab it in the traditional way with their sharp, pointed bills. They spear it.

Winter is the best season to look for Anhingas, and other wildlife, in Everglades. But it’s also a great season to head to Point Reyes National Seashore in California to watch for the arrival of thousands of elephant seals for their breeding season,

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

or to the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River in New York and Pennsylvania to scan the skies for bald eagles.

The fact is, the winter months are a great time to find yourself in the National Park System, whether you’re in search of wildlife, a great hike, or to seek out some solitude. In the following pages we offer articles that can help you choose your destination.

There are road trips that will not only keep you free of snow and ice but also take you back in history. And while many national park lodges close in winter, there are many other lodgings where you can call it a night, as we note on page 12.

You can begin planning next year’s vacation by turning to page 28 to read about international park travel, to page 10 to consider renting a home inside Yosemite National Park for your getaway, or begin making plans for a trip this winter by scanning our list of both warm and sandy and cold and snowy destinations.

The point is, there is no down season in the National Park System. ~ Kurt Repanshek

Spectacular skies are routine over the River of Grass in Florida / NPS

hit the road For Contrarians, Winter is the Perfect Season to Hit the Road to the National Parks

America’s Tropics

While the top of the nation scrapes ice off their car windshields, down south in America’s tropics the sky is blue, the air is cool, and the trees are green. Warm up and experience these three gems of the National Park System just a short distance from the beaches of Miami.

Florida is a land of contrasts.

Grab a couple of cubanos (cuban sandwiches) and head east on the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41), past the town of Sweetwater (founded by wintering circus midgets!), past the earthen dikes that protect the city, and into the sea of grass.

You’ll get a good taste of Everglades National Park and the River of Grass at the new Shark Valley Visitor Center, just 25 miles from town. Take a naturalist-led tram tour, or walk or bike (there are rentals) the 7.5-mile roundtrip boardwalk trail to the Shark Valley Observation Tower, where you will see herons, deer, turtles, and alligators far below. The Shark Valley Visitor Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

The waters of Everglades and Big Cypress are home to more than a few reptilian creatures / Patrick Cone

Just ten miles further west on U.S. 41, find yourself in Big Cypress National Preserve, where the pines and cypress groves rise above the grassy plains. Watch for alligators sunning

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There are whimsical salt formations, reflective pools, and hidden side canyons. There are date palms, historic borax mining equipment, and volcanic craters. Take a tour through Scotty’s Castle, one man’s dream retreat, or drive to Dante’s View as the sun leaves the valley.

A visit to Death Valley should include stops to inspect the borax haul wagons, Scotty’s Castle, and the lowest point in the North America, Badwater / Kurt Repanshek

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themselves along the roadway. As long as you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.

The fresh water from the 729,000acre Big Cypress Swamp flows with its nutrients to the Everglade’s Florida Bay to the south, one of the largest estuaries in the world, where boats are limited to low-speed polling, or trolling.

Sunsets and wildlife are spectacular all along the roads.

Once back in the city, experience a different type of wilderness, at Biscayne National Park. Dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles call this mangrove-lined bay home. Just 9 miles east of Homestead, Florida, a good first stop in the park is the Dante Fascell Visitor Center with its hands-on museum and displays.

For the adventurous, visit Stiltsville near the northern end of the bay, and see squatters’ unique water-homes that date back to the 1930s. Better yet, grab your snorkel or scuba gear and explore the Maritime Heritage Trail with its wrecks of old.

A Desert Detour

If you’ve got some extra time in California this winter, take a detour to three fascinating desert parks.

Winter in the Mojave Desert brings blue skies, cool temps, and fewer visitors. Start in the vast expanse of Death Valley National Park, less than 300 miles from the urban sprawl of LA. It’s a spot unique on Earth, with high, snow-frosted 11,000-foot peaks towering over a valley that drops 282 feet below sea-level. Perhaps you’ll spot some Desert Bighorn Sheep, a coyote loping for lunch, or a roadrunner making tracks.

There are whimsical salt formations, reflective pools, and hidden side canyons. There are date palms, historic borax mining equipment, and volcanic craters. Take a tour through Scotty’s Castle, one man’s dream retreat, or drive to Dante’s View as the sun leaves the valley. It’s a big park, with lots to see, and it’s a lot easier

when the temperatures are in two, not three, digits.

Then head south 150 miles towards the Mojave National Preserve, the third largest park unit in the lower 48. Leave the LA-Vegas corridor of Interstate 15 behind you as you head south from Baker, California, along the Kelbaker Road. Past cinder cones, lava beds, the Devils Playground, and the Kelso Dunes, stop at the Kelso Depot 35 miles south, built in 1924 by the Union Pacific Railroad. Spend a day or all winter exploring this vast, dry region.

Now, head south into Joshua Tree National Park via Highway 62 at Twentynine Palms. Here the low Colorado Desert meets the high Mojave Desert, forming granite domes, rugged mountains, and surreal geology that lures hikers, desert rats and rock climbers from around the world. Cold nights and warm days make for ideal treks into palm-lined oases. Or, bike the dirt roads and watch the climbers scale the rocky heights.

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Experience Military Grounds As The Colonials Did

Winter isn’t the best season to be outdoors in the East, but what better season to truly appreciate what the Colonials endured 240 years ago?

Valley Forge was a brutal place for the Continental Army during its 177778 winter encampment there. Food was hard to come by, clothing was little better than rags, disease ravaged the troops. Still, General Washington inspired the soldiers, and they quickly built a city of some 2,000 log huts in which they spent the winter. Walking the grounds today you’ll find some replicas that convey the challenging conditions the soldiers endured.

Head 81 miles northeast from Valley Forge via U.S. 202 and you’ll come upon the grounds at Jockey Hollow that brought even more hardship to the Continental Army, as the winter of 1778-79 was even colder and snowier than the year before. So cold was it that the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York reportedly froze so thick that cannons hauled across it didn’t break through the ice.

To stay warm, the Colonials cleared a forest at Jockey Hollow, taking down more than 600 acres of oak, walnut, and chestnut trees to build huts to shelter the 10,000-12,000 troops. Those huts, by the way, were modeled after the ones erected the winter before at Valley Forge.

If there’s snow on the ground, take off your shoes and stroll the encampment grounds, which feature a small handful of replica cabins, to get a sense of what many of the troops endured.

Poke your head into the cabins. Measuring roughly 14 feet by 16 feet, they were designed to hold a dozen men.

“We are absolutely, literally starved. I do solemnly declare that I did not put a single morsel of victuals into my mouth for four days and as many nights, except for a little black birch bark which I gnawed off a stick of wood,” Private Joseph Plumb Martin wrote in his journal.

“I saw several men roast their old shoes and eat them...”

After sizing up the wooden bunks and tight quarters, head 5 miles into Morristown to visit Gen. George Washington’s winter headquarters in the Ford Mansion, a sprawling, three-story home.

For six months Washington, his top aides, and even his wife, Martha, occupied the mansion. Take the time to tour the home with a ranger and you’ll see the room where the general 8

A winter visit to Jockey Hollow allows you to get a feel for the sparse accommodations the troops had / Crossroads of the American Revolution NHA

wrote letters to Congress with requests that his troops receive more food and better clothing.

Trace the Natchez Trace This Winter

Travel two centuries ago was a water world, where rivers were the highways for exploration and movement across new lands. Thick forests hampered overland travel, but the need for connections between river drainages was keen, and primitive overland trails were created. The Natchez Trace is one such trail, stretching 444 miles from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. Today, it’s a unit of the National Park System as the Natchez Trace Parkway, and makes a good tour, even in winter months.

There still are spots along the Parkway where you can find the original Trace, such as at this section at Milepost 221.4 / NPS

Winter reveals a different world on the Trace, as hardwood leaves drop, opening views into the surrounding landscape. An auto-tour is a wonderful, relaxing way to see the countryside.

This is not a high-speed thoroughfare with truck traffic. There are many picnic areas and hiking trails to stretch your

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

legs, and an historian will delight in the stories interpreted along the way.

You’ll cross eight watersheds and four ecosystems that are home to 1,500 species of plants, 134 species of birds, 70 types of reptiles, and 33 species of mammals. Even in winter you will be able to spot some of these (especially deer) along the way.

In the winter the weather’s warmer the farther south, of course, but you can drive the whole length of the Parkway, or pick and choose your section according to the temperatures.

Don’t miss the Emerald Mound, a 1,500-year-old Native American ceremonial site at Milepost 10 (ten miles north of Natchez). And, for a true taste of the times, take a tour of Mount Locust, at Milepost 15. “It’s an old-style plantation home from the late 1700s,” says Natchez Trace Parkway Chief of Interpretation Terry Wildy. “It’s one of the few structures left from the heyday of the old trade, and the only public one.”

The Trace itself saw so much traffic that the travelers’ feet wore a sunken corridor through the forest; it’s an easily visible and walkable corridor in many sites along the Parkway. (There’s a good example of a sunken trace 41.5 miles north of Natchez.)

Pull your car over and get out on the Trace. Envision yourself in the early 19th century, miles from civilization, with imagined and real threats from robbers, animals, and natives protecting their lands, seemingly behind every tree. You’ll be walking in the footsteps of Jefferson Davis, James Audubon, Ulysses S. Grant, and General Andrew Jackson.

Take your time and explore one of America’s unique trails.

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Winter’s Retreat In Yosemite National Park A thin ribbon of Yosemite National Park asphalt that during summer can be backed up with traffic enjoys its quiet season from mid-November through April, and often into May. That’s a long, wonderful period when snows muffle sound and block wheeled-traffic on a long stretch of the Glacier Point Road.

Cross country skiers have miles of terrain to explore between the Badger Pass Ski Area and Glacier Point / DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite

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hat solitude can be hard to fully appreciate while you’re building up a sweat as you kick-and-glide or skate towards Glacier Point, but as you pause to catch your breath you can’t help but relish the snow-cloaked forest surrounding you.

That short break, spent inhaling the cold, piney air and marveling in the snowy silence, makes it hard to ski on without reveling in your fortune... until you reach Glacier Point with its spectacular views. At that point, jubilation sets in.

Immediately below you is the milewide Yosemite Valley, opposite you is

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Yosemite Fall, and off to the right Half Dome stands impressively, shouldering its own snowy mantle, dominating the panorama.

Winter is refreshingly, well, fresh in Yosemite. Gone until May are the crowds that fill the Yosemite Valley, the Glacier Point Road, and the Mariposa Grove. In their place you find the quiet beauty of the snowfrocked Yosemite Chapel, a perfect greeting card photo; the peacefulness of ducks bobbing on the calm Merced River waters; the prospect of a snowball fight that collapses into a line of giggling snow angels.

Mid-winter visits to Yosemite can

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

find you surrounded by valley walls encrusted with ice formed when waterfalls’ spray is snared by frigid temperatures. Then, spooking you with their without-warning suddenness, sections of ice, burdened by their growing weight, break off with a jarring crack and plummet hundreds of feet to the ground.

Winter visits to Yosemite can coincide with a snowstorm. Skiers hope for just such an event, and for them, first tracks at the Badger Pass Ski Area can easily be had when base camp is a rental home or condo in Yosemite West. This small residential area is ideally located in the park, just

20 minutes from both the ski area and the Yosemite Valley. The hard part you’re confronted with each morning is where to head.

If alpine skiing or tubing is your desire, well, Badger Pass awaits. If skinny skis – classic or skate, your choice – are your passion, from the ski area it’s 10.5 miles of set tracks to Glacier Point with its overlook, a distance that when doubled by an out-and-back ski makes for a perfect day. If that seems too far, follow the marked ski trail to Dewey Point Meadow or perhaps explore the Ghost Forest Loop.

Snowshoers even have their own 3-mile trail leading out from the ski area to explore.

And then, after a day on the slopes, on the trail, or in the Yosemite Valley, you don’t have to leave the park but rather find yourself at Yosemite West soothing your body in a hot tub before setting down to dinner before a fire.

No confining lodge room or waiting on a dinner reservation in the valley, but going at your own pace.

It is a vacation, after all.

While much of Yosemite can be out of reach in winter – the Tioga Road is closed at Crane Flat, backcountry trails are under feet of snow – you won’t be at a loss for things to do.

The Tuolumne Grove, with its stately sequoias, showcases more of the natural enormity on display in Yosemite. You also can head down to the Mariposa Grove and ski or snowshoe in on the access road that closes to wheeled-traffic in winter.

Bridalveil Fall plunges yearround out of the high country, and when rimmed in ice and pushed by a breeze, the wispy fall makes an iconic photo. Check the park newspaper to see what ranger-led walks and talks are on tap. If there’s a full moon, consider a moonlit snowshoe trek from Badger Pass Lodge.

And when day is done, head back to your home or condo at Yosemite West, and do it all over again in the morning.

Winter’s cold brings ice-shrouded waterfalls to the Yosemite Valley, and bountiful snows to the park’s high country / NPS (top photo), Yosemite’s Scenic Wonders

Main lodge at Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch / Courtesy photo

WINTER LODGING

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hat’s your ideal place to stay for a wintry escape into the National Park System? Is it a cozy cabin with fireplace and ample wood, or perhaps something in a warmer climate with views of sun-kissed turquoise waters? Or does your desire lie somewhere in-between?

Fortunately, the park system is large and diverse. Finding that perfect home-away-from-home for a winter adventure may come down to deciding if you like it cold and snowy, or hot and sandy.

Here’s a sampling of some of the possibilities:

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

Acadia National Park, Maine Graycote Inn, 207-288-3044 Though Acadia National Park typically is viewed as a sublime summer destination, winter is just as spectacular. Snowstorms can blanket the park’s carriage roads with enough fluff for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Ice-covered cliffs draw climbers, and lodging rates are greatly reduced from their summer peaks.

“Empty nesters in the current generation, people entering that phase, are much healthier and more active than the previous generation. Lots more.

So there are lots of people that we see who had family vacations with the kids here at Acadia, but now they’re empty nesters and can travel whenever they like, and they’re active,” says Roger Samuel, who runs the Graycote Inn with his wife. “For these people, going skiing or snowshoeing, that’s an attractive idea.”

Though many lodges that ring Acadia close for the winter months, the Graycote Inn, with its 12 rooms, is one of a handful that remain open. The inn is just a five-minute walk from downtown Bar Harbor, where you’ll find a half-dozen or so restaurants that are also open through the winter.

Travelers looking for a deal should consider the Inn’s Frenchman Bay Room ($205 in summer, $120 in winter), with its king-size canopy bed, deep armchairs to relax with a book after dinner, a private bath, and fireplace.

Before heading out in the morning, take advantage of the Inn’s hot breakfast, which comes with your room.

The Frenchman Bay Room is the prized accommodation at the Graycote Inn / Courtesy photo

Big Bend National Park, Texas Chisos Mountains Lodge, 800-392-9004 Winter is the high season at Big Bend National Park, and if you’ve ever visited during summer’s high heat you understand why. If you’re looking to escape snow and cold, this West Texas destination is a great one to consider. Daytime highs typically clear 60 degrees, while nighttime lows settle in the mid-30s.

You might find snow up high...if you’re determined enough to take the trail from the visitor center to Emory Peak, which tops out at 7,832 feet, some 2,400 feet above the lodge.

The Chisos Mountains Lodge is the only “brick & mortar” lodging within park boundaries. A number of trails

The approach to the Chisos Mountain Lodge invites you to linger / Rebecca Latson

begin right at the lodge’s parking lot, including the famous Window Trail.

The lodge features 72 rooms and cottages ($132-$152), including the VIP Roosevelt Stone Cottage ($173). Interested in history? Many of the cottages were built in the 1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps crews.

Wildlife – black bears, mountain lions, and the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat – call the park home.

Birders should plan on a late-winter visit. Beginning around Valentine’s Day in February, the Colima warbler

shows up from its Mexican haunts to nest in the deep grasses that underlie the park’s stands of oak, maple, and pinion pine.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah Stone Canyon Inn, 866-489-4680 The lodge at Bryce Canyon National Park is shuttered in winter, which is a shame as coatings of snow create some of the year’s most magical displays in this park nature has eroded NationalParksTraveler.com

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from the Aquarius Plateau.

But you have alternatives, such as the Stone Canyon Inn. Located in Tropic, Utah, at the base of Bryce Canyon’s colorful Bristlecone Ridge and just seven miles from the park entrance, the inn offers cottages and bungalows that offer solitude in a towering red-rock landscape. There’s even a guest house for large groups.

When heavy snows strike, you can snowshoe right onto the park’s Fairyland Loop Trail from the inn’s grounds.

A short two-mile drive takes you to the Tropic Trailhead that will let you hike or snowshoe, depending on snowfall, the park’s Peek-A-Boo Loop and Navajo trails. Innkeeper Dixie Burbidge keeps a stock of snowshoes on hand for guests.

For cross-country enthusiasts, trails leading from the park’s 18-mile-long Rim Road atop the canyon provide many options. The Rim Trail between Bryce Point and Fairyland Point offers sweeping views while you ski. Just don’t forget to keep an eye on the trail.

While most restaurants in the area close for the winter, the four cottages at Stone Canyon Inn offer full kitchens, as well as hot tubs, while the smaller bungalows offer refrigerators and microwaves. Rates range from $175-$250 per night through December, and then $125-$150 a night through February.

Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia Greyfield Inn, 866-401-8581 Ocean breezes, rich history, and wildlife greet you at Greyfield Inn, a 1900 mansion built by Thomas and Lucy Carnegie for their daughter, Margaret Ricketson. Reached by ferry from Fernandina Beach, Florida, the inn with its flare for Southern hospitality offers 10 guest rooms and six additional rooms in two nearby cottages that constitute the only overnight lodging on Cumberland Island National Seashore.

The inn is expensive, with rates ranging from $425 to $635 per night, single or double occupancy, with a two-night minimum required. Additional persons are $275 per night per person. Holidays require a three-night minimum. Rates do include three meals daily.

Some rooms offer visitors expansive views of salt marshes that often draw some of the island’s feral horses. Fires kept burning in the living and dining rooms offset winter’s chill on this barrier island.

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Activities include bicycling, kayaking, hiking, nature tours, and strolls along one of the most beautiful and pristine beaches in the country. Ruins of Thomas Carnegie’s mansion, Dungeness, are at the south end of the island.

After dinner, or during a blustery day, you might simply want to relax with a book in the Inn’s library, or perhaps schedule a massage.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina Hidden Creek Cabins, 888-333-5881 Winter isn’t any reason to avoid Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Bugs are gone, as are most of the crowds. Hiking trails that pull you into this mountainous landscape remain open, though they might require you to add snowshoes or cross-country skis to your gear list.

With average daily high temperatures near 50 degrees through the winter months, the hiking conditions couldn’t be much better. And with leaves off the trees, the panoramas present a view of the park not seen during summer.

Though there’s no in-park lodging in winter, numerous rental cabins are scattered across the mountains and in their valleys. Hidden Creek Cabins out of Bryson City, North Carolina, offers cabins down low near creeks, or higher up with stellar views.

How close are the cabins to Great Smoky? Well, a dozen are within a half-mile of a park entrance. In other

words, a short walk away.

All come with outdoor hot tubs, gas log or wood-burning fireplaces and great views, either along a creek or from a mountainside.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii Volcano House Hotel, 866-536-7972 Though the seasons bring little outward change to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a retreat from the cold and snow of North America to this Pacific island outpost offers a wonderful thaw, if only for a short time.

Lodges within a national park often are known for their history, rustic ambiance, and location, and the Volcano House Hotel is no different. It’s a beautiful, 33-room hotel sitting at the edge of Kilauea Caldera; the view extends across an a’a and pahoehoe lava field, and the smoking Halema’uma’u Crater, home of the fire goddess Pelehonuamea (Pele).

This historic hotel got its start, humbly, in 1846 as a grass hut. In 1866, though, it was transformed into a four-bedroom hotel. In 1891 a larger, more substantial hotel was built, though it would later burn down. The replacement, built in 1941, has been recently renovated with modern upgrades while keeping its 1941 ambience.

This location is so incredible that you can enjoy the mesmerizing red-orange glow of the crater at night from the back of the hotel. Trails wend their way from the hotel to the caldera; if

A lobby with a view – from the Volcano House Hotel towards the Kilauea Crater / Rebecca Latson

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you don’t want to walk, motor down the Crater Rim Drive.

You can reserve a room with a view of the crater ($285-$385), or, if you prefer to rough it, the concession offers 16 campsites plus 10 fairly rustic cabins ($80/night, communal bathhouses, outdoor BBQ grills) located just outside of the park boundaries.

John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, Wyoming Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch, 800-443-2311 Walkways tying cabins to the main lodge here are lined by walls of snow that grow taller with each passing snowstorm. “Cold smoke” fogs are stoked by the numbing Rocky Mountain temperatures. Stars seem so close you can reach out and touch them.

Those are just some of the aspects of a winter stay at this base camp situated between two iconic parks – Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

The ranch, located on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, is just a few miles south of Yellowstone.

It’s surrounded by forests buried in deep, dry powder, perfect for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

This winter marks the first time in a decade that the scenic way station has been open for guests. The Grand Teton Lodge Company, which also manages the Jackson Lake Lodge and Jenny Lake Lodge in Grand Teton, oversees the 92 cabins ($190-$275/ night) you’ll find here.

Take a day to ski tour along the Grassy Lake Road that runs between the Parkway and Yellowstone, or you can kick-and-glide or skate up to and through Yellowstone’s South Entrance for the day. If the urge strikes, you can even spend a day in Yellowstone with a snowmobile tour.

Come nightfall, head into the main lodge building to warm up in front of the fireplace, before dining in Sheffield’s Restaurant and Bar.

Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands Concordia Eco-Resort, 800-392-9004 You’re already off the grid when you head to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Virgin Islands National Park. Head to Concordia Eco-Resort, and you complete the escape.

Though located just 11 miles from Cruz Bay (but 45 minutes away via the island’s steep, twisting, turning, narrow roads), the resort is light years away from the hectic pace of the world you

Pop out your cabin’s door to enjoy Rocky Mountain fluff at Headwaters Lodge & Cabins / Courtesy photo

Saltpond’s shimmering waters and colorful fish and corals are a short walk down from Concordia Eco-Resort / Concordia Eco-Resort

left behind. The white sand beaches and colorful waters of Saltpond Bay are just a 15-minute walk down a tropical hillside.

Paradise doesn’t get much better.

Your accommodations will fit a budget too. For $195 a night you can call home an “Eco Tent” that sleeps five – that’s $40 a night for you and four friends – and offers partial ocean views and a 2-burner propane stove and kitchen supplies. Or you can go whole hog at $305 a night for an Ocean Queen for two or three people that has oceanviews, full kitchen, and a wrapping balcony. (If you’re aiming for a visit in December, February, or March, it’s best to make your reservations a year out).

During peak season you can dine on the grounds for breakfast, Sunday brunch, and dinner at Cafe Concordia.

In the off-season, stock up in Cruz Bay before heading for Concordia to whip up your own meals.

With Saltpond Bay so close, and Little and Great Lameshur bays just a bit further, some of the park’s best snorkeling awaits you morning or afternoon. A short drive will take you into the heart of the national park with its trails. Reef Trail is a great half-day adventure, leading past petroglyphs and deserted sugar plantations. There also is a fresh-water pool at the resort, but you won’t find any blue tangs, sergeant majors, or parrotfish in it.

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Traveler’s

winter Gear Guide Whether you exchange gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, the Feast of St. Nicholas, Saint Lucia’s Day, or some other year-end holiday, we have some ideas for the national park lover on your list.

Pack For the Backcountry

Osprey Exos 48

Mountainsmith’s Mystic 65

More and more these days, going into the backcountry of a national park means going light, and both Osprey Packs and Mountainsmith can help you get there.

Osprey’s Exos Superlight line is a good example of the transformation to smaller, lighter packs. This line features three packs—the 38, 48, and 58—that weigh in between 2 pounds, 3 ounces, and 2 pounds, 12 ounces. (MSRP $159.95-$219.95) Stretch mesh panels helps keep these packs streamlined, and there’s an integrated pocket for your hydration system, and any number of adjustments that can further reduce the weight based on your needs. The lid, for instance, can be removed. Then just flip a storm cover over the top to provide a weather-resistant lid with a compression-strap cinch for stability. For more details, click here.

Mountainsmith’s Mystic 65 (MSRP $219) is

Float The Last Undammed Tributary of the Colorado River With The Traveler Join National Parks Traveler next spring as we spend five days floating the Yampa River through Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. Professional river runners from Holiday River Expeditions will provide natural history interpretation and cater to us with three sumptuous meals a day beginning with lunch the first day and ending with lunch on the last day.

With you will be noted national park historian Dr. Alfred Runte, who consulted for and appeared on the Ken Burns/Dayton Duncan documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, and who wrote National Parks, The American Experience. He will lead campfire discussions about the National Park System.

We’ve reserved June 6-10, 2015, for Traveler readers. Pricing is $900 per person. To reserve your spot, call Holiday River Expeditions at 1-800-624-6323 and tell them you’d like to float with the Traveler.

Or, book online at Holiday’s website by picking the Yampa River trip for June 6-10. Space is available for 18-22 travelers. For more details, click here.

either a big daypack or a small backpack. It’s big enough to comfortably swallow everything you’ll need for a quick weekend jaunt into the parks, but can also stow enough for a longer trek. During testing we were able to stuff a sleeping bag into the bottom pocket, tuck away rain pants and rain jacket in the top flap, and fill the main compartment with stove and fuel, food sack, and an extra layer of clothes. We were even able to secure a tent on top along with a sleeping pad. For more details, click here.

Staying Warm In The Backcountry The Backcountry Bed from Sierra Designs is a three-season sleeping bag: a hybrid of a mummy bag and a down comforter. While the bag’s traditional mummy shape contains body heat, a panel on the top of the bag can be tossed back like the covers of your bed.

This design means there is no zipper, so no snagging in the middle of the night as you adjust to your comfort zone. There’s a foot opening for your feet, though, if things get too hot. For more details, click here.

Of course, summer backcountry trips in the parks mean you will encounter those nights when you really don’t need a sleeping bag. That’s

Auriga Blanket

when Therm-A-Rest’s Auriga Blanket (MSRP $270 reg./$290 long) comes in extremely handy. This, basically, is a blanket filled with 750-fill down. When paired with a good insulating sleeping pad it will keep you warm down to about 35 degrees. At just 1 pound, 8 ounces in the long (76 inches) version (fits to 6-foot-4), the Auriga Blanket is a great, lightweight sleeping alternative for summer backpacking trips. For more details, click here.

Staying Warm, Part II

I truly came to appreciate Cocoon’s bag liners when I was camped just above Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park’s backcountry. The company’s 100 percent merino wool TravelSheet (MSPR $100) added at least 7 degrees of warmth to my sleeping bag, and fears of becoming tangled as I moved in my sleep never materialized.

True, the price might catch your breath, but if you’re a frequent traveler and wonder about the cleanliness of the linens on your hotel room bed, find yourself frequently in a hostel, want a bit of added warmth for your rectangular sleeping bag, or want a warm, lightweight throw you can keep handy in the family room, this TravelSheet is a nice way to go. For more details, click here.

Gimme Shelter Sierra Designs’ Flash 3 tent is for campers traveling by canoe, kayak, or vehicle (MSRP $400). It’s a roomy, low-slung tent that integrates a rainfly to the tent body. While the connection between tent and fly make it hard to distribute the tent’s 6 pounds, 3 ounces among backpackers, it does help ensure the interior stays dry if you find yourself setting up camp in the rain.

The doors on either end are not covered by vestibules, but rather awnings that jut 17 inches out from the tent body. This makes access easy, greatly enhances visibility, and allows you to keep the door open in the rain, unless sideways. For more details, click here.

Backcountry Bed NationalParksTraveler.com

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Traveler’s winter Gear Guide Keep Yourself Hydrated Identify yourself as a national parks traveler, and stay hydrated, with a Traveler water bottle. Made in the USA with recycled materials, these aluminum bottles help ensure your thirst remains sated as you explore the National Park System. For more details, click here.

Stanley Mountain Coffee System

Leave it to Stanley to make a one-stop pot of coffee. Their new vacuum coffee system has it all: a pot for boiling water, a French press, a vacuum bottle, plus two cups and a compartment to stow your favorite grind.

And it works. Their Mountain Coffee System (MSRP $60) is rust-proof stainless

steel, and will make a full liter of hot coffee... easily. Just boil the water in the bottom shell, pour grounds in the water and steep, and then push the plastic, screened press down slowly. Voila! Then, pour it into the vacuum bottle (there’s a locking handle to keep your hands intact), and you and a friend can stay warm, and wired. Works for me.

On The Book Shelf

H

eading to a national park for the first time can be intimidating. Where should you go, what should you see, what do you need to know before you pass through the entrance gate?

Alan Leftridge’s The Best of Glacier National Park (Farcountry Press) is invaluable for visitors to the park’s high peaks, big lakes, and great wildlife of this amazing alpine landscape. This book is small enough (It’s a well-bound paperback of 136 pages, and measures 8 1/2” x 5 1/2”) to fit into your daypack, or rest on your dashboard, and yet it’s jam-packed with enough information to make your trip to Glacier a great one. It’s practical, and practically perfect.

If you’re planning a trip to Glacier, a good primer of this landscape known as the Crown of the Continent (a tag applied to the region in the 1890s by George Bird Grinnell) is Crown of the Continent, The Wildest Rockies. Steven Gnam’s gorgeous book of photography brings the landscape and its wildlife, the region’s residents, even its emotions, into focus. It’s an appropriately large format that displays the Rockies in a 250-mile-stretch from western Montana to Alberta, Canada, the heart of the Crown of the Continent. Complimenting Gnam’s photographs are essays by Douglas Chadwick, Michael Jamison, Dylan Boyle, and Karsten Heuer that add heft to the imagery.

One of the joys of hiking the Appalachian Mountains from Shenandoah National Park

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

down to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is watching the dancing waters of waterfalls. Across this rumpled region that stretches more than 500 miles are countless waterfalls that draw visitors throughout the year, whether they come to counter the cloaking heat and humidity of summer or marvel at the intricate iceworks of winter.

For a cheat sheet to find these cataracts, Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge comes in handy.

Now in its 4th edition, this book provides entries on more than 120 waterfalls, from flumes 50 feet long to cataracts that plunge more than 100 feet. There are general locator maps, GPS coordinates, and a too-short section of beautiful full-color pictures.

Photographing Acadia National Park: The Essential Guide To When, Where, And How is more than just a guide to taking great photos of this jewel. Colleen J. Miniuk-Sperry, who so far has enjoyed three stints as “artist-in-residence” in Acadia, might have been writing a guidebook to the park, so thorough are her entries when it comes to trails and landscapes in Acadia. Photographers, aspiring and experienced, will appreciate her discussions of angles, filters, tides, and timing, as well as the history that makes Acadia such a stunning national park.

Rocky Mountain National Park doesn’t officially check off its 100th birthday until September 2015, but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate the centennial now with a book that looks back over those 100 years.

In Rocky Mountain National Park: The First

100 Years, Mary Taylor Young tells a wonderful story through lively writing paired with beautiful photographs from yesterday and today. Though presented in a coffee-table size (10.5 inches by 12 inches), this book isn’t simply to admire from afar. With a century of historical material to work with, Ms. Young has fashioned a narrative that is part history lesson and part love story between this park and those who have come to know it.

Over the past 14 years, there have been just two editions of the Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley; the second of which arrived just months ago. The name Sibley is synonymous with the birding field guide, much as Peterson was for decades. Ask ten birders to recommend a guide and nine of them will at least mention Sibley, if not list it outright as the best. As Traveler’s bird expert, Kirby Adams, notes, the second edition includes Sibley’s attention-to-detail text “covering the vital measurements, physical description, habits and habitat, voice, and range.

And, of course, paintings that help you identify what you hear and see in the

field. The range maps have also been tweaked where needed, with Sibley’s trademark attention to detail.”

Fields that your parents might have run through as children these days are often now parking lots or crowded with buildings. The fishing hole they that cooled off the hot summer days might also be gone. The animals your great-grandparents might have been aware of in the forests might exist only in books or zoos today.

And the same can be said of your great-grandparents: the natural world their great-grandparents knew likely also was much, much different than what they experienced.

But that’s not to say you don’t encounter “nature.” It’s just that the nature you’re familiar with is not the same as that which past generations encountered. That’s the message J.B. MacKinnon pushes through in his latest book, The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be. Creating national parks is not a clean, simple process, and that certainly was not the case with Grand Teton National Park, where a little subterfuge was

needed to preserve the landscapes millions of visitors enjoy each year. More than a few landowners and politicians opposed the expansion of the Jackson Hole National Monument that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established in 1943 into the wonderfully panoramic national park that exists today. How the expansion was accomplished is outlined

by Robert W. Righter in his latest book, Peaks, Politics & Passion, Grand Teton National Park Comes of Age ($24.95 from the Grand Teton Association).

Winter is the time for dreaming, and planning, the following summer’s vacation, which makes Bill Sherwonit’s book on Denali National Park a good resource to turn to.

True, many of us might never make it to Alaska to visit Denali, but Denali National Park: The Complete Visitors Guide To The Mountain, Wildlife, And Year-Round Outdoor Activities entices us not only with details on campgrounds and hiking trails, but digs deeper to provide history of the area dating back to the Ice Age, and helpful information on wildlife.

When You’re Snowed Into Your Cabin...

Move over Monopoly, look out Chutes and Ladders, Trekking the National Parks (MSRP $65) has arrived. This family board game introduces players to the 59 national parks in a fun and competitive way.

Up to six players compete in a cross-country race to visit the national parks and collect the most points. By gathering colored trek cards you can move across the map and claim valuable park cards. If you are the first to visit a park, you win that park’s stone, which awards bonus points at the end of the game.

Players must jockey for position and make tough tactical decisions at every turn to emerge victorious!

Whether Sand and Surf or Snow and Cold,

A Park Destination Awaits

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

W

inter wonderlands come in many shapes, forms, and temperatures in the National Park System. They can be pine forests shrouded in snow, or turquoise waters swimming with green parrotfish, blue tangs, and silvery barracudas.

You can climb ice walls at Acadia National Park, kick-and-glide or skate to an overlook of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley, or find your way to the 13,159-foot summit of Wheeler Peak atop Great Basin National Park.

Birding is superb in Everglades National Park through the winter, and the season’s temperatures are perfect for roaming the dune fields of Death Valley National Park, while the grounds of Valley Forge and Jockey Hollow lend a sense of what the Colonials endured more than 200 winters ago.

Below you’ll find a brief sampling of the wonderlands within the park system. Many, many more exist, from warm, sandy beaches to historic settings.

Eastern United States Acadia National Park, Maine For snow conditions: (207) 288-3338 Ice skating, ice fishing, and even ice climbing are some of winter’s pleasures at Acadia, where you can toss in skijoring, snowmobiling, dog sledding and, if the ice freezes hard and smooth on the lakes, even ice boating.

For most visitors between Thanksgiving and April Fool’s Day, though, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are the top pursuits. With 45 miles of carriage roads to kick-and-glide or stomp along, if the weather cooperates you won’t lack for something to do.

Stay on top of the latest grooming and trail conditions via the park’s website, or turn to the Carriage Road User’s Map to choose a route.

Acadia National Park’s carriage paths, with their beautifully constructed stone bridges, can seem even more beautiful in winter / NPS

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Shenandoah National Park, Virginia For snow conditions: (540) 999-3500 Winter can be mercurial in Shenandoah. There are wonderfully unseasonable spells of mild temps, pelting storms of ice, and heavy snowfall – and everything in between.

But it’s also a beautiful season in the park that draws hikers, horseback riders, and even motorists out for some windshield touring. Park officials welcome equestrians to the park’s horse trails if the ground is frozen. If it’s not, they recommend graveled trails in the park.

If you lack a steed, Shenandoah’s hiking trails are open, as is the backcountry for overnight camping. For camping without a tent, consider covering mile after mile after mile of the Appalachian Trail, with nights spent in shelters along the way.

Throughout the winter the Byrd Visitor Center at Mile 51 on the Skyline Drive is open. There you can get the required backcountry camping permit, which is free.

Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pennsylvania For snow conditions: (610) 783-1000 An estimated 2,000 low-slung cabins were built quickly once the Continental Army arrived at Valley Forge in December 1777. Measuring roughly 14 feet by 16 feet and six-and-a-half feet high – tight quarters for 12 soldiers – these huts proved “tolerably comfortable” for the Colonials.

“It would please you to see this Logcity, part of which is as regular as Phila. and affords much better quarters than you would imagine, if you consider the materials, season & hurry in which it was built,” wrote Ebenezer Crosby, a surgeon from Connecticut.

Unfortunately, none of the original huts remain; all were lost shortly after the Revolutionary War’s end. But a few replicas stand at Valley Forge today, and winter is the perfect time to visit the park and try to envision how the soldiers endured.

Other options: Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts: Channel Henry David Thoreau by walking Great Beach, which he named, then head to Nauset Spit to see the harbor seals that gather here in winter.

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Pennsylvania/New Jersey: More than two dozen bald eagles typically winter in the NRA. In Pennsylvania, look for them along Smithfield Beach on River Road, Bushkill Access, and Milford Beach on Route 209. In New Jersey, head to the 22

Modern-day Colonials provide living history at Valley Forge / NPS

Kittatinny Point Visitor Center just off Interstate 80 at the Water Gap. Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Site, Vermont: Twenty miles of roads that snowstorms turn into playgrounds are perfect for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Traveler’s choice: Winter casts Valley Forge, with its rich American history, as the Colonials endured it and leaves visitors with a better appreciation for the fledgling nation’s fight for freedom.

Chokoloskee Bay at low tide to see scores of water birds in the mudflats.

Pulling an RV or packing a tent? Head to either the Long Pine Key and Flamingo campgrounds ($30 per night for electrical hookups, $16 for tents). Reservations are only available for the Flamingo sites.

South Everglades National Park, Florida Winter is the season to visit Everglades.

Not only have you left cold, snowy weather far behind, but December into April is the driest time of year in the park. Bugs are relatively few compared to summer, and now the wildlife is congregating around water holes, making the birds and animals easy to find.

Visit during these months and your odds of seeing alligators and crocodiles soar. So will your bird list, with sightings of Buffleheads, Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Roseate Terns, Tri-colored herons, Yellow-billed Cuckoos and more.

If this is your first visit, consider stops in Shark Valley and the Anhinga Trail for reliable wildlife sightings. If you’re traveling with a kayak or canoe, park officials suggest you explore Snake Bight and

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

Everglades National Park is home to both alligators and crocodiles. Which is this?

(A croc) / NPS

Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands A paradise rich in beauty and deep in history lies within Virgin Islands National Park, which encompasses most of the island of St. John. Sugar-sand beaches run from palm trees down to turquoise waters, within which grow coral reefs swarming with fish.

A week easily could be spent visiting the different beaches and bays – Trunk, Cinnamon, Coral, Leinster, Saltpond, Lameshur – and sampling their tropical fisheries.

When you need a break from snorkeling or simply soaking up the tropical warmth, head inland to explore a dark chapter

of 18th century slavery. The Dutch had developed a thriving sugar industry, and used slaves to power their plantations.

Ruins of several plantations remain, with the Catherineburg and Annaburg sites the most visited.

A half-day adventure lies down the Reef Bay Trail, which descends almost 3 miles through a tropical forest of lime, mango, and tamarind trees, as well as leafy palm varieties, to the Caribbean Sea and ruins of the Reef Bay Sugar Mill. A short side trail leads to a cool pool of water and an intriguing series of petroglyphs long ago etched into a rock face.

One caveat: Winter is the high season, so expect to pay more for lodgings than you would for a summer visit.

Other options: Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia: Windswept and wave-pounded beaches, maritime forests, and solitude greet visitors who make the crossing to this barrier island off Georgia’s coast.

Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida/Mississippi: American history – Geronimo and his followers were imprisoned in Fort Pickens for 18 months – and gorgeous beaches fronting the Gulf of Mexico make for an educational, and refreshing, destination.

Canaveral National Seashore, Florida: Twenty-four miles of undeveloped Atlantic Ocean coastline await your exploration at Canaveral. But you might have to share it with turtles – in 2013, nearly 8,000 sea turtles came ashore to nest here.

Traveler’s choice: If you’re searching for a “once-in-a-lifetime” trip, Virgin Islands National Park is hard to beat with its beaches, tropical waters, history, and relaxed lifestyle. Think Swiss Family Robinson without the hardships.

caves possible, and the crowds turned out.

During a 10-week period the caves drew more than 135,000 people; one day an estimated 11,000 turned out!

The national – and international – media coverage has placed Apostle Islands high on the list of must-do winter park visits.

Keep your eyes on the weather this winter, and be ready to head to the lakeshore when the ice caves return.

Other options: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Wisconsin: You can find 20 miles of groomed cross-country trails in the lakeshore’s forests overlooking Lake Superior.

Snowshoers should check out the trail to Miners Falls.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan: Crews groom the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail for both kick-andglide and skate skiers, while rangers lead snowshoe hikes beginning in January.

Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota: More than 100 miles of snowmobile trails lie within the park, and skiers and snowshoers can follow those routes as well.

Rangers lead snowshoe hikes weekly and during the full moon.

Traveler’s choice: Walking into the natural freezers at Apostle Islands is other-worldly, with their gleaming walls and stalactites of ice. It’s enough to make Kubla Khan smile.

The Rockies Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah For snow conditions: (435) 834-5322 Whether you enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or simply admiring the dazzling contrast of white snow and red-rock, Bryce Canyon will sate your appetite. And once the sun goes down, you’ll be star struck by some of the nation’s darkest skies, skies that are flecked with twinkling stars.

For skiers, the 18-mile-long rim road offers a long out-and-back ski for those in shape and adapted to the thinner air at 8,000 feet. For a less arduous tour, follow the Rim Trail that runs from Fairyland Point to Bryce Point.

Mid-America Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin For ice cave conditions: 715-779-3397, ext. 3 While ice castles are difficult to find, when blast after blast after blast of Arctic air rakes Lake Superior, the frigid temperatures turn caves eroded into the shores of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore into realms of ice.

Last winter marked the first time since 2009 that a perfect meteorological convergence made travel to the lakeshore’s ice

Ice caves are the main attraction at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in winter, while Bryce Canyon National Park visitors descend into the landscape on snowy trails / NPS (top) and Kurt Repanshek photos

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For snowshoers, the Navajo Loop Trail is a must-do experience. Head out shortly before dawn and when the sun comes up you’ll be painted in orange as the glow off the hoodoos envelops you.

Coincide your trip with the full moon so you can join a ranger for a night-time snowshoe hike. Check the park’s website for dates of this winter’s snowshoe hikes.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming For snow conditions: (307) 739-3399 Accessibility via U.S. 191/89/26 that runs through the park is generally unimpeded during the winter, and from that highway you can make incursions into Grand Teton for snowshoeing or skiing.

Favorites with the locals include trails along the Moose-Wilson Road and around Colter Bay. First-timers will enjoy the Teton Park Road, which offers 15 miles of skiing or snowshoeing terrain.

Because some areas of the park offer key winter habitat for wildlife, check with the staff at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center at Moose for any clo24

sures. The staff also can tell you when any ranger-led snowshoe hikes are scheduled.

Great Basin National Park, Nevada For snow conditions: (775) 234-7510 Already one of the less-visited parks in the system in summer, Great Basin draws even fewer visitors in winter. Which makes it a perfect time to explore the park, whether you choose to cross-country ski, snowshoe, or trek to the top of Wheeler Peak (if you have the stamina for the 4.5-mile hike that gains 3,300 feet in elevation).

Park officials say it generally takes two days to hike from the Upper Lehman Creek Campground to the summit of the 13,159-foot peak and back down. “The first day (you) hike up the Lehman Creek Trail and camp at the Wheeler Peak Campground. The second day is spent climbing the summit and returning back down the Lehman Creek Trail,” the park notes.

As for skiing and snowshoeing, “Novice skiers can find gentle slopes for touring or experienced ski mountaineers can challenge their skills on steep and deep backcountry runs. Visitors must bring all

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

of their own equipment. Trails and roads in the park are not groomed, though some routes are flagged with tape.”

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming/Montana/Idaho For snow conditions: (307) 344-7381 Scenes from Dr. Zhivago could have been filmed in Yellowstone, where winter can bring temperatures 20 degrees below zero and drifts of waist-deep snow. There are even coaches – granted, snowcoaches – to get around the world’s first national park.

Whether you ski, snowshoe, or tour by snowmobile or snowcoach, Yellowstone won’t leave you disappointed. Much of the Grand Loop Road is groomed for oversnow travel (both motorized and muscle-powered), and summer’s hiking trails make wonderful snowshoe trails.

The geyser basins, of course, operate 24/7 and in winter offer fascinating imagery if you can bear the bitterly cold temperatures. Wildlife – bison, elk, trumpeter swans – congregate in the river valleys, so head for the Firehole, Madison, Gibbon, and Lamar rivers for your fill.

Maps and trail brochures for snowshoers and skiers are available for the Mammoth, Tower, Northeast, and West Yellowstone/Gallatin areas. These trails range from easy to difficult, so be sure to gauge your experience honestly and take a map.

Other options: Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah: Though often cast as a runner-up to nearby Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks, this gem offers great snowshoeing and cross-country skiing with views of the monument’s colorful amphitheater.

Glacier National Park, Montana: Though park accessibility in winter is limited, snowshoers and cross-country skiers can explore from Apgar to Lake McDonald, as well as in the Two Medicine and St. Mary areas.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado: The Bear Lake area is ground zero for families with youngsters looking for some tubing fun. Cross-country skiers can head up the Trail Ridge Road, while snowshoers will generally find deeper snows in the forests on the western side of the park.

Snowmobile and snowcoach riders can warm up in the West Thumb warming hut in Yellowstone, while Grand Canyon visitors can be greeted with snowscapes, too / Kurt Repanshek (Yellowstone) and NPS photos

Traveler’s choice: Bryce Canyon, with its sprawling ranks of orange titans, deep green forests, and brilliant blankets of snow, is an unforgettable winter fairyland.

Southwest

Juniper Canyon, Dodson, Blue Creek, and Laguna Meadows trails.

Looking to relax in the mild weather?

Stroll down to the Rio Grande River for a soak in a hot spring found there next to the remains of an historic bathhouse.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Big Bend National Park, Texas

For snow conditions: (928) 638-7496

Snowbirds enjoy this park set on the West Texas border with Mexico. Daily high temperatures typically are in the 60s, perfect for exploring the park’s 200 miles of trails.

Winter also is great for backpacking in the Chisos Range. To help choose a route, explore the park’s backcountry campsite guide, which includes descriptions and photos. If you’re looking for a challenge, head for the Outer Mountain Loop, a 30mile circuit that combines the Pinnacles,

For solitude and adventure, it doesn’t get much better than winter camping on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon...after you’ve hiked across the ruddy maw from the South Rim! There are no open roads to the North Rim in the winter months, which requires you to do the cross-canyon hike.

Once on the North Rim, you can either go pitch your tent or land a reservation for the park’s North Rim yurt, which can be found about a 10-minute ski from the North Kaibab Trailhead. The yurt, which

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can hold six and comes with table, chairs, and wood-burning stove, can be reserved from December 1 to April 15. A portable toilet is nearby.

A permit is required prior to arriving at the yurt and is available through the Backcountry Information Center. Cost is $10 for the permit plus an additional $5 per group per night. Groups are limited to four nights per stay.

Saguaro National Park, Arizona There are bonuses to a winter trip to Saguaro in southern Arizona. One, it’s warm, and while snow can fall, that happens rarely. Two, if you come in late winter/early spring, you just might enjoy the blooms in the Cactus Forest.

To truly get away from it all, head up into the Saguaro Wilderness. Covering nearly 60,000 acres in the park’s Rincon Mountain District, the wilderness area is set at an elevation of roughly 8,000 feet.

You won’t find any of the park’s namesake Saguaros this high. Instead, the forests are a blend of pine and oak woodlands, with some mixed conifer stands tossed in for some nice contrast.

If you’re not into backpacking but want to learn about the diverse ecosystems and vegetation found in the park, visit the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum just south of the park’s Tucson Mountain District.

The museum’s exhibits touch on the rich botanical diversity within the park...as well as on the reptiles and mammals that roam the landscape.

Sunsets are almost always colorful in Saguaro National Park / NPS

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Other options: Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico: Located in southwestern New Mexico, this national monument preserves natural caves that Ancestral Puebloans turned into a village some 700 years ago. For a bonus, take a soak in the hot springs found here.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona: After 11 years of closures that restricted travel, all of the national monument is open to visitors. One area in particular worth exploring is Quitobaquito with its springs and historic irrigation canals that date to the 1860s.

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico: Seemingly endless dunes of bright white gypsum sands are yours to roam, but keep your bearings, as it can be easy to go astray in the 275 square miles of dunes.

Traveler’s choice: Big Bend, with its options of hiking, backpacking, bird watching, or floating the Rio Grande, guarantees you’ll need a vacation from your vacation.

West Coast Devils Postpile National Monument, California For snow conditions: Check the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center website.

South of Yosemite National Park, east of Kings Canyon, and north of Sequoia, the Postpile is overlooked Sierra gold. Visit in winter and you can ski or snowshoe to the postpile outcrop and on to Rainbow Falls if you have the skills, time, and endurance.

Winter can arrive early here, as early as October and, following “big” winters, linger into June. That leaves a lot of time to explore during this quiet season.

The monument is somewhat closed in winter. While you’re still free to enter, you’re on your own once you pass through the gates.

“The Reds Meadow Valley, although closed to vehicles in the winter, is available to backcountry skiers and snowshoers,” park staff note. “This is a true winter wilderness experience and travel into the valley can be hazardous. For those with proper avalanche safety skills and physical conditioning, however, the valley offers outstanding touring and provides a gateway to the High Sierra backcountry.”

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

Snowy subalpine firs, Olympic National Park / NPS

Olympic National Park, Washington For travel conditions: (360) 565-3131 Winter comes with options at Olympic: Head to Hurricane Ridge for some skiing or snowshoeing, explore the Hoh Rain Forest in its emerald best, or watch for pounding storms along the Pacific Coast.

Storm-watching is a uniquely Olympic pastime, as waves pushed to shore by storms born in the Gulf of Alaska explode in fury against sea stacks. The winter months also are good for seeing what has been washed ashore by these powerful storms.

The Hoh Rain Forest receives most of its annual precipitation in winter, which explains why it’s particularly verdant during these months.

For snowsports, Hurricane Ridge offers downhill and cross-country skiing, as well as tubing and snowshoeing...and great views from the roof of the park out to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and beyond to Canada.

Yosemite National Park, California For snow conditions: (209) 372-0200 (then dial 3 then 5) Waterfalls are the highlight for much of the year in Yosemite, but when temperatures bring snow to the park snowshoeing as well as nordic and alpine skiing take center stage.

Winter in the National Park System offers travelers a rich variety of options, from sand dunes to snowfields perfect for dogsledding / NPS

Downhill skiing and snowboarding can be found at Badger Pass on the road that leads to Glacier Point, while snowshoers and cross-country skiers have, well, seemingly endless acres to explore. The Ostrander Ski Hut is a popular destination for backcountry skiers, though you need to land a reservation to overnight there.

Skate skiers and classic kick-and-gliders will find tracks set on the Glacier Point Road beyond the downhill area. The view of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley from the point are, as they say, priceless.

Other trails can be found weaving through the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias and in the Crane Flat Area.

Wind scours many mountains in the Alaska Range, revealing a patchwork of white and brown / Tim Rains, NPS

Other options: Death Valley National Park, California/Nevada: Winter is the high season in Death Valley, where temps have cooled enough to enjoy camping, exploring the dune fields, and visiting the lowest spot in North America.

Sequoia National Park, California: Skiing or snowshoeing in the Giant Forest is an unforgettable experience. Show up on the second Sunday of December and head to Grant Grove in adjacent Kings Canyon National Park for the annual Nation’s Christmas Tree Ceremony.

Joshua Tree National Park, California: Winter is the perfect time to perfect your bouldering techniques in the park, a climber’s fantasy world.

Traveler’s choice: Olympic delivers three parks in one: storm-pounded beaches, verdant rainforests, and snow-covered alpine areas. Consider it the perfect trifecta.

Snow blankets the trees in Grant Grove in Sequoia National Park / NPS photo

Alaska Denali National Park and Preserve For snow conditions: (907) 683-2294 Have dogsled, will travel? If that fits your profile, you’re welcome to mush the winter days away at Denali.

The park keeps its own kennel of dogs, and puts them to use in winter, but they’re not for hire. They will, however, help pack trails that you can take your dogsled on.

The most often used trail is on, or along, the Denali Park Road, though there’s nothing to keep you from heading off into the backcountry (as long as you obtain a permit).

Park officials say February and March tend to be the best months for over-snow travel in Denali.

The winter months, thanks to their long nights, also are best for observing the Aurora Borealis in the park. Arrive in late February and you also can take part in Denali’s Winterfest celebration, which offers music, snow sculpture contests, ice carvings, guided cross-country ski trips, and even dogsled rides.

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Go South: Classic Adventures in While winter renders many U.S. national parks largely inaccessible to all but the hardiest, it’s summer on the planet’s bottom half. Be an international snow bunny and migrate to New Zealand or Patagonia for these classic adventures: taking an iconic hut trek, sea kayaking in a remote, awe-inspiring fjord, or day-hiking the kaleidoscopic slopes of active volcanoes.

Trekking in Patagonia After hiking six miles up the Chilean valley of the Rio Ascencio and plodding through innumerable switchbacks past stands of Patagonia’s ubiquitous, twisted lenga trees, we clamber onto refrigerator-size boulders and crane our necks upward.

Three sheer-walled granite towers shoot 5,000 feet straight up above an emerald, glacial lake. The distinctive peaks, which lend their name to Torres del Paine National Park, are so tall that our brains can’t quite wrap themselves around the scale of this landscape. Gusts of wind literally knock us around like playground bullies.

Torres del Paine is one of the world’s most sought-after trekking destinations.

While many trekkers train their sights on walking the 65-mile (104.5k) Paine Circuit around the entire range known as the Cordillera del Paine, the north side of the mountains is often socked in, deluged by rain with no views, while the south side remains relatively drier—by Patagonian stan28

dards, anyway. That means you’ll actually see the mountains more often on the south side. So instead of the loop around the mountains, we opted for the south-side trek known as the “W.” Roughly 31 miles (50k), depending on variations, the “W” takes in some of the park’s finest scenery.

Begin with a 12-mile day-hike to the Torres del Paine from Hosteria Las Torres. Then take the catamaran ferry across Lake Pehoe to the Paine Grande Lodge, and hike seven miles on the Grey Trail to Refugio Grey hut. The following day, hike out-and-back from the hut partway or all the way to John Garner Pass for the views from high above the Grey Glacier, and return to the hut. On day four, backtrack to spend a night at Paine Grande Lodge on Lake Pehoe. Day five, hike up the French Valley to explore below its peaks and glaciers, and then come back down the valley and continue three miles beyond Italian Camp to stay at the Refugio Los Cuernos hut. From there, on your last day, it’s

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

about 7.5 miles to Hosteria Las Torres.

Some trekkers bring tents, but there are huts (meals provided) a day’s hike apart on both the Paine Circuit and the “W.” I highly recommend reserving hut space a few months in advance (and you will agree when you see the poor saps hunkered inside tents battered constantly by wind and rain).

Read more about trekking in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park.

Sea Kayaking New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park Our group of nine sea kayaks cruises along the shore of Deep Cove, the farthest, most remote extremity of a 30-milelong fjord named Doubtful Sound in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park. Cliffs rise right out of the sea to 4,000-foot summits—sheer granite walls covered thickly by podocarp trees and other indigenous vegetation that create a vertical jungle.

Clouds hover perpetually overhead, while

Patagonia and New Zealand mist and intermittent rain are the constant condition in a place that receives upwards of 23 feet of rain annually—about ten feet more precipitation than falls on Washington’s soggy Olympic rainforest.

I’m on a two-day, guided sea-kayaking trip run by Fiordland Wilderness Experiences, exploring the upper reaches of Doubtful Sound in the vast wilderness of Fiordland National Park. The park sprawls over an area as large as Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks combined in the southwest corner of New Zealand’s South Island. We paddle an often mirror-flat sea that reflects the soaring cliffs, and gaze at 2,000-foot-tall ribbon waterfalls pouring off them. We even spot a pair of the small penguins native to this area.

The launching point in Deep Cove is reached via a one-hour ferry ride across beautiful Lake Manapouri, which is ringed by steep, richly green mountains, near the small town of Te Anau, followed by a 45-minute, 22-kilometer drive over the narrow, winding, gravel Wilmot Pass Road to Deep Cove. Avoid the hassle and expense of bringing a vehicle on the ferry by taking a guided trip with Fiordland Wilderness Experiences. The trip is fine for beginner kayakers. Bring clothing for moderate temperatures and constantly wet weather.

Read more about sea kayaking Doubtful

Sound in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park.

Dayhiking the Volcanoes of New Zealand’s Tongariro National Park Local guide Stewart Barclay and I leave the marked trail of the popular Tongariro Alpine Crossing and start clawing our way up the steep, 2,000-foot face of Mount Ngauruhoe (pronounced “Nau-ra-HO-ee”), a classically conical volcano in the heart of Tongariro National Park, on New Zealand’s North Island. With virtually every step, the ground of loose, crumbling stones and dusty ash slides away beneath our boots; at times, we step higher only to end up farther downhill. I learn quickly that climbing one of these active volcanoes is an exercise in patience.

But after about two strenuous hours, at the volcano’s rim, at 7,516 feet (2,291 meters), we reap the rewards for that effort. Stewart and I stand at the brink of multi-colored cliffs dropping about 300 feet into the rubble-strewn crater, which spans more than 600 feet across. Around us, we can see the park’s several craters and sister volcanoes Tongariro and Ruapehu, as well as several lakes. It’s breathtaking.

I’m spending the day hiking a 12.1-mile loop over three of the main volcanoes and craters of Tongariro National Park.

By Michael Lanza

Established in 1887—just 15 years after Yellowstone became the world’s first national park—Tongariro was New Zealand’s first national park and the world’s fourth.

A Technicolor landscape of craters painted in vivid colors, Tongariro is anything but peaceful. Ngauruhoe erupted 45 times in the 20th century. Red Crater, which we will hike over today, last erupted about 130 years ago. Mout Ruapehu, dominating the horizon just a few miles to the south of Ngauruhoe, ranks among the world’s most active volcanoes, with a major eruption roughly every 50 years for at least the past 250 millennia— most recently less than 20 years ago.

The traditional Tongariro Alpine Crossing, 12 miles (19.4k) from Mangatepopo to Ketetahi, usually takes six to seven hours, not including side trips up Mounts Ngauruhoe (three hours) and Tongariro (1.5 to two hours). It also requires a shuttle between the start and finish trailheads.

Read more about hiking in New Zealand’s Tongariro National Park.

Michael Lanza writes about his outdoor adventures, many with his family, at his blog, The Big Outside, and is the author of the National Outdoor Book Award-winning Before They’re Gone—A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks.

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Bingo The Wildlife Version in the Park System Wildlife bingo is never difficult to play in the National Park System, no matter the season, as there are always birds and animals about. The toughest part is all the travel involved if you need to see elephant seals, anhingas, and grizzlies to win. With that understood, here’s a short guide pointing you to wildlife in winter.

Grizzlies and Wolves Any Yellowstone National Park visit, summer or winter, should include a stop at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana. This not-for-profit center provides a home for grizzlies that might have been orphaned or otherwise been put down for getting into trouble with humans. The center’s three packs of wolves were bred in captivity.

In winter, Keeper Kids is a great program for youngsters 5-12 who can help stash food in the bear habitat and then watch as the bruins sniff it out. The High Country and River Valley Wolf Feeding & Enrichment program demonstrates how wolves socialize with their pack members.

Yellowstone rangers also stop by the center to deliver presentations on the park’s various wildlife and thermal features.

Birds, Birds, and More Birds Birders flock to Everglades National Park during winter’s dry season to check off countless species on their bird lists. The nearly mile-long Anhinga Trail practically guarantees sightings of Anhingas, herons (tri-colored, great blue, green, little blue, and more), egrets, vultures, bitterns and, if you’re lucky, wood storks.

There Are Elephants, Seals, And Elephant Seals The shoreline at Point Reyes National Seashore in California turns into a sprawling mound of blubber – seal blubber – when the elephant seals descend on the seashore in December for their mating season.

These huge animals – bulls can weigh more than two tons! – cover the beaches from December into March for breeding. One February, biologists counted nearly 1,500 elephant seals on the beach. A great place to spot these animals is from the overlook near Chimney Rock, above Drakes Bay. Point Reyes is also a great spot to look for California gray whales during their winter migration.

Balding Eagles With so many parks with bald eagle populations, it’s hard to believe our national bird was once considered to be headed for extinction in the Lower 48 states.

Today you can spot these majestic birds in such wintry settings as the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River in New York and Pennsylvania, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in Minnesota, Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa, and Olympic National Park in Washington.

The Right Whales, And Others...

There are times during the winter months when you don’t need 30

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2014-2015

Tussling wolves are easy to spot at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center / Courtesy photo

a boat to spot whales at Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. That’s because not all of these big mammals head south to their breeding grounds. Young and non-reproductive whales often spend the winter in the waters surrounding the national seashore.

Beaches on both the bayside and ocean in Truro and Provincetown may provide opportunities for right whale sightings.

Fin whales can be seen year-round in Cape Cod waters, and can sometimes be seen close to shore from the northernmost beaches, such as Herring Cove and Race Point, an area known locally as finback alley.

Mutton, Hogs, And Groupers The Research Natural Area of Dry Tortugas National Park off the southern tip of Florida not only helps marine biologists monitor and better understand the dynamics of ocean ecosystems, but provides snorkelers and scuba divers diverse fisheries to observe.

Along with Mutton snapper, you might spot hogfish and red groupers as well as nurse sharks and hawksbill sea turtles.

There are countless other areas in the park system to spot wildlife – feral horses roam Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, bison are easily spotted in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, white-tailed deer are numerous at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and mongoose, a non-native species, can be seen at Virgin Islands National Park – so your bingo game could run on for years.

Parting Shot

Balanced Rock backed by the La Sal Mountains at Arches National Park.

Photo by Rebecca Latson