National Parks (E1): 2026 I

Without actually meaning to, in 2026, I visited seven new national parks! I definitely have a plan to go to all of them eventually, but I didn't really expect to go to more than one new one this year. However, between the TBE and a couple of out of the way destinations, I ended up collecting quite a few! I also ended up going to four again that I had been to before! 

All in all, if my count is right, I have now been to 26 of 63 parks. I will likely do some reviews and provide more details about all of them, but I will start with the freshest, aka the new ones I went to this year. After that, I will talk about the ones that I went to in 2026 that I have been before, and then I will carry on with the ones that I went to in the past. 

I will be frank; some of the new ones I went to I barely scratched the surface. As in, I saw one tiny section of a very large area, so cannot judge beyond that slice at this point. I will also admit that it does depend on what time of year you visit. Lastly, I am partial to places that I can hike in or get deeper into, and not just jump in and out of a car when I visit. So all of these things will of course affect my scoring, and all scoring will be subjective. 

Before I start, let me tell you a little bit about some old dead white guys. The first park (to be discussed later) was established in 1872 by then president Ulysses S. Grant. Luckily, soon after that (1892), my mate Johnny, aka John Muir took a break from bounding around the woods with his notebook and loaf of bread, founded the Sierra club and then in 1903, took Teddy Roosevelt (TR) camping in Yosemite. Apparently TR liked sleeping on the ground so much**, that he decided to focus on conservation as one of his top priorities. 

They're dead Jim! 

TR went on to sign The Passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906, granting presidents executive authority to bypass slow congressional approvals to instantly protect public lands (yay!). He also went on to create 5 new national parks, 18 national monuments (including the Grand Canyon), 55 wildlife refuges, and 150 national forests. Bravo gentlemen, bravo!! History lesson over! Let's get into the parks! 

**I doubt they actually slept on the ground!

The parks I went to this year were: 

Glacier Bay (AK) - new

Glacier (MT) - new

Cuyahoga Valley (OH) - new

Indiana Dunes (IN) - new

Theodore Roosevelt (ND) - new

Yellowstone (WY) - new 

Badlands (SD) - new

Grand Canyon (AZ) - repeat

Bryce Canyon (UT) - repeat

Yosemite (CA) - repeat

Kings Canyon (CA) - repeat

                             

I am going to split the seven new park and four repeat park discussions into three posts in the order given above. This post will cover: 

Glacier Bay (AK) - new

Glacier (MT) - new

Cuyahoga Valley (OH) - new

For each, I will discuss the following (please note that some of this has been found on the internet and I cannot confirm it is 100% correct): 

PARK INFO:
Year Established: 

Location: 

Park size: 

Number of visitors per year:

Best time of year to visit:

Miles of hiking trails:

Longest single trail:

General popularity:

Fun fact:

MY VISIT:
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal):

Temperature when I was there:

Time spent in park: 

Busyness when I was there:

My hiking experience:

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to:

Number of entrances:

Do roads or park close in winter?

Can you spend the night in the park?

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty:

Other Notes:

Overall Score:

And then I will do a quick wrap up at the end! Let's get started! 

Glacier Bay National Park

Lamplugh Glacier

PARK INFO:
Year Established: 1980 (was a national monument before that, since 1925)

Location: Southeast Alaska, in the inside passage, just west of Juneau

Park size: 5,126 square miles (6th biggest; 5 of the 6 largest are in Alaska) 

Number of visitors per year: 740,000

Best time of year to visit: June - August

Miles of hiking trails: 15

Longest single trail: 10 miles

General popularity*: #29

Fun fact: 90% of people who visit this park never set foot on land. I am one of the 90%.

MY VISIT:
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal): May; it was great. Cool but not cold, clear and sunny, no humidity or wind. 

Temperature when I was there: ~ 50 F

Time spent in park: 8 hours
Busyness when I was there: I was on a cruise ship, and there were a few others in the bay at the same time, but it did not feel crowded.

My hiking experience: N/A (did not get off the ship)

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to: not easy, most people come by watercraft. No public transit. 

Number of entrances: 0 road entrances

Do roads or park close in winter? See above re roads, winter severely limits water access but no formal closure

Can you spend the night in the park? Yes, there are backcountry camps and a lodge available. 

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty: 10/10 very beautiful, many glaciers, fjords, wildlife, water is very blue, sky was blue, it was gorgeous. 

Other Notes: We saw orcas, sea lions, dolphins

Overall Score: 8/10 due to limited accessibility and hiking options. I would like to go back in my own boat or kayak one day, or a flyover would be really cool. 

Glacier National Park

Highline trail

PARK INFO:

Year Established: 1910 (8th)

Location: Northwestern Montana, along the Canadian border

Park size: 1,583 square miles (10th biggest national park)

Number of visitors per year: 3.14 million

Best time of year to visit: July–early September

Miles of hiking trails: 746

Longest single trail: 18 miles — Gunsight Pass Trail

General popularity*: #10

Fun Fact: Glacier National Park has more than 700 miles of hiking trails but only about 50 miles of paved roads.

MY VISIT
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal): August, can be quite busy, but in the mountains it is not too hot.

Temperature when I was there: 35 - 60 F

Time spent in park: 2 days, about 6-8 hours each day

Busyness when I was there: Slightly busy, but not as bad as expected

My hiking experience: Hiked Grinnell Glacier and Highline Loop day hikes. Both were great, and I would love to go back! (small note: to camp overnight you have to get a permit, but they do not issue many. We tried to get one and failed). Day hiking trails are busy. 

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to: Can fly to Kalispell and drive, or take the Amtrak to the West or East Entrances. Parking is limited, and lots often fill by 7 am. There is a shuttle, but it also fills fast and is often unavailable/booked up. There is a lot of traffic on Going to the Sun Road, sometimes so much that you are stopped. 

Number of entrances: 4 - West, St. Mary, Many Glacier, Two Medicine (last three are all on the east side)

Do roads or park close in winter? Yes, major roads close, including Going To The Sun road, which is a main route through the park. 

Can you spend the night in the park? Yes, there is backcountry camping, but permits are very hard to get. There is also car camping and several lodges but reservations are difficult to get (FYI when I was there, I could have stayed in the lodge near Many Glacier for about $300. It must have been a recent cancellation though!) 

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty: 10/10 Very beautiful. Sweeping mountain views, snow topped peaks, lakes, glaciers, and many animals, including bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and moose. You can see why it is number 10; I am guessing it would be even higher if it were more easily accessed. 

Other Notes: You can ride a bike on Going To The Sun road, both when the park/roads are open, AND for a few days after they open the road to cars, they let bikes go on without cars. Also, it was very smoky when I was there, which I believe is why it was not as busy. However, this also meant that we did not see many animals, and the scenery and mountains were not visible for much of the visit too! 

Overall Score: 9/10 due to difficulty of getting backcountry permits, and some traffic on GTTS road. Otherwise, very beautiful. I could also take one point off for smoke, but I have chosen not to. Note that often there are fires in the summer so there could be a chance of smoke. 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Ledges Trail

PARK INFO:

Year Established: 2000 (was a national recreation area before that, since 1974)

Location: Northeastern Ohio, between Cleveland and Akron

Park size: 51.5 square miles

Number of visitors per year: 3.03 million

Best time of year to visit: May–October; October for fall foliage

Miles of hiking trails: 125+

Longest single trail: ~34 miles — Buckeye Trail segment within the park

General popularity*: #11

Fun fact: Cuyahoga Valley is one of the few national parks located next to a major metropolitan area, sitting between Cleveland and Akron.

MY VISIT:
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal): August. It was a little bit too hot and definitely too humid for me. 

Temperature when I was there: ~80s - 90s F

Time spent in park: 2-3 hours
Busyness when I was there: Not busy at all. 

My hiking experience: Ledges trail, which was very stunning. There are some very cool rock formations, and most of the trail is in the shade. The trail was nice, and not technical, and there were even some caves that were kind of cool (literally and figuratively)! 

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to: Very easy (see above re metro area), some public transit to park, can ride the historic Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad within the park. 

Number of entrances: No formal entrance/gate (and no NP pass check!), many entry points. 

Do roads or park close in winter? No, the park and its trails and roads remain open for the most part. 

Can you spend the night in the park? Yes, there are many guesthouses both in and near the park, but interestingly no camping is allowed. 

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty: 8/10 The part that I saw was very nice! However, the ground I covered was probably in about a 4 square mile area, so not even a tenth of the park. There are lots of trees and fun rocks!

Other Notes: There is a train, many cycling trails and kayaking as well, but I did not try any of them.  

Overall Score: 8 /10. Lowered due to lack of sweeping vistas and higher humidity, but increased due to some hiking options, ease of access and lack of hordes of people! I will definitely be back to do more research!

Overall thoughts: 

I think that the "popularity" is often more about accessibility, as in, how close it is to a metro area, do you need a pass to enter, are there many entrances etc. where the barrier to entry can lower the number. However, I am not in any way saying that places with a better popularity rating are not cool. 

The other thing is that what makes me like a park and what makes you like a park could be completely different. I saw many people at Indiana dunes enjoying time at the beach, whereas that is not really the reason that I am there. 

*Note on the popularity ranking: This is 2025 recreation-visit rank among the 63 U.S. national parks, based on NPS visitation statistics. #1 is the most visited and #63 is the least visited. It is not a subjective popularity rating, and it measures visits rather than unique visitors.

My ratings so far: 

Glacier 9/10

Glacier Bay 8/10

Cuyahoga Valley 8/10

Have you ever been to any of these and if so, what did you think? Do you disagree with any of my ratings? Do you want to try to guess which park out of all 63 is the most "popular" aka most visited? 

Stay tuned for part two! Also, don't worry Canada! I will also be talking more about the PPs I have visited!

The Blogger Extraordinaire (TBE): The Whole Story

If you have not already heard about The Blogger Extraordinaire (TBE), welcome! TBE was a ~ 4,000 mile road trip across the Midwest and West that I did with Birchie in August. She did a fun wrap up last week and I thought I would do a similar one (but different!) So, buckle up and let's get started!

I love a good spreadsheet. I also like to have lots of possible plans, although I do not always do all of them. TBE started as a seed where Birchie wanted to do some Amtrak travel, I was going to be "close to her" and available, and with that, a tree began to grow. This tree was the TBE spreadsheet! On the spreadsheet were the Amtrak routes, some national parks, some capitals, and lots and lots of friends! Then we looked at the map to see what was even possible and went from there. Unfortunately, given some of the locations, an Amtrak trip would have meant getting off and on the train and/or renting a new car in several places. This led to Birchie suggesting that we just take Brad (her car) instead, and me volunteering to stay around for the entire trip, aka back to the starting point, before carrying on with my own plans. 

We then had several "meetings" where we video chatted and drank our respective beers while scheming to determine what would actually be possible vs what would be too much. Here is what we came up with: 

Too much? Maybe. 

The general plan was this: Four state capitals. Five national parks. As many friends as possible! Let's see how we got on, shall we? 

Day 1 - 4: Ohio. I flew to OH, and stayed there! Previously, I have been through the Cincinnati airport several times, but, since it actually is not in Ohio, but in neighboring Kentucky, plus I don't count airport layovers anyway, I did not count it on my "states visited" list until now! In Ohio, we went thrift store shopping so that I would not look like a complete bum, then went hiking in a new to me National Park, Cuyahoga Valley, strolled around Cleveland, met up with some friends, went on a boat, drank beer and took lots of photos of Cleveland signs!

Ohio

Day 5: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. Day one of road tripping! We got on the road, stopped at Indiana Dunes National Park, and ended up in Chicago, where we met up with Ernie for a Mediterranean dinner and lots of catching up. 

Lake Michigan

Day 6: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota. After a quick morning run around the hood, we drove from Chicago to Madison, where we met up with Engie and Sarah at the Marigold Kitchen for some yummy breakfast and even better conversation. We ended the day in Minneapolis where we annoy Phil and have a great time hanging with the boys and catching up with Lisa. 

I did not test these

Day 7: Minnesota, North Dakota. We had a nice morning walk around Lake Harriet before it is time to say goodbye! We head towards Bismarck, but have a nice stop in Fargo, which has a cute little downtown, and...no visible woodchippers! We ended the day in Bismarck with a ramen so hot it made me cry (in a good way)! Random fact: Bismarck and it's twin city, Mandan, are both in the same time zone, despite the fact that the majority of ND west of the Missouri river is in Mountain time. 

Lake Harriet

Day 8: North Dakota. After a nice run around our super cute neighborhood, we went and toured my first state capitol building for the year! It has a plain exterior, but the inside is art deco and it sets the tone nicely for our future capitol explorations. It is also the tallest inhabited building in the state. Once done, we headed to Richardton, where we met up with a friend I met on my repositioning cruise! He is excited to show us everything, and we went on a whirlwind tour of brunch, Theodore Roosevelt (TR) Presidential Library, TR National Park and Medora before heading to the Pitchfork Fondue, which is actually steak cooked on a pitchfork (in hot oil). Then we headed to the Medora musical, which is in a cool outdoor theater. 

I am not the first person to take this guy's photo

Day 9: North Dakota, Montana. We headed from Richardton to Billings with a stop at TRNP to take a quick hike around the Badlands. Fun fact: Billings is the biggest city in Montana, with ~ 120,000 people. 

TRNP hike

Day 10: Montana. I had a morning run in Billings, then we did a quick walk near the Yellowstone river, then we scooted to Helena, arriving early enough to take a hike on the hill near our Airbnb. After we got settled in, we headed to the Windbag Saloon for some burgers and beers. We finished the day off with trolley ride around town, and learned a lot about the Montana gold rush. 

Keep Helena weird!

Day 11: Montana. I did a quick trail run in the hills near our Airbnb, then we had homemade scones for breakfast. A tour of the capitol building topped off our Helena morning. Then we headed to Michelle's for some excellent cow education, four wheeler driving, dollhouse viewing, dinner and conversation! 

This bull don't take no $hit. 

Day 12: Montana, Wyoming. I learned how to play Connections (badly) then we "helped" Michelle's husband by driving his tractors around the ranch. I am sure he would like me to come back next year to help some more! Then we sadly said goodbye and headed towards Yellowstone, where we found a couple of steaming pools, a hike and some colorful holes to look at before settling at the Old Faithful Lodge. More burgers and beers are had, and I see an eruption before the night is over. 

My kind of place...

Day 13: Wyoming. The drive out of the park is a fun one, with lots of things to look at! We spotted the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, did a quick hike at the Natural Bridge and headed east. The drive was very scenic, even outside of the park, and we saw plenty of big rocks (my favorite). We made a quick pit stop for some kettle corn (and a free drink) in Cody, then we headed to Ten Sleep, where we had another burger and beer before walking back to our motel. 

The drive from Yellowstone to Cody (east)

Day 14: Wyoming, South Dakota. We left Ten Sleep and stopped in Buffalo, which ironically is the first place that Birchie and I met IRL (NY last time, WY this time). There is a nice creek path for our daily stroll, plus a picnic table in the shade for our daily picnic. We carried on to Hill City, where we met up with a friend of mine for dinner (the choices: big steak or small steak; cash only). We stayed in a lovely place, the Horse Creek Resort, where we decided to take a "rest day" and stay two nights. 

Good advice (found in Buffalo, WY)

Day 15: South Dakota. The HCR abuts the Black Hills national forest, and so I started the day with a walk through the woods. After that, it is back in the car, to Mt. Rushmore, the Needles Highway, and the Crazy Horse Monument, with a stop in Hill City for pizza. We got smart and got enough leftovers for dinner so we could just veg out after we got back. We get back, veg out, and decide to start watching Traitors UK, which I first saw about a year ago at my friends' house in Scotland, but never pursued more of before this. 

My happy place: porch, book, beer

Day 16: South Dakota. Sadly, we have to leave our relaxing abode, and so we headed to the capital of SD, Pierre, pronounced like peer. It's not a bad drive, but it is a little bit boring, except for the section where we went through Badlands National Park (if you are counting, this is NP #5!) We got to Pierre, checked into our hotel, and walked to a BBQ place nearby. We discover a riverwalk along the Missouri, which is quite pleasant. Random fact: Pierre is split into two time zones, with the river being the dividing line. We watch Traitors again; I fear we are hooked. 

Black Hills NF

Day 17: South Dakota, Nebraska. We did a self tour of the capitol before heading out and towards Nebraska. This drive seemed long, or I was tired, but I was really glad to get out of the car, and even happier that Lincoln was a happening town with a fun walkable old town and downtown area. We went for dinner, and I got BBQ again. I am beginning to see a trend here. (#beefitswhatsfordinner!) More Traitors. 

Downtown Pierre

Day 18: Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois. I ran, we toured the capitol, we got back on the road. The tour was loud, the group was big, the building was echoey, and the tour ran loooooong. The guide had a lot of energy, and the class of '71 group keeps talking and asking questions. It was a beautiful building but I was happy to get back on the road. We drove until basically the halfway point to our endpoint, including all the way across Iowa, before stopping in Ottawa, IL. More Traitors ensues. 

Lincoln capitol garden

Day 19: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. I did a quick shakeout run among the corn fields in the rain before having breakfast and getting in the car. We stopped for a quick hike before leaving IL, and its clear that we are getting back into humid-land. The drive contained a lot of freeway, but it didn't seem too bad. We got some more rain along the way, but are back in Ohio in time to go grocery shopping, buy beer, and have a nice dinner before we head to bed. 

Humid IL hike

Day 20: Ohio. I took a run, we took one last group Doggo walk, we ate, and we finished binging the first season of Traitors. I mean, we can't leave things unfinished, right? Plus we are both tired and it is nice to just veg out and relax. Also laundry is a must! 

I wonder how hard it would be to ride this

Day 21: Ohio. I get on a plane and head west again, to get Cristof and head out to the next leg of my adventure. 

Goodbye, Ohio

Want more? Here is my quick and dirty August wrap up. Here are some interesting things we found out about each other. Here are Birchie's mid-trip updates: Days 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15! Also coming soon: Rate my trip posts!! 

When was the last time you did a road trip? Where did you go? How long was it? 

Same, Same, But Different

After traveling in a car together for many, many hours, and then spending time in hotel rooms, Airbnbs, attractions, restaurants and bars, Birchie and I found out a lot of things about each other! The Blogger Extraordinaire was fun, not just for the sights seen, people visited and photos taken, but getting to know each other better was an adventure in itself. Of course, as adult people who have lived independently for many years over our lives, we found out some things that we definitely had in common and some things that we did differently. The question is, how did it stack up? Did either of us change due to seeing how other people did things? Let's find out! 

Same, Same

Alone Time: We both appreciate our alone time! It does not always jive up at the same time, but for the most part, we like a quiet morning, and a chill evening. We also don't mind listening to an audio book or podcast rather than always talking in the car, although this did not happen a lot, it did happen from time to time. 

The End Result? In the morning, I would often take a run while Birchie did her thing, and then in the evening after dinner, we would often do our thing or watch a show. However, this did evolve as we went along, and was maybe influenced by our newfound Traitors obsession. 

Food: Luckily, we were pretty much on the same eating schedule. We had a small breakfast, often stopped for a car sandwich lunch around 11:00 am, then were ready for dinner pretty much as soon as we got settled in the lodging, which was generally around 5:00 pm. 

The end result? We are both happy to be part of the early bird special and usually made sandwiches at a gas station or rest area for lunch. 

Picnic in Buffalo, WY

Beer: We both like beer, but especially IPAs. Need I say more? 

The end result? We would happily share a flight to try different beers, or even share a beer if it came down to it. 

Beer selection at the Sleepy Coyote in Ten Sleep, WY
Note the saw in the background

Music: We both like musicals and also love singing along to them! 

The end result? On the trip, we listened to Sound of Music, Hamilton and The Music Man (sparked by our drive through Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana!) I also had Phantom, Les Mis, In The Heights, Newsies and more queued up, but in the end, we just could not get to all of them! We also went to see the Medora musical in North Dakota. 

Outdoor theater in Medora, ND

Mayo: Spicy mayo for life! 

The end result? We only needed one sandwich condiment! 

Exercise: We both wanted to be sure that we kept to a semi-regular exercise routine, given we would be in the car and eating strange foods etc. 

Hiking at Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The end result? I often went on a run around town, we took at least one walk or hike per day, and we also sometimes did push ups (Birchie more than me!). For me, my average steps per day for the 15 days we were on the road was just under 16,000, and there was no day under 10,000 (one day was 10,008!)

--------------------------------

But Different

Multiple Car Loads: I like to bring everything in from the car all at once. This is not just on vacation, but also when I buy groceries or really whenever I have to unload anything from the car. Birchie likes multiple trips. This could be that she travels in style, road trip style I mean, and has a cooler and other nice gadgets to make the trip more enjoyable. I have one bag, and can carry the cooler and multiple other bags at once in order to do it all in one. 

The end result? By the end, if the room was hard to get to (aka up a set of stairs, further away etc.) Birchie was okay to take just one trip. If we were parked right in front of the room or door, I was okay to just do one. Did we rub off on each other? Yes. 

Luggage: As you know, I travel light. I normally do this, but currently all I have is my bike stuff, so its even lighter than normal! Birchie has a deluxe road trip set up, with a cooler, coffee maker, electric kettle and more. I also only have two black outfits (and a running outfit) so I don't have many clothes either. 

Birchie (left), Me (right)
PC: Birchie (more info here)

The end result? I got a lot of ideas for my future campervan set up! The electric cooler is clutch. When cycling, I eat a lot of processed foods that don't need refrigeration, and it was so nice to be able to buy cheese or beer and have it be cold when you want it. Birchie did mention that she is considering swapping over to the all black ensemble.  Did we rub off on each other? Yes!   

Audio Speed: Birchie listens to audio (books, podcasts) at 1x speed. I listen at 2x or 2.20x. We did try listening to some audio at 1.1x to see what Birchie thought, but it was a bit of a fail. 

The end result? If the podcast was one that I had listened to before, the voice often sounded like the person was sick or had had a stroke or something. I didn't love it. Birchie didn't really like anything more than 1.1x. Did we rub off on each other? Not this time. 

Sandwiches: I had turkey, she had tofurkey! 

The end result? We both had sandwiches and it is not hard to carry around two different kinds of meat (in Birchie's excellent cooler). Did we rub off on each other? We didn't need to! I would eat tofurkey if needed. I think Birchie would eat turkey but wouldn't love it. 

Deli meats

Coffee: Part of Birchie's cool road trip packing set up is a pour over coffee maker, electric kettle, half and half (in the cooler) and premeasured ground coffee. I like good coffee, but also can drink pretty much anything, including instant coffee. I generally drank the hotel coffee, or made drip coffee if we were in an airbnb. Also, she has only one cup, whereas I want two or even three if we have time. 

The end result? She made her coffee each morning, and I sourced my coffee from various places, including the hotel lobby, gas stations, the in room coffee maker, or my own emergency stash of Nescafe. Did we rub off on each other? Halfway. I would go up the scale, but I doubt Birchie would go down. 

Last day of the trip, I splurged!

Parking: Birchie is a parking lot/garage person, whereas I am a curb/street parker. I can and do parallel park and free parking is always better than paid parking. Birchie just wants the car to be safe and the parking to be simple and does not care about the price. 

The end result? When I drove, I parked wherever, although of course was influenced by the fact that the car was not mine, so probably parked in more conservative places than I would have if it were my own car. Birchie did not attempt to park on the curb. Birchie only attempted one curb parking job, and it looked like a drunk person may have parked the car (unfortunately I did not take a photo, but I do believe two tires were on the curb. Also, she has approved this joke in advance! I would never make fun of her without her permission.)  Did we rub off on each other? Hard No. 

Questions for you! Let us know what your preferences are in these categories! Even if you just have time for one, let us know, what speed you listen to your audiobooks at and how many trips you take from the car after you get groceries or come back from a trip!