We had another wonderful vacation (aren't they all?), this time visiting five NP's in the South and West. We left Chicago on the 28th of March and got home the 15th of April. Clocked a total of 4,348 miles. We normally don't do a long trip this early in the season, but we had the opportunity so we took it. Our goal is to visit as many National Parks as we can before we keel over, and as this is a good time of year to visit the distant Big Bend in Texas, we mapped out a route to include the parks that could be done comfortably in the time we had to spend and headed South.
First was Hot Springs in Arkansas - not your typical 'National Park' per se, as the bathhouses are right in the city of Hot Springs. Most are not open, and even the visitor center is still closed due to Covid, but the history is interesting and the architecture is quite nice. We also managed to get a nice hike in at the Gulpha Gorge Campground in the park while there.
On to Texas, where we stayed at Cedar Hills State Park between Dallas & Ft Worth for a couple nights. Beautiful park with some nice trails to hike. Nice facilities. We since found that it was impossible to get into State Parks in Texas as they were booked solid, so we stayed at a few RV 'Resorts' along the way - we were the David among the Goliaths for sure...
When we originally decided to go for Big Bend, there were no campsites available until July, but I kept checking (2 & 3 times a day) and was able to snag 5 days in early April. Getting a site in the park saved us driving at least 90 minutes each day from the nearest private campground. I then called the concession run campground in the park the day before we arrived to see if they had availability and they did, so we stayed in the sites with electric and water instead. Pricier, but actually more trees than our non-electric site would have had. Neither has showers at this time, SO... we bathed in the Rio Grande for the 6 days that we we there. Big Bend is an incredible park - great hikes; Boquillas Canyon, Chisos Mountain area, Santa Elena Canyon - all beautiful. And the night sky is like nothing we've ever seen! Billed as one of the darkest skies in the lower 48, and I believe it.
From there we headed to White Sands NP in New Mexico, which was an unexpected gem. We live close to Indiana Dunes National Park and have been there countless times over the years, but there is no comparison to the size and feel of White Sands! 23.5 square miles vs 275 square miles; hot silica vs cool gypsum, tan vs white, etc. It was truly like standing in the middle of a desert, along with several hundred other people... We did a hike along a boardwalk, and to the top of one of the dunes to see the mountains in the distance... As there is not much more than gypsum as far as the eye can see, we were off to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
Camping in the park is first come first serve, and there were no available sites. So we stayed at the White City RV 'Resort', VERY loosely termed. A gravel lot with tightly spaced 'sites', but it's located right at the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns NP, which is about 30 miles from Guadalupe. Very handy. Guadalupe Mountains has many great hiking opportunities; we decided to hike up the McKittrick Canyon trail, about an 8 mile round trip. Packed a lunch, took our time and enjoyed a nice 4.5 to 5 hour hike.
The next day we had tickets for the self guided Carlsbad Caverns tour (which we learned about from fellow campers while in Big Bend. You need to buy them at recreation.gov in advance. They're $1 a piece.) What a phenomenal experience THAT was! We've hiked caves/caverns in the past, but nothing like this - there are spaces in Carlsbad where I swear you could park a plane. Incredible formations, well lit, easy walking - all ramps - and an elevator to take you the 750 feet or so back to the surface. Amazing.
Took our time getting home from there, staying at state parks in Oklahoma and Missouri on the way. A very relaxing enjoyable vacation.
Here's a link to my Flickr album of the trip: Spring 2021 Nat'l. Parks | Flickr
First was Hot Springs in Arkansas - not your typical 'National Park' per se, as the bathhouses are right in the city of Hot Springs. Most are not open, and even the visitor center is still closed due to Covid, but the history is interesting and the architecture is quite nice. We also managed to get a nice hike in at the Gulpha Gorge Campground in the park while there.
On to Texas, where we stayed at Cedar Hills State Park between Dallas & Ft Worth for a couple nights. Beautiful park with some nice trails to hike. Nice facilities. We since found that it was impossible to get into State Parks in Texas as they were booked solid, so we stayed at a few RV 'Resorts' along the way - we were the David among the Goliaths for sure...
When we originally decided to go for Big Bend, there were no campsites available until July, but I kept checking (2 & 3 times a day) and was able to snag 5 days in early April. Getting a site in the park saved us driving at least 90 minutes each day from the nearest private campground. I then called the concession run campground in the park the day before we arrived to see if they had availability and they did, so we stayed in the sites with electric and water instead. Pricier, but actually more trees than our non-electric site would have had. Neither has showers at this time, SO... we bathed in the Rio Grande for the 6 days that we we there. Big Bend is an incredible park - great hikes; Boquillas Canyon, Chisos Mountain area, Santa Elena Canyon - all beautiful. And the night sky is like nothing we've ever seen! Billed as one of the darkest skies in the lower 48, and I believe it.
From there we headed to White Sands NP in New Mexico, which was an unexpected gem. We live close to Indiana Dunes National Park and have been there countless times over the years, but there is no comparison to the size and feel of White Sands! 23.5 square miles vs 275 square miles; hot silica vs cool gypsum, tan vs white, etc. It was truly like standing in the middle of a desert, along with several hundred other people... We did a hike along a boardwalk, and to the top of one of the dunes to see the mountains in the distance... As there is not much more than gypsum as far as the eye can see, we were off to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
Camping in the park is first come first serve, and there were no available sites. So we stayed at the White City RV 'Resort', VERY loosely termed. A gravel lot with tightly spaced 'sites', but it's located right at the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns NP, which is about 30 miles from Guadalupe. Very handy. Guadalupe Mountains has many great hiking opportunities; we decided to hike up the McKittrick Canyon trail, about an 8 mile round trip. Packed a lunch, took our time and enjoyed a nice 4.5 to 5 hour hike.
The next day we had tickets for the self guided Carlsbad Caverns tour (which we learned about from fellow campers while in Big Bend. You need to buy them at recreation.gov in advance. They're $1 a piece.) What a phenomenal experience THAT was! We've hiked caves/caverns in the past, but nothing like this - there are spaces in Carlsbad where I swear you could park a plane. Incredible formations, well lit, easy walking - all ramps - and an elevator to take you the 750 feet or so back to the surface. Amazing.
Took our time getting home from there, staying at state parks in Oklahoma and Missouri on the way. A very relaxing enjoyable vacation.
Here's a link to my Flickr album of the trip: Spring 2021 Nat'l. Parks | Flickr
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