Must-see places while road tripping through American West
My husband and I took a road trip throughout the American West this month, hiking and camping along the way. Based on our favorite places, here is what we recommend seeing.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming: We spent our first night at Grand Teton National Park at Gros Ventre Campground. I considered this campground perfectly fine. My husband, however, had been to Grand Teton National Park before and insisted on getting a spot at Jenny Lake Campground. The problem was, Jenny Lake campsites could not be reserved in advance. They were first-come, first-serve. And getting there first would be hard, since so many other people would be looking for spots there, too.
In the early morning hours, my husband awoke me, saying he was going to drive to Jenny Lake to try to get a site. As he recounted the tale to me later, he was driving around the Jenny Lake Campground when he saw some hikers taking down their tent. He asked if they were checking out. They said they were. He then threw a tarp on the picnic table to make the site look occupied, and sat there for about two hours before a ranger came and registered him. A campsite neighbor named George brought him some coffee. Other would-be campers eyed him jealously. Around 6:15 a.m., for example, a man also driving around the campground looking for a spot, saw my husband and yelled, "You lucky dog!" out of his car window.
My husband's persistence was worth it. It really was a phenomenal site. I will never again doubt the power of Jenny Lake, and neither should you.
We hiked the Cascade Canyon and Hermitage Point trails and spent the evenings admiring the deer roaming the campground.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona: The second-most visited national park in the country, the Grand Canyon needs little introduction. The Colorado River has carved through the land, exposing colorful bands of rock that are millions of years old. We visited the North Rim, as opposed to the more frequently visited South Rim. We recommend camping at North Rim Campground and hiking the Rim Trail. Please note that firewood can be purchased at the General Store. Our inebriated neighbors threw anything burnable – including a small tree they cut down – onto their fire. Don't do that.
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah: How Bryce Canyon isn't among the most-visited national parks is beyond me. Famous for its otherworldly hoodoos, or irregular columns of rock, this park is a must-see. We pitched our tent at Sunset Campground and hiked the Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop trails.
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado: I have never experienced altitude sickness. Until now. We spent a few hours in nearby Estes Park, and while we were gone, high winds blew over our tent at Moraine Park campsite. We re-staked the tent and did end up having a pleasant stay.
Wall Drug, South Dakota (510 Main Street, Wall, SD): What began as a free ice water stand in the 1930s morphed into a chintzy cowboy-themed mall advertised on more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) of Interstate-90 billboards.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota: The likenesses of four United States presidents are carved into the Black Hills: From left, George Washington (1732-1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). This monument is not without controversy: The Black Hills are a sacred site for indigenous tribes, such as the Lakota Sioux. The Lakota, however, lost the Black Hills to the U.S. after the Great Sioux War of 1876 – despite an earlier treaty that granted them the land in perpetuity.
Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota: Tȟašúŋke Witkó, also known as Crazy Horse (ca. 1840-1877), was an Oglala Lakota leader who led multiple battles against the U.S. government in response to settlers moving into native territory. His monument has been under construction since 1948 and is the brainchild of Lakota elder Henry Standing Bear and sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski.
Sugar Pine Point State Park, Lake Tahoe, California. This was my first time seeing Lake Tahoe. I had never seen a lake this shade of turquoise. We enjoyed the Lakefront Interpretive Trail and our campsite neighbors, which included two snoring Santa Claus lookalikes who slept underneath a tarp in the back of a pickup truck.
Yosemite National Park, California: As lovely as this park is, it was hard to appreciate because we didn't get much sleep. After attending a ranger's presentation about black bears, we ironically awoke each night we camped at Lower Pines Campground to the sound of banging and shouting, as rangers tried to scare away bears coming into the campground. During one of those nights, we awoke again while a bear rummaged through our neighboring campsite.
We did, however, enjoy seeing the Half Dome, swimming in the frigid Merced River, and hiking the Lower Yosemite Fall Trail. These are just a few of the sites that make Yosemite the third-most visited national park in the country. If you go, though, I recommend finding a quieter campground.