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Reader Participation Day: Help Us Name the Best Adventures In the National Park System, Lower 48 Edition

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Published Date

September 29, 2010

Climbing the Grand Teton, which often entails a night spent in the camp on the mountain's Lower Saddle, is one of the best adventures in the National Park System in the Lower 48. NPS photo.

What are the best adventures in the National Park System in the Lower 48? For sure, three weeks floating the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park has to be one, and climbing the Grand Teton in its namesake park is another. But then what?

To help start this list, here are five great adventures in no specific order:

1. Colorado River trip, Grand Canyon National Park

2. Climbing the Grand Teton, Grand Teton National Park

3. Climbing El Capitan, Yosemite National Park

4. End-to-end on the Appalachian Trail, Appalachian National Scenic Trail

5. Wild cave tour, Mammoth Cave National Park

What else, travelers? Are there 50 great adventures? 100?

Comments

Hiking the Narrows at Zion National Park


Finding oneself nose to nose with a buffalo at Yellowstone.


Any trail on Isle Royale NP or a horsepack trip up Lamar River in Yellowstone which we just did last month awesome!!


Summiting Longs Peak 14 Or any 14er except evans for that matter
Zion Full Length of Narrows of the Virgin in one day
Appalachian trail Any or all of it.
Grand Canyon Camping at Crazy Jug Or Rim to Rim Mules( I could go on)
Yosemite Falls When the park flooding is low enough to open


you need to hike to angels landing or at least scouts lookout


There are many that could fit into this category; but, the one that stands out the most is the overnight mule trip into the Grand Canyon, having enough time before dinner to take a short hike before dinner, and spending the night at Phantom Ranch.

Is there some reason that you limited this to the lower 48?


Why just the Lower 48? Alaska and Hawaii deserve a category of their own, don't you think?;-)


I had planned a hike down the cliffs at Kalaupapa NHP in Hawaii but my business trip was cancelled at the last minute. It's still on my to-do list and I'm sure it will make the Alaska-Hawaii version of this exercise.


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