From 125° Fahrenheit to 5°F and heavy snow, September in the National Park System is announcing its arrival in extremes.

From searing temperatures at Death Valley National Park to surging Colorado River waters through Grand Canyon National Park, this week is one that beckons national park visitors to be particularly careful on their Western vacations.

The two of us have enjoyed a half century of travel, much of it devoted to visiting America’s national parks. The initial three decades involved travel in a series of four Volkswagen campers, a vehicle we loved, but that disappeared in 2004 from VW dealers in the United States. If only the company would export its California van to the U.S. More recently we tented and stayed in national park lodges. The many national park visits offered some wonderful surprises including these ten that we seem to remember best.

Though some states are seeing spikes in Covid-19 cases, more parks are reopening access to the public. Death Valley National Park has reopened more campgrounds, Zion National Park plans to resume its shuttles this week, and Canyon Mouth Park at Little River Canyon National Preserve is back in business.