In this final installment of our three-part series on visiting national parks by train, we'll take a look at some options for trips in the central and western United States.
With the approach of Christmas and New Year's, some people remain undecided about what to do and where to go for the holidays. Here are a few suggestions for year-end national park vacations that are likely to result in some lasting memories.
It's well-known that the National Park Service doesn't have all the funding it needs to protect the national parks. That's why contributions, such as the $5.8 million check the Yosemite Fund handed over to Yosemite National Park officials the other day, are so important.
Visiting Yosemite National Park for the year-end holidays doesn't mean you're restricted to the Yosemite Valley. Evergreen Lodge, a small, historic lodge with a clutch of cabins just beyond Hetch Hetchy, has a number of packages available. A side benefit of staying here is helping inner-city young adults find their way in life.
The route for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, a major, Tour de France-style cycling road race has been announced, and while some cycling fans may be disappointed, other visitors to Yosemite National Park next May can breathe a sigh of relief. Roads in the park will not be included in the route.
Well, obviously not wanting to play second fiddle to the Rockies, which already has received its first snowstorm or two of the season, the High Sierra is showing off its wintry coat today. Check out this shot of Yosemite National Park from the webcam at the Tioga Pass Entrance station.
Fuel economy, it seems, is just as important to black bears in Yosemite National Park as it is with many visitors. And so when the bruins shop for fuel, more and more they tend to find themselves munching out in minivans, according to a study published in the Journal of Mammalogy.
Yosemite National Park is much, much more than the Yosemite Valley. Head to the high country that's accessed via the Tioga Road and you enter an entirely new realm, one characterized by granite domes and peaks, pocket lakes, and thick forests.
This lake, Gaylor, is quickly accessed via a trail that starts just inside the park's Tioga Entrance.
Though geographically outside Yosemite National Park in the Inyo National Forest, this historic way station is rightly part of the park experience if your visit at all touches on the eastern side near Tioga Pass. Dating to the early 1910s when it didn’t take a hardscrabble miner too long to realize he could make more money from the fledgling tourist industry than from hard-to-find ore bodies, the Tioga Pass Resort is a rustic melting pot of travelers.