The Stats Established: 1929 (initially as a National Monument, then became a National Park in 1971) Location: Eastern Utah, about 230 miles southeast of Salt Lake City Visitation: 1,663,557 in 2018 Size: 76,679 acres Brief Description Arches National Park is literally home to thousands of sandstone arches. This is a park that just about... Continue Reading →
Hiking is the ultimate outdoor recreation activity. I know, I know, of course I love to hike, I blog about hiking and travel and wrote a book about hiking in the National Parks. Hear me out, though, I’ll back up my claim. There are a few reasons why I think hiking is so great. First... Continue Reading →
Like most people that love to travel I have a Travel Bucket List. I’ve traveled to a lot of incredible places so far (and written about many of those adventures). I’ve visited Rome and the French Riviera, 23 different National Parks, the Bahamas, Disney World, and several Caribbean islands. I’ve been to a lot of... Continue Reading →
For as long as I’ve known her, my wife has wanted to fly in a hot air balloon. We mostly have places we want to visit on our Bucket Lists, but this was something different she always wanted to do. Last year, in 2018, I told her that we would go on a hot air... Continue Reading →
Father’s Day is (obviously) a day to celebrate dads. Being a father, I feel like it’s my day; a day when I am king and should be able to do pretty much what I want. Going in to this Father’s Day I had a few things that I wanted to do. I wanted to go... Continue Reading →
Have you ever gone to a place and then wondered what took you so long to visit there. That recently happened to me. What made it worse was that the place really isn’t that far from home. Panama Rocks is the impressive and surprising place I’m talking about. It’s located in the tiny village of... Continue Reading →
Hiking Tip #5: Bring more than you think you’ll need I am no expert on hiking. Do hiking experts even exist? Maybe you could call guides and search and rescue workers expert hikers. Anyway, like I said, I’m no expert. I have run out of water, gotten lost on the trail more than once,... Continue Reading →
The Stats Established: 1919 Location: Southwest Utah, about two and a half hours from Las Vegas. Visitation: 4.3 million in 2018 (making it the fourth most visited National Park) Size: 146,597 acres Brief Description Zion National Park is a red rock wonderland. There are numerous stone monoliths, mesas, soaring cliffs and towers. The Virgin... Continue Reading →
Pretty much anyone who has read my blog knows it has been a long time since I have done any serious hiking or camping. I think it has been about six years since I’ve been to a National Park. It’s been even longer since I slept in a tent. For the record, I definitely prefer... Continue Reading →
I’ve written a lot about my past road trips out west. I’ve said before how much those National Park adventures have shaped me and helped turn me into the person I am today. Much of that revolved around my time in the parks, but the time on the road and driving from park to park... Continue Reading →
