Rarely mentioned National Parks and Monuments.

[agesilaus]

I was replying to another thread when it occurred to me that there are a number of parks that are hardly ever mentioned. I can see why most of the Arizona Indian Ruins parks get scant mention. They are hotter than Hades in the summer and mostly look alike when you get there. But here is my starting list:

1) Cedar Breaks NM UT
2) Cogaree SC (I've never been there myself)
3) Cuyahoga Valley NY (ditto never been)
4) Death Valley and Great Basin are rarely mentioned.
5) Guadeloupe Mt NM-- we stopped but it seems to be a serious hiker only park. Little road access
6) Kings Canyon CA-- Over shadowed by Yosemite
7) Lassen Volcanic CA--really should be more visited
😎 North Cascades WA
9) Saguaro AZ
10) Theodore Roosevelt--way off from anywhere and not that much to see.
11) Basin and Range--who's ever heard of this one?
12) Browns Canyon CO ditto above
13) Chiricahua AZ-- interesting but CG is limited to 25 ft RV
14) Colorado CO--Been there a couple times not even good hiking
15) Grand Canyon-Parashant AZ- on the North Rim??
16) Oregon Caves OR--been there a looong time ago. Did not make any big impression
17) Río Grande del Norte NM--another mystery park
18) Upper Missouri River Breaks MT-- and another unknown

Any comments or add-ons?

[agesilaus]

Why not visit all National Parks? Or at least most.
............................................................

Possibly because most of the Alaska 8 are not connected to a road unless there are dirt trails leading to them. And then there are a number out in the middle of some far away ocean, plus the Hawaiian parks.

[zb39]

Tom N wrote:
Why not visit all National Parks? Or at least most.

I'm working on it. We have been to 41 of the 61 National parks

[Tom_Barb]

agesilaus wrote:
I love the Olympic peninsula. Yes there can be rain. If you aren't a big wuss, it's a beautiful place to go..

Well tonight it's self shoveling snow @ 33 degrees.

[dieseltruckdriv]

agesilaus wrote:

dieseltruckdriver wrote:
No one mentioned Wind Cave NP. Thats OK, I don't like crowds. It is now my favorite NP, ahead of Tetons and then Yellowstone, and I haven't been in the cave for a few years.

We were there this summer and the crowds have found it, we were there midweek and the place was packed. We couldn't even get a tour. The ranger advised us to get there early they next day if we wanted one, we did and got in but the place was filling up when we came out.

If you want a uncrowded cave try Blanchard Caverns (USFS) in Arkansas.

You were going to do a cave tour.I haven't been in the cave for several years. Wind Cave NP has some of the best wildlife viewing I have ever found.

[agesilaus]

I love the Olympic peninsula. Yes there can be rain. If you aren't a big wuss, it's a beautiful place to go.
----------------------------------------------------

I was well aware of the weather situation in that part of the world, I spent time in Bremerton thanks to the USN where it- sort of rained for 143 days straight. And that in nothing unusual in that part of the world. There was talk that Bill gates must have paid for a major sacrifice to the Rain Gods to get a clear and sunny afternoon for some Microsoft event. But that rain was often just heavy mist or occasional drizzle. But when we were out there last time it was raining real rain for days on end. The CG at Forks was awash. USFS says average rainfall in the Olympic Peninsula is 140 inches at lower altitudes and 200 inches in the mountains. That's 2.7 inches a week on average...heh. We get around 56 inches here in Florida and it's fairly soggy here some of the year but nothing like that.

[babock]

travisc wrote:
I haven’t seen anyone mention Olympic National Park in Washington State, another on of those you can drive around but a lot of it is very remote. I believe it’s listed as one of the quietest places in the lower 48. https://www.cntraveler.com/story/olympic-national-park-is-home-to-the-quietest-spot-in-the-continental-us

I love the Olympic peninsula. Yes there can be rain. If you aren't a big wuss, it's a beautiful place to go. Went there years ago tent camping. Not sure what is available for RVs though.

[vermilye]

4runnerguy wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
If you want a uncrowded cave try Blanchard Caverns (USFS) in Arkansas.

Not only uncrowded, but in fairly pristine condition compared to some of the other caves in our NM's and NP's. Really worth the visit.

While not a National Park or Monument, my favorite cave tour was at Caverns of Sonora in Texas. A beautiful, wet cave. Only 3 of us on the tour by the owner. They have a somewhat primitive campground (water & electric). I now see more advertising for the cave, so things might have changed, but it is still the prettiest cave I've been in.

And, for those that are thinking of bypassing the EBR-1 reactor site in Idaho, you won't get to see the atomic powered airplane engines parked out front. Designed to power an airplane (that was never built) in the air for days.

[agesilaus]

travisc wrote:
I haven’t seen anyone mention Olympic National Park in Washington State, another on of those you can drive around but a lot of it is very remote. I believe it’s listed as one of the quietest places in the lower 48. https://www.cntraveler.com/story/olympic-national-park-is-home-to-the-quietest-spot-in-the-continental-us

Yeah little road access and even driving around the perimeter is a chore taking a couple of days in usually awful weather. We wanted to go to Hurricane Ridge but gave that up after considering the weather. We did drive to Hoh Ridge and one other access road on the SE, Staircase I believe, side.

[travisc]

I haven’t seen anyone mention Olympic National Park in Washington State, another on of those you can drive around but a lot of it is very remote. I believe it’s listed as one of the quietest places in the lower 48. https://www.cntraveler.com/story/olympic-national-park-is-home-to-the-quietest-spot-in-the-continental-us

[4runnerguy]

agesilaus wrote:
If you want a uncrowded cave try Blanchard Caverns (USFS) in Arkansas.

Not only uncrowded, but in fairly pristine condition compared to some of the other caves in our NM's and NP's. Really worth the visit.

[JAC1982]

I grew up tent camping in Sequoia and Kings Canyon. They aren't very RV friendly so that's why you don't see them getting shoutouts here. Our favorite spot, Mineral King, cannot accommodate RVs at all really. The rule used to be no trailers longer than 16', not sure if that's still the case.

[agesilaus]

dieseltruckdriver wrote:
No one mentioned Wind Cave NP. Thats OK, I don't like crowds. It is now my favorite NP, ahead of Tetons and then Yellowstone, and I haven't been in the cave for a few years.

We were there this summer and the crowds have found it, we were there midweek and the place was packed. We couldn't even get a tour. The ranger advised us to get there early they next day if we wanted one, we did and got in but the place was filling up when we came out.

If you want a uncrowded cave try Blanchard Caverns (USFS) in Arkansas.

[babock]

Atlee wrote:
I thought I was pretty clear on what I was getting at. I said both parks are full of rock formations. However, the rock formations are totally different types, and give a totally different look.

I knew what you meant. Not sure what his problem was. We loved Capitol Reef. You could go on hikes and not see another hundred people like Zion too.

[bigorange]

De Soto National Memorial in FL. Happened upon this one a few years ago while on vacation. Interesting place.