Welcome to our series “A Simply Awesome Day in...” where we share a full day’s excerpt from one of our family vacation destinations. Today, we offer a fun day from our 7 day Southwest Utah Itinerary. Day 4 details a sunrise hike in Bryce Canyon, followed by a scenic drive and some more short, kid-friendly hikes.
Read moreA Simply Awesome Day In North Cascades National Park Complex
Diablo Lake in North Cascades National Park Complex. Take your kayak out and enjoy the scenery!
If you drive just over 2 hours northeast of Seattle's airport, you will find my new favorite national park, the North Cascades. It has everything you could want from an outdoor adventure--hiking trails to breathtaking views, amazingly tall trees, pristine mountain lakes for kayaking, glaciers calling out for photography, and lots of uncrowded campgrounds.
Read more10 Helpful Planning Tips for Your Family's Next National Park Vacation
Yellowstone National Park
Early is the best time to start planning that summer family vacation to a national park. Get started now with these helpful tips. No, really, now, before everything is booked.
Read more5 Of Our Favorite Campgrounds In The US
We have visited many different campgrounds over the years, and overall, most have been just fine. A few campgrounds, though, really do stand out for us. The thought of them always brings a smile to our face and a gushing endorsement to our lips whenever someone asks us “Is there a good campground around there?”
Read moreWhere To Stay In Yellowstone National Park
Planning a trip to Yellowstone? The first thing you need to be thinking about when planning your trip to Yellowstone is lodging. You can even book reservations 13 months in advance! This post will quickly bring you up to speed so you can make informed lodging choices.
Read moreWhich Entrance To Yellowstone Is Best?
The best entrance to Yellowstone Nation Park depends primarily on where you’re coming from, what you want to see, where you’re staying, and how long you have to see the park. In general, most visitors enter Yellowstone through the West Entrance.
Read moreBiking The Yellowstone Shortline Trail
The Yellowstone Shortline Trail would be a terrific activity for anyone visiting West Yellowstone or staying nearby. If you are tired of the car time required to tour Yellowstone National Park, or you want a a low key, no crowds day during your trip, biking or hiking the Shortline Trail would be fun for the whole family.
Read moreFamily Vacation To Yellowstone
Living in Bozeman, MT, we get plenty of friends and family visiting us on their way from Bozeman to Yellowstone National Park. We are fortunate to live within 2 hours of both the West Entrance and North Entrance to Yellowstone. This is the information we share with them and it’s proven to be a great itinerary for all!
Read moreA Simply Awesome Day in Yellowstone National Park
There is so much to see in Yellowstone National Park, but the Lamar Valley is a must see for wildlife viewing. Find out where to stay, where to eat, best places for wildlife viewing, and easy hikes for all to enjoy in the Lamar Valley.
Read morePhelps Lake in Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is simply awesome with its jagged mountain peaks, alpine lakes, wildlife, sagebrush meadows, and forests filled with aspens and fir trees. You’ll find it all on this wonderful hike to Phelps Lake on the Lake Creek-Woodland Trail Loop.
Read moreThe Best Place To Swim In Grand Teton National Park
The Teton’s String Lake is shallow, so although it is still very cold, it’s not quite as freezing as some of the other lakes found in Grand Teton National Park. Its sandy bottom is easy on the feet making it a very kid-friendly lake to swim and float. My girls brought their snorkel masks and had a blast.
Read moreHighlights And Tips For Visiting Glacier National Park
Mountain goats on the Hidden Lake Trail
Montana’s Glacier National Park is definitely a bucket-list worthy destination for any family. You will love the alpine lakes surrounded by stunning mountain peaks, the availability of hiking trails that are fairly easy for the kids yet incredibly scenic, and the high probability of actually seeing wildlife every day of your visit.
Read moreGrand Teton National Park With Kids-What To See and Do
Favorite family-friendly hikes, awe-inspiring views, swimming holes, float trips, horseback riding, wildlife viewing tips, rainy day activities, and more “can’t miss” jewels of Grand Teton National Park are described in detail in this 5 day itinerary for Grand Teton National Park.
Read moreCapitol Reef National Park- It’s So Worth It!
Capitol Reef is a great national park in Utah for a family who doesn’t want the logistics of coordinating the park shuttles of Zion, waiting in the entrance lines of Arches, or negotiating the crowded parking areas at popular trailheads.
For us, Capitol Reef provided scenic beauty, plenty of easy hikes, and while we were there, minimal people. We came away refreshed, not frazzled, and certainly awe inspired!
Read moreBadlands National Park And The Black Hills With Kids- An Awesome 6 Day South Dakota Itinerary
Waving at my brother from the top of Saddle Pass trail in Badlands National Park. He climbed up to this overlook but I was pretty content with the view where we were, which was fantastic. Of course, the views were pretty fantastic everywhere in Badlands.
This 6 day itinerary includes a complete itinerary for 6 days in South Dakota visiting Wind Cave National Park, hiking Black Elk Peak in Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, biking the Mickelson Trail, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, and of course Badlands National Park.
Read more3 Short Hikes In Badlands National Park Great For Kids
You can arrive at this otherworldly landscape just 15 minutes after you left the car in Badlands National Park. This is Door Trail, one of 3 trails sharing the same parking area near the Northeast Entrance to the park.
Looking for something short and sweet to do in Badlands National Park? These 3 hikes- Door, Window, and Notch Trails- share one parking lot just 10 minutes from Interstate 90. All 3 trails are scenic and fairly easy trails that give a great taste of what makes the Badlands so special. Our kids really liked exploring them, especially climbing the fun ladder on Notch Trail.
Read moreSaddle Pass - Medicine Root - Castle Trail Loop Hike in Badlands National Park
View down from a rock outcropping overlooking Saddle Pass Trail. One member of our group ran up but the rest of us elected to stay on the trail and wave up at him. You can see the trail ascending up the rock formations on the right of the picture.
Saddle Pass to Medicine Root Trail to Castle Trail is a nice day hike of about 4.8 miles that combines rock scrambling, strolling through the prairie, plus fantastic views out over the classic rock formations of the Badlands all in this one hike. Our family really enjoyed this hike - interesting and varied enough for the kids (but not too long) while the adults got to take lots of pretty photosand feel like they stretched their legs.
Read moreOur Review Of Cedar Pass Lodge And Campground In Badlands National Park
Not too hard to get a pretty picture of Cedar Pass Lodge with this backdrop. You can see the small group of rental cabins in the foreground and the main building in the distance on the left of this picture. The campground is about a 1/4 mile away to the left. This picture is taken just after the sunset so the rocks are reflecting the beautiful reds and pinks and all you had to do to see it was just walk outside your door.
I loved Badlands National Park and part of the reason why I liked it so much is because we stayed one night at Cedar Pass Lodge. Being able to enjoy the breathtaking sunset and sunrise, not to mention the awesome starry nights, made this trip special in a way I don’t think visiting the park just for the day would have. If you can swing it, definitely try to make an overnight in the cozy cabins at Cedar Pass a priority. You won’t regret it.
Read moreVisiting The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site In South Dakota With Kids
Looking into the missile silo at Delta-09 at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Park. This is one of 2 places in America where you can look into a ICBM missile silo—this one is holding an unarmed Minuteman Missile capable of flying 15,000 mph. You can see the Badlands rising up in the background, making a pretty amazing backdrop to this bit of history.
On your way to Badlands National Park and looking for something nearby to do besides visiting Wall Drug? Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is a great stop on I90, whether you only have 30 minutes to just see the missile silo or you have a couple of hours to see everything plus take a ranger guided tour of the underground Launch Control Center. The kids were pretty fascinated to see a nuclear missile up close and we all learned a lot about this part of Cold War history.
Read moreOur Family's Four Fun Hikes In Shenandoah National Park
Not a bad place to watch the sunset right? We climbed up the rocks to the very top of Blackrock Summit for this awesome view. The best part? It was only a 20 minute hike from the parking lot.
Looking for 360 views from the shortest hikes ever? Look no further than Shenandoah National Park. We loved our day and half here, hiking and rock scrambling and exploring the awesome and appropriately named Skyline Drive. It is easy to get to Shenandoah from Interstate 81, has lots of hikes for all ages, 5 campgrounds or 2 historic lodges to choose from, and some of the best sunset views I have ever seen. Don’t drive past the signs for Shenandoah on I-81. Stop for half a day (or several days) and get to know this fabulous national park.
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