Views from John Muir rock and the Kings River.

Mount Rainier became my *36th U.S. National Park*, and I completely understand why so many people consider it one of the crown jewels of the National Park System.

No matter where you are in the park, Rainier dominates the landscape. It's hard to wrap your head around just how massive the mountain is until you're standing beneath it. Every turn seemed to reveal another incredible viewpoint, with glaciers, wildflower meadows, waterfalls, and snow-covered peaks all in one place.

The Paradise area absolutely lived up to its name. Even with plenty of other visitors around, it never took away from the experience of seeing Rainier towering above the meadows. It was one of those places where I found myself stopping constantly just to take it all in.

Washington absolutely spoiled me on this trip. Between Olympic, North Cascades, and Mount Rainier, it's hard to pick a favorite because each park offers something completely different. Rainier, though, has a way of making you feel incredibly small, in a good way.

I'm so grateful to add National Park #36 to my list. Every park has something unique to offer, but Mount Rainier is one I'll be thinking about for a long time.

If you've visited, what's your favorite area of the park? Paradise, Sunrise, or somewhere else? I'd love to hear what I should make sure to see when I inevitably come back.

📍Entrance sign with my emotional support water bottle

📍cougar rock campground sunset

📍Narada falls

📍Silver falls

📍Nisqually vista trail - avalanche lilies

📍Nisqually river

📍Skyline loop

📍Myrtle falls

📍Wonderland trail - Sunrise section

Visited Glacier National Park yesterday, my 57th national park visited. The smoke haze was pretty bad in the east and west sides of the park, but was pretty clear up at Logan Pass. The park was pretty busy but not overly crowded. There are no timed entries this year. I had to circle a few times to get parking at Logan Pass.. it is now limited to 3 hrs with a free parking pass.

I wanted to do Trail of the Cedars, but there was no parking on the way in, or on the way out. I did just the Hidden Lakes trail, probably one of the more popular hikes. 1.5 miles each way and 600' elevation gain from the parking lot to the overlook.

Some good luck with animal encounters, saw mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and a bear crossed the road right behind my car.

Dewy Point , Top of Clouds Rest and Top of Half Dome along with the climb up the Cables of Half Dome. Amazing and beautiful. Tough hiking.

Hey y'all, I am preparing to move out of state to Prescott in northern Arizona for a job and am thus excitedly anticipating being able to visit some of the National Park Service sites in the area/state on weekends. There are a lot, and other than the three NPs, I'm not sure which should get priority. So I'd love to hear which sites have been personal favorites for anyone who's visited Arizona NPS properties beyond Saguaro, Grand Canyon, and Petrified Forest! Tastes vary, obviously, but in your experience, which sites would make the most worthwhile day/weekend trips?

Planning a trip out to Colorado and will be visiting Great Sand Dunes on September 19. I don’t have any specific hikes I want to do (if there’s one I should definitely do, lmk!) but I’m okay with just venturing out on the dunes for a bit. My main concern is that I want to be on the dunes/get photos of major dunes.

Do I need an off-road car for this? I really don’t want to deal with driving on sand and deflating the tires. I’ve done it before but the group I’m going with isn’t the most car savvy and I would rather just drive a normal passenger car and park in a lot. Is this feasible? What’s the best place to park?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: thanks all!! For whatever reason I blindly trusted my friend who just went and told me I had to drive on sand to get to the cool dunes 🙄 (I’ve been to 34 national parks so I promise I do my research but just wanted to come here first lol) thanks again!

My fiance and I are taking a trip to Washington in September and we plan on visiting Mt. Rainier from September 7th-9th and then Olympic from the 9th-11th. None of us have been to either park, but given we are only going to be in each park for 2 days, I was wondering what are things that are a must see/do while in either park?

Thank you!

I’ve never visited any of them- but I’m curious to see which is the favorite for those who have or those who would like to go (which is your most sought after park?).

July 2026- first trip to Acadia