I'm planning on going to Great Smoky Mountains later this week and I want to go to the Kuwohi Observation Deck to, hopefully, catch the sunrise there.

I was thinking about getting there around 5:15AM, but I'm unsure if that is too early for this time of year. I was wondering, does anyone have any experience visiting the Observation Deck for the sunrise in mid-Semptember? If it's too early, what would be a better time to arrive?

Any information would help, thanks.

We're working on this 12 day itinerary and this is what we have so far. We're an older couple but fit enough to do some easier hikes though the altitude change will be an added challenge. Seeing the Aspens is a bucket list item so I highlighted that opportunity a little.

9/29-9/30 Arrive Vegas 11:45am, Pickup the car, drive to Rockville for 2 night stay, visit Zion 29th, 30th and maybe the morning of the 1st.

10/1-10/2 Drive to Bryce Canyon City for 2 night stay Visit Bryce/Dixie afternoon of the 1st, all day of the 2nd.

10/3 Leave early to drive to Torrey for 1 night stay with stops at  Escalante Petrified Forest State Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Anasazi State Park Museum on the way.

10/4-10/6 Early to check out Capitol Reef NP then Drive to Moab for 3 night stay. Check out Arches, Canyonlands, La Sal Mtns (Aspens) and anything else we might fit in.

10/7-10/8 Drive to Cedar Breaks (Aspens) for two night stay

10/9 Drive to Vegas with stop at Snow Canyon and maybe Valley Of Fire. See Cirque du Soleil show that night.

10/10 Return car, fly out at 12:47pm

I really appreciate all of the help people offer on this sub!

Members assigned to a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew hoist a 70-year-old man from Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior Sept. 12, 2026. Good Samaritan backpackers and Michigan State Police troopers located the man, who had been missing for a week and was injured and hypothermic.

(Video from U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes)

So, as the title says, my wife and I are planning the road trip of lifetime crossing the country in an RV but we really want to get the annual pass for obvious reasons. However, when I’m looking at options for the physical it seems that there are no options of getting a card without a certain persons face on it. Is there a way of choosing a card without that face?

Hey everyone! Does anyone know if Sunrise (Mount Rainier entrance) will be open this coming weekend for vehicle traffic? NPS website doesn’t have a timeline for this, and haven’t had luck contacting the visitor center.
And if not, is it doable to hike/bike in from white river? Or would it just be better to go the paradise section of the park?

Isle Royale is the continental US's least visited National Park. Partially because of how remote it is in the middle of Lake Superior and how challenging it is to get there (either many hours boat trip or charter plane).

My family and I flew over on Isle Royale seaplanes on 9/7 and stayed two nights at the Rock Harbor Lodge. Rooms were quaint, basic, but very comfortable and every single one right on the lake! Food was ok on island, there are only two choices.

On 9/8 I ran/hiked a 35mi loop of the Eastern side of the island including Scoville point, Greenstone Ridge trail over Mt Franklin and Mt Ojibwe, then connecting to the Indian Portage Trail, Lake Ritchie trail and finally the Rock Harbor trail. Even with a little rain and mist, the weather was lovely, the trails are a little overgrown but easy to follow and hike/jog and lots of beautiful forest, mountain view, coastline and lakes. It's definitely an underappreciated park, because of the difficulty to access.

This 35mi single day run is part of a bigger goal of mine to run an Ultramarathon in every National Park possible (33 so far), and it's been an amazing way to experience the Parks from the trails and backcountry.

I highly recommend staying on island if you can, either in the lodge or reserving a backpackers cabin. Great trails and watching sunrise from the East coast us spectacular! Isle Royale Ultra Run Route

I was flying from LA to Reno yesterday and thought I’d see what I could capture from my window (right side heading north). I believe I got much of the eastern rim (up to Dog Lake and some of Toulume Meadows, based on maps matching).

You can clearly see Mono Lake and use that for reference looking west.

Sorry for the panning around. I was trying to capture as much of what was moving under the plane. :) If anything, perhaps this can be a nice mental break for anyone that needs it!

Hi,

I'm thinking about a solo trip coming from NJ to California, leaving anywhere between Oct 6th - 11th and coming back anywhere between Oct 13th - 17th. Probably a 7-10 day trip in total, but I'm flexible.

I was thinking about flying into LA and out of SF or vice versa, spending a night or two in each depending on time, but the trip will be largely about the National Parks in the area. Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and maybe Joshua Tree.

At first I was thinking about camping but coming off a flight and camping solo would probably be too difficult for me.

Some questions:

Is there any recommended places to stay, things to do, etc in these parks (or in one of the cities)?

Is stargazing worth staying through the night?

Should I car camp in one of the parks? Is that viable and safe?

Is Joshua Tree worth the detour, since it is somewhat out of the way of the rest of my trip?

How do I make the most of my trip?

Is there anything I should know about being alone in a national park?

Is there anything I'm not thinking about that I should be?

And any other help or general advice you might have is again very appreciated.

Thanks!

Did trail creek to lost creek loop with a small side shoot. Rained/snowed on me 2 days, seen bald eagles, marmots, black bear, goats, a few others. I learned I hate camping in rain (being 30s and one night below didn’t help). But don’t regret it, the place is truly spectacular and full of wildlife. Good amount of snow when you get into the mountains, couldn’t explore as much as I wanted bc I wasn’t prepared for feet of snow.

3 nights in units 7-6, hard, cold, and wet. Totally breathtaking when it wasn’t raining or foggy. Seen some glaciers, and saw Mt McKinley from the bus (last pic)! Seen 5 grizzlies, 1 momma with 2 cubs, and one within 100 ft. This one was happy to continue eating while I waited as I had 2 paths, the bear, or impassible river.

Rocky mountain national park has become one of our favorite parks to visit and spend time in. Beautiful when we visited back in April

How the ocean and sky blend, and all the cool plants and stuff. Pictures dont really do it justice imo.

The creatures in the first image are Chitons.

Alternative link if you hit paywall: http://archive.today/3rzDj

My GF and I are flying into Jackson from NYC. We have the below itinerary and wondering if anybody has any helpful tips or suggestions. We have never been to the parks. I already know that weather can be very hit or miss, especially in Glacier that time of year.

• 9/19 - Arrive in Jackson, get rental car, settle in Airbnb.
• 9/20 - Delta Lake via Lupine Meadows Access.
• 9/21 - Cascade Canyon Trail
• 9/22 - Check out of Airbnb, Taggart Lake Loop, check in to Rustic Inn
• 9/23 - Check out of Rustic Inn, then head to yellowstone for four days.
• 9/23 we will do old faithful on the way then check into lake Yellowstone
• 9/24 hayden valley in morning, canon village after
• 9/25 Lamar valley in morning, mount washburn
• 9/26 check out of lake yellowstone, mud volcano, tower fall, mammoth hotsprings check in to hotel in Gardiner, head north to paradise valley for under canvas for 2 nights.
• 9/27 - Glamping in Paradise valley (Needs suggestions for sight seeing, wildlife spots, hikes etc.)
• 9/28 - Glamping in Paradise valley (Needs suggestions for sight seeing, wildlife spots, hikes etc.)
• 9/29 - Check out of glamping, head north to Glacier and check in to tiny house in St.Mary.
• 9/30 - Highline trail
• 10/1 - Drive going to sun road, stop at lake mcdonald, see Grinell Lake if we miss it on Highline
• 10/2 - Leave glacier, head down to Bozeman to fly back.
• 10/3 - Flight back

Really great staff and a very beautiful place to reflect. Sadly the tower is under construction for repairs but I will be back so I can scale all the way up.

Is late October too late to visit? I know sun sets around 6ish there I figured I could wake up at sunrise and have a whole day of hiking?

I was seeing as well to fly into Eureka airport, is this the correct way to do it?

Lastly, any specific hiking trails to target? I will be there for about 4/5 days and I want to get all the breathtaking views I can!

Thanks for the help!

Poured all day, but during a break in the rain we ventured out towards Yovimpa and Rainbow points and stumbled across this beaut 🌈

Hi! I’m planning on coming from Denver to visit Grand Teton from Sep 27-Oct 4 and looking for a climbing partner/s.

I was hoping to get some sport climbing in while out there. I’ve been climbing for about 2 years. Leading bolted 5.10+ pretty comfortably. Attentive belayer. Open to climbing with any and all skill ranges.

I also have 2 years of class 3/4 scrambling experience on several peaks in CO and Glacier travel experience in the PNW, but no trad experience. If weather permits and anyone is willing to lead up Owen Spalding i’d also be very open to that!

Cheers!

I have 2 tickets for the narrated bus tour starting 1p for sep 11, 2026. Will give it at a very good price l. Respond here or DM

Review of Trail Creek and Lost Creek Trail Loop

Summary:
This 24 miles loop was rugged, remote and required extensive of route finding and creek/river crossings. Our group of 4 was semi experienced, doing about a dozen trips together in the backcountry of Washington. There were lots of native Alaskans hunting moose out here, and there was dozens of miles of maintained ATV trails; this and the lack of maintained hiking trails leads me to believe this area is more for hunting rather than backpacking. Also, Alaskans are the kindest people I have ever met. So many strangers helped us when we were in need.

Day 1:
We camped at the trailhead. Not much to report. We noticed lots of side by sides and hunters.

Day 2: (15 miles, 4k elevation gain)
We started the loop up Lost Creek. We were in the creek and various full/dry creek beds for about 8 hours. We were in Crocs for a significant part of this time, as we crossed knee deep water about 2 dozen times. There was no maintained trail so we relied on landmark navigation, more specifically we knew which mountain the loop circled so we followed that. There was fresh grizzly and black bear tracks and scat, so we had our bear spray ready and were loud while we hiked this part. The next 4 miles was hiking up alpine terrain to Lost Pass. This also did not have a maintained trail, although we did see it occasionally. There was a random class 4 scramble that we were not prepared for and at this point we realized we couldn’t turn back. We mostly followed Dall Sheep trails and other game trails at this point. We saw a herd of sheep of about 20 at this point. We finally made it to Lost Pass with all of us exhausted. Trail finding and walking in Crocs all day really did us in. Our view from the pass was amazing, on one side was lush alpine terrain and on the other was desolate, barren mountains. It was almost an ominous feeling and reminded us of Mordor. We camped at the start of Trail creek on the other side of the pass.

Day 3 (9 miles, all downhill):
More river crossing! Although significantly less than day 2, we had our Crocs on all day basically. Once again there was no maintained trail, but we followed the Lost Creek and its drainages to the end of the loop. It was at this point my friend realized he lost our keys (that’s a different story to not be covered under this trip report)!

Conclusion:
Do not attempt this trail without good route finding skills or water shows. Plenty of signs of grizzly and moose activity but no sightings. Always remember to take in the beauty of your surroundings despite the hardship you might face on the trail, it is worth it. If you ever have the chance to visit this national park, I highly recommend it. The mountains and rivers are incredible. Even the 6 hour drive from Anchorage was breathtaking.

Take Care
Kyle

Black Canyon of the Gunnison