Planning the trip

2022-06-20
PA

I started planning the trip in early February by picking the key points of the trip. This trip is once again centered around National Parks because it's my trip. I have been to 35 of the (currently) 63 National Parks, which have a special designation among the 423 (current) sites in the National Park System. The System includes Battlefields, Historic Sites (including Hopewell Furnace), National Lakeshores, National Recreation Areas, and so on. I won't go into descriptions of all of these other than to say that currently I'm focusing on National Parks but if there's a cool National Whatever in the area I'm definitely stopping by.

There are three National Parks in Colorado that I really want to visit: Rocky Mountains, Great Sand Dunes and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, I was able to visit Mesa Verde on the 2018 trip. I figure that as long as it will be a July trip I won't have to worry about snow gear so I can pack light.

From there I figured I'd rather be north. Custer State Park, Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota are all close together and beautiful; I've been to a couple of them before so I know now pretty that area is and I'm looking forward to going back. Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota seemed like a fine way to round out the trip. I've seen the Southern Unit but there is a Northern Unit that I have not been to.

With the bones of the trip in place, it was time to fill out the calendar. My friend Chris who lived in CO for many years suggested Maroon Bells which is near Aspen and is supposed to be one of the prettiest areas in the Rockies. He didn't mention how logistically challenging this would be, but that may well be a new phenomenon. Devils Tower is more-or-less on the way between South and North Dakota (even though it's in Wyoming) so why not stop there?

For the East-West leg, I decided to take the southern route. It was a choice between New River Gorge (WV) and Mammoth Cave (KY) National Parks for the first stop, and I went with the latter. Hot Springs National Park (AR) is on the way west from there, and then Great Sand Dunes is the most southeasterly park in Colorado but that will take a day and a half across Oklahoma and Texas.

Coming back East, the National Park in Minnesota (Voyageurs) is pretty far out of the way so we won't be going up there. However, Indiana Dunes National Park is right on the way so it gives us another park. I also opted to avoid Chicago by coming through Iowa. It may be a little longer drive but it's good for my mental state.

You may think that this seems like a lot of destinations for three weeks and you'd be right. On my previous trips I found that I liked to keep moving. I won't get to do everything in any area, but I will hit some high points. I also won't have a lot of time sitting around but that suits me.

Some nights will be in hotel rooms, but most nights will be in my tent. The big advantage of this is that the campgrounds are generally right in or just outside the National Parks, close to the action. Everything fits in a car so I don't need an RV with a towed vehicle (toad). But it definitely isn't as comfortable as an RV, and I bring a lot less stuff. We will see how this goes as I am older than the last trips.

Because every post deserves a few pictures, here are some shots from Ricketts Glen.