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beaches, Destination, Destination Ideas, National Park, RV Camping, RV Destinations, RV Life, RV travel, Summer Travel, Travel, Travel Destination
It’s summertime, and there’s almost no better place to be than the beach. The warmth of the sun upon your face, the sound of waves splashing against the shore, the blue water stretching into the horizon…Let’s go!
Among the most beautiful beaches you can visit are those in national parks. Thousands of miles of shoreline around lakes and along oceans are protected in our parks, and just like the wildlife and rock formations you’re apt to find in most of them, the beaches won’t disappoint either.
Here are six must-see beaches at our national parks that can be reached via an RV.
Ocean Path Trail
Acadia National Park
Cobble beaches and hard bedrock make up most of the shoreline for the Atlantic Ocean that surrounds the Maine park’s many islands. A rare exception is the 4.4-miles round trip Ocean Path Trail that heads from a sand beach to sea cliffs.
Convoy Point
Biscayne National Park
This boardwalk trail is flat and easy, running along the Florida mangrove shore known as Convoy Point. You’ll follow the blue-green waters of Biscayne Bay and be able to spot some small, mangrove-covered islands. Bring a lunch; there’s a picnic area below palms overlooking the bay. Part of the boardwalk also takes you out over the water. As the bay is shallow and quite clear, you’ll have no trouble spotting the bottom.
Swiftcurrent Nature Trail
Glacier National Park
The first 0.6 miles of the trail at this Montana park heads through an evergreen forest with several short spur trails leading to beaches along Swiftcurrent Lake. Meltwater from Grinnell Glacier feeds the lake, making for a crystal clear albeit cold water.
Leigh Lake Trail
Grand Teton National Park
Several alpine lakes perfect for a family outing sit at the Wyoming park’s central String Lake Area. The 1.8-mile round trip trail heads around a shimmering blue lake through green pines with gray Mount Moran soaring in the background. During summer, enjoy a picnic on the beach and then a swim in the cool waters.
Ruby Beach Trail
Olympic National Park
The Washington park’s Pacific Ocean shoreline features gushing sea stacks, piles of driftwood logs, and colorful, wave-polished stones. To enjoy all three, take the 1.4-mile Ruby Beach Trail. Some of the driftwood here has floated in from the distant Columbia River.
Coastal Trail
Redwood National Park
With more than 40 miles of pristine Pacific Ocean coastline, the northern California park is the perfect place to see tide pools and sea stacks. The latter is visible from many highway vistas but to get close up to a tide pool – a small body of saltwater that sustains many colorful sea creatures on the beach at low tide – explore the 1-mile segment (2-miles round trip) of the Coastal Trail at Enderts Beach south of Crescent City.
About the author:
Rob Bignell is the author of several hiking books, including the bestselling “Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks.”
David P. ~ “I had to use Coach-Net for coach jack problems. The person who helped me resolve the problem, Pat, was very helpful and I was able to continue my journey. This was the first time I had to use it and it worked out great! When time to renew, I most definitely will. Thanks, again, for all of the help.”
If seeing the Northern Lights (AKA Aurora Borealis) has been on your bucket list since forever, you’ll definitely want to plan a trip to Rivers Edge campground. This is one of the best places in America to see the northern lights in all their glowing neon glory. The northern lights do in fact occur year-round, sadly, during the summer it’s very difficult to see them due to the fact that it’s daylight for much longer. In winter, on clear, dark nights you’ll be able to see the incredible displays of aurora activity. There are also some opportunities for sightings in Spring and Fall.
Take some time to wander around the lovely lodge—the courtyard is a great place to relax with a cup of coffee. Bonus: Camping out in an RV means that hopping outside to see the Northern Lights is super easy!
One of the things that make Alaska such a cool place is the culture—it’s so different from anywhere else in America. The Morris Thompson Culture and Visitors Center is a free museum that highlights the multitude of things that have combined to create the unique culture of the Alaskan interior. Inside, you’ll find Native American artifacts, displays about Denali National Park, info about dog sledding, and tons more. It’s a great introduction to Fairbanks!
The wildlife in Alaska is pretty unique, too. Where else in the country can you hang out with Rudolph and play some reindeer games? Running Reindeer Ranch lets you stroll around the forest with real, live reindeer and watch them in their natural environment. The tour guides are extremely knowledgeable about the creatures and offer up tons of information and stories. Bring along a camera, because a picture with a reindeer will probably make for a good Christmas card photo.
In this year of celebrating the 100th anniversary of America’s national park system, which park among the 59 wilderness parks would you name as the best.
so as you move through this massive park, you get to experience them all. Which, of course, makes for simply spectacular fall colors
of one kind or another. Yet due to the diligence of the rangers and volunteers, the wildlife remains just that – wild.
Horseback riding is offered on both the Tennessee and the North Carolina sides.
And the icing on the cake – if you have the strength and stamina – is to combine it all in one superb hike to LeConte Lodge. There you’ll get history, lodging in basic cabins (no electricity or running water), great food to fuel you for the trip down, unique terrain and trees and fauna, mountaintop views you’ll store in your memory bank forever. Plus you’ll step across creeks and endless cascading water, grab onto cables alongside steep cliffs, and maybe even get to see mountain laurel and rhododendrons blooming at Inspiration Point on the way up. Time it right and the falcons will be flying as a complement to the other colorful birds that hang out there.
Nothing quite so effectively displays Mother Nature’s beauty than a sunrise or sunset, those few moments each day when the world shines golden and with incredible serenity.
Day hikers can walk to one of the first spots where the sun touches America each morning via the South Ridge Trail in Maine’s Acadia National Park. The trail is a 7.2-miles round trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which is the highest summit on the Eastern seaboard. Though the hike would be done in the dark, with moonglow and flashlights, the trail is traversable. Acadia’s ancient granite peaks are among the first places in the United States where the sunrise can be seen. Be sure to bring a blanket to lay out on the cold rock and take a seat looking southeast.
Fairyland really does exist – it’s smack dab in south central Utah, where a maze of totem pole-like rock formations called hoodoos grace Bryce Canyon National Park. Hoodoos are unusual landforms in which a hard caprock slows the erosion of the softer mineral beneath it. The result is a variety of fantastical shapes. Take the Queens Garden Trail, which descends into the fantasyland of hoodoos. When hiking during the early morning, sunrise’s orange glow magically lights the trail’s contours.
About 1 million Mexican Freetail bats live in Carlsbad Caverns. During the day, they rest on the ceiling of Bat Cave, a passageway closed to the public. At sunset, to feed for the evening, the bats dramatically swarm out of the cave in a tornadic-like spiral, their silhouettes stretching into the distant horizon. An open-air amphitheater allows visitors to safely watch the bats’ departure in an event called The Night Flight. The Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail, a half-mile loop, also allows you to watch the bats disperse across the New Mexican desert.
Among the Grand Canyon National Park’s most spectacular sights – sunrise and sunset – can be seen within walking distance of Grand Canyon Village in Arizona. While the South Rim Trail extends several miles along the canyon edge, you only have to walk to Mather Point, where views of the canyon shift like pictures in a marquee at both sunrise and sunset. Another great spot that’s a little less crowded is Ooh Ahh Point on the South Kaibab Trail, which is east of the village and south of Yaki Point. The aptly named Ooh Ahh Point is less than 200 feet below the rim.
You can enjoy views of sunrises and sunsets covering up to a hundred miles on the Clingmans Dome Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At 6625 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in Tennessee and along the Appalachian Trail, as well as the third tallest east of the Mississippi. A half-mile trip leads to the summit. How incredible are the sunsets? They can be crowded, as those hoping to photograph the stunning scenery line up 45 minutes before the sun descends.
A full 95 percent of Florida’s Biscayne National Park sits underwater, a turquoise blue paradise laced with vividly colored coral reefs – and nothing quite says romance like a sunset over this tropical ocean. Adams Key offers a quarter-mile trail from the dock through the hardwood hammock on the island’s west side; most of the route skirts the beach, where the sunset can be enjoyed.
Clambering over boulders and ambling across strangely angled slickrock – and watching needles aglow at sunset – await on Canyonlands National Park’s Slickrock Trail in southeastern Utah. The 2.9-mile loop trail generally follows a mesa rim. Plan to walk the trail about an hour or so before sunset; on the final mile, tall thin rock formations called needles fill the horizon, glowing crimson as the sun sets.
RVs are a gift that keeps on giving. Not only do they give us the freedom of the open road, but they’re our ticket out of summer’s hottest months. Why not put those hot climate vacation destinations on the back burner and point your rig to cooler climates instead? These three summer destinations are hot places to keep cool this summer.
Dock your RV at Duluth’s funkiest waterfront RV park on the shores of Lake Superior and you might think you’re on the San Francisco Bay. This seaport city has undergone a renaissance over the last few years, welcoming visitors with miles of trails, forests to explore and tasty cuisine. A few typical RV parks are situated on the edge of Duluth but for a more unique experience, park your rig at 
Mark Twain’s famous saying is still true: the coldest winter you’ll ever experience is a summer in San Francisco. Bring a sweater and watch the unprepared tourists shiver as they walk along Fisherman’s Wharf in their bermuda shorts – it’s a riot! Don’t worry about parking your rig on San Francisco hills, however. The closest RV parks to San Francisco are located safely outside of the hustle and bustle. If you just want a place to sleep so you can focus on exploring the city, 
Cool off and enjoy plenty of elbow room near the Canadian border in the spectacular Rocky Mountain playground surrounding Kalispell Montana. This thriving mountain community is in an outdoor paradise cooled by the snowcapped peaks of 
Nothing quite demonstrates the awesome power and beauty of Mother Nature like a waterfall – hundreds of gallons of water rushing several stories over a cliffside, the vertical stream nestled in lush greenery, the mist and droplets that splash on you at the fall’s base.
Not many travelers have heard of Tokopah Falls, but it’s an incredible site. A series of cascades, it drops 1200 feet – almost the height of the Empire State Building – at California’s Sequoia National Park. It’s a park of tall trees and tall waterfalls.
You can enjoy this waterfall and then a vista at 7200 feet elevation on Grand Teton National Parks’ Hidden Falls-Inspiration Point Trail. The trail runs 3.8-miles round trip into Cascade Canyon. Though technically not a waterfall but a series of cascades running 200 feet over several multiple steps, Wyoming’s Hidden Falls still impresses.
A trail through a lush, old growth forest that ends at this waterfall will delight anyone hiking the Marymere Falls Trail at Olympic National Park in Washington. The 1.6-mile round trip trail really is like taking two entirely different hikes in one. Most of the trail heads through a intensely green Pacific Northwest rain forest while the last portion at the destination is purely about the waterfalls.
This 65-foot waterfalls awaits visitors on the Brandywine Gorge Trail at Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Brandywine Gorge Trail loops 1.5 miles to the falls then back to the trailhead with several crossings of Brandywine Creek.
It’s important to consider the following key factors when renting an RV:
Cooking – Determine what kind of cooking will be done during the trip and if that RV has the capabilities (large enough fridge, included cookware, stove-top burners, etc.). Buying bulk food items and making meals can save money on a trip, if the RV has the storage capacity.
What are the most romantic places in the world? Paris? Hawaii? Italy?
For many, vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains rank among the nation’s most beautiful natural scenery. The 4-mile hike up to the summit of Old Rag Mountain via the Ridge Trail at Shenandoah National Park is challenging, but the 360 degree view from the top is unparalleled, as nearly 200,000 acres of wilderness stretch below you. Twirl your beloved around in a dance so that the entire scene spins before her eyes.
Among the first places in America to see the sunrise is the top of Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park. As the sun ascends over the Atlantic Ocean below the summit, it colors the waters in an incredible light show. Bring a breakfast picnic, and as the new day begins, propose marriage (or “renew” your vows), for the sunrise symbolizes the dawning of your life together. Since you can drive to the summit, after she says “Yes,” together hike one of the trails along the mountain top (Either the South Ridge Trail or the Gorge Path are beautiful.).
Located in southern Sierra Nevada, east of the San Joaquin Valley, Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park lie side by side to form “The Land of the Giants”. These two majestic national parks received this very-appropriate nickname due to the significant giant sequoias found there. They are two of the nation’s oldest national parks and include a spectacular range in elevation from warm foothills to cold alpine peaks. Be sure to stay long enough to explore both parks as you don’t want to miss the natural beauty they offer. Take some time to hike a trail, take a wilderness trip, visit a cave, explore the ski and snowshoe trails during the winter, go horseback riding or just take in the scenery. There is plenty to do and see.
The centerpiece of this national treasure is the Giant Forest. The largest trees on earth are found here, including General Sherman, which is the world-record holder for the most massive living thing. Dozens of magnificent groves of sequoias can be seen in just 3 square miles.
Moro Rock
Kings Canyon National Park was established in 1940 and covers 461,901 acres and consists of 2 sections. The smaller, General Grant section includes the famous General Grant Tree, and the Redwood Mountain Grove. This Mountain Grove is the largest remaining natural grove of giant sequoias in the world with 15,800 sequoia trees. This section is accessible by way of paved highways.
Zumwalt Meadow
Start your trip in Virginia at 
Mother Nature won’t make promises about when leaves will turn or which locations will have the best fall color. Do Internet searches for phrases like “Fall foliage report for (city name)” and you’ll find current information on places you want to visit. As you plan your fall foliage RV road trip destinations, keep an eye on the weather and remember that warm days and cool nights offer the greatest promise for colorful scenery. However if frost conditions occur, leaves will turn color faster so you’ll have to plan accordingly.