Few venues let you admire the heavens like national parks鈥攑articularly during star parties. These events are exactly what they sound like: gatherings of dozens to thousands of night-sky enthusiasts, all focused on watching the cosmos.

National park star parties aren鈥檛 a new phenomenon, but they鈥檝e become particularly buzzed-about with the recent boom in astrotourism. Take Grand Canyon National Park. In 1991, the park partnered with the to host their first Grand Canyon Star Party. Now, the week-long summer celebration draws more than 1,000 nightly visitors for guided sky-watching, cultural storytelling, and astrophotography workshops. And it鈥檚 not the only park alluring travelers with astronomical awe.

National parks now host star parties across the country, with the bulk of events scheduled over the summer and early fall. That鈥檚 when the Milky Way is at its most dazzling; plus, warmer weather makes all-night fun more feasible.

Here are nine of the best national park star parties and astronomy festivals to bookmark for 2025, and a bonus nightscape celebration for early 2026.

Grand Canyon Star Party

June 21-28, 2025

There鈥檚 nothing like catching the cosmos above the Grand Canyon鈥檚 striated walls. Go all in on scenic stargazing with rangers, astronomers, and other guest experts at the this June. The event draws thousands of attendees with powerful telescopes, space presentations, Indigenous sky talks, and music designed to bring these vivid nightscapes to life. The festivities are spread across the North and South Rim visitor centers, and typically last until around 11 p.m. Attendance is free and open to the public, with park entrance starting at $35 per private vehicle.

Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival

June 26-28, 2025

See the hoodoos beneath the pinpricked heavens at the annual . This weekend-long event, which is free with park admission (starting at $35 per private vehicle), entertains visitors with astrophotography workshops, astronomical history sessions, expert-guided stargazing, and astronomy 101 talks. The final evening will bring a particularly spectacular show with Mars, the bright star Regulus, the crescent moon, and Mercury aligning in the western sky just after sunset. The Bryce Canyon National Park visitor center is the fest鈥檚 central gathering point, equipped with a telescope that鈥檚 available to the public from 10 p.m. to midnight both nights.

Badlands AstroFest

July 18-20, 2025

Stargazing among South Dakota鈥檚 striped buttes feels like sky-watching from outer space鈥攁nd a stop at the annual July only elevates the wonder. This three-day event, which takes place at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, offers planetarium activations, solar telescopes (watch for sunspots鈥攚here Earth鈥檚 dazzling aurora shows originate), and guided stargazing beneath Badlands National Park鈥檚 vast skies. Numerous speakers help illuminate both the myths and science of the celestial world. Better yet: It鈥檚 a free event; you鈥檒l just have to paypark entrance (from $30 per private vehicle).

Logan Pass Star Parties at Glacier National Park

July 25 and August 22, 2025

The Big Sky Astronomy Club hosts during the new moon at Glacier National Park each year. This summer鈥檚 events will lure astronomy enthusiasts to scenic Logan Pass, the highest point you can drive to in the park. The activities鈥攆rom watching distant galaxies and neighboring planets via telescopes (don鈥檛 miss Mars just above the western horizon) to dark-sky stargazing鈥攂egin at 10 p.m., but participants must arrive at the Logan Pass parking lot by 9:30 p.m. Tickets (from $5) are required and available the day before each star party in the ; park entrance starts at $35 per private vehicle.

Dakota Nights Astronomy Festival

August 22-23, 2025

Watch the stars swim above a sea of multi-hued rock and prairie grasses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park with the . This year鈥檚 event, scheduled for late August, will include expert astronomy speakers, guided sky-watching via telescopes and laser pointers (keep watch for Saturn on the eastern horizon after sunset), and night-sky storytelling, as well as hands-on activities like astro-inspired arts and crafts. It鈥檚 free to partake, although park entrance (starting at $30 per private vehicle) is required.

Voyageurs National Park Star Party

August 29-30, 2025

Close out the summer with waterfront sky-watching at the , which runs the Friday and Saturday of Labor Day weekend. The event, hosted by Voyageurs Conservancy and several other local partners, helps visitors appreciate this DarkSky Park鈥檚 pristine nightscapes. Not only is Voyageurs famous for its countless stars, but it鈥檚 also among the country鈥檚 best national parks for chasing the aurora. This star party welcomes park-goers with telescopes, laser-pointer constellation viewing, and storytelling about this wetlands ecosystem. Details remain to-be-determined for this year鈥檚 event, but most experiences are free. (Entrance to Voyageurs National Park is also free, although for camping, houseboats, and select tours.)

Can鈥檛 make it to the summer show? Bookmark another Voyageurs sky-appreciation event鈥斺�攆or winter astro adventuring come February.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon Dark Sky Festival

September 12-14, 2025

This September, scenic viewpoints and visitor centers across Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks will welcome stargazers with telescopes, eye-popping sky viewing, and star-themed activities. The festival is free (with park admission, starting at $35 per private vehicle) and is often lauded for its fun, beginner-friendly approach to astronomy. Visitors enjoy space-movie screenings, astro-inspired arts and crafts sessions, and immersive stargazing led by local experts. Session specifics for are still being finalized, but get ready for planet watching. This year鈥檚 dates are especially ideal for spotting Saturn; the ringed planet will rise in the southeast sky after sunset with Uranus, visible only by telescope, following behind it

Great Basin Astronomy Festival

September 18-20, 2025

See Saturn, the Pleiades star cluster, the Andromeda galaxy, and countless other interstellar bodies above Nevada鈥檚 aspen forests and sagebrush-scented foothills . The annual event is free, although reservations are required for several events, including telescope sessions. The astronomy get-together includes guest speakers from NASA, tours of the Great Basin Observatory, guided stargazing, and an 鈥渁rt in the dark鈥� night experience. It鈥檚 best to arrive early, because the event is first-come, first-served and reaches capacity once the Lehman Caves and Great Basin Visitor Center parking lots fill.

Joshua Tree Night Sky Festival

October 24-25, 2025

Each year, the Sky鈥檚 the Limit Nature Center and Observatory, located right outside Joshua Tree National Park鈥檚 North Station entrance, hosts a . The festival offers dark-sky stargazing and telescopes to spy on nearby Betelgeuse and Saturn鈥檚 rings, all with the stark desertscapes and dramatic silhouettes of Joshua Tree National Park as the backdrop. Tickets for this event, as well as fleshed-out event details, will be available this summer. Prices have not been announced, but tickets typically go on sale during early summer.

Death Valley Dark Sky Festival

Early 2026

The is another major NPS stargazing gathering鈥攁nd for good reason. Far from city lights, Death Valley鈥檚 night skies are some of the darkest in the U.S. And, since nighttime offers a respite from the park鈥檚 famous heat this is one of the best ways to experience the valley for the first time. The annual event, which typically takes place in late February or early March, features astronomy talks, astrophotography meetups, family-friendly sky-watching tours, and telescope viewing to spy on deep space. Dates for the 2026 event will be released in the fall of 2025; tickets are free, but park entrance is required (starting at $30 per private vehicle).

The post Get After-Hours Access to Your Favorite National Park at These Star Parties appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Ever come across an incredible hotel that stops you mid-scroll and makes you think, Wow, wouldn鈥檛 it be something to stay there? We do, too鈥攁ll the time. Welcome to Friday Fantasy, where we highlight amazing hotels, lodges, cabins, tents, campsites, and other places perched in perfect outdoor settings. Read on for the intel you need to book an upcoming adventure here. Or at least dream about it.

Waking up in the middle of the night can be maddening. Unless you’re able to gaze directly up at the firmament.

The skies are the star attraction at Clear Sky Resorts Bryce Canyon, a new property set in a quiet gulch just 16 miles southeast of Bryce Canyon National Park. Far from light pollution and adjacent to this certified International Dark Sky Park, it offers superb stargazing by night and an otherworldly landscape by day.

Most nights, that is. I could consider it unfortunate that rain fell during my visit, but precipitation is good for the high desert. And while I lacked lucid starry skies, I enjoyed a daytime rainbow and an evening lightning show, both plenty compensatory. Upon waking at first light鈥攗sually discomfiting to this night owl鈥擨 watched raindrops run peaceful rivulets down the glass wall of my geodesic dome.

The resort is a collection of these futuristic structures, their surfaces half-glass and half-paneled. The window sides of each dome face up and also away from other units, though as darkness fell, I couldn鈥檛 help wondering (hey, a little) about anyone looking in. But all I had to do was close the lower tier of curtains, leaving the top ones open for viewing.

Hal Feinberg, resort founder and co-owner, said in the dining hall that evening that he came up with the sky-dome idea after seeing a teepee hotel in Livingston, Montana, that felt close to nature yet offered decks and nice indoor furniture.

In 2021, he opened Clear Sky Resorts Grand Canyon, 30 miles from the South Rim, with 45 sky domes that, like the ones in Utah, are connected by paths to shared activity spaces. With the Bryce iteration, Feinberg upgraded from using clear PVC canvas windows to ones made of glass. The result, he said, 鈥渋s like going from a Chevy to a Corvette.鈥�

Clear Sky Resorts Bryce Canyon opened August 9. It currently offers 25 domes, out of an intended final total of 62. Also underway is an employee-housing structure for up to 40 people.

This is luxury glamping with a jazzy, celestial theme. In the lobby, I passed a robot whose concierge duties include greeting guests by name and pulling up hiking maps. The nearby dining-hall dome, also known as the caf茅, featured a gleaming central boomerang-shaped bar. That evening as friends and I stared out of the caf茅鈥檚 28-foot-tall window, the amber lights lining the surrounding gravel paths and access road glowed like airport jetways.

A singer-guitarist played during dinner, and afterward, between showers, we hung out around the decorative fire pit on the deck. Daytime, people lounged there at the outdoor tables, and a grandfather smiled as his two grandsons went at it with cornhole.

国产吃瓜黑料 Intel

You can sign up for stargazing tours and outdoor yoga, or walk a pleasant mile or two around the property on the gravel paths and roadway. A nearby option is to drive ten miles to the northernmost hike in the national park, the moderate (0.8 mile one-way, with just 150 feet of elevation gain). This waterfall hike, a rarity for the area, winds along the park boundary.

But most visitors are here to explore the heart of . Friends and I intended to hike with April LeFevre, a fourth-generation area resident who drove shuttle groups in Bryce for 18 years before opening her own outfit, . Rain, however, nixed the morning鈥檚 hike, and instead we motored along on the main park road, UT-63, which stretches 18 miles north to south. Before doubling back to finish at the famed Bryce Amphitheater overlook near the entrance, we marveled at seeing the arch at Natural Bridge, 12 miles in, and two miles later the Hunter spire at Agua Canyon, come in and out of the mist.

Along the way, LeFevre recounted many local tales, including that of LeRoy Parker, later known as the outlaw Butch Cassidy, who grew up 50 miles away in Circleville. His life changed when he was 13, LeFevre said, after he visited a mercantile to pick up a pair of overalls he鈥檇 had repaired, and, finding the place closed, slipped through a window to take them and a pie. He left a note regarding payment, but the owner pressed charges. Though acquitted, the youth henceforth resented authority. LeFevre also said that while Cassidy is thought to have died with his partner, the Sundance Kid, in Bolivia, an area rancher (now long gone) told her that Cassidy had returned to Circleville. The rancher claimed to have given the former robber a ride in his wagon. Some say Cassidy is buried in a secret location in Circleville.

Anyone visiting the park will want to see the spindly hoodoos, striated in red, gold, and white. Bryce Canyon has the greatest concentration of hoodoos in the world: 12 amphitheaters of them. According to an ancient Piaute , the hoodoos were once people who鈥檇 committed evil acts. A coyote spirit invited them all to a party, to trap them, and turned them to stone.

In geological terms, the hoodoos and holes in the walls are remnants from 50 million years ago when the area was a lake surrounded by rock walls. The spires formed from erosion, weather, and ice expansion during freeze-thaw cycles.

Later, when the clouds cleared, our crew hiked the , a 1.8-mile round-trip, to reach a formation that supposedly looks like Queen Victoria. I didn鈥檛 think too much of the resemblance, but marveled at the views of endless golden towers and labyrinths. This hike is commonly for a stellar three-miler. I鈥檇 have loved to do the 4.2-mile hike to see the top-heavy hoodoos of the .

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Bryce is known as an otherworldly place to see the sunrise (head to Sunrise Point) as it lights up the hoodoos. Rangers offer in the park as well, and doing that would be amazing.

The landscape is also a bird-watchers鈥� dream, drawing hawks, eagles, peregrine falcons, and swifts. I delighted in seeing both ponderosa pine, which smells of vanilla, and, at the highest point of the canyon, ancient twisted bristlecone pines. The mellow one-mile cuts through a forest, with side views of hoodoos. (This trail is considered largely wheelchair accessible, with assistance.)

Much of the hiking at Bryce begins at about 8,000 feet, and the Bristlecone Loop reaches 9,100 feet, so in coming from lower elevation, be prepared to deal with altitude. Always bring water and pay attention to intake.

Choice Rooms

The Standard Sky Domes sleep two. I stayed in a Deluxe, called Milky Way, with more controls for lights and temperature and vents than I possibly knew what to do with. The place had a patio (some have decks) and kitchenette, a king bed and two twin beds in a loft, and a rad shower with six adjustable side jets. The Milky Way ($730) was dubbed an XL in that it slept four, and I thought about how much fun (aside from the snoring) it would be to have my husband and two sons here.

The designs varied. One friend stayed in a two-occupant Deluxe called the Big Dipper ($630) with no loft but a cool swinging chair. Another was in Nova ($680), also double occupancy, that had, I kid you not, a dance floor, disco ball, and flashing lights. There鈥檚 a two-suite dome that sleeps eight ($1,125) if you want to go big.

Eat and Drink

The resort鈥檚 Sky Nova Caf茅 Bar and Grill, open to the public, affords wall-to-ceiling views of the canyon and sky and has a lot of fun themed touches, like little inverted domes within the water glasses and crazily multicolored silverware.

Entr茅es are generously sized and range from $20 and to $35, though the 20-ounce Atlas Ribeye is $49鈥攁nd that thing is a brick. I ordered the heavenly pan-seared Titan鈥檚 Trout with lemon-dill sauce.

I didn鈥檛 know I liked barbecue that much until I had lunch at i.d.k. Barbecue, six miles from the resort in the town of Tropic. While I had the sweet chicken and baked beans, also on offer were pulled pork, beef brisket, slaw, potato salad, and cornbread.

Ebenezer鈥檚 Barn and Grill, 15 miles away in Bryce Canyon City, is a popular 鈥済ourmet cowboy鈥� music hall, with a fixed-price meal served to hundreds in turn. The night we visited, Due West, a country band founded in Nashville, Tennessee, played original tunes.

When to Go

Clear Sky is open year-round, as is Bryce Canyon. Most visitors to the park come from June through September to take advantage of the warmer weather and clearest skies. The months of October through May are cooler but the upsides are fewer crowds, autumn foliage, and spring wildflowers. Some say the park is at its most beautiful with white snow atop the red rock.

How to Get There

The small Bryce Canyon Airport is just four miles north of the park. Most visitors fly into Salt Lake City and rent a car for the spectacular 294-mile drive south.

Don鈥檛 Miss

Stick your head into the lobby of the Bryce Canyon Lodge, built in 1924 in the Rustic style of national-park architecture and one of some half dozen lodges designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it meshes development, landscape architecture, and the environment. The lodge is located in the forest only 700 feet from the canyon rim, and a beautiful half-mile walk from Sunrise Point.

Details

Price: From $525
Address: 855 UT-12, Cannonville, UT 84718

888 704 4445

To Book

Alison Osius is a senior editor at 国产吃瓜黑料 and part of the travel team. She lives in Western Colorado. Previously, she had only flown over Bryce Canyon, though in a small plane with a sunset view. This was a prized chance to explore the park from the ground.

Looking for more great travel intel?

For more by this author, see a personal tale of years of hiking the Storm King Memorial Trail, just off Interstate 70, in Western Colorado, site of a famous firefighting tragedy.

See also this tribute to the most beautiful mountain town in Colorado.

And a lifetime’s accumulated camping tips.

The post What It鈥檚 Like to Stay in a Glass Dome Under Utah’s Darkest Skies appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Sliding my head through the bright orange life vest, I listen to the expedition leader walk us through emergency evacuation protocols. Almost 100 of us are gathered in the lounge toward the bow of the , an expedition ship scheduled for a five-day journey to the Channel Islands.

鈥淚n the unlikely event鈥� of our ship sinking, he says, we need to know how to put these vests on鈥攁nd how to buckle them properly to keep our heads out of the water if we get knocked out. It鈥檚 standard safety speak, but hardly settles my anxiety.

I don鈥檛 like boats. I’ve never liked boats. There鈥檚 the bit about sinking, sure, but mostly, boats make me sick. The nausea starts as soon as I step aboard and continues until several hours after disembarking. Honestly, most forms of transportation make me sick. Planes, cars, trains, buses, roller coasters 鈥� I even avoid rocking chairs.

I鈥檝e developed a scientific method, which is to drink a beer or two during a train ride or boat ride to help relax my inner ear and manage my nausea. This sounds horrible to most people but works for me. However, I鈥檒l be on this boat for five days. My liver can鈥檛 handle that much science.

Though a travel writer, I鈥檝e turned down every opportunity for a cruise or even a day sail. But the idea of an expedition cruise to a place I鈥檝e always wanted to see intrigued me. Two months ago I set aside my irrational fears and my practical concerns and decided to go.

As the cruise date approached, I wondered in irritation, Why did I say I鈥檇 do this? But I’m committed to hop aboard the Quest, and I have my reasons. Part of me is curious whether I can even survive so many days on a boat, but mostly, I want to see what an expedition cruise is like. And I have always wanted to explore the Channel Islands.

This isn鈥檛 your traditional cruise. Instead of an oversized, floating party bus hitting busy tourist ports, an expedition cruise uses state-of-the-art small ships as traveling basecamps to explore hard-to-reach locales, like the fjords of Greenland, the glaciated coast of Alaska, and the Antarctic Ice Sheet. This particular opportunity was aboard a National Geographic-branded ship, operated by .

With room for 100 guests and 60 crew, the Quest to me鈥攕omeone who is used to kayaks and river rafts鈥攍ooks like a miniature version of the Titanic, not a great reminder for someone afraid of boats. Still, it is taking us to the Channel Islands, a small archipelago 40 miles off the coast of Southern California, and will provide a base of operations for bouncing around these mountainous cays in the Pacific.

A few hours after the safety talk, we push off across the channel, and the nausea kicks in. I don鈥檛 throw up, I just want to. It鈥檚 even worse the next morning, and I skip breakfast because lying down is the only thing that keeps me from chumming the waters.

I decide I was right all along; boats are stupid, and I count the days until I can get off the ship. But after breakfast (a nibble of a granola bar, for me), we load into Zodiacs for our first taste of adventure, and my attitude changes entirely.

What to Do on Catalina Island

There are eight Channel Islands, five of which are designated as Channel Islands National Park. The first on our agenda, Catalina, sits outside of the park, but 88 percent of it is protected as a preserve by the . Catalina Island has one small town, Avalon, with a permanent population of 3,000, while the rest is wild, with nothing but dirt roads and hiking trails for infrastructure.

The paddleboard adventure I originally signed up for is canceled because of an increasing swell, so I join a moderate, three-mile hike on a mix of dirt roads, game trails, and a small piece of the 40-mile , which cuts a line along the mountains of the island, to traverse the bluffs surrounding Little Harbor, a rocky cove with a small campground.

I鈥檓 a sucker for a craggy coastline, and the views stack up: the 50-foot-tall bluffs that outline the coast are occasionally interrupted by golden beaches, while the endless blue of the Pacific Ocean melts into the horizon. From a high perch on the edge of the island, I get a kick out of seeing the Quest slowly bobbing in the swell off the coast. I really like boats when I鈥檓 standing on land. They鈥檙e pretty, and I don鈥檛 worry about them sinking at all.

The Channel Islands have been dubbed North America鈥檚 Galapagos because they鈥檝e evolved in relative isolation, never connected to the mainland. There are more than 150 endemic species on the islands, the terrain of which is a mixture of desert scrub brush, lush grass prairies, and steep cliffs.

On Catalina are bison, introduced in the 1920s during a film shoot (there鈥檚 debate as to which film), as well as a troublesome population of feral cats. Seeing bison is always a treat鈥攚e see one later on this hike, munching grass on a distant hillside鈥攚hether it鈥檚 supposed to be there or not, and I鈥檝e always thought populations of cats turning feral was weird.

But the native species throughout the island chain are even more interesting, like the ginormous squirrels, which are roughly 25 percent larger than those on the mainland. In a phenomenon known as 鈥渋sland gigantism,鈥� a species thrives because of a lack of competition for resources. But the native fox on the islands has evolved in the other direction and are tiny, usually between five and seven pounds. (Adult foxes in North America typically weigh seven to 15 pounds.)

The Quest was built with a shallow draft, which means it can venture into waters close to land, and on its stern are twin boarding platforms where guests can load into Zodiacs to go ashore. Aft in the ship is a large dining room, up forward is a sizable lounge, and both are loaded with windows to maximize the views. It鈥檚 all very civilized, with a small library of wildlife and geography books in the lounge, a well-equipped gym and a massage room, yoga on the top deck in the morning, and charcuterie and cocktails before dinner.

The idea behind any expedition cruise is that passengers should spend as much time off the boat as on, hiking, paddling, and cruising the coast in zippy little boats. The National Geographic expeditions are staffed with professional naturalists who give the whole experience a 鈥渟emester at sea鈥� vibe. There are the expedition leader, who adjusts plans based on conditions; a birding expert; a pro photographer to teach us how to take better photos; marine biologists, who dive and film the thriving kelp forests beneath the surface to show us slide shows during cocktail hour; and ornithologists who give talks and lead excursions.

National Geographic also puts a resident National Geographic Explorer onboard for each trip. I鈥檓 cruising with Greg Marshall, a biologist and filmmaker who invented the CritterCam, changing the way wildlife research is collected鈥攊magine a GoPro designed for animals. Marshall has an Emmy, and he鈥檚 hiking with us, giving talks, and teaching me how to keep my shoes dry during a beach landing in our Zodiac.

Ship life is completely new to me. The crew uses terms like 鈥渄isembark鈥� and 鈥渄off,鈥� the specific verbiage providing a certain gravitas to the situation.

As for the guests, at 47, I鈥檓 on the younger end of the spectrum. A few people in their 20s, including some young women van lifers, are scattered around, but the boat is mostly full of retirees, the adventurous kind. I strike up a friendship with a fit 65-year-old guy from Boise, Idaho, with decades of backcountry skiing experience.

I meet a nice grandmother who is a passionate birder, traveling the world to see different species. I have a wonderful conversation with Bernie and Maryanne, a retired couple who鈥檝e been to 59 national parks. They鈥檙e ticking off their 60th park with this cruise and plan to hit Katmai in Alaska later this summer. 鈥淲e hike,鈥� Maryanne tells me. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 just drive through them.鈥�

An expedition cruise has a rhythm. The ship travels at night, anchoring offshore at different islands as we progress through the journey, and we embark on various activities between meals during the day. The bartender usually meets us with a tray of fresh cocktails in the mudroom after each adventure.

I spend every meal at a different table meeting new people. Afternoons feature presentations about endemic birds or photography techniques while the passengers munch on hors d鈥檕euvres. At lunch one day, one of the naturalists runs into the dining room shouting, 鈥淒olphins, dolphins!鈥� and we all rush to the window to look.

The adventures are mild鈥攎ostly hiking and Zodiac tours of the coast鈥攂ut the terrain is stunning. The Channel Islands are full of wildflowers, like native hyacinth and buckwheat; wild creatures, like the pretty blue island scrub jay and the surprisingly cute spotted skunk; and dramatic cliffs. I give into the rhythm, and the nausea fades. This could be due to the steady ingestion of Dramamine, which I’ve also brought along, or maybe I鈥檓 just getting used to life at sea.

What to Do on Santa Rosa Island

For me, the highlight of the trip is an 8.5-mile hike around Santa Rosa Island, which some would argue is the jewel of the park, because of its tall cliffs, sand dunes, and grove of Torrey Pines. That particular species of evergreen is only found on this island and on one cliff in La Jolla, California.

My small hiking group sees a tiny fox meandering around the shade of the Torrey Pines, but I鈥檓 most impressed with the expansive, waist-high grassy meadows that roll all the way down to the edge of the island, where 100-foot vertical cliffs drop straight to the Pacific.

Two of America鈥檚 most iconic landscapes鈥攑rairie and the craggy coast鈥攂lend into one.

What to Do on Anacapa Island

On our last full day, I wake up before the sun rises and see the moon casting shadows through a 40-foot-tall rock arch just off the coast of Anacapa Island. Sea lions, the Pacific Ocean鈥檚 answer to the rooster, bark as the sun comes up. The joy of an expedition cruise is that you close your eyes to one view and wake up to another.

Choppy conditions keep us from making it ashore, so we take a Zodiac cruise, getting a close up view of the famed Arch Rock, a 40-foot-tall upside-down horseshoe of a rock that protrudes from the ocean, and seeing colonies of sea lions lounging on the black, rocky beaches.

I wonder if the sea lions have to jockey for the best spots on the beach, or if some sort of social hierarchy determines their positioning. The naturalist at the helm of our Zodiac says it鈥檚 very cordial, telling us that sea lions are 鈥減ositively thigmotactic,鈥� which in layman鈥檚 terms means they鈥檙e prone to snuggle.

It hits me that I haven’t been anxious since that first day. Somewhere between the post-Zodiac-cruise hot toddies and a presentation about the indigenous Chumash, I forgot all about the ship potentially sinking. The sickness comes and goes, but I don鈥檛 let it bother me. Nothing I was originally worried about troubles me anymore. If we sink, I know how to put on the life vest. If I get sick, I get sick.

But I鈥檓 onshore a lot hiking. I鈥檓 convinced that the expedition cruise is a hell of a way to travel. Imagine a high-end hotel staffed with expert guides, only the hotel moves to a different badass location every night while you sleep. And did I mention the bartender meeting us with trays of cocktails?

Four Small Expedition Cruises Worth Taking

National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions

Lindblad has 17 ships venturing into seas and bays all over the world. The is a great option if you鈥檙e curious about this style of travel, and it鈥檚 less expensive and shorter than some other options (five days, from $3,310 per person). But their trip, in October 2024, is a potential banger full of penguins and ice formations, with a visit to the gravesite of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Peter Hillary, a mountaineer and the son of Sir Edmund Hillary, who in 1953 with Tenzing Norgay first climbed Everest, is the onboard Nat Geo Explorer (22 days, from $28,304 per person).

Quark Expeditions

Quark specializes in arctic exploration, with ships traversing the coldest seas across the globe. Their 12-day expedition, with a boat capacity of 128 passengers, takes in the sights of Iceland and Greenland, allowing you to experience fjords, hike in the tundra, and visit Inuit communities (from $8,396 per person).

Viking Cruises

Viking operates a variety of cruises in different locations, but their 10-day trip, boat capacity of 378 passengers, gives you a chance to see the wilder side of North America鈥檚 inland sea. You鈥檒l kayak among pink-granite islands in Canada and hike to waterfalls along Wisconsin鈥檚 Door Peninsula (from $7,995 per person). 听

国产吃瓜黑料 Smith Explorations

Alaska is the number-one destination for expedition cruises, and operates an eight-day journey that includes two full days within Glacier Bay National Park. Capacity is 76 and 84 passengers on two different ships respectively. Daily adventures revolve around kayaking and hiking,with the chance to see puffins, whales, and bears (from $4,300 per person). 听

Graham Averill is 国产吃瓜黑料 magazine鈥檚 national-parks columnist. He is amazed to have survived five days on a boat and even more amazed to want to do it again.

For more by this author, Graham Averill, see:

Put These Beautiful National Monuments on Your Must-See List

The 5 Best National Park Road Trips in the U.S.

The 9 Most Fun 国产吃瓜黑料 Lodges in North America

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The 9 Best Gateway Towns to U.S. National Parks

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Years ago, my wife and I took a month-long road trip with our four-year-old twins to hit a handful of national parks between Colorado and California. We rolled up to the first stop, Rocky Mountain National Park, with no campsite reservation but hearts full of optimism. Surely there would be a last-minute cancellation, and we鈥檇 be able to pitch our tent with a view of the famous 14er Long鈥檚 Peak.

No such luck. We settled for a site at a nearby Jellystone RV Park, amid a fleet of RVs. It was fine鈥攖here was a putt-putt course that my kids thought was awesome鈥攂ut it wasn鈥檛 the national-park camping experience we envisioned. We repeated this process across the American West, settling for lesser digs outside of parks because someone (me) didn鈥檛 make reservations ahead of time.

The moral of this story? If you want to camp in our national parks, plan ahead, now more than ever. Camping is only getting more popular, with more than 13 million overnight stays in 2022, almost a million more than the previous year, according to National Park Service data.

Don鈥檛 panic. Most National Park Service campgrounds can be reserved six months in advance on a rolling basis through the site Recreation.gov. That means if you want to camp in our parks this summer, start planning now and make your reservations this winter.

With personal experience and intel from , we’ve compiled a list of the most notoriously hard-to-book campsites in the NPS and explained exactly how to score the best sites in 2024.

1. Slough Creek Campground: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Slough Creek Campground is one of the most coveted campgrounds in the entire national-park system, booked in full 100 percent of the season, according to the recent report by The Dyrt. Blame the perfect combination of remoteness and natural beauty; this small campground sits on the edge of Slough Creek in Yellowstone National Park, in a meadow at 6,250 feet, surrounded by evergreens and with the peaks of the Northern Range rising on the horizon. It’s primitive, with vault toilets and no showers. Its proximity to the Lamar Valley makes it a hotbed of wildlife activity; bison may cruise by the campground.

Size: 16 sites for tents and small RVs (no hookups)

Season: Slough Creek is typically open for reservations from the end of June to the beginning of October. It was open from June 23 to October 8 last year.

Reserve: on a rolling basis. First opportunity will be at the end of January.

Fee: $20 per night

Best Site: There isn鈥檛 a bad site in the entire campground, and most sites will have you sleeping close to the river. Site 1 has the most privacy, while sites 5, 6 and 7 will have you pitching a tent just above the river.

Awesome 国产吃瓜黑料: Bring your fly rod and cast for cutthroat trout in Slough Creek, which is one of the most beloved trout fishing destinations in the country.

2. Signal Mountain Campground: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

All of Grand Teton National Park’s campgrounds require reservations, and they all fill up fast. Signal Mountain Campground sits in the heart of the park close to some of the area鈥檚 signature adventures, with spots for both RVs and tents, making it popular with families, retirees, and hardcore adventurers alike.. It also has sites that are tucked into tall lodgepole pine forests, and others with views of Jackson Lake, Mount Moran, and the Teton Range.

Size: 81 sites, tents and RVs

Season: From Memorial Day (May 27) through Columbus Day (October 14).

Reserve: Make up to six months in advance on a rolling basis. First opportunity is December 27.

Fee: $54 per night for a tent site

Best Site: Site 15, off Loop 1, has great views of Jackson Lake.

Awesome 国产吃瓜黑料: Hike the six-mile Signal Mountain Trail, which starts at the campground and climbs up the side of 7,727-foot Signal Mountain, offering views of the lake below.

3. Fruita Campground: Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Capitol Reef National Park gets less attention than Utah鈥檚 other national parks, but Fruita Campground stays booked 97 percent of the time. We know why: this is your chance to stay in an actual oasis. While the rest of Capitol Reef is known for its desert landscape and sandstone features, the sites in Fruita are surrounded by grass and vibrant fruit trees (peaches, pears, apples, and apricots) planted by pioneers in the 1880s. You can pick ripe fruit in season from any tree with a 鈥淯-pick鈥� sign on it ($2 per pound). You鈥檒l also have great views of towering sandstone canyon walls and easy access to the Fremont River.

Size: 65 sites, tents and RVs

Season: Open for reservations March 1 to October 31, then first come/first serve November 1 to February 28.

Reserve: . That means Nov. 1 for a March 1 campsite, and so on. This one opens earlier than many other campgrounds, so keep that in mind.

Fee: $25 per night

Best Site: Sites 31, 33, and 36 back up to the Chestnut Orchard, which has pears and multiple varieties of apples.

Best 国产吃瓜黑料: From the campground, hike the three-mile out-and-back , which climbs up the Waterpocket Fold into the mouth of Cohab Canyon.

4. Pi帽on Flats Campground: Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Park is a cool destination no matter what time of year you show up, and Pi帽on Flats puts you on the edge of this natural phenomenon, with impeccable views of the 700-foot dunes. The campground is especially popular during the annual peak flow of in early summer (typically starting in late May), when snowmelt fills the creek basin, creating a temporary tubing run with wave surges tubers can ride. Even aside from this seasonal adventure, Pinon Flats Campground offers a majestic overnight, with some sites shaded by juniper trees and others offering incredible views of the dunes rolling toward the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. There are no RV hookups, but the place has potable water, dishwashing stations, and flush toilets. (No showers.)

Size: 88 sites; tents and small RVs

Season: Pinon Flats is open April through October

Reserve: on a rolling basis. First opportunity to reserve a site is Nov. 11.

Fee: $20 a night

Best Site: Loop 1 has the best views of the dunes. Site 38 is a great van site with shade from adjacent juniper trees, and site 26 offers the same for tent campers.

Awesome 国产吃瓜黑料: Hike the straight from the campground heading towards High Dune, the tallest on the horizon, for a 2.5-mile out-and-back with a stop to cool off at Medano Creek.

5. Lower Pines Campground: Yosemite National Park, California

Lower Pines Campground puts you in the middle of Yosemite Valley, within walking distance of the stores and services in Curry Village. It鈥檚 smaller than the other campgrounds in Yosemite National Park and has incredible views of El Capitan and Half Dome. Many sites are also tucked into the ponderosa pine forest and are more spacious than other campsites in the valley, offering a good sense of privacy.

Size: 73 sites, tents and RVs

Season: Typically open from mid-April to late October

Reserve: open for the entire month, five months in advance on the 15^th of each month at 7 A.M. Pacific time. Confused? For a reservation during Memorial Day (or any time from May 15 to June 14), you need to be ready to book a site at 7 A.M. on January 15.

Fee: $36 per night.

Best Site: They鈥檙e all good, but 37, 38, and 39 back up to the Merced River.

Awesome 国产吃瓜黑料: You鈥檙e gonna spend most of your time hiking Yosemite鈥檚 big attractions, but set aside a morning for biking the on a paved bike path that cruises by your campground and offers crazy-good views of the Valley鈥檚 waterfalls and monoliths.

6. Kalaloch Campground: Olympic National Park, Washington

Situated on the southwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula, Kalaloch Campground in Olympic National Park has sites on a bluff听 40 feet above the beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A trail leads from the campground to the beach below. The lush coastal forest surrounding the campground gives you the sense that you鈥檙e camping on the planet of Endor with the Ewoks.

Size: 160 sites; tents and small RVs (no hookups)

Season: Open for reservations May 23 to Sept. 23

Reserve: for sites on the A and B loops. The C and D loop campsites will be available for reservation four weeks in advance, and the E and F loop sites will be available for reservation four days in advance.

Fee: $24 per site

Best Site: A18 and A25 will get you right on the edge of the bluff, with broad views of the ocean.

Awesome 国产吃瓜黑料: Obviously, you鈥檙e going to hit the beach, but bring your gravel or mountain bike to ride the 25-mile , a double and singletrack loop built with bikers in mind. The trail cruises the forest around Lake Crescent.

7. Watchman Campground: Zion National Park, Utah

The smaller South Campground actually edges out Watchman for being the most popular inside Zion National Park, but South鈥檚 reservations open up 14 days in advance鈥攊f that is what you want, you have a while to book those sites. Beware, though, that South is undergoing some rehabilitation this summer that will limit its number of available spots, which may bring you back to Watchman Campground. The campground sits near the park鈥檚 south entrance, within walking distance of the restaurants and shops in Springdale. It鈥檚 surrounded by airy sandstone walls and tucked against the Virgin River.

Size: 179 sites; tents and RVs with hookups

Season: Year round

Reserve: Grab a spot for May 24 on November听 24 at 10 A.M. EST.

Fee: $30

Best Site: Grab a spot in the F loop, which offers quiet walk-to sites with shade thanks to pergolas (wooden shades) and the occasional cottonwood tree.

Awesome 国产吃瓜黑料: Pick up the three-mile out-and-back right from the campground, and hike to an overlook with views of some of Zion鈥檚 most prominent sandstone features, including the Watchman, Temples and Towers, and Lower Zion Canyon.

8. Duck Harbor Campground: Acadia National Park, Maine

A site in Acadia鈥檚 might be the toughest National Park reservation to score. The small campground is located on the rocky Isle au Haut, off the coast of Maine and only accessible by boat. The Park Service manages half of the island, while the other half is set aside for a permanent fishing village. Not only is the scene picturesque, with rugged bluffs, primitive coastline, and healthy evergreen forests, but there are only five sites, which brings the laws of scarcity into play. All the sites have three-sided lean-tos and fire rings and are tucked into an evergreen forest overlooking Duck Harbor.

Size: 5 lean-to sites

Season: May 15 to October 15

Reserve: All sites throughout the season can be at 10 A.M. Eastern.

Fee: $20 per night

Best Site: When a campground has only five sites, snagging anything of them is huge, so don鈥檛 be picky. But site 5 has quick access to the shoreline and good views of the harbor.

Awesome 国产吃瓜黑料: Bring your mountain bike to pedal on the 12 miles of paved and unpaved roads traversing the island. You鈥檒l also find 18 miles of hiking trails that access rocky shoreline, bogs, and a freshwater lake.

Graham Averill, 国产吃瓜黑料 magazine鈥檚 national parks columnist, has been camping since he was a baby, when his family would take weekend trips into Georgia鈥檚 Chattahoochee National Forest. As an adult with his own family, he is still learning a few campcraft lessons, such as not to set out on a parks road trip without making site reservations.

For more from this author, see these recent articles:

The Best Budget Airlines鈥攁nd 国产吃瓜黑料 Locales They Go To

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On Tuesday, September 19, a series of meadows containing Native earthworks in Ohio was granted the same status held by world-famous locales such as Easter Island, the Great Wall of China, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Last week, the 45th meeting of the Unesco World Heritage Committee heard proposals for over 70 potential new , locations with “cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.”

The , a National Historic Park, isn鈥檛 as immediately striking as someplace like the Taj Mahal. It鈥檚 a collection of remains of giant geometric shapes made with rocks by Indigenous Hopewell people nearly 2,000 years ago. Slate reporter Dan Kois described some of the Hopewell sites as literally difficult to see, since they had been worn down and disturbed in parts by time and human activity鈥攕everal have been plowed over by farmers who worked the land before the park was formed in 1923. 鈥淭he prehistoric walls were both too subtle and too grand for my eye to comprehend,鈥� .听

The National Park Service uses 鈥渋nterpretive mowing鈥� to highlight the remaining rock shapes, leaving the plants growing on the forms taller than the surrounding grass. The stone walls used to stretch over 12 feet tall, but now lay close to the ground. Some, like the 800,000 square-foot circle and square at the Hopeton Earthworks site, were built to track the movements of the sun and moon, and all the remaining earthworks have spiritual, ceremonial significance.

The National Park Service describes artifacts found at the earthworks as 鈥渁mong the most outstanding art objects produced in pre-Columbian North America,鈥� and says that there鈥檚 evidence those who built the earthworks 鈥渋nteracted with people as far away as the Yellowstone basin and Florida.鈥� The structures were nominated for being 鈥淢asterpieces of Human Creative Genius鈥� and 鈥渁 unique testimony to the tradition of the Indigenous Hopewell culture two millennia ago.鈥澨�

Tribal leaders from the Seneca Nation, the Miami Nation, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, the Wyandotte Nation, and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, who can trace their own lineage to the Hopewell, were present when the Unesco committee passed the resolution to add the Earthworks to the esteemed list of World Heritage sites.听

鈥淢y immediate reaction is to shout and shout with joy,鈥� Genna Wallace, chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, when the verdict was announced. 鈥淏ut at the same time, my eyes are moist with tears, and my lips, my chin, and my voice tremble.鈥�

鈥淭hey were not just geniuses,鈥� she said of the ancestors who built the Hopewell earthworks. 鈥淭hey were uncommon geniuses.鈥�

The U.S.鈥檚 newest spot of 鈥渙utstanding value to humanity鈥� isn鈥檛 hard to get to鈥攋ust a 45-minute drive from downtown Columbus, Ohio. The earthworks are also only ten miles from I-70, making them an easy stop for anyone road tripping through the area.听

Unesco designated as World Heritage Sites at last week鈥檚 meeting. The destinations include caves in Italy, fortresses from the Viking era in Denmark, Bronze Age monuments in Mongolia, and a cathedral in Ukraine, among a number of other historic, cultural, and naturally beautiful places.

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