More than likely, traveling to four National Parks in just a mere five days in early August is not at the top of your bucket list. However, it can be done, and man, was it worth it! At first, I thought we had been a little too ambitious, but when you are traveling with your brother and three friends who all want to see a different park, things get done.
We took off early morning to drive from Dallas, Texas, to Flagstaff, Arizona, which is about a 13-hour drive (perhaps if you live a bit closer to the area, this trip will be more appealing to you), in our rented 4Runner. I’m not sure if they knew we were taking the car cross country, but hey, she made it back in one piece and drove through some beautiful sights.
After many snack stops and bathroom breaks, we finally arrived at our campsite at about 8:30 pm and immediately began making hot dogs to fuel for our hike at the South Rim the next day.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t have my heart set on going to see the Grand Canyon, but after hiking through just a small portion of it, I see why they call it THE Grand Canyon. I would love to go back and take a multi-day trip through the canyon.
We hiked part of the South Rim to Ooh Aah Point and then down to Cedar Ridge before turning back. It is hard to capture just how awe-inspiring it was. I have never seen anything so vast; the earth just seemed to go on forever. On our way back up, it started to rain, and the lightning storm was unlike anything I had seen before. Despite it being August, the temperature was honestly perfect.
Our next National Park was the Arches in Utah. This one was not on my radar at all, but what an incredible site! Getting to the park from the Grand Canyon took about six hours, but this is a park that you can explore in an afternoon, in my opinion.
It is important to note that this area is VERY hot. The sun was sweltering, and it was windy. I would suggest a tight-fitting hat and some eye protection.
While at the Arches, we hiked to the North Window, Double Arch, and Delicate Arch Viewpoint. We spent about two or three hours at the park, which was honestly a good amount of time to see what we wanted to see and drive around the park for a bit. There aren’t a lot of backcountry hiking options because it is the desert, and you can see everything from the main trails.
After seeing the Arches, we set out for Colorado to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. The car ride was a little over five hours. This was my most anticipated park, and I am really glad we were able to spend two days here. I definitely think this park has so much to offer, and I would love to go back and explore more. On our first day in the Rockies, we hiked five miles to Mills Lake and saw beautiful waterfalls. It was raining moderately, so even though it was August, it got pretty cold, and we didn’t get to spend much time sitting at the lake.
The next day we wanted to summit a mountain! So we chose Deer Mountain, which is named because of the abundance of deer, if you couldn’t guess. No, we didn’t see any. The hike itself was pretty moderate, although there were lots of switchbacks. Though I would take the switchbacks over the stairs at the end of this hike any day. The best part of this hike was the turkey and cheese sandwich we ate at the summit, and of course, the view! We spent a good amount of time sitting at the top, just taking it all in and breathing in the fresh alpine air.
After our hike, we set out for Denver to eat food that we didn’t have to cook on a campfire and sleep in a hotel for a night before driving to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We chose to eat at the Cherry Cricket, which had the BEST spinach artichoke dip I’ve ever eaten. The burgers were also amazing. I highly recommend stopping here if you ever find yourself in Denver!
Our last national park of the trip was the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Walking into this park felt like we had traveled to another planet. I didn’t know that there was a mini desert beneath the mountains in Colorado! The coolest thing about this park is that you can rent sandboards from local businesses outside the park and bring them in. We rented a snowboard like one and then a seated sandboard.
Mid-sandboard expedition, however, it started to rain. I have never experienced rain this hard in my life. It was coming at a complete diagonal, so most people opted to walk backwards to protect their faces as we all fled for cover. It was one of those moments where it was just so funny to be so miserable. We walked about fifteen minutes back to the car in torrential downpour, and as soon as we got to the car, the rain stopped, of course. I still think it was my favorite experience of the trip, though.
For a first-time visit to each of these parks, I think we got a good sample of each. For the bigger parks, like RMNP and the Grand Canyon, I think spending a few more days exploring would be nice if you have the time.