Custer State Park
Granite spires, narrow tunnels, bison, burros, and golden-hour prairie made this one easy to underestimate and hard to forget
Wind Cave National Park
Boxwork, bison, and a breathing cave made this one of the more surprising national parks I’ve visited
Fort Robinson State Park
A quick stop turned into a deeper look at military history, Native conflict, and the strange buttes rising above Nebraska’s plains
State Forest State Park
A remote mountain stay with huge campsites, rugged mountain terrain, alpine lakes, and enough space to disappear for a few days.
Buena Vista, Colorado
A two-week base for the Collegiate Loop, the Sawatch Range, and a summit day on Mount Elbert
Medicine Bow National Forest
A quiet base at Ryan Park opened into days of alpine hiking, trail running, wildlife, and glacial terrain in Wyoming’s rugged Snowy Range
Bighorn National Forest
Glacier-carved valleys, alpine lakes, and nearly forty miles of hiking through one of Wyoming’s quietest mountain ranges
Custer Gallatin National Forest
Three nights in Hyalite Canyon revealed one of our favorite campsites and a national forest we have only begun to explore
Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park
A hot, exposed Montana state park hiding the best-balanced cave experience we’ve found yet.
Gardiner, Montana
Gardiner may be known as Yellowstone’s North Entrance, but the river, mountains, and wilderness beyond the park became the real story of our stay.