"The Extra Mile" - the Tracks & Trails blog

At Tracks and Trails, one of our most highly recommended tours of Yellowstone National Park is the Private Yellowstone Tour, offered by Yellowstone Alpen Guides.  In fact we include the Private Tour with all of our vacation packages that visit Yellowstone.  Why? It's because year after year, we have received rave reviews about this private, customized and unique opportunity to see parts of the park that are off the beaten path.  Each tour is customized to each traveler’s desires and may include wildlife watching, hiking, photography, or swimming in a thermally-heated river – the choice is yours!   Their knowledgeable guides work hard to make sure their clients see and understand the many wonders of the world’s first national park. 

Although Flaming Gorge Reservoir is a well-known fishing spot, the recreational possibilities do not stop there.   Its clear waters, lush forests, diverse trails and campgrounds draw nature lovers and sportsmen alike.

Flaming Gorge straddles the Wyoming and Utah border, and the lake stretches for 91 miles with 375 miles of shoreline.   Flaming Gorge Lake is enclosed by brightly colored canyon walls surrounded by the forested hills of Ashley National Forest.   Petroglyphs are visible on many of the rock walls, and suggest that the Fremont Indians hunted game here.  Wildlife still abounds - osprey nests are easily spotted on the rocky pinnacles, and bald eagles are often seen overhead.   Antelope frequent the Lucerne area, and the campground (Antelope Flat) is aptly named.

With many of the more popular destinations getting booked up for this summer, we think that Crater Lake National Park is a hidden gem.  Crater Lake is located in Southern Oregon on the crest of the Cascade Mountain Range, 100 miles east of the Pacific Ocean.  It lies inside a caldera, or volcanic basin, created when the 12,000 foot Mount Mazama collapsed following a large eruption 7,700 years ago.  Local Native Americans have kept alive a legend, telling of two Chiefs in battle that ended with the destruction of Mt. Mazama.  The Klamaths still revere the clear, pure lake that is now admired by visitors all over the world. 

For nearly all of our clients that start their trip in Salt Lake City and are heading north to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks, the first night is almost always at Bear Lake.  Straddling the Utah and Idaho border, Bear Lake is a great place to get familiar with your RV as well as camping in the West.

My first visit to Mesa Verde National Park was a last-minute weekend getaway; not a carefully-researched, thoughtfully planned-out destination.  At the time, I did not realize that a one-day visit would not allow sufficient time to see both the Chapin and Weatherill Mesas, or that I would be drawn by its mystery and want to explore more archaeological sites as a result of that brief visit.  On my next (more extensive) trip, not only Weatherill Mesa, but other archaeological sites in the area beckon to me – Hovenweep, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Canyon de Chelle, and the list goes on. 

We get tons of requests to make special activities or excursions part of great family vacations. One the most popular is fly-fishing and the level of experience of our clients is from "never done it but want to try" to "I'm an avid fisherman and want to go to the best spot on my trip". We have many outfitters that can provide a unique, western fly-fishing experience in great mountain locales, but we'd thought we'd share some cool spots in Arizona that may tickle your fancy.

If one of your main objectives while on vacation is to view wildlife, here are some of the top National Parks to consider visiting (Glacier, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Everglades), along with the types of wildlife you are most likely to see there:

Whether you’re an adrenaline junkie looking for your next “fix” or a discerning traveler searching for that “once-in-a-lifetime” experience that will become the highlight of your entire vacation, here are a few destinations that are "off-the-beaten-path" that we include in some of our custom itineraries (tree climbing, zip line, fossil hunting, animal sanctuary):

Our last couple of posts have been about dreaming that your vacation is in a National Park (through playing a game) and telling you about one of the things to do before you get there (i.e. buy a National Parks Pass). So we thought that we would give you some idea of what to expect when you get there!