Our national parks and national and global treasures, and the hiking trails in them, let us experience them intimately. However, some of the best and most popular trails can get so busy that the experience suffers.
Coming up are some great trails in some of the most popular national parks that rival the busiest ones in scenery but tend to attract far fewer people.
Yosemite: Upper Yosemite Falls Trail
Image Credit: Diego Grandi/Shutterstock.
The short, paved walk to Lower Yosemite Falls is pretty much always mobbed. For something different, try a different trail that climbs steeply to the brink of Upper Yosemite Falls. There, you’ll see the water spill over the edge as it begins its journey to the valley below.
Yosemite: Elizabeth Lake
Image Credit:Ramle/Shutterstock.
Up in the high country, the parking lot for the hike to Cathedral Lake is full almost the entire day. Not far east of it is the trail to Elizabeth Lake, which sits directly below Unicorn Peak. It sees far less traffic, and it’s shorter and easier.
Death Valley: Gower Gulch
Image Credit: salilbhatt/Shutterstock.
Gower Gulch is right next to Golden Canyon, and the two connect to form a great loop through narrow canyons and colorful badlands. A lot of people just go some distance up Golden Canyon and turn around, so Gower Gulch, while not deserted, isn’t as crowded. People probably also pass on Gower Gulch because it doesn’t have its own parking area and requires a hike of about a mile in the desert sun to get to or from.
Glacier: Siyeh Pass
Image Credit: Alek Newton/Shutterstock.
Trails like Hidden Lake Overlook, Iceberg Lake, and Grinnell Glacier showcase some of the best scenery in the park, but they sometimes feel like city streets. Siyeh Pass is longer and more strenuous than those trails are, and you get to see panoramic views, glaciers, alpine lakes, waterfalls, and the beautiful red rocks of Sunrift Gorge along the last part of this loop.
Grand Teton: Static Peak Divide
Image Credit: Serge Skiba/Shutterstock.
It can be pretty busy along the trail into Death Canyon, but not a lot of day hikers continue on at the junction with the trail to Static Peak Divide. Up there, you’ll get great views of the peaks and small alpine lakes in basins below you. Also, it’s a short hike up the slopes to Static Peak’s summit, where views are even better.
Rocky Mountain: Mt. Ida
Image Credit: KRxMedia/Shutterstock.
This isn’t an official trail, but if you want mountaintop views without the commitment of Longs Peak and the crowds of Flattop Mountain, you’ll like this one. Start from Milner Pass on the Continental Divide and hike a trail up the slopes. Around timberline, the maintained trail will run out, but an unofficial trail continues along the ridges to Mt. Ida, also on the Continental Divide. You’ll see few or no other people up there.
Zion: West Rim Trail (From the Top)
Image Credit:Stephen Moehle/Shutterstock.
The lower stretch of the West Rim Trail, from Angels Landing to the floor of Zion Canyon, is usually packed, and there’s nothing to do about that. However, by using a shuttle service, you can start from the upper end of the trail at Lava Point, and for the several mostly downhill miles to Angels Landing, you’ll have great scenery without crowds.
Grand Canyon: Cape Final
Image Credit: Sailingstone Travel/Shutterstock.
The roadside overlooks and very short hikes to other overlooks in this park are almost always jammed with people, the trail to Cape Final on the North Rim is an actual hike. Since it’s so easy to access other overlooks, not too many people in this super-popular park bother to do the hike to Cape Final.
Badlands: Sage Creek Basin
Image Credit: Kelly vanDellen/Shutterstock.
Badlands is not among the most crowded of the national parks, but the short trails off the main road can get pretty busy in the summer. For solitude and opportunities for exploration, check out Sage Creek Basin. An unpaved road gets you there, there are no established trails, and you can wander the dry washes and open meadows to your heart’s content. If you do the latter, be careful not to step in the huge mounds of buffalo manure that are all over the place here!
Big Bend: West Rim
Image Credit:acob Boomsma/Shutterstcok.
This trail isn’t a secret, and it’s arguably the most scenic in the park, but the crowds in the Basin area tend to congregate on the Lost Mine Trail and Window Trail. For your efforts on the West Rim, you’ll have sweeping views of mountains, canyons, and desert.
Shenandoah: Little Stony Man
Image Credit: Walt Bilous/Shutterstock.
This is a set of tall cliffs facing west and overlooking the Shenandoah Valley, and it takes less than a mile of hiking to reach. It’s usually much less crowded than the trails to nearby Stony Man and Hawksbill Mountains, and although the views aren’t 360 degrees, they’re still great.
Shenandoah: Cedar Canyon
Image Credit: Photo Spirit/Shutterstock.
Whiteoak Canyon sports six waterfalls in three miles if you start from the bottom at the park boundary. The same trailhead is the access point for its sister stream, Cedar Run, which has three waterfalls. The waterfalls aren’t as tall and spectacular as those in Whiteoak are, but far fewer people hike this trail. If you want, though, you can use a connecting trail to form a loop including both canyons.
Read More:
Image Credit: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.
Want some more great travel content?
Check this out: The 15 Most Beautiful Waterfalls in the U.S. You Need to See at Least Once in Your Life
and this too! 14 Great Sights from the Road in the American Desert Southwest
Leave a Reply