Rocky Mountains Region
Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Colorado
- Visited: Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
- Visited: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
- Visited: Colorado National Monument
- Not yet: Curecanti National Recreation Area
- Visited: Dinosaur National Monument
- Not yet: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
- Visited: Great Sand Dunes National Park
- Visited: Hovenweep National Monument
- Visited: Mesa Verde National Park
- Visited: Rocky Mountain National Park
- Not yet: Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
- Not yet: Yucca House National Monument
Montana
- Visited: Big Hole National Battlefield
- Visited: Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
- Visited: Glacier National Park
- Visited: Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
- Visited: Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
North Dakota
- Visited: Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
- Visited: Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
- Visited: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
South Dakota
- Visited: Badlands National Park
- Not yet: Jewel Cave National Monument
- Visited: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
- Visited: Mount Rushmore National Memorial
- Visited: Wind Cave National Park
Utah
- Visited: Arches National Park
- Visited: Bryce Canyon National Park
- Visited: Canyonlands National Park
- Visited: Capitol Reef National Park
- Not yet: Cedar Breaks National Monument
- Not yet: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
- Visited: Golden Spike National Historical Park
- Not yet: Natural Bridges National Monument
- Visited: Rainbow Bridge National Monument
- Visited: Timpanogos Cave National Monument
- Visited: Zion National Park
Wyoming
- Visited: Devils Tower National Monument
- Visited: Fort Laramie National Historic Site
- Not yet: Fossil Butte National Monument
- Visited: Grand Teton National Park
- Not yet: John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway
- Visited: Yellowstone National Park
Recent Posts
Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument
A visit to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is a powerful reminder that history depends on whose story is being told. Located near Crow Agency, Montana, the battlefield preserves the site where one of the most famous encounters of the American West took place. On June 25 and 26, 1876, Lt Colonel George Armstrong Custer […]
Hovenweep National Monument
The stone towers and walls of Hovenweep National Monument rise from the desert landscape. This monument is located in the remote Four Corners region along the border of Colorado and Utah. Hovenweep feels isolated even by Southwestern standards. Reaching this monument required traveling long stretches of quiet desert roads. The name Hovenweep comes from a Ute/Paiute word translated as “deserted […]
Badlands National Park
One of my favorite family road trips during our homeschooling days was driving across the northern states to South Dakota. There were so many special places we stopped along the way, but none left a stronger impression on us than Badlands National Park. The landscape almost did not seem real the first time we saw it. Layer after […]
Mesa Verde National Park
Wishing to visit Mesa Verde National Park took some planning. Mapping out visits to our national parks always does, these are not places you simply pass by. They require intention. For this trip, the best place to begin was Durango, Colorado. From there, the drive slowly brings us into a landscape that feels both open and […]
Arches National Park
There are few states with as many remarkable national parks as Utah, and Arches National Park is truly one of its most unforgettable. Here we are standing along the Devil’s Garden, in front of the Landscape Arch, one of the longest natural stone arches in the world. Its span stretched over 300 feet, and what […]
Zion National Park
The first time I visited Zion was on one of our family road trips. Like so many of those trips, we had a plan, places we wanted to see, miles to cover, but nothing really prepared me for what it felt like to enter Zion. There are places where the scale of the land reshaped […]
Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site
Bent’s Old Fort is a special site in Colorado, one that stands out not just for what it is, but for what it represents. I remember visiting it on our Colorado road trip with Emmy and Erin. This is not just a fort, it is a place of connection, trade and influence in the developing American […]
Golden Spike National Historical Park
There are places where history is marked by monuments, and others where it is held in the land itself. Golden Spike National Historical Park, located in northern Utah at Promontory Summit, is one of those places. At Promontory Summit, the significance is in the simple alignment of two rail lines that once approached from opposite […]
Big Hole National Battlefield
On the East Coast, we speak of conflicts with Native peoples. We reference King Philip’s War in town histories and on roadside plaques, but we have not preserved large landscapes in the same way. There are markers. There are monuments. There are footnotes in local museums. But there are few expansive, protected battlefields with visitor […]
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
On a solo trip, I flew into Salt Lake City and made my way into the mountains towards Timpanogos Cave National Monument. The drive led me away from the city and into the Wasatch Range. The caves are hidden within the mountains and inside holds features that seem to ignore the rules: these delicate formations that […]
Great Sand Dunes National Park
A special trip to Colorado brough Erin and me there, where we met Emmy. When we met at the airport, the weather was warm and sunny, and it felt like the beginning of an easy day. We set off with the intention of visiting the Great Sand Dunes, expecting wide open skies and calm views. […]
Glacier National Park
One of our most majestic national parks is also one of the few I have only been fortunate enough to visit once. Glacier National Park, located in northern Montana along the Canadian border, is part of a larger protected ecosystem that extends into Canada as Waterton Lakes National Park. Together they form the Waterton-Glacier-International Peace Park. This […]
