National Rivers Month on June, 2024: Marias Pass or Feather River Canyon?

June, 2024 is National Rivers Month 2024. It's National Rivers Month! It's National Rivers Month!

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If you are going now, I would suggest Feather River Canyon/Donner Pass would have the better weather. Give it a couple of months and I would probably go for Marias Pass. You really need some good light for photos and videos in those hills!

I think it would depend on the number of trains over each. Find the one with the most, and go from there.

Good luck, I'd love to see some of your photos!

Sequoia national park info?

All your questions can be answered here,

If your planning for this summer it is doubtful you will be able to get a regular reserved camping spot in the NP for any weekend as they get booked up and reserved 6 months in advance. There are many nice dispersed and first come sites just outside the park in the national forest along the Kern and Kings rivers.

Good Luck!

Has anyone ever been to Denali National park in Alaska?

I've been there a couple of times and really enjoyed my experiences. Yes, it's worth the trip. Denali National Park is fantastic no matter where you're coming from. It's a great place to see wildlife and if you're lucky, you may even get to see Mt McKinley.

Last July I took a Denali flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna with K2 Aviation. The granite mountains and glaciers on the southern slopes of the Alaska Range are a sight to behold. We made a glacier landing in the Ruth Amphitheater at the head of the Ruth Glacier and that was awesome. Take my word for it - you are not going to see anything like this anywhere else in the US.

No private vehicles are allowed into the park so I took the Kantishna Wilderness Trails Tour that goes to the end of the park road approximately 90 miles inside the park. The tour duration is 13 hours with approximately 11 hours of that on the bus. It's not as bad as it sounds because there are frequent stops for restroom breaks, hot chocolate and animal sightings. We saw grizzly bears, moose, caribou, red fox, marmot, lynx, ptarmigans, golden eagle and Dall sheep. We even got to see a sled-dog demonstration in Kantishna. Unfortunately, cloud cover was too heavy to get even a glimpse of Mt McKinley which I understand is the norm. But that was okay because we got fantastic views of McKinley during the flightseeing tour - we even flew over base camp.

You can use the park shuttle to venture into the park on your own. If I had another day to spend at Denali, that's what I would have done. You can get off and on the shuttle as you please so it's a good way to explore the park on foot. I recommend that you go at least to Polychrome Overlook at mile 47 regardless if by shuttle or tour. If you have the time and can tolerate the long ride, go to Wonder Lake.

If you're going to be camping, be prepared for cold weather and check the weather reports. I camped at Savage River many years ago during August which is supposed to be the warmest month of the year. A cold front moved in unexpectedly and the temperature dropped to 15 degrees F. I wasn't prepared for temperatures below freezing so I had to leave the park and seek shelter south of the park.

I assume you will be doing other things while in Alaska. You might want to pickup a fishing license and try your luck in the many rivers and lakes, or pay for a guided fishing trip. I recommend you take the Wilderness Explorer Glacier Cruise of Prince William Sound out of Whittier and/or the Kenai Fjords National Park Tour out of Seward. Go walk on the Matanuska Glacier and see the oil pipeline near Fairbanks. Be sure to take in the Museum of the North on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus and the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. If you want to see brown bears, try Katmai National Park. Brooks Falls, about a half mile from Brooks Lodge in Katmai, is one of the best places on the planet to watch Alaskan brown bears fish for Sockeye salmon. I saw more than 20 brown bears while in Katmai last July - AWESOME! Keep in mind that Katmai is bear country so stay on your toes while on the trail. You don't want to surpise a brown bear - especially one with a cub.

One last thing - DO carry insect repellent while traveling in Alaska. I recommend 25% DEET at the minimum. You might also want to carry a headnet. Mosquitoes and biting flies are not normally a problem in populated areas but once you get out in the brush, be prepared for the little buggers.