Best National Parks on the East Coast Review

Park Loop Road, which is a 27-mile loop, around the island is open between mid and late April (depending on the weather) and closes the first storm after Veteran's Day or the Monday after Thanksgiving (whichever comes first). There is a 2-mile section of Ocean Drive that is open year round. In spite of Acadia being a small National Park at only 35,000 acres there is more do to here than in the Everglades (see below) in Florida which is 1.5 million acres! The cost to enter is $20.00 per car, which is good for 7 days. We stayed at Bar Harbor Campground located 4 miles from the Park. This is really a no frills campground, though there is a pool and children's play area.

We've gone to Acadia several times. These are my highlights:

Go to Hulls Cove Visitor Center where we watched a 15-minute video. We bought Discover Acadia National Park A guide to the best hiking, biking, and paddling by Jerry and Marcy Monkman at the bookstore. I would definitely suggest buying a book depending on what you plan to do.

1. Ocean Trail is a 4-mile round trip easy walk. If you have children this will be a great walk along the ocean. It will take about an hour. This was our first view of the beautiful orange granite rocks.

2. We walked part of the Great Head Trail, which is a moderate (some steep grades with some level stretches) 1.8-mile beach walk.

3. Thunder Hole and the tide pools will be a fun place to stop. It is an area that creates noisy, spouting water.

4. You will want to stop at Precipice Trail either to see the falcons nesting or to hike. This is considered strenuous with exposed cliffs and ledges. It has iron rungs and ladders and is very steep.

5. You will pass Sand Beach, which is famous for its crushed sand shells and water of 50 degrees, and come to the Cliffs at Gorham Mountain. This is a moderate, then easy 3.5-mile loop trail.

6. Go to Jordon Pond House Restaurant get lemonade and popovers.

7. Go to Cadillac Mountain. You can bike or hike this mountain. You can also drive up it. The peak is the highest point on the island. At the summit you'll find parking, a small gift shop and bathrooms. This is the busiest place in Acadia National Park because it is the only summit you can get to by car.

8. Explore the carriage roads. There are 45 miles of rustic carriage roads that weave around the mountains and through valleys. The carriage roads, which are used for bicycling, are broken stone roads making some of the biking difficult.

9. Bike around Witch Hunt Pond, which had 1 minor hill and/or Eagle Lake Loop. This was a moderate 6-mile road though woodlands and beautiful Eagle Lake

10. If you want to find a fabulous hidden beach with gorgeous stones that you cannot take, try to find Little Hunter's Beach. It is not advertised so after Otter Cliffs look on the right hand side for parked cars. On the left you will see stairs going down. The only way to know it is by the sign that warns you not to take any rocks. The sound of the water hitting the rocks and the view are breathtaking.

11. The only sandy beach in Acadia is called Echo Lake. If you have a nice day spend it here. It is ideal for children. There is a small beach with parking and lifeguards. There are restrooms here as well. The water is warm and the views of the park looming overhead amazing.

12. Hike Bubble Rock. This is called moderate in the Park's trail map. It is 1.6 miles and rises to an elevation of 550 feet. The Bubbles are two rounded granite hills - North and South Bubble. They are worth the climb. The views everywhere are fantastic.

13. Beehive Trail and The Bowl is an impressive site from a distance. It looks like a....Beehive, obviously. It is considered a strenuous hike because in addition to the woods you'll walk through there are many exposed cliffs overlooking a fatal fall down. (450 feet) In addition you can take iron rungs on ledges if you dare.

14. One of the most amazing hikes we've ever done is actually 4 mountains (You don't have to do all 4 but we did.) and considered strenuous. The mountains are Bald, Parkman, Gilmore and Sargent. The name of the trail is Peak-Baggers' Delight.

I have just touched the tip of the iceberg. I haven't mentioned the Junior Ranger Programs or the Ranger walks you can go on. I haven't mentioned where you can camp in the Park or that the waters are ideal for canoeing and kayaking. I haven't mentioned that this is an area in which you can go cross-country skiing. I just love Acadia National Park.

Shenandoah National Park is surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Park is Shenandoah is 197,438 acres.

Most people enjoy the Park from the 105 miles long drive known as Skyline Drive. Everything is off of Skyline Drive and marked in mile markers. There are 75 overlooks.

The park is always open, but some portions of the Skyline Drive, the only road through Shenandoah National Park, are closed from dusk to early morning during hunting season. The fee is $15.00.

There are four entrances; three Visitor Centers; picnic areas in seven locations and five camping areas.

Other than on the road there is no real biking in Shenandoah National Park.

Fishing is allowed in a variety of streams. You'll need a Virginia license which you can get at Big Meadows or Loft Mountain waysides. Unlike most National Parks Pets are permitted almost everywhere. There are a few hiking trails that do not allow dogs.

We stayed in two campgrounds on each end of the Park. On our first leg we stayed at a private campground in Luray, Virginia called Luray RV Resort at 3402 Kimball Road. Call them at 188-7657222. I highly recommend this campground. We had a gorgeous view of the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Mountains. It had a pool and nice, clean, level sites. Best of all it was quiet.

The first Visitor Center we hit was Dickey Ridge since we were coming from the north. This is a good place to buy books and or maps that you will need. As you drive anywhere you will want to have a book with mile markers in it. This will show you where the overlooks are.

I won't mention all the stops we made - just some of the hikes that are worthwhile.

1. Traces Trails was a short 1.7-mile hike at mile marker 22.2. This was an easy walk in the woods with gravel. Wood poles made up the steps. There were some slight ascents and descents.

2. I highly recommend you do the Stony Man Trail on Stony Mountain at 41.7. You can see the mountain at overlook 38.6. It gets its name not surprisingly because from the outlook it looks sort of like the side of a man's face. The hike was easy. The trail was made of gravel with a few small ascends and descends. The final short climb had us on rocks overlooking a beautiful scene of Luray, a lake and Little Stony Man Cliff. You will be standing on Stony Man's forehead at this point. This is a great place to have lunch. If the Appalachian Trail holds some magic for you as it does most hikers you'll note that this trail loops into the AT. The AT follows along much of Skyline Drive.

3. Dark Hollow Falls at 50.7 is considered moderately strenuous in and strenuous out. It has the waterfall which is the closest to Skyline Drive. The cascades fall over 70 feet of greenstone. It is a round rip of 1.5 miles. . There is a 400 feet elevation. This is a very pretty hike and one I would recommend.

At the other end we stayed at Loft Mountain Campground in Shenandoah National Park.
The campground was wonderful. It was quiet. Loft is the largest in both size and number of sites of the campground in Shenandoah. The cost is $14.00. (Half that if you have a Golden Age Pass - over 62.) There were a couple of walks/hikes right from the campground or very close by.

1. We chose the 1.8-mile walk/hike called Loft Mountain Loop at 79.5 which was marked as easy. It started from a comfort station close by where you will find a store, the showers and laundry. There was a bit of an incline and coming down was a little rocky. The start is on a beautiful wide maintained trail and ended that way but in between we found overgrown brush and grass. I would suggest wearing long pants. In general I thought the trail was gorgeous. It was the Appalachian Trail and though it was a short hike we got the feeling that we were very deep into the forest.

2. Doyle's River Falls and Jones Run at 81.1 was a 6.7- mile hike. It is considered moderate to strenuous. Plan on picnicking at Jones Falls. There were areas where it was rocky and some of the rocks wet. There were two stream crossings. It was a beautiful hike. The hike back was the most challenging. The elevation climbed a bit and it was the rockiest of the areas.

There are many outfits that rent kayaks, canoes, rafts and tubes. We chose Shenandoah River Trips

I highly recommend Shenandoah National Park. It is one I would go back to and could easily have spent another week there at least. We didn't make a dent. I have so many hikes dog eared that we just didn't have time to get to. It's a beautiful park with beautiful scenery.

Everglades National Park is a slow-moving freshwater river, 50 miles wide and a few inches deep. It is located in Southern Florida, just northeast of the Keys and close to Homestead, which is where we camped. This Park is the 3rd largest in the country! It has 1.5 million acres of subtropical wilderness and some of the most amazing sights I have seen. For your sake I will try not to review all 1.5 million acres and will stick with what we did there.

The Everglades National Park is open year round. Peak visiting season is mid-December through April. Wherever you go you will find plenty of free parking.

There are handicapped accessible trails. In fact all but one we were on during our time here were paved or wooded boardwalks, very easy to navigate.

1. The Royal Palm Area has a small visitor center. What you have to worry about most are the alligators and mosquitoes. We loved this Park and plan on going back this summer. I just want to state here that if you are alligator phobic, this is not the place for you. Again, this isn't Disneyland or a zoo. This is where they live. You are the visitor. They roam free as it should be. You will also find Ranger-conducted activities at the various areas. You will pick up a newsletter, map, and all the brochures and decide what you want to do. Or you can just print this out and follow me.

2. The Shark Valley Area is one of four entrances into Everglades. . Unless you are flying, take bikes, but if you don't they can be rented. Renting bikes is an expensive proposition here ($5.00 + per hour!). . What drew us here was the Tram Trail. This is a 15-mile paved road. You can take the Shark Valley Tram Tour, which will give you an introduction to the Everglades. Reservations (305-221-8455). The Tram Tour takes 2 hours and 15 minutes and includes a 20-minute stop at the observation tower at the southern end of the valley.

There are signs everywhere to stay at least 15 feet from the alligators and on the boardwalks that is easy to do because you are raised but on the tram trail it isn't so easy. We biked the tram trail, some because walked a bit of it, but for the most part we had the road to ourselves except for the occasional tram that went by. Some of the birds we saw were heron, spoonbills and storks. The alligators were amazing. They are just there. After awhile you get used to them on the side of the rode or in the water, sometimes moving but at first, their appearance is a bit disconcerting. We were lucky enough to pass the alligator hatching area where several babies had recently been born. The tram road is a loop although you can go back the way you came, but don't because the way back is much different than the way going. The observatory is at the end of the road before we made our way back. We were greeted at the entrance by a line up of alligators. There are stairs so you can get a good look on different levels of the area. Unfortunately the very top was closed off but we were high enough to look down and see alligators sunbathing and really amazing scenery.

The Everglades are not beautiful like other National Parks but as one T-shirt said "There's only one Everglades" and it is very true. There is nothing like it on earth. You won't see gorgeous flowers growing or rock formations that are breathtaking. But you will see wildlife that you have never seen before and that took my breath away.

3. Flamingo Visitor Center has couple of restaurants, a snack shop with picnic tables outside since you can buy food and microwave it or toast it in the store and the best souvenir shop. Hold off buying anything elsewhere if you think you will head out here.

This Area is where you can take boat tours. (239-695-3101) Although reservations seem not to be needed it is nice to have them, rent kayaks or canoes. We chose to rent a canoe for 1-1/2 hours costing us about $16.00 which was very reasonable I thought. The water was shallow (4') but I seemed to be the only one concerned not about drowning but about being eaten by an alligator. As it turned out the trip was disappointing in terms of seeing wildlife. Other than 2 alligators and a couple of birds, it was just a nice trip on the water. I would definitely recommend doing something on the water while you are here.

Skip Eco Pond unless you are covered in mosquito netting.

With permits there are areas in which you can fish. National Park Service Campgrounds are available on a first come fist served bases or by reservations (1800-365-CAMP). You can only make reservations up to 11 months in advance.

Everglades National Park is a must do. Don't miss walking or biking on the tram trail. If you can't do either, then take a Tram Tour that will be the best sighting of wildlife unless you are wilderness camping. This is a special place.

Please remember to leave only footprints, take only pictures and kill only time!