Two northwest lodges among nation's most historic

Old Faithful

Two  lodges located within national parks in northwestern states are on a list of 10 historic national park lodges. According to the CNN article, some of the lodges were there before the National Park Service came into existence 100 years ago.

Crater Lake Lodge in Oregon's Crater Lake National Park is built at the end of a crater of a volcano that collapsed, creating the deepest lake in the United States.  The lodge overlooks the lake, which is punctuated by Wizard Island in the middle. It's a good place to relax since the guest rooms do not have television or phones. While the park is open year 'round, the lodge is open from late May to mid-October. The lodge was built in 1914.

Old Faithful Inn, located in the southwestern part of Yellowstone National Park near the iconic geyser, was built in 1904 using local stone and logs. It is a National Historic Landmark built in the nation's first national park. Guests used to modern conveniences should be prepared to rough it: The lodge does not have television, radio, internet or air conditioning.  Only a few places within the park have cell phone service; this isn't one of them.

West dominates most-visited U.S.national parks list

Yellowstone National Park

It should come as no surprise that national parks in the western states draw more visitors than other national parks in the United States. What is surprising is that Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park is no longer the most visited park in the nation.

Grand Canyon drew 5.5 million visitors in 2015, but this figure was almost doubled by Great Smoky Mountains National Park with 10.7 million visitors, according to statistics recently released  by the National Park Service.

Grand Canyon topped five million visitors for the first time last year. It was one of 57 parks to set attendance records, the park service said. The park service is expecting the number of visitors to increase substantially this year as 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service.

Western parks on the top 10 parks attracting the most visitors last year include:

• No. 2L Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 5.5 million.
• No. 3: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, 4.15 million visitors.
• No. 4: Yosemite National Park, California, 4.1 million visitors.
• No. 5: Yellowstone National Park, Montana and Wyoming, 4.1 million visitors.
• No. 6: Zion National Park, Utah, 3.6 million people.
• No. 7: Olympic National Park, Washington State, 3.3 million visitors.
• No. 8: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 3.1 million visitors.
• No. 10: Glacier National Park, Montana,  2,4 million visitors.

Maine's Acadia National Park came in at No. 9 with 2.8 million visitors.

The west didn't fare as well when all sites, including recreation areas and historic monuments, are considered. These sites number 410 compared to 59 national parks.

Grand Canyon, which ranked second on the most-visited national park list, dropped to 10th on the most visited of all NPS sites. Blue Ridge Parkway topped the list with 15 million visitors, while California's Golden Gate National Recreational Area was second with 14.9 million visitors. Lake Mead National Recreation Area was No. 5 with 7.3 million visitors.

Gorgeous scenery marks Washington's North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park
Photo by National Park Service

If you want stunning scenery, there's no better place to find it than North Cascades National Park. It's just been named one of the top 16 places to visit in the world in 2016.  It was the only destination in the United States to make the list. 

North Cascades National Park is located in Washington State, stretching from the border with Canada south to near Twisp. The park is bisected by SR Highway 20, one of the most scenic drives you'll ever make. Many years ago, when I lived in Omak, Washington, I sometimes took Highway 20  when I went to Seattle in the summer. A longer drive, but the scenery made it worthwhile.
 
The route was filled with high mountains, Liberty Bell being one of the most photographed, and beautiful glacier-fed lakes. The park has more than 300 glaciers, the most of any place in the United States outside of Alaska.  The scenery must be equally as beautiful in the winter, but I wouldn't know. Because of heavy snows, the Washington Highway Department closes the highway in winter from Ross Lake on the west side of the mountains to Lone Fir Campground on the east side.
 
Wild flowers and wildlife abound here, among them deer, cougars and black bears. If you see one of the more than 1,500 black bears, the National Park Service wants to know about it and asks visitors to fill out a bear monitoring form.
 
Camping and hiking are popular activities here; hiking, especially, since the park is close to the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.