Glenwood springs, Aspen etc is fun with kids. Hit the orchards in Paonia for fruit picking. Stay at Avalanche Ranch. Go to hot springs.

I know you said no theme parks- but the Glenwood mountain coaster is a lot of fun.

Could do a float trip on the Colorado.

ETA - you can fly into Denver and take the Amtrak to get there.

Define this better.

2, 4, 6, 24 hours?

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

8 max

Sedona, Arizona has fun stuff. As a kid, I recall playing in a river that was a natural water slide. I think you may be able to visit ancient cliff dwellings in Arizona. I think there are good hiking, water things to see & do.

I would love Arizona, we were hi t in mob last week. Love the desert, but we on out can go in July or august. Arizona will be too damn hot.

I’m also thinking an rv rental would be fun. Rent an rv, pick a nice location to hang out in.

Estes park Colorado is fun to camp, RV, get an air bnb. We took the kids there are few times when little. Lots of hiking, neat town to hang around, elk walking around, Rocky Mountain National park close by.


We also love SW Colorado and Crested Butte, Gunnison, Ouray area. We go there every few years with the older boys and camp, fish, ride ATVs, hike 14ners ( prob not good for little girls yet), and white water raft. Royal Gorge Bridge in that area is also a neat place to visit.

When are you looking at going?

Seattle: Mt. Rainer, Olympic NP, Cascades my understanding is a bit more remote

Glacier is another great option, I'm going end of June, so can fill you in (my kids are the same age).

Issue with RVs is driving them, parking, etc. I've seen an RV get stuck in the black hills under a bridge.

Estes park in Colorado is fun. I think your kids would like it. Its a balance of plenty of outdoor stuff and some kid stuff in town (ice cream, etc).

Sedona is great in April/May, can be way to hot in the summer and everything is super expensive.

Black Hills SD, great for hiking and outdoor stuff, might be way to hot in the summer.

July or august.

I’ve been to Olympic and it’s great.

I’ve been to glacier a bunch of times and my daughter came along as a fetus. You guys will love it, but I’m sort of aiming to stay out of grizzly country this year. I am more relaxed without the griz around. Yes I know other animals are dangerous as well but I’ve had several close encounters with grizzly and I’m just not in the mood for worrying.

I would LOVE a river trip with the kids, but my wife hates being on the water. My brother has a raft and could help us out with it, but he spent all of his vacation last month rafting through the whole Grand Canyon.

Not sure if you can get passes this late, but you could try the Boundary Waters in Northern MN. Canoe to each campsite. Only Black bears.

I have a friend who drives to Vegas to rent an RV to go mess around. I think an RV sounds good.

If you go into the mountains, it might be cooler. But it’s not guaranteed. I was pretty freaked out about two or three years ago when we were hiking at 9,000 feet in the Beartooth Mtns in 95° weather. It was insane. So, I think you need swimmable water, wherever you go.

An option is to RV in a few nice hiking spots and mix in visits to municipal pools. I love visiting city parks and pools in towns— kids can meet local kids & play. It’s fun to talk to local kids and find out what it’s like to live there.

Our boys were younger than that when we backpacked down into the Grand Canyon for 2 nights, but it requires investing in the gear. Easier than backpacking is kayak/canoe trips. Ours are now 12 and 14 and we are taking them on a short kayak trip this summer in Puget Sound. But the investment is even higher unless you rent gear or get a guide. You could do a lake boat on Lake Powell, catch Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend while you are there. Consider heading up into Banff/Jasper, although kids can get bored with long drives and nothing much to do besides hiking.

Additional thought…

Drive to bar harbor Maine and take the ferry over to Nova Scotia. Always wanted to check out that part of Canada. Anyone ever been and have thoughts?

I would like to hear more!

I’m at work but quick stories. I’ve seen a bunch but usually from far.

Scariest: wife and I spooked a big griz about 10 years ago. It was about 25 feet away when it noticed us and ran away from us as fast as it could crashing through downed trees. It barreled straight through a dead lodge pole pine exploding branches. Headed in the direction of our trailhead. That was a big animal. If it came at me instead I’d be dead even with bear spray.

2nd scariest: came across 2 cubs on the trail but did not see the momma. Didn’t know which direction mom was in but you don’t want to be in between them.

3rd scariest: hiking down from surprise lake in Tetons which is tight switchbacks. We bump into a family waiting on the trail and they ask us if we saw the griz on the switchback eating berries. We said no but they pointed him out. We probably walked within 6-8 feet of it and didn’t even notice. They were waiting for it to move on

Just remembered one more. Brushing my teeth a little after sunrise walking to the bathroom at lizard lake campground in Tetons. A grizzly moseys right through the campground and didn’t even look at me. I don’t think anyone else noticed as most were still in bed.

They are huge beautiful animals but we are like a rag doll in comparison

I'm headed to Sedona on Saturday. Gravel biking, overlanding, and hiking

you'd drive to paradise, then leave it for Canada?

;-)

re: UT within driving distance of SLC - Bryce Canyon and Zion are beautiful. In Feb '23 my mom, brother, and brother's (now ex) GF rented an air b and b in Apple Valley, UT and did some hiking in a canyon nearby, and also drove to Zion and Bryce. It was great. There's a Mormon ghost town in the Apple Valley area too which is cool to visit.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Mount desert island good for kids? My biggest concern is crowds. I hate crowds and I worry about that on MDI

It’s awesome! They have mini mountains you can climb, beaches (lake beaches are great) lobster boat tours, ice cream, popovers. Just be smart about where you go when.

We did this for 4 years, it is great balance of outdoors, separation from kids for while, and good food.
They only hire the best college kids to take care of your kids. Not cheap but something to consider

https://tylerplace.com/ Highgate Spring VT

If they are up to it you could look at hut to hut in the Whites. Less gear to haul compared to backpacking, but you can't choose very short days. Mine weren't up to it when that age, they just wanted to go someplace with a lake or a pool.

My best Grizzly encounter was in Kodiak (so bigger than your average brown bear). We were fishing in the back country and attracted a mother and her two cubs. They snuck up to the edge of our group. We noticed them and started to make a lot of noise which caused them to walk away. A warning shot from my buddies .45 made them move a little faster. You don't go into the back country in Kodiak with just bear spray.

I thought of another option: dinosaur national monument. Maybe as a stop on an RV loop. Camping, rafting.

https://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm

When we took my kids, the park allowed us to walk on actual dinosaur foot print type things. How dumb is that? But there were only three other visitors, besides us, so maybe it’s not a popular destination. They had a remodel project in the works, so hopefully they decided to do more preservation. I thought it was a very cool place, although it was a little out-of-the-way.

Cool, I will look into that. Sounds cool.

There is a dinosaur footprints park near me that is completely unattended. Just dozens of footprints on the side of the road you can walk all over. Maybe they don’t preserve them because they are rocks and it takes a LOT of walking to west away the rocks. Don’t know.

I really like Acadia, Bar Harbor, etc. I've been there several times and never been overwhelmed with crowds.

Long drive from SLC though. :)

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

My dad always had a Ruger Redhawk 44 magnum in his holster when he was going to be in bear territory.

Estes Park has tons of stuff to do: hike, sightsee, watch wildlife, some water activities, and it usually has reasonable temps in mid-summer. It has quite a bit of tourist kitsch (and your kids might like that stuff), but that need not define your experience. It is at the limits of your max driving time from SLC. It is popular and you’ll need to plan ahead for reservations. If you want to get up early one day you can ride the Fall River-Trail Ridge Loop (3-4 hours, depending on where you start and other obvious variables). It is fantastic and quite unlike anything you’d get in the East.

Great idea, but I think you are greatly overestimating how rugged my family is! My kids can do about 3 miles of flat, easy hiking. The whites are easily the most challenging hiking I have ever done, even if you don’t have to carry a tent and much food. Hut to buy would comically chew us up and spit us out within a hour. Maybe in 10 years!

There are crowds. In terms of kid activities though, there are lots of short hikes - so you get a peak without it taking ages. There are beaches that are less busy than Sand Beach (PM me). There are good tidepooling spots (PM me). There are some 4 ft cliffs that can be jumped off at Echo Lake and there's Echo Lake Beach (though both of those get busy) and those are fun kid things. You can rent kayaks and see seals. There's a whale watch and Diver Ed may still be in business. The Bio Lab has a touch tank. All kinds of kid stuff. But - as you said, yes, crowds.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

 

You're right, and I'm half laughing and half offended at the "mini." They're not Colorado peaks by height. But they're better ;-)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Thanks, I will likely pm you at some point. I’m off of work all summer watching the kids so MDI might be a midweek visit but not the main “family vacation”. Sounds like it can be great if you know what you’re doing and have a strategy. My kids are also getting into mountain biking and all the carriage roads would probably be great.

Updated family vacation ideas:

I’m trying to coordinate a 3 day 2 night float through flaming gorge with the kids and then rent an rv in SLC and hang out in a campground in the wasatch/uinta for the rest of the week.

Yosemite National Park. Would be tough to get accommodations or campground reservations inside Yosemite Valley for this summer, but if you are willing to stay nearby it could be really fun. Great scenery and hiking. Could fly in to San Francisco and drive a rental car from there, and could combine with a day or two in SF.

Never been to Yosemite although I would love to go. I LOVE San Francisco too but haven’t been in several years since my sister moved back east a few years ago. I’m terrified of the crowds in Yosemite though. It sounds like an absolute shitshow in July and august. Have you been in those months? Is it as bad as I am thinking?

Sf to Yosemite would be a great trip though and I will seriously consider it for this year or next year

I have been to Yosemite Valley numerous times in June and July. Late May/early June is the ideal time because the spectacular waterfalls are usually near peak runoff. The 8-mile Mist Trail hike to Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall is perfect for a fit family and not to be missed with the waterfalls raging. Still great in July too, but likely less water as the summer goes on.

It's gotten more crowded in the last few years, like everything else, and I think they've again instituted a system requiring a permit to drive in to Yosemite Valley. Many will say go to the Yosemite high country, along Tioga Road, in order to avoid the crowds, but there's a reason that Yosemite Valley is so crowded. It's spectacular. But yes, you have to be ok with big crowds, parking issues, etc. if you come in July or August. I'm not the type that goes to these places for solitude, so I think it's ok if you keep your expectations in line with the expected crowding and plan accordingly.

I didn’t mean to offend- I love those mountains. I spent every summer on the island growing up. Especially with kids, being able to peak bag between blueberry pancakes and lunch is awesome. We have taken Mini for some great trips. I keep checking to see if the cabin my parents built ends up on VRBO - I would love to spend a few more nights there.

 

I know - my comment was mostly in jest. I spent 9 summers on MDI working at summer camps / the Jackson lab. I go back as often as I can.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Ok moonrocket and tigerchik, it looks like I need to book Acadia campgrounds asap so I need to get planning.

Is blackwoods the best campground location for a family?

Anything else up there I would need to book way in advance?

I've never camped. Blackwoods and MDI Campground are both well known and yes, you should have booked them yesterday.
If you want to go up Cadillac in your car, you will need to book that yesterday.
Nothing else in the park has reservations - the Cadillac reservation thing is only a few years old. But, once you get your dates narrowed down, if you want to do sea kayaking or anything else that requires equipment and a business, I'd book it now so you have it.
If you want to go rock climbing, use Acadia Climbing School. There are two guide services in town - but my brother worked for ACS for years, so I'm partial to them. To add the LR's favorite topic in here, IDK where you stand on tipping but... tip your guide :)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

My family always stayed at Seawall campground - it’s walking distance to the ocean and the bugs are not supposed to be as bad as blackwoods (my grandfather was a professor so my mom and her siblings spent entire summers there growing up). I loved walking to the ocean and learning to skip stones.

I don’t know how far the Jordan Pond House books out but you need to get popovers there and hike around the lake.

Is seawall out of the way from a lot of things or not too bad? I can’t tell from the map.

Booking is only reservable 2 months in advance so I have some time to settle on dates before things open up for reservations in July

Update. We are thinking of flying into Sacramento or Reno and renting an RV for the week and exploring the sierras.

Does anyone have any recommendations or experience with the sierras? Maybe a couple days in Yosemite and then the rest somewhere much quieter? I’m intrigued by the eastern sierras.

Biggest concern is smoke and fires.

2 adults 2 girls 7 and 9

I'm biased but the Sierra in general and also the Eastern Sierra are incredible.

I scrolled up and see that this is July/August. Make sure it's well before Burning Man because that obliterates the supply of RVs for anywhere within 500mi of Reno.

There's a lifetime of exploring along 395. Pick any spot between Bridgeport and Lone Pine. Explore the foothills and Sierra to the west, whichever bit of valley you're in, and then the mountain range to the immediate east of where you are. That's a decent recipe and you wouldn't really get it wrong.

Can be pretty quiet, hope the kids are into that.

Bishop is a good jumping off point into the High Sierra as there are several roads that access high trailheads
Mono Lake is special
The Mobil station at the bottom of Tioga Pass is rather unique, world famous fish tacos
Bodie
Owens River
Alabama Hills
Whitney
Mammoth
hot springs all over the place

etc etc etc

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

If somehow you can snag a site in Yosemite, do it. But I would be shocked if you could. They are harder to get than Taylor Swift tickets.

Thanks for the heads up about burning man. That is late august and the latest we would be there is about august 18

I just looked recently and the next campground openings are released a month before and then 2 weeks before the camping dates. Maybe we will try for those but it does look incredibly difficult to get. We may skip Yosemite altogether. I’m sure it’s incredible but the logistics and traffic are stressful to even think about.

We did a day trip last year. Stayed right outside the park and entered first thing in the morning. No issues getting in or finding parking. But did make it to park entrance by 7:30 and parked before 8.

Some follow up questions…
Which do you recommend for a combination of beauty and better weather in august? West side or east side of the mountains?

And where would you recommend we fly into? Looks like Sacramento, Reno, LA, Vegas are all possibilities.

I’m open to all but I’m especially interested in the southeast side near the muir wilderness, kings canyon area. I like to fly fish so the golden trout area has me interested as well

It’s not a must, but look at Great Basin National Park. In Nevada, in between Sierra and Wasatch range. I am pretty sure it is the least visited of all the national parks due to its remoteness. About 275 miles from Las Vegas. Cave exploring, mountain lake hikes, and top shelf of Dark Sky experience.

East, but again I'm biased :)

Access to wilderness is easier from the east side. Also, being able to skip across the valley and spend a couple nights in the next range east is an option you don't have if you've gone into the Sierra from the west. Weather should be stable that time of year, and it'll be a lot more pleasant the greater your elevation. On the east side, at least it's a dry heat.

I'm nowhere near being an expert on the west side, but my experience has been that the foothills are a lot longer, so there's a lot more in-and-out driving from veritable shitholes like Fresno (sorry, forum Fresno-ites) to get anywhere interesting, whereas on the east side, it's just wide open valley and mountains right there.

Given that answer, Reno and Vegas are your best airports, and deciding between those would come down to RV availability/price and whether you think you'll end up further north or south, but would lean towards Reno to avoid extreme heat.

Dunno what you and the rest of the family are going to be keen for, so my answers are at risk of sending you deep into the backcountry to some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and you guys may not be into that.

As a for instance, going to Bishop, driving to the South Lake trailhead, and hiking over Bishop Pass and into Dusy Basin could be life-changing. Also, your kids could hate it.

Great Basin recommendation is also solid, but be forewarned that Nevada desert beauty can be an acquired taste. Stunning, wasteland, tomato, tomahto.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Thanks for all the recs!

How is campsite availability on the east side? Will we have to worry about finding a first come first serve site or book way in advance?

Not even in the top 10. It is 11th though! Like you said, it's a National Park for a reason. If you are in the area, especially with an RV, there is no reason not to stop.

OP, if you haven't been to Yosemite and you are doing East Side Sierra, I would recommend getting over for a day trip. Get into the park early, put on your walking shoes, and hop on the shuttle bus to wherever you want to go. Don't forget to explore Tuolumne Meadows when you head over or come back.

The two main differences between the west and east are population and slope. There are a lot more people on the west and the slope is much greater on the east. The slope means it can take 2+ hours from the main highways on the west to reach elevation and less than an hour from the east. However it also means there are easier hikes on the west. South Lake and Sabrina Lake west of Bishop are amazing, but there aren’t many hikes that don’t go straight up. Devil’s Postpile and Rainbow Falls west of Mammoth are a bit more kid friendly. Went on a nice hike to Parker Lake near June Lake and there is some land you can boondock on. Mono is interesting.

I haven’t done Golden Trout, but it seems like it might be a little low to be comfortable in August.

You're very welcome!

Sorry, I'm of no help on campsite booking advice, and anything I'd tell you would be out of date anyway.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

I wanted to piggy back on this - Yosemite is phenomenal! The kicker is the crowds and the sold out campgrounds and other lodging so far in advance it’s ridiculous. One trick is to call the NPS lodging phone number (find it on Recreation.org where you’d normally book sites) and ask about last minute cancellations. People make their reservations so far in advance someone always cancels. (We’ve gotten some killer last second lodging this way). If you can scoop something up, totally worth it! If not, you tried. Also, you have to get reservations to drive into the park. Download the Recreation.gov app and type in Yosemite and it’ll pop up. You literally can’t even get into the park after 5:00 AM without a reservation for most of summer (just an FYI). (We’re planning a trip to Glacier NP in August and going through the same stuff for certain roads and campgrounds).

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Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."