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Montana

Lewis and Clark National Forest

May 28, 2025 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

Lewis and Clark National Forest

Montana

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Northern Region

1,999,256 acres (1,863,788 federal/ 135,468 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/helena-lewisclark

Overview

East of the Continental Divide in Montana, Lewis and Clark National Forest is split across eight mountain ranges east and west of the Missouri River. The largest western section butts up against Glacier National Park to the north and includes parts of the Scapegoat and the Bob Marshall Wilderness areas, which provide crucial habitat for grizzly/brown bears and world-class places for backpacking. The Lewis and Clark Forest Reserve dates back to 1897, with the now-defunct Jefferson and Absaroka National Forests added in 1932 and 1945 respectively. Since 2014, it has been co-managed with Helena National Forest.

Highlights

King Hill Scenic Byway, Cataract Falls, Sun River Gorge, Gibson Reservoir, Mt. Wright, Deep Creek Loop National Recreation Trail, Windy Mountain Trail, Crystal Cascades Trail, Crystal Lake Shoreline Loop Trail, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

We have always wanted to visit the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service’s 25,000 square-foot Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana. It features an exhibit hall, hiking trails, and a 158-seat theater, and it is open daily in the summer and Wednesday through Sunday in the offseason. We have also wanted to backpack in the rugged Snowy Mountains, which draw backcountry skiers in the winter and horseback riders in the summer. We will have to return to this central part of Montana, which includes one of our favorite places to explore: Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument run by the Bureau of Land Management.

Best Trail

One of the most famous formations along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail is the 15-mile long Chinese Wall, a 1,000-foot-tall cliff composed of five-million-year-old limestone. Its closest access is 15 miles one-way from the South Fork Sun Trailhead, which is often marked as Packers on maps at the end of the gravel Benchmark Road (Forest Road 235). The trail begins by following the South Fork Sun River before crossing a bridge and entering the Bob Marshall Wilderness. We got a late start on the way in and came across a grizzly/brown bear grazing near the trail that evening and, on the drive out, we stopped to photograph three moose near Wood Lake Campground and a common loon in Anderson Lake.

Watchable Wildlife

Grizzly/brown bears are the most famous residents of the National Forest. Additional mammals include black bears, mountain lions, Canada lynxes, wolverines, mule deer, Columbian white-tailed deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, and moose. Bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, and three types of grouse are often spotted. There are excellent fly-fishing opportunities in the 1,600 miles of rivers and streams.

Photographic Opportunity

The 15-mile long Chinese Wall is an iconic landmark along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None except for the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, which costs $8 per person or you can use an America the Beautiful pass.

Road Conditions

We drove the gravel Benchmark Road (Forest Road 235), which was long and in excellent condition.

Camping

There are 29 vehicle-accessible campgrounds in Lewis and Clark National Forest, including Wood Lake Campground near the South Fork Sun Trailhead. Backcountry and dispersed camping options abound.

Wilderness Areas

Bob Marshall Wilderness (also in Flathead National Forest)

Scapegoat Wilderness (also in Helena and Lolo National Forests)

Related Sites

Deerlodge National Forest (Montana)

Bighorn National Forest (Wyoming)

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Montana)

Nearest National Park

Glacier

Conifer Tree Species

western redcedar, Douglas-fir, limber pine, whitebark pine, lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, western larch, common juniper

Flowering Tree Species

quaking aspen, Rocky Mountain maple, western serviceberry

Explore More – Why is the 200 square-mile Badger-Two Medicine area of the National Forest managed differently?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our new guidebook Out in the Woods

California

Lassen National Forest

May 15, 2025 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Lassen National Forest

California

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region

1,375,593 acres (1,070,992 federal/ 304,601 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/lassen

Overview

Lassen National Forest Reserve dates back to 1905, then a decade later when Lassen Peak explosively erupted (the first eruption to be photographed in the continental U.S.), 106,589-acre Lassen Volcanic National Park was carved out. The two federal areas are connected by the 187-mile-long Lassen Scenic Byway (Highways 44 and 89) that traces the volcanic legacy of the southern Cascade Range. The 41,100-acre Ishi Wilderness was named in 1984 to honor the last surviving member of the Yahi band of Southern Yanas, taken from his native home near Oroville in 1911 and employed as a janitor at the University of California’s Anthropology Museum in San Francisco until his death from tuberculosis five years later.

Highlights

Lassen Scenic Byway, Lake Almanor, Eagle Lake, Subway Cave, Hat Creek Recreational Area, Triangle Lake, Heart Lake National Recreation Trail, Bizz Johnson Trail, Spencer Meadows National Recreation Trail, Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Lassen National Forest runs campgrounds and boat ramps on both Lake Almanor and Eagle Lake, although most of their shorelines are privately owned. Between the two lakes is the town of Susanville, where a railroad bed abandoned in 1978 was converted into the Bizz Johnson Trail that follows the Susan River for 26 miles. The trail features 12 river crossings and two tunnels with scenic mountain views. Camping is restricted to specific portions of the trail. The 20,546-acre Caribou Wilderness was one of America’s first Primitive Areas designated in 1932 and along with the 16,335-acre Thousand Lakes Wilderness was established immediately following passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act. In a proposed Wilderness area on the west side of Lassen Volcanic National Park, Heart Lake National Recreation Trail is a 2.4-mile one-way hike up to a glacial lake that connects to the longer Twin Meadows Trail.

Best Trail

Subway Cave is only 1,300 feet long, but the lava tube is the main attraction in Lassen National Forest, with free guided tours offered on summer weekends. Lava flowed through here less than 2,000 years ago and interpretive signs along the 0.7-mile loop trail explain lavacicles and other geologic oddities. A flashlight is necessary to explore past the openings of the 46°F cave, which drops to four feet in some places with a maximum ceiling of 17 feet. One mile south on the Lassen Scenic Byway (Highway 44) is the 1.7-mile roundtrip Spatter Cone Trail (across from Hat Creek Campground). The trail passes a variety of volcanic formations in a forest of Jeffrey pine trees.

Watchable Wildlife

Lassen National Forest is home to black bears, pine martens, mountain lions, bobcats, red foxes, coyotes, and a few gray wolves that migrated south from Oregon. You are most likely to see mule deer or one of the variety of chipmunks or squirrels. Bird sightings include mountain chickadees, Steller’s jays, Clark’s nutcrackers (at high elevations), and eight species of woodpeckers such as pileated and white-headed.

Photographic Opportunity

Sitting at 4,505 feet in elevation, Lake Almanor stretches for 13 miles near Chester, California and is a good place for summer boating and fishing.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Subway Cave is located right off Lassen Scenic Byway (Highways 44 and 89) and most of the unpaved roads we have explored in the National Forest have been maintained, probably because of the continued harvesting activities that we witnessed on our field trip from Cal Poly University in 2010.

Camping

Lassen National Forest runs campgrounds on both Lake Almanor and Eagle Lake, plus Hat Creek Recreational Area has seven campgrounds. If you are looking to disperse camp outside Lassen Volcanic National Park, take the road west outside the southern entrance (but keep a clean campsite as we saw a black bear in the area).

Wilderness Areas

Caribou Wilderness

Ishi Wilderness (also managed by BLM)

Thousand Lakes Wilderness

Related Sites

Lava Beds National Monument (California)

Devils Postpile National Monument (California)

Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area (California)

Nearest National Park

Lassen Volcanic

Conifer Tree Species

red fir, white fir, western hemlock, Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, western white pine, California juniper, incense-cedar

Flowering Tree Species

quaking aspen, Fremont cottonwood, ceanothus, manzanita

Explore More – Other than the namesake for Lassen Peak, who was Peter Lassen?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our guidebook Out in the Woods

Kentucky

Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument

January 15, 2025 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument

Kentucky

Managed by National Park Service

Established 2019

1,459 acres

Website: nps.gov/misp

Overview

During the Civil War, the Battle of Mill Springs started on January 19, 1862 in the Union state of Kentucky (where slavery was still legal). North of the Cumberland River, a surprise attack by the Confederate Army was repelled and celebrated as the first decisive Union victory in the western theater. The battlefield was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993 and acquired by the National Park Service (NPS) in 2020.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Museum, film, Mill Springs National Cemetery, Zollicoffer Park, Brown-Lanier House, Mill Springs Mill, Lake Cumberland

Must-Do Activity

Start your visit by watching the film at the NPS visitor center next to Mill Springs National Cemetery, opened in 1867 as one of 12 original National Cemeteries. The driving tour starts from there south down Kentucky Highway 235 to Zollicoffer Park where there are markers for Confederate General Felix K. Zollicoffer (buried beneath the “Zollie Tree”) and a Confederate mass grave. There are six more stops on the driving tour north of Lake Cumberland, but there is no bridge across the reservoir, so to reach the final two stops requires backtracking and connecting to Kentucky Highway 1275. There you will reach the Brown-Lanier House at Mill Springs that was utilized by both sides of the battle. Open seasonally to the public, the working grist mill on Lake Cumberland dates to 1877 and is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The final tour stop is at the West-Metcalfe House that served as a Confederate headquarters and hospital, but is not currently open.

Best Trail

A 0.75-mile walking trail in Zollicoffer Park goes down into a ravine that was behind the Confederate lines, as explained by interpretive signs there. You can also walk to the edge of Lake Cumberland at Ferry Landing on the north shore and Mill Springs Mill on the south shore.

Photographic Opportunity

Built in 1860, the Brown-Lanier House offers guided tours inside the house that was twice hit by artillery during the Battle of Mill Springs.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/misp/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

Tours of the Brown-Lanier House now seem to be free and offered by NPS rangers every other Saturday in the summer.

Road Conditions

All roads are paved, but be careful while driving onto small pullouts along the highways.

Camping

There are campgrounds along Lake Cumberland and further north at Mammoth Cave National Park.

Shiloh National Military Park (Tennessee-Mississippi)

Fort Donelson National Battlefield (Tennessee-Kentucky)

Explore More – What other two names has the Battle of Mill Springs been called?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments

Utah

Bears Ears National Monument

November 6, 2024 Raven About The Parks 8 Comments

Bears Ears National Monument

Utah

Managed by U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management

Established 2016

1,351,849 acres

Website: https://www.blm.gov/visit/bears-ears-national-monument

Overview

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service manage the more than one-million acres of Bears Ears National Monument in partnership with five local Native American tribes. After it was established, in 2017 it was controversially reduced in size to 201,876 acres before being restored four years later. Much of the southern portion of La Sal National Forest, including the Dark Canyon Wilderness, is included inside its boundaries. The entire area protects millions of years of the paleontological record and has more than 100,000 archaeological sites, especially on Cedar Mesa where day-use and overnight permits are required. The BLM has excellent maps and trip-planning resources available on their website.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Butler Wash, Moon House Ruin, Newspaper Rock, Moki Dugway, San Juan River, Elk Ridge Scenic Backway, Dark Canyon Wilderness, Mule Canyon, Seven Kivas, The Citadel Trail

Must-Do Activity

It would be easy to spend more than a week exploring the roads and trails within Bears Ears National Monument. Everyone should try to drive the good 17-mile-long dirt road through Valley of the Gods to see rock formations like Rooster Butte and Woman in the Tub. West of Blanding, paved State Route 95 passes Mule Canyon Interpretive site, Butler Wash Interpretive Trail, and Butler Wash Dinosaur Tracksite. In La Sal National Forest, the 58-mile-long Elk Ridge Scenic Backway is a well-maintained (though unpaved) route that leads north from Natural Bridges National Monument to Highway 211, which connects to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. There are multiple trails along the way that provide access to the Dark Canyon Wilderness, an area known for old-growth forests, natural arches, and Ancestral Puebloan ruins and pictographs.

Best Trail

There are many trails to choose from, but one of the most popular is off unpaved Texas Flat Road that enters Mule Canyon (parking fee) and accesses House on Fire, a well-preserved granary located one mile in after multiple stream crossings. There is a paved parking lot suitable for RVs at Butler Wash Interpretive Trail, a half-mile one-way walk on to an overlook of a cliff dwelling.

Photographic Opportunity

Along Highway 211 to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, be sure to stop at the paved parking lot for Newspaper Rock. Another nice panel of rock art is found in Sand Island Campground along the San Juan River near Bluff, Utah.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Fees

A day-use fee of $5 per person applies at several parking areas on Cedar Mesa in southern Bears Ears National Monument, including Mule Canyon access to House on Fire Ruins. There are pay stations at several sites, as well as pre-paid online permits (including for 20 people per day to access Moon House Ruin).

Road Conditions

State Route 95 and Highway 211 are both paved, but other roads like the Moki Dugway, Valley of the Gods Road, and 58-mile-long Elk Ridge Scenic Backway should not be attempted by RVs. A high-clearance vehicle is required to drive many side roads, including six-mile-long Cigarette Springs Road to The Citadel and Seven Kivas Trails. Be aware that flash floods are a danger as many roads traverse canyons.

Camping

There are numerous developed campgrounds spread throughout Bears Ears National Monument. We enjoyed our stay at Hamburger Rock Campground outside the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Dispersed camping is also a good option, especially in scenic Valley of the Gods and along lightly-traveled Elk Ridge Scenic Backway. All backcountry camping on Cedar Mesa requires a permit and no campfires are allowed.

Related Sites

Canyonlands National Park (Utah)

Natural Bridges National Monument (Utah)

Hovenweep National Monument (Utah-Colorado)

Explore More – Where are the actual Bears Ears formations that give the National Monument its name?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments

Missouri

Gateway Arch National Park

October 9, 2024 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

Gateway Arch National Park

Missouri

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1935 National Expansion Memorial, 2018 National Park

91 acres

Website: nps.gov/jeff

Overview

On February 22, 2018, the 60th National Park in the U.S. was created from what was formerly Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri. Gateway Arch National Park encompasses 91 acres on the Mississippi River, including the historic 1828 courthouse and the iconic 630-foot-tall arch that was finished in 1965. We first visited on our cross-country road trip in 2007 and returned in 2016 while the underground museum was under construction and the greenway was extended over Interstate 44. When we came back in 2022, the courthouse was closed for renovation, but the museum had reopened with exhibits explaining the importance of this city as a starting point for the settlement of the west after President Thomas Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the country in 1803. It is by far the smallest of the 63 National Parks (5,457 acres less than Hot Springs), which begs the question: Why wasn’t this designated a National Historical Park instead?

Learn more about how to visit this National Park in the expanded second edition of our guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.

Highlights

Gateway Arch, tram, film, museum, Old Courthouse, Old Cathedral

Must-Do Activity

Unlike other National Parks, this one does not preserve a natural landmark, but it does have claustrophobia-inducing tram cars (fee) that take you four-minutes to the top of the Gateway Arch for excellent views across Illinois and Missouri. It is worth the hassle to go through a security screening to see the new museum. The 35-minute film Monument to the Dream is also available for a fee.

Best Trail

There are sidewalks that follow the Mississippi River and loop around the arch. Be sure to cross the street to the Old Courthouse where the first of two trials in the infamous Dred Scott case was held in 1854. Continue west behind to the courthouse to the Kiener Memorial Fountain for a photo that frames the building beneath the Gateway Arch.

Photographic Opportunity

The 630-foot-tall Gateway Arch is the defining landmark of St. Louis, but the historic 1834 Old Cathedral still serves as an active Catholic Church inside the park boundaries.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

There is no fee to walk the grounds or pass through security for the museum and gift shop, but you do have to pay to view the film or ride the tram to the top of Gateway Arch. When open, the Old Courthouse is also free to enter.

Road Conditions

All roads are paved, but parking can be tricky. We suggest paying for a parking garage or paying to park on the river levee near the paddlewheel boats, since car break-ins are common in downtown St. Louis.

Camping

This is the only National Park without the option to camp, so consider heading southwest to the wonderful Ozark National Scenic Riverways or Mark Twain National Forest. In southeast Missouri, Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park is rated as one of the best RV campgrounds in the country.

Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park (Missouri)

Harry S Truman National Historic Site (Missouri)

Entering the museum after security screening

Explore More – In 1947, how many city blocks were razed to make way for the memorial, including several historic buildings dating back to 1818?

We designed this Gateway Arch logo for the park available on Amazon.com

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Lewis and Clark National Forest

Lassen National Forest

Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument

Bears Ears National Monument

Gateway Arch National Park

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