John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway shares 82 miles of two-lane road that is U.S. Routes 89, 191, and 287 from Grand Teton National Park National Park north to West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. Its name honors the conservationist and philanthropist who contributed to the creation of Acadia, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, and Virgin Islands National Parks. Originally part of Teton National Forest, this land includes the Flagg Ranch concession, which had its lodge, restaurant, gas station, and campground moved from along the Snake River to a point less visible from the road in 2002.
Highlights
Flagg Ranch, Huckleberry Hot Springs, Polecat Hot Springs
Must-Do Activity
Huckleberry and Polecat Hot Springs are easily accessed by walking less than a mile down a closed dirt road not far from historic Flagg Ranch. Polecat Creek Loop Trail can be completed as a 2.5-mile loop that is narrow and overgrown by vegetation in places. Be on the lookout for grizzly bears, black bears, elk, and moose. Trout fishing in the Snake River is also a popular activity in John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. The parkway is plowed to Flagg Ranch in the winter, making it a shared trailhead for snowmobilers, snowshoers, and cross-country skiers.
Best Trail
Flagg Canyon Trail is a five-mile out-and-back hike along the Snake River with 340 feet of cumulative elevation gain after it crosses the busy parkway east of Flagg Ranch.
Photographic Opportunity
Driving unpaved and potholed Grassy Lake Road provides views to the south of the Teton Range.
The parkway is paved and closes for the winter at Flagg Ranch when the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park shuts down. Closed annually for grizzly bear migration until June 1, Grassy Lake Road heads 49 miles west to Ashton, Idaho (the easternmost 36 miles are a potholed dirt track for high-clearance vehicles that enters Targhee National Forest, which is popular for dispersed camping).
Camping
There is a lodge at Flagg Ranch, plus Headwaters Campground takes reservations and offers 34 tent sites, 97 full-hookup RV sites, and 40 Camper Cabins (open June 7 to October 4, 2026). Along rough Grassy Lake Road there are eight free camp areas with 14 first-come, first-served campsites equipped with vault toilets and bear boxes. There are also campgrounds in Teton National Forest and primitive dispersed campsites near Grassy Lake once the road enters Targhee National Forest.
In the northeast corner of California is the largest shield volcano in North America: 7,921-foot Medicine Lake Volcano. Sáttítla Highlands National Monument is spread across Klamath, Shasta, and Modoc National Forests just south of Lava Beds National Monument and features numerous cinder cones and lava fields. Part of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway loops around Medicine Lake, which the Modoc people view as a place of healing. The Pit River Tribe opposed development of geothermal energy sources in this area, spearheading its protection. In the 1960s, NASA astronauts trained at Pumice Crater, four of whom eventually landed on the moon. Sáttítla Highlands National Monument is also important for biodiversity, providing habitat for wildlife species like the Cascades frog, long-toed salamander, and gray-headed pika, as well as numerous fungi, the parasitic sugarstick plant, and Pacific fuzzwort (a rare liverwort).
Medicine Lake Recreation Area, Giant Crater lava tube, Glass Mountain, Black Lava Butte, Fourmile Hill Tree Molds Geologic Area
Must-Do Activity
Most of the developed recreation opportunities surround Medicine Lake, which offers boat ramps, trails, and campgrounds. Giant Crater has the longest known lava tube system in the world at 18 miles, although it is partially collapsed. This Geologic Special Interest Area can be accessed two miles off Medicine Lake Road on Forest Road 43N11. Another unpaved road leads up Glass Mountain, which has a crater full of sharp pieces of rhyolite obsidian and glossy dacite. This remote corner of California has some of the darkest skies in the continental U.S., so it is great for stargazing on moonless nights. In the winter, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing are popular activities on groomed trails.
Best Trail
There is a 4.4-mile loop around Medicine Lake, as well as the one-mile out-and-back Medicine Lake Glass Flow Trail that gains 68 feet of elevation on the north shore. For a more challenging route, Little Mt. Hoffman Trail gains 666 feet over three miles to the fire lookout, which can be rented overnight. Summitting the actual Mt. Hoffman is over 13 miles roundtrip with a 2,000-foot cumulative climb.
Photographic Opportunity
Sáttítla literally translates as “obsidian place” and the volcanic glass prevalent at Glass Mountain has provided humans sharp blades for at least 5,000 years.
Peak Season
Summer
Fees
$5 per vehicle (or the America the Beautiful Pass) at Medicine Lake
Road Conditions
This area receives abundant winter snowfall, and roads can be blocked by snow into July, which we experienced trying to get to Glass Mountain. The road to Medicine Lake is paved, but almost every other road through the National Monument is unpaved, some requiring a high-clearance vehicle.
Camping
There are multiple Forest Service campgrounds on Medicine Lake, plus two nearby at Blanche Lake and Bullseye Lake. Dirt roads in Modoc, Shasta, and Klamath National Forests have ample dispersed camping opportunities.
Medicine Bow National Forest is spread across three separate units in southern Wyoming and another located to the north between the cities of Laramie and Casper. Within the latter unit is 10,272-foot Laramie Peak, a major landmark along the historic Oregon Trail. Snowy Range Scenic Byway (Highway 130) provides access in the summer to the high-elevation recreational opportunities found in the mountains. In 1995, Medicine Bow National Forest was administratively combined with Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland.
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Highlights
Snowy Range Scenic Byway, Brooklyn Lake Campground, Medicine Bow Peak, Lake Marie, Sierra Madres, Aspen Alley, Hog Park Reservoir, Happy Jack Recreation Area, Vedauwoo, Laramie Peak Trail, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
Must-Do Activity
Medicine Bow Peak stands at 12,013 feet within the Snowy Range near the Wyoming-Colorado border and has two steep, rocky trails to its summit which can be combined into a long loop. The 29-mile-long Snowy Range Scenic Byway cuts across this rugged landscape and is a great place for summer camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and backpacking. The road closes in the winter, but is still a destination for snowmobiling, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. Medicine Bow gets its name from annual tribal gatherings when ceremonies were held and mountain mahogany was gathered for bow making.
Best Trail
Vedauwoo Recreation Area is visible from Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, but feels worlds apart. Its maze of boulders is a fun place to visit in the winter or summer (when the campground is open). The 3.2-mile Turtle Rock Trail circles the area, but it is more fun to climb around off trail. Near the end of winter, snow drifts pile six-feet-high next to ground swept bare. In the glens protected by the 200-foot-tall rock outcrops, snowflakes cling to the bare branches of aspen and maple trees, and stick in the needles of junipers, Douglas-firs, and ponderosa pines. Vedauwoo is an Arapaho word meaning “earthborn,” also the name of a nature spirit character in summer theater performances held here in the 1920s by the University of Wyoming. This forest was once depleted for telegraph poles and railroad ties before the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted 280,000 trees in the 1930s. It was used for over 50 years of military target practice, significant because there are unexploded munitions still in the ground. Vedauwoo is located near the Happy Jack Recreation Area, which at 8,640 feet is the highest point along Interstate 80 between San Francisco and New York City. This cross-country road was originally called the Lincoln Highway, hence the giant sculpture of Abraham Lincoln’s head at the nearby rest area.
Watchable Wildlife
After a cold day on the National Forest’s cross-country ski trails at Brush Creek (built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps) or Chimney Park, we always made it a point to stop in Saratoga where hot springs water is piped into the free outdoor Hobo Pool adjacent to the North Platte River. This area is a favored wintering ground for bald and golden eagles, so you may witness a flyover during your soak. Also watch for mule deer in town and a variety of waterfowl along the river. Moose, elk, and pronghorn (at lower elevations) are found in the National Forest. Black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and red foxes reside here, too. Trout fishing in lakes and streams is a major draw to the mountains.
Photographic Opportunity
Lake Marie along the Snowy Range Scenic Byway is one of the most widely used photographs for tourism publications in this corner of Wyoming.
Peak Season
Summer
Fees
Day use fees of $5 per vehicle (or America the Beautiful pass) apply at Vedauwoo, Tie City Trailhead, Happy Jack Trailhead, and the western terminus of Headquarters National Recreation Trail, as well as Sugarloaf and West Lake Marie Trailhead along Snowy Range Scenic Byway.
Road Conditions
The gravel Vedauwoo Road (closed in spring) is good enough for RVs, as are some of the side roads off paved Snowy Range Scenic Byway (closed in winter). Beware the rutted Forest Road 336 near Libby Flats and some other four-wheel-drive-only routes. Several roads become snowmobile routes in the winter, including most of Snowy Range Scenic Byway west of the ski resort.
Camping
In addition to a large designated campground at the Vedauwoo exit off Interstate 80, Vedauwoo Road has designated free campsites marked by a post and offer dispersed camping along other surrounding roads. Brooklyn Lake is one of several designated campgrounds along the Snowy Range Scenic Byway where dispersed campsites are harder to find. Between Casper and Cheyenne, Laramie Peak dominates the prairie landscape and if you hike to its summit you can overlook hundreds of miles of the historic Oregon Trail. Although much of this section of forest has been affected by wildfires, there is still plenty of natural beauty and out of the way places to pitch a tent along its labyrinthine road system.
Wilderness Areas
Encampment River Wilderness
Huston Park Wilderness
Platte River Wilderness (also in Routt National Forest)
VedauwooBull mooseVedauwooCross-country skiing at Chimney ParkBeaver activityMule deerHeadquarters National Recreation TrailTiff on the Rail TrailSnow sledding at Happy Jack Recreation Area
Explore More – Near Vedauwoo, a 60-foot-tall granite pyramid was built in 1882 to honor whom?
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The only National Forest in Vermont is divided into a north and south section, each with its own National Recreation Area. In the north, Moosalamoo National Recreation Area has the Voter Brook Overlook and trails to the Falls of Lana and Silver Lake, which has a popular backpacking campground. In the south, Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area includes a portion of the historic Long Trail where the Appalachian National Scenic Trail overlaps it. Vermont literally translates as Green Mountain from French, the name of the range that forms the state’s granite backbone. Winter recreation is a big deal here, with three alpine ski areas in the National Forest and seven designated cross-country ski areas, as well as 900 miles of trails for snowshoeing and some areas open specifically for snowmobiling. Green Mountain National Forest also co-manages Finger Lakes National Forest in central New York.
Texas Falls is not located in the right place on the Forest Service visitor app, but it is easy to get to right alongside paved Texas Falls Road off State Route 125. The falls formed at the end of the Ice Age around 12,000 years ago, when meltwater scoured the quartz-chlorite schist. A footbridge crosses the Hancock Branch over an interesting glacial pothole in the rock, and a nature trail continues uphill forming a 1.2-mile loop. We did not make it to Lye Brook Falls or Moss Glen Falls, but found the off-trail Falls of Lana worth the effort (see Moosalamoo National Recreation Area).
Best Trail
Green Mountain National Forest contains about half of the 272-mile Long Trail, which in 1931 became the first named long-distance hiking trail in the U.S. In Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area, the Long Trail is coincident with the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT) with several overnight shelters (some of which charge $5 per person, per night).
Watchable Wildlife
The National Forest contains 450 miles of streams, which is great for trout and salmon fishermen, especially since some wildlife management projects have been done to improve their habitat. Other work has been completed to support ruffed grouse, wild turkey, black bear, and Bicknell’s thrush. We were told by a local that there is a black bear named Jenny that hangs out around the White Rocks Day Use Area. Additional species of interest include moose, white-tailed deer, coyote, porcupine, and beaver.
Instagram-worthy Photo
Less than a mile up the Ice Beds Trail, a short climb reaches a viewpoint of the white rocks, a glacier-scoured cliff of Cheshire quartzite that is (part of) the namesake for Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area.
Peak Season
Fall
Fees
Ski areas at Mount Snow, Stratton Mountain, and Bromley Mountain have recreation fees. Along the Long Trail/AT, there is a camping fee of $5 per person, per night at Little Rock Pond, Peru Peak, Stratton Pond, and Griffith Lake.
Road Conditions
All the gravel roads we drove were in good shape during the spring, including the roads to Voter Brook Overlook and White Rocks Day Use Area.
Camping
One of the most developed parts of the National Forest is at 7-acre Hapgood Pond where there is a campground, swimming beach, and boat ramp. Moosalamoo Campground has 18 campsites located at the base of the Mt. Moosalamoo Trail, near Voter Brook Overlook. There are a couple dispersed campsites also on the road, but we had one of our worst nights camping here with college kids blasting music late and another group waking us up before sunrise. The backpacking campground at Silver Lake is nice, or you can stay at Branbury State Park on Lake Dunmore.
Texas FallsTexas FallsScott’s mother on the Robert Frost Interpretive TrailWhite Rocks National Recreation AreaFalls of LanaSouth Branch of the Middlebury River
sugar maple, American beech, yellow birch, white birch, paper birch, mountain ash
Explore More – Texas Falls is located on the Hancock Branch, which feeds the White River that converges with what major river?
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White Rocks National Recreation Area is located in the southern portion of Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest and was officially renamed Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area. It encompasses Big Branch Wilderness, Peru Peak Wilderness, Big Branch Observation Area, and its namesake White Rocks Picnic Area (see Must-Do Activity). A section of the Long Trail (which in 1931 became the first named long-distance hiking trail in America) passes through this area, where it coincides with the newer Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT). Other popular activities include biking, fishing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling.
Highlights
Big Branch Observation Area, White Rocks Day Use Area, Bully Brook, Ice Beds Trail, Keewaydin Trail, White Rocks Cliffs Trail, Greenwall Shelter, Long Trail, Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Must-Do Activity
A great place to access Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area is the White Rocks Day Use Area off State Route 140. Several trails start from the picnic area, including a short walk to a cascading waterfall on Bully Brook. Less than a mile up the Ice Beds Trail, a short climb reaches a viewpoint of the white rocks, a glacier-scoured cliff of Cheshire quartzite, which was used by Native Americans to make tools. Continue on this trail 0.9 miles one-way to the Ice Beds where ice melts deep in a scree slope throughout the summer. You probably will not see any ice, but it is deep in the rocky recesses and releases cool drafts of air. We were told by a local that there is a black bear named Jenny that hangs out around the trailhead.
Best Trail
In 0.4 miles from White Rocks Day Use Area, Keewaydin Trail connects with the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail (AT). By going south, the trail ascends 1,250 feet to a cutoff for the Greenwall Shelter and just past there watch for a stone cairn on the right side. From there a side trail descends 0.2 miles to an overlook above the White Rock Cliffs providing views of the Adirondack and Taconic Mountains (3.8 miles roundtrip).
Instagram-worthy Photo
Visible less than a mile up the Ice Beds Trail, the white rocks are a glacier-scoured cliff of Cheshire quartzite once used by Native Americans to make tools.
Peak Season
Summer
Fees
None
Road Conditions
State Route 140 is paved, but the access road to White Rocks Day Use Area is an unpaved road passable by RVs.
Camping
Overnight shelters on the Long Trail/AT at Greenwall and Minerva Hinchey are free, while camping at Little Rock Pond, Peru Peak, Stratton Pond, and Griffith Lake requires a $5 per person, per night fee. Drive-up campgrounds are located on Forest Road 10 at Big Branch and Black Branch near the Big Branch Wilderness.
Raven About The Parks 