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Vermont

Moosalamoo National Recreation Area

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Moosalamoo National Recreation Area

Vermont

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Eastern Region

15,875 acres

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gmfl/recreation/recarea/?recid=64903&actid=29

Overview

Created by the New England Wilderness Act of 2006, Moosalamoo National Recreation Area is located in the northern portion of Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest.  Moosalamoo (pronounced moose-ah-la-moo) comes from the Abenaki word for a moose call.  Recreation here is centered around water, with the Falls of Lana on Sucker Brook, a hike-in campground on Silver Lake, and boating on Sugar Hill Reservoir formed by Goshen Dam.  There are 70 miles of hiking trails, which are also open to mountain bikers, equestrians, and cross-country skiers in the winter.  Blueberry picking is a fun activity in the fall along trails and in cultivated fields at Blueberry Hill Inn in Goshen.

Highlights

Falls of Lana, Silver Lake, Voter Brook Overlook, Sugar Hill Reservoir , Robert Frost Interpretive Trail, Goshen Trail, Chandler Ridge-Leicester Hollow Loop, Mt. Moosalamoo Trail

Must-Do Activity

A short, steep hike from Silver Lake South Trailhead takes you underneath a welded steel penstock (or water pipe) that is part of a hydroelectric project.  From here, carefully go left down the rocks on an unmarked route to the base of the Falls of Lana.  The trail continues to the Rattlesnake Cliffs (closed seasonally due to raptor nesting) and Silver Lake, which has a backcountry campground.  Another popular hike climbs about 1,500 feet in 2.5 miles to the top of Mt. Moosalamoo, with an additional 0.2-mile sidetrip to the South Vista.

Best Trail

Robert Frost, a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, spent his summers at the Bread Loaf School of English, which he cofounded.  On Highway 125, the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail is a handicap accessible boardwalk with posted poems by the author that also connects into the Crosswalk, North Star, Afternoon Delight, and Sundown Trails.  Look for evidence of beavers near the ponds and the South Branch of the Middlebury River, as well as blueberries and huckleberries growing in old fields (maintained with prescribed fire).  Unique to Forest Service trailheads, this one is a bus stop on the Tri-Valley Transit route.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Voter Brook Overlook was clearcut and planted with apple trees to provide a nice viewshed in this otherwise dense hardwood forest.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All the gravel roads we drove were in good shape during the spring and we were so impressed by one new road culvert we stopped to take a photo (see below).

Camping

Open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, 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.

Related Sites

Green Mountain National Forest (Vermont)

White Rocks National Recreation Area (Vermont)

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (Vermont)

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (New Hampshire)

Nearest National Park

Acadia

Falls of Lana
Falls of Lana
Fancy culvert
Scott’s mother on the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail
Scott’s mother on the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail
South Branch of the Middlebury River

Explore More – Although his name is not Lana, the Falls of Lana are named for which U.S. Army General who served in the 1848 Mexican-American War?

Montana

Flathead National Forest

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Flathead National Forest

Montana

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Northern Region

2,628,720 acres (2,404,925 federal/ 223,795 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/flathead

Overview

Flathead National Forest borders the entire south and west sides of Glacier National Park, providing important wildlife habitat in the Great Bear and Bob Marshall Wilderness areas.  It also borders the Flathead Indian Reservation, with the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness neighboring the beautiful Mission Mountains Wilderness (see Best Trail).  Flathead National Forest is known for great hiking and backpacking, especially from trailheads off Highway 83 east of Flathead Lake.  The National Forest contains most of the extensive Flathead National Wild and Scenic River, with the South Fork known for one particular four-mile stretch of rapids up to Class V.  The 564-foot-tall Hungry Horse Dam created a 34-mile-long reservoir with many boat ramps and campgrounds.

Highlights

Hungry Horse Reservoir, Holland Lake, Martin Falls, Glacier Lake, Big Salmon Falls, Flathead National Wild and Scenic River, Coram Experimental Forest, Jewel Basin, Danny On Memorial National Recreation Trail, Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Near the town of Kalispell, Jewel Basin Hiking Area (stock prohibited) is famous among backpackers, but further south so is Holland Lake.  Several campgrounds surround the lake, including the free Owl Creek Packer Camp used by stock trailers.  From there the steep Holland-Gordon Trail climbs 2,100 feet in 5.8 miles one-way to Upper Holland Lake and continues into “the Bob” (Bob Marshall Wilderness).  A shorter option is a 3.2 mile-roundtrip that ascends only 550 feet to pretty Holland Falls.

Best Trail

Flathead National Forest contains more than 2,800 miles of hiking trails, including 38 miles of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail and a shorter stretch of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (which is mostly to the east in Lewis and Clark National Forest).  Accessible from Highway 83 in the southwest corner of Flathead National Forest is Glacier Lake Trailhead.  A long, good dirt road leads to the edge of the Mission Mountains Wilderness and a popular trail that accesses multiple mountain lakes.  It is only 1.5 miles one-way to Glacier Lake, but we continued on to Turquoise Lake for an 11.6-mile out-and-back hike with a cumulative elevation gain of 2,460 feet.  Both destinations are great for backpacking with stunning alpine scenery, but keep in mind that this is grizzly bear country and come prepared.

Watchable Wildlife

The most talked about species of wildlife found here is the grizzly bear, whose population primarily resides in the 1.5-million-acre Bob Marshall-Great Bear-Scapegoat Wilderness complex.  Other large mammals include black bear, Canada lynx, bobcat, mountain lion, coyote, wolverine, and beaver, as well as ungulates like moose, elk, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, and white-tailed deer.  Prominent birds include bald eagles, ospreys, ruffed grouse, dusky grouse, white pelicans, and trumpeter swans.  Fishermen are drawn to the lakes and rivers for a variety of species, including the bull trout.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The steep terrain on the western flank of the Bob Marshall Wilderness creates numerous waterfalls, such as Barrier, Big Salmon, Dean, and Needle Falls.  Holland Falls is a short 3.2-mile roundtrip hike that ascends only 550 feet from Holland Lake.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None?

Road Conditions

The National Forest contains 1,700 miles of roads, so there are probably some rough ones out there, but we never had a problem accessing the major trailheads in a passenger vehicle.

Camping

Flathead National Forest has 31 campgrounds and 14 cabins available for rent.  Several campgrounds surround Hungry Horse Reservoir and Holland Lake, including the free Owl Creek Packer Camp used by stock trailers. 

Wilderness Areas

Bob Marshall Wilderness (also in and Lewis and Clark National Forest)

Great Bear Wilderness (also in Lewis and Clark National Forest)

Mission Mountains Wilderness

Related Sites

Lolo National Forest (Montana)

Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site (Montana)

Nez Perce National Historical Park (Idaho-Oregon-Washington-Montana)

Nearest National Park

Glacier

Holland Lake
Holland Lake
Holland Falls
Holland Lake
Beargrass
Glacier Lake
Tiff at Turquoise Lake
Sego lily
Holland Lake
Grouse
Holland-Gordon Trail
Holland Lake
Holland-Gordon Trail
Holland-Gordon Trail
Holland-Gordon Trail
Upper Holland Lake
Holland-Gordon Trail

Conifer Tree Species

ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, western larch, alpine larch

Flowering Tree Species

quaking aspen, paper birch, sagebrush

Explore More – Coram Experimental Forest is an 800-acre area managed for what commercial tree species?

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

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Utah

Fishlake National Forest     

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Fishlake National Forest           

Utah

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Region

1,539,737 acres (1,461,226 federal/ 78,511 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/fishlake

Overview

Much of Fishlake National Forest is at high elevation in central Utah, which is also true of its namesake Fish Lake that sits at 8,800 feet.  Fish Lake is the largest natural mountain lake in Utah and lent its name to the Fish Lake Cutoff on the Old Spanish Trail, which ran from Santa Fe to Los Angeles.  There are hundreds of miles of trails open to ATVs in the National Forest, including the 238-mile Paiute ATV Trail and the Gooseberry ATV Trails accessible from Interstate 70.  There are also plenty of trails for hikers, backpackers, mountain bikers, and equestrians, including the trail that crosses the South Fork of North Creek Trail 60 times as it covers ten miles leaving from beautiful Blue Lake at the base of Mt. Baldy.

Highlights

Beaver Canyon Scenic Byway, Wildcat Guard Station, Tushar Mountains, Delano Peak, Bullion Falls, Pistol Rock, Koosharem Canyon, Fishlake Scenic Byway, Fool Creek Canyon petroglyphs, Blue Lake, Bullion Canyon Trail System, Skyline National Recreation Trail, Lakeshore Trail, Old Spanish National Historic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Fish Lake’s most famous resident is the aspen clone dubbed Pando (meaning “I spread” in Latin).  Connected by a single root system, stems of Pando cover 106 acres and it is estimated to have started growing 80,000 years ago, arguably making it the oldest and heaviest living organism on the planet.  Campers enjoy the popular Lakeshore Trail that is in four discontinuous sections adding up to about 15 miles.  We found the road to Pelican Promontory on the north side of the lake too rough for our passenger vehicle and the five-mile Pelican Canyon Trail too overgrown to follow after a mile, although we did see (and hear) a northern goshawk on nest. 

Best Trail

In the Tushar Mountains, Beaver Canyon Scenic Byway (Highway 153) switchbacks its way up to several trailheads for the 8.3-mile-long Skyline National Recreation Trail.  We attempted to access Lake Stream Trailhead in the middle, but found the road at Puffer Lake required high-clearance.  Instead, we drove the rough quarter-mile spur road to Big Flat Trailhead (at 10,220 feet in elevation) and hiked two miles to a rocky outcrop with good views.  We did not attempt to drive to the trail’s western terminus at Big John Flat Trailhead that sits beneath 12,173-foot Delano Peak.

Watchable Wildlife

We first heard and then saw a northern goshawk on a nest (see photos) as we struggled to follow the overgrown Pelican Canyon Trail at Fish Lake.  Additional birds of note are bald eagles, kestrels, several species of owls, turkey vultures, Canada geese, white pelicans, and wild turkeys.  Ungulates found here are elk, mule deer, pronghorns, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and even some moose.  Other large mammals include black bears, bobcats, mountain lions, red foxes, coyotes, pine martens, minks, badgers, porcupines, beavers, snowshoe hares, and pika.  As you might expect from a National Forest named Fishlake, fishing is a popular activity in the lakes and streams for rainbow trout, lake trout, splake, and other species, even in the winter.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Stop at the informational pullout on the Fishlake Scenic Byway to read about the Fish Lake Cutoff of the Old Spanish Trail, then get your photo with the metal cutouts of a pack train in the sagebrush flats near Zedd’s Meadow.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

$5 day use fee at Ponderosa Picnic Area or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

There are some rough roads in this area that require high-clearance vehicles, including the ones to Pelican Promontory and Puffer Lake.  Fishlake Scenic Byway and Beaver Canyon Scenic Byway are paved, but connecting between the two required driving some good gravel roads that were already snow free during our mid-June visit.

Camping

The Aquarius Ranger Station is available for rental from May through October, as are the historic cabins at the Gooseberry Administrative Site.  There are several campgrounds at Fish Lake and others located throughout the National Forest, in addition to one scenic spot on a ridge adjacent to the Second Crossing of Salina Creek in the White Mountains.

Wilderness Areas

None

Related Sites

Dixie National Forest (Utah)

Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)

Cedar Breaks National Monument (Utah)

Nearest National Park

Capitol Reef

Mule deer
Fish Lake from Pelican Promontory
White pelicans on Fish Lake
Canada geese on Fish Lake
Mule deer fawn
Northern goshawk
Skyline National Recreation Trail
Dispersed campsite with quaking aspen
Ground squirrels
Ponderosa Picnic Area
Sunset

Conifer Tree Species

subalpine fir, white fir, Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, singleleaf pinyon pine, Utah juniper

Flowering Tree Species

quaking aspen, Gambel oak, bigtooth maple, Fremont cottonwood, sagebrush

Explore More – Which famous American explorer named the Old Spanish Trail in the 1840s (hint: he has a National Forest named after him, but maybe not the one you first think)?

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

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California

Eldorado National Forest

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Eldorado National Forest

California, Nevada

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

887,721 acres (686,667 federal/ 201,054 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/eldorado

Overview

Located in California’s Sierra Nevada, Eldorado National Forest has ghost towns dating back to the 1849 gold rush.  El Dorado is Spanish for “the golden one,” which often referred to the fabled Lost City of Gold sought by the Conquistadors.  The single-word spelling Eldorado may have been a clerical error dating back to the creation of the National Forest in 1910.  Elevations range from 1,000 feet in the foothills to more than 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada.  In addition to 297 lakes and reservoirs, it contains 611 miles of fishable streams in the drainages of the North Fork of the Mokelumne River, Cosumnes River, and the Middle and South Forks of the American River.  There are 349 miles of trails in Eldorado National Forest, including a portion of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail that follows mountain ridges on the west side of Lake Tahoe.

Highlights

Carson Pass Scenic Highway, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Tallac Historic Site, Caldor Auto Tour, Silver Lake, Crystal Basin Recreation Area, Loon Lake, Ice House Reservoir, Traverse Creek, Horsetail Falls, Fourth of July Lake, Cascade Falls Loop Trail, Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

The Forest Service’s Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is composed of 150,000 acres of Eldorado, Tahoe, and Toiyabe National Forests surrounding Lake Tahoe.  It was established in 1973 to preserve and restore the ecosystem of one of the nation’s most popular playgrounds.  Averaging 1,000 feet in depth, Lake Tahoe is famous for its water clarity and, although it has no outlet to the ocean, it is dammed on the Truckee River to control water levels.  After the 1858 discovery of the Comstock Lode in nearby Virginia City, Nevada, extensive deforestation occurred around the lake.  This eventually led to conservation efforts to place 78% of its watershed into National Forests starting in 1899.  Hiking trails uphill from the lake’s shoreline (mostly privately owned) are almost entirely within National Forests, including the circumnavigating Tahoe Rim Trail.

Best Trail

Near the National Forest’s border with Lake Tahoe, the 63,960-acre Desolation Wilderness is the country’s most visited Wilderness area on a per acre basis.  With the exception of thru-hikers on the Tahoe Rim and Pacific Crest Trails, a daily quota limits the number of backpackers in the Desolation Wilderness.  Even day hikers are required to carry a permit and a bear box is recommended for all overnight users.  We took a smoke-obscured hike five miles one-way from Lower Echo Lake up to Lake Aloha in the Desolation Wilderness, a popular stop for backpackers.

Watchable Wildlife

A Mediterranean climate exists in the lower elevation ranges of the National Forest, while alpine regions can receive more than 15 feet of snowfall, so there is a wide diversity of wildlife.  In the conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada look for mule deer, black bears, weasels, martens, mountain lions, and bobcats.  California quail, mountain quail, sooty grouse, and wild turkeys are common game birds.  Watch the skies for raptors like bald eagles, ospreys, red-tailed hawks, and turkey vultures. 

Instagram-worthy Photo

By the time we visited in mid-August, Cascade Falls was barely a trickle compared to its raging snowmelt flow in the springtime.  The strenuous one-mile hike from Bayview Trailhead was still worth the effort for the sweeping views of Cascade Lake and Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay (at least when it is not so smoky). 

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Eldorado National Forest has 2,367 miles (3,809 km) of roads, including 400 miles of private roads.  Many of these are rough and unpaved and may require high-clearance or four-wheel drive, especially the infamous Rubicon Trail on the western shore of Lake Tahoe.

Camping

Bayview Campground is located across Highway 89 from Lake Tahoe at the Bayview Trailhead near scenic Eagle Falls and Emerald Bay State Park.  Woods Lake has a campground and a 3.5-mile trail to Fourth of July Lake, plus there are campgrounds at Fallen Leaf Lake, Ice House Reservoir, Loon Lake, Upper Valley Reservoir, and Silver Lake.

Wilderness Areas

Desolation Wilderness

Mokelumne Wilderness (also in Stanislaus and Toiyabe National Forests)

Related Sites

Devils Postpile National Monument (California)

Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area (California)

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park (California)

Nearest National Park

Yosemite

Scott’s mother at Cascade Falls
Cascade Falls
Cascade Lake
Scott and his mother at Emerald Bay Overlook on Highway 89
Lower Echo Lake
Lower Echo Lake
Upper Echo Lake in the smoke
Lower Echo Lake
Lower Echo Lake
Aloha Lake in the smoke
A Steller jay forest

Conifer Tree Species

red fir, white fir, Douglas-fir, incense-cedar, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, Jeffrey pine, gray pine, sugar pine, foxtail pine, western juniper

Flowering Tree Species

Pacific dogwood, California buckeye, manzanita

Explore More – Traverse Creek near Placerville is known for its exposed serpentine rock, which contains what elements toxic to many trees and plants?

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

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Puerto Rico

El Yunque National Forest

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El Yunque National Forest

Puerto Rico (U.S. territory)

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Southern Region

56,097 acres (28,434 federal/ 27,663 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/elyunque

Overview

Also called Bosque Nacional El Yunque, this forest was known as the Caribbean National Forest from 1935 until 2007 when it was renamed for a 3,496-foot peak.  It is the only tropical rainforest and the oldest protected forest in the U.S. Forest Service system, originally set aside in 1876 by King Alfonso XII of Spain.  Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria that struck September 20, 2017, and the Forest Service’s El Portal Rainforest Visitor Center remains closed while under reconstruction.

Highlights

El Portal Rainforest Visitor Center, La Coca Falls, Juan Diego Creek, Yokahú Observation Tower, Baño de Oro, Mt. Britton, El Yunque Trail, El Toro National Recreation Trail

Must-Do Activity

Unlike other national forests, El Yunque is a major tourist destination in Puerto Rico with buses bringing cruise ship passengers up the Sierra de Luquillo Mountains less than an hour’s drive from the capital of San Juan.  They all stop at La Coca Falls and Yokahu Observation Tower, but fewer visitors hike to the top of 3,496-foot El Yunque or Mt. Britton.  Enough people visit that the Forest Service instituted an online reservation system (fee required) similar to the one at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Best Trail

Every step squished and our feet often disappeared in ankle-deep, orange-brown mud on the five-mile out-and-back El Toro National Recreation Trail.  Glad to have walking sticks, we stepped carefully as we slowly approached the summit of the 3,526-foot mountain.  Average annual precipitation in these “cloud forests” is 150 to 240 inches and poor water runoff from the volcanic soils results in boggy, acidic conditions.  In 2005, the 10,000-acre El Toro Wilderness became the first Wilderness designation in a U.S. territory.

Watchable Wildlife

Bird watching is the main attraction, and we spotted a Puerto Rican tody, elfin woods warbler, broad-winged hawk, red-tailed hawk, and many zenaida doves.  We never saw one, but when the sun set or it rained we enjoyed listening to the coquis, small tree frogs whose name is onomatopoeia for their call.  There are 17 species of coqui in Puerto Rico (11 of them endemic) but only the forest and common coquis emit their namesake sound.  Rather than going through a tadpole phase, all coqui emerge as miniature froglets after incubation.  Even though this is a tropical rainforest, there are no poisonous snakes on the island, but the endangered Puerto Rican boa can grow up to eight feet in length.  Another endangered species, the Puerto Rican parrot may only survive in captivity after Hurricane Maria.

Instagram-worthy Photo

There are at least 15 species of tree ferns that grow in El Yunque National Forest, but we were most impressed by the giant leaves of yagrumo hembra (umbrellatree).

Peak Season

Year round

Fees

Online reservations ($2 fee) required for the Highway 191 corridor

Road Conditions

Highway 191 is well maintained, although winding and narrow in places.  Access to El Toro Trailhead can be either very rough (from the east we needed a Jeep) or very smooth (from the west) depending on which part of Highway 186 you drive.

Camping

There are no campgrounds and it seemed impossible to find a place to set up a backpacking tent in the dense tropical rainforest.  We stayed at an Airbnb in the town of Luquillo, not far from the entrance to El Yunque National Forest.

Wilderness Areas

El Toro Wilderness

Related Sites

San Juan National Historic Site (Puerto Rico)

Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Nearest National Park

Virgin Islands

We had never found a beach towel for a National Forest before
Tiff with bamboo
Yokahu Tower
Soctt at Mt. Britton Tower
Tiff under El Yunque Tower
Baño de Oro

Conifer Tree Species

None

Flowering Tree Species

yagrumo hembra (umbrellatree), tabonuco, ausubo, gumbo-limbo, flamboyant (African flame tree), palo colorado (titi), teak, caoba (mahogany), nemoca, roble de sierra, limoncillo, camasey, sierra palm, guayabota

Explore More – What is another name for the cloud forests where strong trade winds above 2,500 feet keep trees pruned to less than 12 feet tall?

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

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.