The Well Worn Shoes

Wanderlust Welcome

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • About
    • Contact
    • Work With Me
    • Disclaimer
    • Affiliate Disclaimer
  • National Parks
    • Acadia
    • Yellowstone
    • Great Smoky Mountains
    • Grand Canyon
    • Utah National Parks
    • Badlands
  • Dog Friendly
  • Road Trips
    • One Day In Guides
    • Road Trip Itineraries
  • Destinations
    • United States
      • New England
      • Southwest
      • South
      • Mountain West
      • Midwest & Great Lakes
      • Mid-Atlantic
    • Canada
  • Gear
  • Shop
Phoenix To Grand Canyon: The Ultimate Winter Road Trip Guide

March 10, 2026

Phoenix To Grand Canyon: The Ultimate Winter Road Trip Guide

Phoenix to Grand Canyon Winter Road Trip featured image - taking in the views at Bell Rock Vortex in Sedona, one of the stunning stops along the scenic route through Arizona's most beautiful landscapes
15 Best Dog Friendly Hikes at Acadia National Park

March 6, 2026

15 Best Dog Friendly Hikes at Acadia National Park

Three dogs hiking the Little Long Pond trail in Acadia National Park, Maine — a brown mixed breed and two huskies on leash on a sun-dappled wooded path along the turquoise shores of Little Long Pond, highlighting Little Long Pond as a peaceful and dog-friendly walk in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island near Seal Harbor, Maine, perfect for hiking with dogs in Acadia
The 18 Best Things to Do in Bar Harbor, Maine

February 24, 2026

The 18 Best Things to Do in Bar Harbor, Maine

18 Best Things to Do in Bar Harbor, Maine - sunset over a tranquil harbor near Acadia National Park captures the magic of Maine's coast, from lobster boats at anchor to pink granite shores and golden skies
The Best Things To Do In Camden, Maine

December 26, 2025

The Best Things To Do In Camden, Maine

Wildlife Watching in Cades Cove: Your Complete Animal Guide

August 8, 2025

Wildlife Watching in Cades Cove: Your Complete Animal Guide

Paws on the Trail: The Best Dog-Friendly Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains

May 19, 2025

Paws on the Trail: The Best Dog-Friendly Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains

The 15 Best Hikes In Utah

May 29, 2024

The 15 Best Hikes In Utah

One Day At Zion National Park

March 26, 2024

One Day At Zion National Park

Zion National Park Guide

February 27, 2024

Zion National Park Guide

Zion National Park
15 Epic Things To Do In Vermont In The Fall

October 17, 2023

15 Epic Things To Do In Vermont In The Fall

8 Charming Vermont Towns To Visit In Fall

October 10, 2023

8 Charming Vermont Towns To Visit In Fall

Top 8 Towns To Visit In Vermont
Epic Sunrise and Sunset Spots On The Grand Canyons South Rim

August 30, 2022

Epic Sunrise and Sunset Spots On The Grand Canyons South Rim

Epic Sunrise and Sunset Grand Canyon South Rim
  • ← Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 8
  • Next →

On the Blog

  • Destinations
  • History
  • National Park Love

Join the List

The Well Worn Shoes is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Connect

Most people plan Acadia and Bar Harbor in the fall Most people plan Acadia and Bar Harbor in the fall off a blog post written by someone who visited once in July. I know I did on my first trip to the park in fall. 

BUT last year, I stayed on Mount Desert Island for 6 months and watched the whole season happen. The guide is what I’d hand a friend: when the leaves actually turn, (or are predicted to, what’s open and what’s closed after peak foliage, the trails and drives worth doing in October and the ones to skip, where to take the dogs once summer rules lift! 

Not on the blog. Not anywhere else. Acadia & Bar Harbor In Fall the 16 page guide written by someone who has both visited in fall and lived there in fall 🍁🧡🍁

Comment FALL and I’ll send you the link.
Nearly 5 million people visit Yellowstone every ye Nearly 5 million people visit Yellowstone every year. Most of the ones coming in from West drive straight through this forest without stopping 🤷🏻‍♀️

We pulled over on a dirt road in the Targhee (one of our favorite ways to explore new places) last night because something big was sitting in the grass, and it turned out to be a Great Gray Owl. We watched it for a while. 

There was no one else around. Not a single car. 

A few things about this bird: it’s the largest owl in North America by length, but it’s mostly feathers and weighs less than a Great Horned. It can hear a vole moving under a foot of snow and dive straight through the crust to get it. And it lives here year-round, 20 minutes from the west entrance, in the part everyone treats as the drive to the good stuff.

THIS is the good stuff.

Phone shot, truck window down, sunset skies turning to cotton candy 😍🤩 my favorite kind of night. 

Save this for your next Yellowstone drive, or keep going straight to Old Faithful with everyone else - totally up to you!
There are feral (wild) horses in a national park a There are feral (wild) horses in a national park and almost nobody knows about it…

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, western North Dakota, about 4 hours from anything. Most people treat it as a gas stop on the way to Montana.

These horses ran alongside us at sunset and I forgot to keep filming for about ten seconds because I was just watching.

Here’s the part that gets complicated: they’re descendants of ranch and Indigenous horses from before the park existed, and the Park Service has gone back and forth for years on whether they belong there at all. Management plans, public comment periods, a lot of people who care very much. As of now, they’re still here running and roaming free. Let’s keep it that way 😉

Go see them. It costs you a detour off I-94 in one of the most underrated park in the system. (And one of the best in my opinion 😉)

📍 @theodorerooseveltnps, North Dakota 🦬🐎
I stayed in Bar Harbor for six months and I still I stayed in Bar Harbor for six months and I still got my first Acadia October wrong. 😅

Here’s what nobody tells you: One facility at a time, across the back half of October closes down for the season. The shuttle goes first. Then campgrounds. Then Jordan Pond House. Then the visitor center. And suddenly all that gorgeous foliage has arrived…along with some closed doors.

If you don’t know the order, you can spend your day driving Park Loop Road desperately hunting for parking and never actually getting out of the car.

Trust me. I’ve done it. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Know the schedule, though, and you get the perfect fall version of Acadia: low golden light, fewer tour buses, fall color, and Cadillac Mountain reservations disappearing by the end of the month.

So I wrote it all down.

Sixteen pages. Every 2026 date verified. Foliage timing (and the best way to track it), the full closing calendar, where the light hits, what’s still open after October 25, 3 different itinerary suggestions, and how to do it all with a dog.

Going to Acadia this fall? This is the guide I wish I’d had the first time. 🍁

Comment FALL and I’ll send you the link to both the blog post and the guide. 🍁🧡🍁
They’re called red dogs, and you can actually watc They’re called red dogs, and you can actually watch them stop being one.

Bison calves are born bright cinnamon-orange, nothing like the dark brown adults. They’ve been called “red dogs” for generations because, well…look at them. 😂

Every one of these was photographed the same evening in Lamar Valley. The bright ones are younger. The darker calves are already changing, brown faces and legs, that shoulder hump starting to come in.

Same herd. Same evening. Calves born weeks apart.

By fall, you won’t be able to pick them out.

And because Lamar during calving season turns everyone into an amateur wildlife photographer: 25 yards. A cow with a calf is not the time to test how fast you can run.

Zoom lens. Not zoom feet.

📍 Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park 🦬
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2026 The Well Worn Shoes · Theme by 17th Avenue