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July 27, 2020

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There’s a national park where wild horses wander d

There’s a national park where wild horses wander down the middle of the road at sunset, and somehow, most people still don’t know where it is.

📍 🦬 Theodore Roosevelt National Park, western North Dakota.

Wild horses. Bison standing in the road at dusk. A herd disappearing into the river fog at sunset. The moon coming up over the badlands.

And you can see a ridiculous amount of it in 48 hours.

No reservations. No lines. Just the Loop Road, a whole lot of badlands, and bison who absolutely do not care that you’re in a hurry.

✨ Save this for the I-94 drive you were about to do in one shot ✨

4 million people visit Acadia every year, and the

4 million people visit Acadia every year, and the vast majority never leave Mount Desert Island. The part they all skip is the part I’d send you to if you’re looking for tranquility over crowds.

Schoodic is the only piece of the park on the mainland, about an hour from Bar Harbor around the top of Frenchman Bay.

Six-mile one-way loop road, no reservation, no Island Explorer crowds, no timed anything. Schoodic Point is the payoff: pink granite and black basalt dikes taking the full Atlantic, and on a big-swell day it’s the best show in the park. Dogs on leash are fine on the rocks and the trails.

Look back across the bay from the point and you can see Cadillac. That’s where everyone else is. But this spot is fantastic for sunset!

🌅 Save this. Then don’t tell anyone 😉

⚠️‼️ Before people come for me in the comments because they inevitably will - The Schoodic Peninsula is a PART of Acadia National Park and the National Park System (not a secret), and therefore it has the resources to sustain visitors. Most people don’t visit this part of the park because they don’t want to drive an hour, while I understand, respectfully you’re missing out! ⚠️‼️

🌲🌱 Remember to leave no trace 💚

🏔️🍁 If you asked me for my favorite fall hike in t

🏔️🍁 If you asked me for my favorite fall hike in the White Mountains, it’s not one of the 48 (4,000 footers) for the peak baggers! 🍁🏔️

Welch-Dickey Loop, Waterville Valley. 4.4 miles, two summits, about 1,750 feet of climbing, and more open granite ledge than most of the peaks twice its height. In October the whole Mad River valley is on fire below you and you’re standing on bare rock looking at it for the last mile. I’ve rated it 10 out of 5 on the blog for years and I’m not revising.

Two things nobody tells you: go counterclockwise. Clockwise puts the steep slabs on the descent and you’ll come down some of them on your backside. And bring more water for the dogs than you think, this is the only trail where I’ve ever run out. My Bama (was 11 at the time and has been gone since 2020) finished it, tired and happy. Skip it with a puppy under a year.

Coffee at Mad River Coffee House in Campton before, pizza and a beer on the dog-friendly patio at The Last Chair in Plymouth after. That’s

🍁🏔️🍁Save this for your fall trip to New Hampshire 🍁🏔️🍁
Updated blog post coming next week 😁

October in Acadia is Disney World busy. Most peopl

October in Acadia is Disney World busy. Most people lose the day to it because they do things in the order the map suggests, not the order the crowds do.

So steal my one fall day in Acadia. This is the one fall day I’d plan for a friend: sunrise from the cliffs instead of the summit, one real hike before 9, east side or quiet side, your pick, out of the park when it peaks, tide pools in the afternoon, and a sunset nobody else is at.

Every date, reservation window, and closing is in the Acadia & Bar Harbor In Fall guide in 16 pages, $27, written after six months on the island.

Comment 🍁 FALL 🍁 and I’ll send you the link!

Happy Adventuring! 😁

Everyone books Cadillac for sunrise. While I under

Everyone books Cadillac for sunrise. While I understand why, if you don’t get that reservation, I promise there are other amazing spots to see sunrise at Acadia!

My personal favorite: Otter Cliffs. Park at Otter Point, walk two minutes on Ocean Path, and you’re standing on 110 feet of pink granite with the Atlantic doing the whole show below you.

No $6 reservation, no 10 am refresh two days out, no line of headlights up the summit road at 5:30. Just you, the rocks, and whoever else figured this out, which in October is almost nobody.

The light hits the cliffs from the side instead of coming up over a parking lot. Dogs on leash are fine on Ocean Path. Bring the headlamp and a real jacket; the wind off the water in the dark is a different temperature than the forecast said.

Sunrise is around 6:30 right now and slides toward 7 by late October. Be there at least 20 minutes early, and take it from someone who is always racing the sun, 30 mins early is even better. The 10 minutes before the sun clears the horizon are the ones you’ll remember the most, I promise 🌅☀️

☀️ Save this for your Acadia trip ☀️

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