Guest Post: Pixel Remix

Today's guest post is by Ann Torrence, from Pixel Remix: the Ann-alog. Ann is a Salt Lake City-based writer and photographer specializing in the people and landscapes of the intermountain west. Check out this gorgeous photo she took in Grand Tetons National Park. If you have even the slightest interest in taking better pictures, check out her blog for inspiration!

Parks Along The Highway
by Ann Torrence

Summer vacation season is in full swing, and even with gas prices at record levels, both Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks experienced record visitation in June. This is good news for me, because I'm writing and photographing a book on the greatest highway in America, U.S. 89, which links those parks and five others, and travels through some of the most spectacular scenery in the west. 15 million visitors will hit the parks along my highway this year, and hopefully they will stop at some of the other cool places along the way.

As I've driven the entire Highway 89 from Canada to Mexico, I've met a lot of families visiting the national parks. All too often I see bored kids, trying to look interested as they stop at yet one more overlook. I guess parents forget what it was like to be a kid: we didn't care about looking at the view. All kids really want to do is throw rocks over the edge, but that's not allowed.

Grumpy, carsick kids are not having the family vacation their parents dreamed for them, and it could be so much better. There are some great ways to get your kids engaged in the parks for a much more memorable experience.

Every park has a Junior Ranger Program, where each kid gets an activity booklet at the Visitor's Center, spends the day completing it, then meets with a real ranger to discuss what he or she has learned. There's a fine looking junior ranger patch awarded at the end of the day. I met one family whose sons had collected 20 patches from different parks and were having a blast working on #21.

Non-profit associations support the parks by offering educational activities, fundraising and research outside the park budgets. Many of these groups offer family-friendly classes and activities, usually by reservation and with a fee, for which you get a very knowledgeable guided experience. The Yellowstone Institute and the Grand Canyon Field Institute are two examples.

Activities in the Highway 89 National Parks

• Saguaro National Park is off-cycle with the summer vacation season, but it would be fun for a winter break. The rangers offer some cool-looking twilight guided hikes about twice a month in the winter season.


• The Grand Canyon is the most-visited and the hardest park for kid-scale enjoyment. Face it: looking over the edge will be fun for about 2 minutes. String together a couple of 20-45 minute rimside walks, led by uniformed heroes, real Rangers.


• Because of the altitude and dry desert air, the rim of Bryce Canyon is one of the best places in the southwest for astronomy, and the park service offers some unique activities that are kid friendly. Check the schedule before you pick the dates for your visit, because they don't offer programs every night.


• Now that the shuttle system (mandatory in high season) has minimized the cars on the main canyon road, bringing bikes to Zion is a great way to see the park at kid pace. If the main canyon is too hot or crowded, hit the east side of the park, where you can scamper off trail on the red rock formations. There are numerous pull-outs east of the second tunnel, but no bathrooms or water. It's important to learn to recognize cryptobiotic soil before going off-trail, so stop in at the visitor's center first.


• Grand Teton is actually easier on families than Yellowstone, because there are shorter hikes and less driving between the major sites. This is the one park where I'd splurge on my nieces and nephew and take them rafting, either an early-morning wildlife watching trip, or for older kids a whitewater adventure outside the park in the Snake River Canyon. We have fantastic memories of taking my Mom on a wildlife trip one early morning, where we saw bald eagles, bison and elk swimming the Snake River.


• Most of the rivers in Yellowstone are too strong and cold for swimming, but downstream from Old Faithful at Firehole Canyon Drive (scroll down), families have a great time burning off excess energy in the warm water.


• If I had an animal-crazy kid, I'd head to Glacier, roust them out of bed and get up to Logan Pass before anyone else (the parking lot is empty a half hour after sunrise). The mountain goats and bighorns are regulars, along with waddling fat marmots, and I've even seen wolverines running down the trail. Bring a picnic breakfast, look for animals and head out as the first shuttle buses start rolling in.

I hope these ideas will send parents to the Internet to find out what's going on in their national parks. I'm biased toward the seven parks along US89, but every unit in the NPS offers family-friendly activities that can elevate your child's vacation experience.

I will be in and around the parks again this summer, making more pictures and collecting stories for my book. One of my favorite things about the project is getting to meet people as they enjoy their national treasures, so please say hello or send me an email.

You can follow my adventures on my blog, or add your name to the list to receive an announcement when my book comes out. I am convinced this highway is the best road trip in America, and I am very much looking forward to telling the stories of US Highway 89.