Skylar M. Beck

Moments at Home

Published on September 12, 2023 by Skylar M. BeckLeave a comment

I’m starting a new category on the blog dedicated to my love for design and creating cozy spaces. For as long as I can remember I’ve been rearranging and designing spaces. It started with my bedroom as a child. I enjoyed switching the art on my wall, moving the furniture around, and adding different accessories regularly. I’d become excited to show my parents, siblings, and friends the changes I had made. These habits shifted to my first apartment when I moved to Italy, back to my attic space when I moved back home with my parents, and now to my apartment I currently have on my own. I’ve always been highly influenced by the spaces I’m in. It impacts my mood, productivity, motivation, and inspiration. I feel so much joy from creating a space that feels warm, inviting, and peaceful. It creates a safe place for me to return home to. It’s what makes a house a home.

My design style and aesthetic has definitely evolved over the years and will most likely continue to do so. For now, these are the spaces that make up my home. The spaces that fill my heart, mind, and soul with clarity and fulfillment. The spaces that feel like me.

Lakeside Marblehead, Ohio

Published on September 4, 2023January 8, 2025 by Skylar M. BeckLeave a comment

Along Lake Erie, just past Sandusky, you’ll find the charming quaint town of Lakeside. Lakeside is a special place for me, as my family used to visit regularly in the summertime when I was a child. I haven’t been back in years so Patrick and I decided to revisit during labor day weekend! I had such a great time reminiscing on childhood memories and relaxing in this timeless town, it truly has the same charm I remember from years ago. Lakeside is the perfect spot for a small town getaway! Here is some tips and things to keep in mind before visiting Lakeside.

Things to know about Lakeside

During the summer months (Memorial Day through Labor Day) Lakeside requires visitors to purchase day passes and auto passes. These gate fees can be purchased online before hand or when you first arrive at the gate. Lakeside is open all year and the gate fees are only during the summer season.
There are several hotels and bed and breakfasts and cottages available. This trip we booked our stay at Hotel Lakeside and loved it! All accommodations can be found on the website.
During the summer months we noticed most restaurants were open in the mornings until 3pm and closed and reopened at 5pm for the dinner crowds.
The town has a newspaper published with events happening each week, be sure to grab one when arriving to stay up to date.
Parking is limited and confusing. There aren’t many designated spots for those who aren’t staying in a cottage. You may have to do several loops around the area to find a parking spot.

We spent two days at Lakeside and this was the perfect amount of time for a short getaway. During our stay, we booked a room at the Hotel Lakeside which is an iconic landmark in the park. The hotel was built in 1875 and the charm is still alive today! If you visit for longer than a weekend, I’d recommend renting a cottage.

Things to do in Lakeside

Wake up early for donuts at The Patio. They have the best cake donuts! They still taste the same as they did when I was a kid.
Grab a cup of coffee at Coffee and Cream or Oh La La. Both cafe’s are nice options with a variety of coffee choices as well as breakfast and lunch bites.
Play mini golf. The course is unique and with 15 holes, it will make for a fun day or night activity!
Stop by the t-shirt shop under the dock awning! It’s a small little shop with some of the coolest apparel to take as souvenirs.
Have lunch at Blue Bird cafe. Located just near the dock in the center of town, Blue Bird has delicious sandwiches and salads with a great outdoor seating area right near the water.
Rent a bike or golf cart at Sypherd Cycle. One of my favorite parts about Lakeside is that almost everyone bikes or rides golf carts around the town. We rented bikes and it was so fun to feel like a local for the weekend.
Have dinner at Lakeside pizzeria, former known as Sloopy’s pizza. This is a town favorite for pizza!
Go for a swim in Lake Erie! There’s access from the “beach” area or from the dock.
See a concert or speaker at the Hoover Auditorium. Lakeside does a nice job finding entertainment for visitors and access to the auditorium is included in the gate fee.

Two Days in Yellowstone National Park

Published on August 16, 2023January 8, 2025 by Skylar M. Beck3 Comments

Patrick and I recently returned home from another out west national park trip! One of the most memorable national parks we visited on this trip was Yellowstone. Yellowstone national park is the first national park in the country, established in 1872 and the charm and western feel of the park is still alive today. We had two full days in the park and we focused on seeing the major highlights. Here is an overview of how we spent our time in Yellowstone.

Things to know about Yellowstone

Yellowstone is huge! It’s separated into two loops, the northern and the southern. In hindsight, it would make sense to spend part of the trip in the north loop and part in the south loop to reduce drive time during the day. We ended up driving back and forth between the loops throughout the two days which is doable but plan to spend lots of time driving!
There are so many bisons! We were so surprised with how comfortable the bison are within the park. There were bison on the sides of the road throughout most of the park!
Yellowstone national park requires a fee for entrance into the park. It’s $35 for a 7 day period. As always, I’d highly recommend purchasing the America the Beautiful pass. It’s $80 and gets you into national parks for a year!

Day One

On our first day in the park, we decided to start at the most famous geyser, Old Faithful. Old Faithful is one of the oldest erupting geysers in the park and it erupts consistently every hour to hour and a half. We used a website called geyser times to check in on the old faithful’s next predicted eruption before showing up. This was helpful to have a gauge on how much time we would have to wait. After watching Old Faithful, we walked along the boardwalk (upper geyser trail) that takes you to many other geysers and pools in the park. This was a pleasant walk and we went all the way to morning glory pool and back which was about 3 miles total. There is so much to see in this part of the park so make it your own! Some geysers or pools I’d recommend are:

Old Faithful
Castle geyser
Daisy geyser
Spa geyser
Morning Glory pool
Grotto geyser
Grand geyser
Beauty pool

After exploring this part of the park, we took a 15 minute drive to the fairy falls trailhead to hike to the overlook of Grand Prismatic spring. This is an iconic spring because it’s colors are so vibrant. There is access to see this spring up close but we preferred the overlook to see the spring from above. The hike to the overlook is about 1.5mile and a bit steep at times, but the view is definitely worth it!

We stayed at Canyon Campground while visiting Yellowstone and it was wonderful! The reservation here covered a shower a day for each camper and they had laundry facilities for campground guests.

Grand Prismatic spring via fairy falls overlook trail

Day Two

Day two in Yellowstone started at Hayden valley to watch bison! Hayden valley is a well known spot in the park to capture an up close view of bison. I was hopeful we’d see some bison but I was in awe of how many bison we did see and how comfortable they all were walking near the road! Please respect the bisons home and space, we were able to see these incredible animals up close from the safety of our car, it’s not necessary to get out of the car. It’s also not safe to do so, these are wild animals after all.

After a beautiful morning in Hayden valley, we headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is such an underrated spot in my opinion! This was a stunning canyon different than others I’ve seen before. I appreciated that the park had several different viewpoints of the canyon and waterfall that are all well marked while driving through this area. We started along the south rim drive at Artist’s point which was beautiful and probably my favorite of all the view points. I’d also recommend:

South Rim drive: Artist’s point and upper falls lookout point.
North Rim drive: brink of lower falls, inspiration point, grand view point, and lookout point

After spending time exploring the various view points of the grand canyon, we headed towards the northern loop of the park to drive through Lamar valley, another famous valley where bison are known to graze. The drive to this part of the park was beautiful, there were so many scenic pull off areas with mountain views. Unfortunately when we reached Lamar valley, there weren’t many bison at all which we believed was due to the construction going on. Regardless, it was still a beautiful drive.

From here, we continued driving to another famous spot in the park, Mammoth Hot springs. This was a crowded spot for good reason! The lower terrace of the hot springs was so unique and stunning we were in shock. This is a fairly quick stop but I’d say it’s a must see while visiting Yellowstone. From here, we continued around the northern loop and stopped at the Norris Geyser Basin area to see more beautiful geysers and springs. This area is similar to the old faithful area, with boardwalks that lead you to view points of the various geysers and springs.

After a busy second day, we ended our last night in Yellowstone by cooking dinner at camp before heading back to Hayden valley for sunset. One of our favorite parts of the park was watching the bison! When we went back to Hayden valley after dinner, there were herds of bison moving together. It was so magical to watch the animals in their natural habit settle for the night. We parked the car on the side of the road and had a front row seat!

Yellowstone Tips

Book a campground early if you plan to camp! There are several campgrounds within the park, all of which seem to fill up pretty quickly. I can’t speak for the other campgrounds in the park but we were very impressed with canyon campground! I’d recommended picking a campground close to sites you’d like to see since the park is so large.
You will do a lot of driving! Regardless of where you stay within the park, if you plan to see many of the park’s highlights, be prepared to drive a lot during the day.
Look up Old Faithful’s eruption times prior to stopping by
Pack your own food. There are several restaurants and “general stores” at major sites in Yellowstone, but the food wasn’t the best and it was pretty expensive.
Check out the park’s website for closures and construction zones. When we visited, there were several spots under construction which caused delays.

Things To Do In & Around Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Published on August 13, 2023January 8, 2025 by Skylar M. Beck1 Comment

Our road trip this summer started with some time in South Dakota. As someone who has never visited South Dakota, I was surprised by it’s beauty and unique features throughout the state. We planned to spend our short time in South Dakota stopping by Badlands National Park, the iconic Wall Drug store and Mount Rushmore before moving on to Wyoming. Combining these three destinations within two days worked out well for us before moving on to other parks. Here’s an overview of how we spent time in South Dakota.

Badlands National Park

Badlands is a park that truly surprised me! From the highway, this area of South Dakota seems pretty rural and green but as soon as you enter the park, there are desert like features and stunning badlands. Badlands is a small park but it did offer a lot of activity and sites to see in our short visit.

Things to do:

Check out the visitor’s center.
Hike the Notch trail. This trail is beautiful and offers a fun ladder to climb partially through the hike. Unfortunately we didn’t get to hike the entirety of this trail due to crowds. We made the mistake of trying to hike this mid day and once we reached the ladder, there was a huge line.
Hike the Window and Door trails. These are short trails along boardwalks that take you to a beautiful opening of more badlands.
Drive along the scenic road within the road. The road that takes you through the park is the scenic road and there are several pull off areas to stop to enjoy more badlands views.

Wall Drug store

I didn’t know about Wall Drug until I started researching things to do in South Dakota. This is a huge tourist attraction about 15 minutes from Badlands National Park. The day we drove into South Dakota, we started seeing signs and billboards for Wall Drug 3 hours out! Although it’s a tourist stop, it was definitely a fun experience and I’d recommend stopping. The whole place feels western and old fashion which is part of the charm. Wall Drug is famous for it’s 5 cent coffee and free ice water which was historic years ago for travelers passing through.

After exploring Badlands and Wall Drug, we drove about an hour and a half to a campground in Custer State park, Center Lake campground, to be closer to our next destination. This was a wonderful campground for the night and the best part was we were only 30 minutes from Mount Rushmore!

Mount Rushmore

We woke up bright and early to visit Mount Rushmore before the crowds. If you can, I’d highly recommend this. We arrived around 5:30am and were one of the only ones visiting the monument. It was so peaceful and relaxing to experience this iconic monument without having to fight crowds. We spent a lot of time taking photos before walking the presidential trial. This trail is a little less then a mile and well paved with boardwalks and steps that give you an up close view of the monument. There’s also the sculptor’s studio along this trail that gives more information about the building process, practice sculptures that were built and the overall history of the monument. Since we were there so early this was closed (opens at 8am) but I would have loved to explore this part as well. Keep in mind, the monument itself is free to visit, however, it does cost $10 to park.

There is so much to see throughout South Dakota and I wish we would’ve had more time. Wind Caves National Park is also extremely close to this area too if you want to add another stop along the way. If you’re short on time like us or just passing through, these three stops are must sees!

Road Trip Film Photo Collection

Published on August 2, 2023December 31, 2024 by Skylar M. Beck2 Comments

One of my favorite ways to capture memories on a trip is through film photography. Last month I went on a two week national park road trip and brought along my Canon ae-1 35mm camera. This is my second film collection shared on the blog, and these are some of my favorite travel photos captured in timeless film. These photos were taken throughout several states and national parks highlighting the beauty of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.

Film Collection 02 / Summer ’23

Sunrise at Mormon Row, Grand Tetons National Park

Views along the ‘going to the sun road’, Glacier National Park

The high line trail, Glacier National Park

Oxbow Bend look out, Grand Tetons National Park

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park

Schwabacher Landing, Grand Tetons National Park

Wild Goose Island, Glacier National Park

Tips For Planning a National Park Trip

Published on May 20, 2023January 8, 2025 by Skylar M. Beck1 Comment

Planning a trip to a national park can feel intimidating when there’s so much to plan for! Although a trip to a national park could be planned last minute, from experience I’d recommend planning well in advance to guarantee more options and less stress. Throughout the last two years, most of my trips have been to national parks. I’ve learned so much about the planning process and wanted to share some tips. This summer I’ll be going on another cross country road trip to visit 4 more national parks and these are the tips I followed to help us plan another amazing trip!

My Tips

If you’re planning to stay at a campground, be sure to book at least 6 months in advance for most national parks. This is the number one tip I have. Many people want to guarantee they will have an accommodation well in advance from their trip, especially during busy season which is usually summer. We are going to Glacier National Park this summer and I booked the campground for us in January (!). If planning this far in advance isn’t an option, most national parks do save ‘first come first serve’ spots at campgrounds but it is generally competitive. This tip could also apply to hotels or other accommodations near a national park.

Similar to tip one, if you’re planning to stay at a campground do some research on the area you’d like to be in. The campgrounds in most national parks are spread out and not necessarily close to popular sites and trails. If this is important to you, you’ll want to try and book the most central campground in the park, which no surprise, is usually the campground that fills up the fastest!

Take time to plan out hikes or other activities you’d like to do. Each national park has their own website that highlights the hikes within the park, campgrounds, historic sites, and other activities. If you plan to do a lot of hiking, I’d suggest mapping out the trails you’d like to do. On the website, you’ll find how long each hike is and the difficulty level (which is important to be aware of beforehand).

Research other reservation requirements. Since the pandemic, several national parks have been requiring additional vehicle timed entry reservations or reservation passes for popular sites to reduce crowds. As of this year, many popular national parks are still enforcing this and it’s important to know in advance because it’s not possible to get a reservation on site. I discuss the vehicle reservation system in some of my national park posts, there are ways around this if you’re unable to get a pass in advance. These requirements will be clearly listed on each park’s website.

Look up trail statuses on the national park’s website. As I mentioned earlier, each national park has their own website and updates are posted daily. This is particularly helpful if you’re going to a park with lots of wildlife, or drastic weather changes. Sometimes trails close if there’s too much wildlife activity or due to weather conditions. Speaking from experience, it’s better to check before hand or else you’ll arrive at the trail feeling disappointed!

If you plan to visit multiple national parks in one trip, I’d recommend investing in the America The Beautiful pass, it’s $80 and gives you access to any national park for one year! Most national parks cost $35 for entry so the pass will definitely pay for itself if you have plans to visit more then one park within a year!

Pack extra layers. This is a tip I learned from experience, even if you’re visiting a national park during the summer months, I found most nights or early mornings were still chilly, especially if you’re hiking in higher elevations! The climate definitely changes the higher up you hike.

Arrive early to trailheads. Popular hikes within a national park become very crowded! I’d suggest arriving to most trailheads before 7am if you’d like to explore without crowds. This is also beneficial for securing a parking lot at a trailhead as these fill up quickly too depending on the popularity.

Camping in Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania

Published on April 26, 2023January 8, 2025 by Skylar M. BeckLeave a comment

Last weekend, Patrick and I spontaneously decided to go camping in Allegheny National Forest. Camping has always been something that helps ground us and provide the perfect reset when life feels stressful. We’ve always talked about going to Allegheny and we finally made the trip happen! Here’s some photos of our quick trip to Allegheny and the camping list we always use that gives us the most comfort while camping.

Our time in Allegheny was short and sweet but it definitely has me excited to visit again in the future. We found a couple campgrounds in the area that were open already for the season, most were first come first serve, which always makes me a little anxious but luckily we were able to find a great spot. We stayed at Red Bridge Campground and we loved it! This campground felt scenic and secluded but also had plenty of amenities which is always a luxury while camping. I would highly recommend this campground, we plan to stay here again during our next visit.

Our Camp List

This is our camping list that we use when we go on quick weekend trip or a long road trip. Some of these items were investments to ensure we had the most comfort, especially for our longer trips. Most of these items aren’t necessary especially for a quick weekend trip but they definitely make us feel more at ease and comfortable which is our goal while camping or traveling on the road.

Sleep

Tent, with rain cover
Air mattress
Sheets
Blankets
Sleeping bags
Pillows

Hygiene

Travel toilet
Biodegradable waste bags
Toilet paper
Trash bags
Body wash and shampoo
Tooth brush and tooth paste

Cook

Newair refrigerator or cooler
Cooking utensils
Eating utensils
Plates
Bowls
Coffee mugs
Pots and pans
Stove top and propane
Jetboil
Cutting board
Stanley pour over stand
Containers/bags to store leftover food
Water cooler
Collapsible sink
Campsuds dish soap
Sponge to wash dishes

Comfort

Rinse kit (helpful for a quick rinse off or to assist with washing dishes)
Camp chairs
Hammock
Quick dry towels
Jackery generator (we use this to keep our refrigerator powered and other things we need to charge)
Cameras
String lights
Journals/books
Card games

Safety

Medicine kit
Lantern
Garmen inreach mini satellite gps (helpful when there’s no service!)
Quick start car battery charge

Misc.

Fire starter supply
Citronella candle
Small hatchet/shovel

Favorite Travel Photos | New Etsy Shop

Published on March 28, 2023 by Skylar M. BeckLeave a comment

I have some exciting news to share, I recently started an Etsy shop to sell and highlight some of my travel photography! I have always been passionate about taking photos and capturing special moments on film. Through travel, that passion has only increased and continued to thrive. Travel and photography are both such big parts of my life and the reason I started this blog so I could share that passion with many others. This post shares some of the photographs I’ll be selling on my Etsy shop. These photographs are from my most cherished memories that include my travels throughout Europe, my time living in Italy and my recent travels out west USA. Feel free to click the link for my shop below to purchase a photograph to print out or simply enjoy the photographs here on the blog 🤍

Etsy Shop: skylarbdesigns.

Hiking Mount Ida, Rocky Mountains National Park

Two Week Out West Trip Itinerary: Colorado and Utah

Published on March 22, 2023January 8, 2025 by Skylar M. Beck1 Comment

Last Summer, I went on my first cross country road to explore five different National Parks within Colorado and Utah. Traveling from Ohio, I knew very little about States out west and I spent several months doing research, making reservations in advance, and planning out a two week itinerary for my boyfriend and I. This trip included time in the Rocky Mountains National Park and time within Utah exploring 4 out of the 5 National Parks in the state. If you’re planning a similar trip, I hope this itinerary I developed is useful or gives some ideas to add to your own road trip itinerary!

Two Week Itinerary

Day One: Travel Day

Since we were traveling from Ohio, we decided to break the drive out to Colorado into two days. We stopped in Nebraska on our way after about 13 hours of driving. We found a hotel near Omaha, NE for the night.

🌛 Hotel in Omaha, NE

Day Two: Travel Day

On our second day, we left Omaha bright and early for a 7 hour drive to Boulder, CO. Once we arrived in Boulder we spent time walking around town and exploring Pearl St. which is an iconic spot in downtown Boulder that features fun shops and restaurants. My favorite part of this day was spending time at a free campsite we found just outside of Boulder, CO. This campsite was about an hour from downtown Boulder and 45 minutes to Rocky Mountains National Park.

Tips:

I found all of our free campsites off the Campendium or freecampsites.net
We purchased the America the Beautiful National Park pass which was $80 and covers entrances to all National Parks.

🌛 Beaver Reservoir Dispersed Camping

Day Three: Rocky Mountains National Park

On day three, we woke up bright and early to enjoy sunrise at our campsite before heading into Rocky Mountains National Park. On our way into the park, we stop in downtown Estes Park for some breakfast. We found Kind Coffee which was definitely a favorite stop of ours! After some coffee and breakfast we spent our first day hiking in the Bear Lake area and hiked to Bear, Nymph and Dream lakes. After hiking in this area, we stop at the visitor’s center and explored more of Estes Park. For the next two nights we stayed at one of the campgrounds in the Park, Glacier Basin.

Tips:

I wrote a blog post about our experience in RMNP if you’re looking for an in depth guide, read here.
Campground reservations can be made 6 months in advance, so if you know your dates book as soon as you can!
Rocky Mountains National Park requires a vehicle reservation to enter the park during certain hours. I discuss this in depth in my post dedicate to RMNP.

🌛 Glacier Basin Campground

Day Four: Rocky Mountains National Park

Our second full day in RMNP was a busy one! We spent our entire morning hiking to Mount Ida. From the Glacier Basin campground, this trailhead is about an hour away. The best part about the drive there is driving along the iconic Trail Ridge Road which is the highest highway road in the country! It was incredible to experience the views and the road during sunrise. We saw so much wildlife and almost had the entire road to ourselves since it was so early. To hike Mount Ida, you can park at Milner Pass parking lot. This hike was a strenuous 9 mile hike but the views were some of the best I’ve ever seen! After this hike, we went into town to take a shower. We found a local laundry mat that had showers for visitors that cost $4. That evening we had dinner in town at the Bird & Jim, which was delicious!

🌛 Glacier Basin Campground

Day Five: Travel Day

We were pretty exhausted after a long hike the day before so we slept in and took our time leaving Colorado. We stopped in Estes Park for the last time and got another cup of Kind Coffee before starting a 6 hour drive to Moab, UT. We planned to car camp once we arrived to Moab and we were surprised to find several camping areas off the main road that were first come first serve. We picked the first one we could find which was Upper Big Bend Campground and paid $20 for a spot that night. This night was extremely hot compared to the nights we just experienced in Colorado. The campsite we chose was about 15 minutes from Arches National Park which was super convenient.

Tips:

I have a blog post dedicated to our time in Arches National Park with more details of our experiences, read here.
Arches National Park requires a vehicle reservation to enter the park during certain hours. I discuss this in depth in my post dedicated to ANP.
All campgrounds in the area we stayed were $20 per night for a camp spot.
The campgrounds off the main road that we found had no running water, no showers, and no flush toilets.
Moab, UT is known as boondocking country, meaning there’s a lot of free camp spots surrounding Moab! Check out Campendium or freecampsites.net to find a free spot. Most are quite a drive from the park which is why we decided to pay $20 to be close.

🌛 Upper Big Bend Campground

Day Six: Arches National Park

We woke up around 3:30am tired but excited to drive into Arches National Park for the day. We drove to Delicate Arch trailhead to begin a sunrise hike to this iconic arch. It took about an hour to hike to the top and we made it just before the sun started to rise. Delicate arch is incredible in person and much bigger than I imagined. We spent a couple hours admiring Delicate Arch before hiking back down. Afterwards, we explored more Arches in the park. It was extremely hot so we didn’t last long out in the heat. This night we ended up booking a hotel room to escape the heat and it was definitely worth it!

🌛 Scenic View Inn and Suites Moab

Day Seven: Arches National Park/Travel Day

We slept in and explored downtown Moab before heading back into Arches National Park. We spent some more time driving through Arches National Park admiring Arches from a distance and stopping along viewpoints. We also took some time to explore Park Avenue which was one of the coolest spots we visited in the park. Afterwards, we prepared for a 4.5 hour drive to Bryce Canyon National Park. Once we arrived, we stayed at a free camp spot, Tom’s Best Spring Dispersed Camping which is about 15 minutes from the park.

🌛 Tom’s Best Spring Dispersed Camping

Day Eight: Bryce Canyon National Park

We only planned for one day in Bryce Canyon so we woke up early to make the most of our time. We started the morning at Inspiration Point for sunrise, this was an incredible spot but I imagine any spot in the park is amazing to watch sunrise. After sunrise, we drove to Sunset Point to hike the Navajo and Queen’s Garden loop trail. This was the perfect hike to do with only a day in the park. We were able to see the highlights of the park and spend time admiring all of the hoodoos! We ended the day by driving to Zion National Park which was a 2 hour drive.

Once we arrived in Zion, we went to Zion Outfitters to pick up rented gear for the Narrows hike. We then went to a free camp spot we found but ended up booking a reservation at Gooseberry Lodges last minute due to extreme heat temperatures and a thunder storm that was predicted. This was a great decision and gave us a comfortable place to sleep each night while visiting Zion. Gooseberry Lodges offer small private cabins for an affordable price and the location is about 45 minutes from the park.

Tips:

I have a blog post dedicated to our time in Bryce Canyon National park, read here.
Tom’s Best Spring Dispersed Camping was an awesome free spot, the spaces were spread out and there was cell service which was a first!
I have a dedicated post to our time in Zion, read here.

🌛 Gooseberry Lodges

Day Nine: Zion National Park

Our first day in Zion was a full day! We started the day bright and early with a sunrise hike to Canyon Overlook which was one of my favorite memories, the views from this one mile hike were amazing. Afterwards we drove into Springsdale which is the closest town to Zion and got breakfast sandwiches from Deep Creek Coffee. Our next hike was The Narrows which was one I was most looking forward to as we planned our trip. We had already picked up our gear the night before which saved time. We got on the shuttle near the visitor’s center to begin our hike to The Narrows and got off at shuttle stop #9. We spent about 4 hours hiking in the Narrows. That night, we ordered dinner from a local spot near our cabin and enjoyed some time out by the fire after a long day of adventuring!

Tips:

During busy season, Zion requires visitors to use their shuttle system to access most trailheads. The shuttle is free and the easiest spot to pick up the shuttle is at the visitor’s center.
Canyon Overlook is one of the only areas you can drive in your personal vehicle to get to.
I would definitely recommended renting the gear if you plan to hike the Narrows.

🌛 Gooseberry Lodges

Day Ten: Zion National Park

On our second full day in Zion, we planned to hike to Observation Point. This hike offers one of the best views in Zion and a lot safer then Angel’s Landing! Be sure to read my blog post about Zion if you’re planning to hike to Observation Point as there’s a lot to know in advance. After an afternoon hike to Observation Point we spent the rest of the day walking around Springsdale, souvenir shopping and catching up on laundry.

🌛 Gooseberry Lodges

Day Eleven: Travel Day

We slept in and drove into Springsdale to stop at our favorite coffee shop one last time, Deep Creek Coffee. Our last National Park on this road trip was Capitol Reef National Park, which is about 3.5 hours from Zion National Park. The drive to Capitol Reef from Zion is a bit boring and as you enter the nearby towns to Capitol Reef, it feels like you’re in a Western movie. Capitol Reef is quite literally in the middle of nowhere so restaurants and shops are very limited. Since we arrived to the park later in the afternoon, we didn’t hike but spent time exploring the scenic drive which is about 8 miles one way to Capitol Gorge. This is a historic drive that offers stunning views of the park, definitely a must see. After a long day of traveling, we checked into our hotel for the next two nights, Capitol Reef Resort.

Tips:

I wrote a separate blog post about our time in Capitol Reef that provides more information about our time in the park, read here.

🌛 Capitol Reef Resort

Day Twelve: Capitol Reef National Park

Our first full day in Capitol Reef was actually my birthday so I picked the activities we did this day! I was most looking forward to hiking to Cassidy Arch which is an iconic spot in Capitol Reef. The hike to Cassidy Arch was tough but definitely worth the view at the end. Afterwards, we explored the fruita district of the park and stopped by Gifford Homestead for fresh pies, which were amazing! We also planned to hike the grand wash trail which is another popular spot in the park, but due to extreme heat temperatures we only hiked the beginning on this trail before turning back.

🌛 Capitol Reef Resort

Day Thirteen: Travel Day

We woke up early and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before leaving Capitol Reef. We started our trip back to Colorado with a plan to stop in Vail, CO for the night. Vail is about 5.5 hours from Capitol Reef National Park. This trip felt longer than other days, most likely due to general exhaustion from a long road trip! Once we arrived in Vail, we camped at Camp Hale Memorial campground. This campground was stunning and so scenic and quiet. It truly was the perfect way to end our road trip. This campground was about $30 for the night and it was available to reserve in advance but when we arrived there were plenty of empty spots available as well.

🌛 Camp Hale Memorial Campground

Day Fourteen: Travel Day

From Vail, CO we woke up around 4am to drive towards Des Moines, IA for our stopping point. We drove about 12 hours to get to a hotel for the night. We arrived around dinner time and ordered in food at a nearby restaurant and went to bed early to prepare for another long travel day!

🌛 Hotel near Des Moines, IA

Day Fifteen: Travel Day

We left Des Moines bright and early and headed back towards Ohio which was about an 10 hour drive. We arrived home mid afternoon after a long two week road trip! This road trip gave me some of my best memories and it was definitely worth all the early mornings, days without service, heat exhaustion, and long days in the car.