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Hiking, Climbing, and Camping - The Road Trip Details

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Lake Tahoe

Camping

Sardine Lake

A small campground 60 mi northwest of Lake Tahoe that takes reservations. We stayed there because we were heading that direction anyway, it would not be a great location if you want to spend most of your time at Lake Tahoe. Sardine Lake is very accessible, although not visible from the campground. On your walk to Sardine Lake from the campground, you pass a small picturesque pond, Sand Pond.

Sights

Sand Harbor

A beautiful beach where you can explore massive boulders in crystal clear blue water and relax on many stretches of sandy beaches. The beach gets pretty busy, but there is a parking lot that costs $10 and some other street parking available close by.

Climbing

Trippy Rock

A small rock formation right off the highway on the north side of Lake Tahoe, near Incline Village. It has a few routes ranging from 5.5 to 5.11c with the easier ones accessible for top roping and harder ones for sport.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Camping

Manzanita Lake

A large campground with plenty of spacious sites close to Manzanita Lake, but without a direct view, that takes reservations. It’s a quick stroll down to the lake, which turns into a loop trail around the lake. About halfway through the loop, an unobstructed view of Mt Lassen behind the lake comes into view.

Hiking

Lassen Peak
Out & Back // 5.1 mi // 1,968 ft gain

A great strenuous hike where you get to summit Mt Lassen! It can get pretty windy near the top and is very exposed, so be sure to bring sunscreen and a wind layer. Because of the exposure, there are good views the entire way up of the surrounding lakes and mountains. From the summit, you can see Mt Shasta and other awesome peaks.

Portland

Hiking

Multnomah Falls
Out & Back // 2.0 mi // 823 ft gain

It’s a short jaunt from the parking lot to the foot of the falls, more of a nature walk. You can continue up to the bridge, where you get a good view of the upper falls. The gain to that is probably about ¼ of the entire trail. From there, you can continue to the top of the falls. The area is very developed, so plenty of concessions and bathrooms available. You can also park right off the highway making this very accessible and therefore, very crowded.

Mt Hood

Camping

Trillium

A gorgeous campground beside Trillium Lake that takes reservations. The sites are all relatively private. There is a trail around the lake with plenty of places to sit and get a great view of Mt Hood looming behind. Definitely watch a sunset from one of these spots! While none of the sites had an unobstructed view of the mountain, those closest to the lake were only steps away from the water and trail.

Lost Creek

A basic campground that takes reservations. The sites do not offer much privacy and are not particularly scenic. A benefit is the site is close to the Ramona Falls trailhead. Unless you want easy access to that trail or just need an available campsite we would not recommend it.

Hiking

Ramona Falls
Loop // 8.2 mi // 1,095 ft gain

A pleasant trail with amazing views of a waterfall at the end. The southern side of the loop is a bit less unique, while the northern side offers extremely lush surroundings and follows a small creek with high cliffs across the stream. The falls at the end are quite impressive and there are plenty of spots to sit and enjoy the view.

Glacier National Park

Camping

Many Glacier

An awesome campground on the northeast side of the park that has some sites available for reservation and some for first-come, first-served. If you do first-come, first-served, get there early! We got there a little before 8am and there was already a short line. The rangers started assigning sites at 8am. Other days we saw lengthy lines by 7:30am. The sites are spacious but not very private. Our favorite part about the site is that there are plenty of great trails, like Grinnell Glacier, that start less than a mile from the campsite and the grounds offer views of Mt Grinnell. It’s also close to Many Glacier Hotel, where you can get warm by the fire, have a drink, or a good meal with incredible views of Mt Grinnell rising behind Swiftcurrent Lake. We would highly recommend this site.

Hiking

Grinnell Glacier
Out & Back // 11.3 mi // 2,162 ft

An incredible hike that takes you past Swiftcurrent Lake, Lake Josephine, Lower Grinnell Lake, and finally all the way up to Upper Grinnell Lake. Lower Grinnell Lake is a deep vibrant blue fed by a waterfall coming from Upper Grinnell Lake. The conclusion of the trail, Upper Grinnell Lake, is a high alpine amphitheater lake filled with glacial runoff. There is plenty of wildlife to see on the trail; we saw mountain goats sitting 5 ft off the trail and others saw moose across the lake. There is bear activity in this area, so be loud on the trail and travel in groups.

St. Mary and Virginia Falls
Out & Back // 2.9 mi // 452 ft gain

A nice easy trail that wanders through a big valley with plenty of waterfalls along the way. You encounter St. Mary falls first and then continue on to unnamed cascading falls shortly after. The trail concludes at Virginia Falls, which is a powerful cascading waterfall with the main falls towering above you. You can feel the mist coming off the falls and get right up to them for great pictures. Perfect hike for an easy half day.

Hidden Lake Overlook Out & Back // 2.8 mi // 580 ft gain

The trail is made of mostly boardwalks winding through alpine meadows but is actually pretty steep. True to its name, the hike ended at a beautiful overlook of Hidden Lake and past the lake into the deep surrounding valleys. You could continue on this trail for a bit longer to reach the lakefront.

Highline
Out & Back // 14.9 mi // 2,578 ft

We did not get to do this trail, unfortunately, as it was too foggy and windy on the couple days we had to do it. We would definitely do it when we go back. There are lots of ways to do this trail, which makes it a bit confusing. The one linked is out and back, but the furthest point on the trail is along the Going-to-the-Sun Road which has a shuttle service, so you could take the shuttle back to Logan Pass from Loop trail instead of hiking all the way back. You can also do a through hike all the way to the Many Glacier area.

Sights

Going-to-the-Sun Road

Definitely take a drive on this to see all that Glacier has to offer. Incredible views, although the driving can be a bit slow and daunting with thousand feet sheer drops just off the road. If you’re planning to drive through the heart of the park, this is the only road, so be sure to take time to enjoy the many scenic pull-offs.

Yellowstone National Park

Camping

Bridge Bay

A massive campground right next to Yellowstone Lake offering tent only loops and bustling with wildlife. Sites are reservable, but make sure to book early! Our site was pretty private, as we were in a tent only loop that was uphill from the main grounds in a forest; other loops were far more open. We booked ahead but we were not assigned a site number until we arrived.

Sights

Old Faithful and surrounding basin

All the best geysers of Yellowstone on one short walk! Despite us linking it here, the walk is impossible to miss if you’re already at Old Faithful. This walk is along the boardwalks that weave through the geysers in the basin adjacent to Old Faithful. Our favorite sight on the walk was the Morning Glory Pool, a colorful hot spring.

Grand Prismatic Hot Springs

Massive hot springs with psychedelic colors accentuated by the sun.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Hot springs comprised of smaller tiered pools that almost looked as if they’re made of salt. On your walk up to the springs, there are a few small waterfalls that look to be made of the same material as the springs.

Lamar Valley

An open valley known for its good wildlife viewing. We saw a few different herds of bison and antelope.

Artist’s Point

A spectacular overlook of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone.

Grand Teton National Park

Camping

Jenny Lake

An incredibly scenic campground that is all first-come, first-served. Get there early as there are often lines before 8am. The grounds are a short walk to Jenny Lake and some sites offer direct views of Grand Teton. There are bears that frequent the area, so be sure to store food properly. There is only 1 bathroom for the whole site, but that didn’t prove to be a problem for us.

Hiking

Cascade Canyon
Out & Back // 9.7 mi // 1,128 ft gain

A great trail that extends through Cascade Canyon. You can take a ferry to the trailhead, or hike from the Jenny Lake Ranger Station. It goes past Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, so you can check all those off too. You can also continue on to Lake Solitude for an additional ~5 mi.

Sights

Jenny Lake

Take a boat out! They have rentals easily accessible right on the lakefront.

Salt Lake City

Climbing

Big Cottonwood Canyon - Dogwood

A nice slabby wall along a river with easily accessible top roping. There are a number of routes ranging from 5.5 to 5.9.

Moab

Camping

Sand Flats

A great campground just a 5 minute drive from downtown Moab. The sites are reservable but not very private. The grounds are surrounded by sandstone slabs that you can hike up and see down to Moab and out to Arches National Park. There is one doorless roofless primitive bathroom per loop.

Arches National Park

Hiking

Delicate Arch
Out & Back // 3.1 mi // 613 ft gain

An easy trail with a noticeable elevation gain and a view of Delicate Arch from the end. You can get right up to it to take pictures.

Sights
  • The Windows and Turret Arch
  • Double Arches

These arches are easily accessible from the road and across the parking lot from one another.

Steamboat Springs

Hiking

Fish Creek Falls
Out & Back // 4.7 mi // 1,450 ft gain

Parking is $5. It seems like a good trail but didn’t get to do the whole thing. You reach the first falls less than a mile from the parking lot.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Camping

Aspenglen

A great campsite 10 minutes from downtown Estes Park available for reservations; not very private but very scenic. The campground provides stellar, clean facilities.

Hiking

Gem Lake
Out & Back // 3.1 mi // 990 ft gain

A nice hike providing views of Estes Park valley the whole way up. It was a bit steeper than we were expecting, but finished at Gem Lake, a small lake surrounded by interesting rock formations.

Climbing

Jurassic Park

A steep hike from Lily Lake to get up to the area. Just keep heading towards the big rocks. World class sport climbing and top roping. Top roping Edge of Time is not straightforward, you’ll need to rappel from another set of anchors to get to those. Much easier if someone can lead that route to set up the TR.