Dear Bob and Sue: A National Parks Podcast

In our mailbag episodes, we answer questions from listeners about traveling, hiking, public lands, outdoor gear, and whatever else is on their minds. In this episode, we’re talking about road trips, train trips, bears, and ticks. If you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode, email us at mattandkarensmith@gmail.com. Subscribe to The Dear Bob and Sue Podcast on Apple Podcasts,...

We get a lot of questions from people asking us what parks they should visit during specific times of the year. On today’s episode we’re going season to season, talking about which parks are great to visit during the winter, spring, summer, and fall. We cover all 63 national parks, taking into account factors like their weather, accessibility, wildflowers, fall foliage, crowds, and much more. Grab...

From historic hotels to jaw-dropping vistas to spectacular hiking trails, Glacier has it all. Because of its mountainous terrain, activities and sights are clustered in several unique areas of the park and along the central park road corridor. A visit to this magnificent place feels like going to several national parks, all nestled around the Continental Divide. It would take a lifetime to see and...

The Crown of the Continent, Glacier National Park is one of the most visited and beloved destinations in the National Park System. In this part 1 of 2 episodes on the park, we discuss one of its most unique aspects: their backcountry chalets. Ten chalets dotted the park back more than a hundred years ago, providing visitors a place to rest between day-long horseback rides. Today, three of the ten...

Over the years while we explored the national parks, we also found a lot of unique and authentic places to eat, and today we’re sharing some of our favorites. In this mid-summer bonus episode, we provide a sampling of great restaurants, bars and bakeries. From donut shops to breweries and steakhouses, we discuss where you can get some delicious food while you’re visiting the parks. It’s always fun...

Our country’s national parks are frequently referred to as “America’s Best Idea,” for good reason. There are 423 National Park Service sites that protect everything from natural wonders to historical sites to endangered animals. Every one of them has something unique and special to offer visitors, but on this episode, we showcase our favorite 25 national parks. If you’re not planning to visit ever...

The southwest corner of South Dakota has an incredible variety of National Park Service sites to explore, and one of our favorites is Badlands National Park. From its mixed-grass prairie to its jaw-dropping geologic rock formations, this is a must-see park. In this episode, we talk about ways to explore the area on foot, by driving along the scenic road and by stopping at the numerous overlooks. Y...

It’s time again for our monthly mailbag episode where we answer questions from our listeners about national parks and other public lands, as well as questions about gear, hiking trails, and a broad range of travel-related topics. Some of the questions/topics we discuss in this episode: What kind of backpacks we use on our hikes Whether or not mosquito headnets really work Why we don’t use hydratio...

Only a three-hour drive from Seattle, North Cascades National Park looks like you’ve traveled all the way to Switzerland. With its 300 glaciers and soaring mountain peaks, North Cascades is a wilderness park best explored on foot during the summer months. We discuss our favorite hikes, as well as a unique park lodge in the tiny town of Stehekin that can only be reached by boat, seaplane, or on foo...

In the third episode of our series about volcano parks in the Pacific Northwest we’re featuring Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park, which has one of the most stunning scenes in any national park: a sapphire-blue lake situated in the middle of a collapsed volcano’s caldera. Reaching a depth of almost 2,000 feet, Crater Lake is the deepest and most pristine lake in the country. What is there to do i...

Rising more than 14,000 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. In this episode we discuss this active volcano and the incredible national park that surrounds it, one of the oldest parks in the national park system. With 97% designated as wilderness, we share tips on how to visit some of the developed areas, with information about what to see, where to st...

What’s the most difficult day hike we’ve ever done? Without question it was climbing to the top of Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in WA state. Mount St Helens is part of the Cascade Range: 13 volcanoes that lie in an 800-mile chain from British Columbia to northern California. Seven of these thirteen volcanoes have erupted at least once in the past 200 years, one of those being the mo...

It’s time for our monthly mailbag episode again, where we answer questions about national parks and other public lands, as well as gear, camping and a broad range of travel-related topics. Some of the questions/topics we discuss in this episode: What NPS sites turned out to be more than we expected Whether or not you need a campsite reservation in Olympic NP in the summer Have we been recognized b...

What’s in your backpack? To prevent emergencies from happening while you’re hiking, and to deal with any that might arise, it’s important to include items from the Ten Essentials list. The National Park Service encourages all hikers to know what the Ten Essentials are, and to carry some version of them in their backpack. In this episode, we’ll discuss each of the ten categories, and give suggestio...

Alaska’s eight national parks contain some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the NPS system, but two of them, Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley, consist of nothing but millions of acres of wilderness. There are no roads, no trails, no campsites and no services of any kind. In this episode we talk about our adventure to these two remote parks, the last parks on our original national pa...

One of the most beautiful state parks in the country, Utah’s Dead Horse Point State Park, offers jaw-dropping views and incredible hiking trails. You can also rent one of nine yurts for a camping experience that combines the fun of tent camping with some of the luxuries of a hotel room. In this episode, we’re coming to you from inside one of those yurts, and we’ll discuss what it was like spending...

It’s time for our monthly mailbag episode again, where we answer questions about national parks and other public lands, gear, camping and a broad range of travel-related topics. Some of the questions/topics we discuss in this episode: Is it a good idea to visit all four Colorado national parks in one trip? What happens after you spray a bear with bear spray? What kind of shoes are best to hike in...

New Mexico has so many natural and historical wonders you’ll have to visit several times to see them all. But if you have a free week, might we suggest that you start in Albuquerque and make a big loop the way we did a few years back. Whether you do this trip yourself or simply join us on this episode as we recount our experiences, you’ll agree that Land of Enchantment is a fitting nickname for Ne...

When we set out to visit all of the national parks, we drove past countless national monuments on our quest to check all the parks off our bucket list. Thankfully, in the years since we completed our original goal, we’ve retraced a lot of our road trip routes, adding stops at many of the incredible monuments that we missed on our first go-around. While national parks often get most of the headline...

Who hasn’t dreamed of seeing the tallest peak in North America close up? Denali, at 20,308 feet in elevation, and its namesake national park are breathtaking to behold. In this episode, we share stories from our two visits to Denali and explain how visitors get into the backcountry on the only road through the park. During our first trip, we let the driver of our green transit bus worry about keep...

Our first all-mailbag episode. Thank you for all the questions and comments you’ve sent to us about our podcast. We thought we’d try something new and dedicate an entire show to answering your questions. It was a lot of fun recording this episode; we hope you enjoy it. Some of the questions/topics we discuss in this episode: What are the transportation options to Isle Royale National Park? How do...

In this episode we take you with us on a journey to six of our favorite state parks as we talk about what makes each of these parks unique and why we think they’re astounding. With more than ten thousand state parks spread across the country, our list of favorites is long, and we may have to record several episodes about these smaller, but just-as-spectacular public lands. On our original trip to...

Saddle up, partner! Apologies for the corny opening, but—spoiler alert—more horse-related puns are awaiting you in this episode. We’ve taken many treks into wilderness areas in the past ten years, yet most of them have been of the two-legged variety. On this adventure, we let our four-legged friends do the hard part, carrying us (and our stuff) deep into the Pasayten Wilderness of north-central Wa...

Taking a wish out of Karen’s bucket, in 2016 we braved the hike down into the Grand Canyon to Havasu Falls with our friends John and Lolly. Fortunately, we both scored lodging in Supai Village, on the Havasupai Indian reservation, so we didn’t have to carry packs full of camping gear with us. Havasu Creek's waterfalls are a natural wonder that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. I...

In this episode we talk about some of our favorite hikes in the national parks. It took us a couple of tries to record this one because we had too many on our original “favorites” list. (We may have to do a follow-up episode someday to talk about all of the other jaw dropping trails we left out.) So grab your notebook because we provide a ton of information about must-do hikes in many of the most...