Thanks, I will search them up!
I don’t think you’ll find anywhere in the Rocky Mountains where this isn’t a major concern this summer.
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In recent years most of the impact to CO from wildfires is the smoke we get from fires quite far away — like CA or the PNW. We have had some fires close to RMNP, but that has been a lesser impact. But, who knows what this summer will bring?
https://www.9news.com/article/weather/weather-colorado/el-nino-watch-summer/507-08fa897e-2694-4783-acc4-eb7a2ec4fe61?tbref=hp
Right now the odds of a wet El Nino summer are looking good. Hopefully helps some with the fires. Fingers crossed. I want it to rain most days except the ones I am camping lol. And hopefully brings actual rain, not just atmospheric disturbances that bring lightning without the moisture.
MDI, Maine
mountains are short but we have lots of ‘em
Katahdin permits are probably sold out by now, but that area - Millinocket woudl be the town - has lots of peaks and they’re taller than the ones on the island
We will be at MDI! We also thought about trying to summit katahdin with the kids but we waited too long and the chimney pond campsite doesn’t have 2 open days in a row (1 night for the hike in, one night to stay over after summit attempt). But I’m watching g for cancellations…
Park city, UT. Decent town; good hiking and biking opportunities. 45 minutes from the SLC airport. Not sure about rafting or other running water activities, especially this year.
Summitting Katahdin at age 8 would be impressive.
DM me when you are there and I may be able to come say hi!
Agree. IMO Steamboat is the most real of the CO mountain towns (at least the ones to visit).
You could fly into DIA. Day/night in Estes. Drive to steamboat via Trailridge road to Grand Lake > Steamboat.
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My kids are 11 and 14 and we are going again to Big Bear in July in CA. It is a little over an hour from Ontario airport, couple hours from LAX. It’s a small mountain town with a nice old downtown, and lots to do for the kids. Lake is nice and cool as it is usually around 70/80 that time of year. They used to have a fun triathlon up there in the old days, ride around the lake. Lots of trails and sits at about 6500ft, and fairly cheap houses and cabins..They do a nice fireworks show over the lake, we will be there during that week, and its not really that crazy as compared to the beaches and other tourist places..
This is a solid plan.
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On the West Coast, California options.
North Lake Tahoe / Truckee / Tahoe City side of the lake. 45 in from Reno. All of the Mtn activities are there Hiking, Mtn bike, fishing. Nice hotels or airbnbs without the massive Resorts that cater to never leaving the resort.
Mammoth 3hrs from Reno. See above. Plus skiing will still be going until May 31st. Even less large resorts.
Big Bear 1 hr from Ontario California airport ( dont go to LA unless you have to). Very small mtn village feel. Mtn biking, golf, hiking. No resorts at all as far as I know. Airbnb best way.
I did a bunch of mountain vacations when my children were small. We usually did the road trip + backpacking thing.
What I liked about this was the isolation, the connection with nature, the affordability, the spontaneous “off the beaten path” nature of the experience.
I did not want….
- “Disneyland style mountain resorts” (this describes most of the recommendations in this thread).
- ” Texas machine mountain” - where Texas types go to dump themselves and their ATVs, motor homes, satellite TVs, dogs, horses and guns. (No-one here is recommending these places. But watch out!!! There is way toooo much of this out there!!!)
So….
I would ONLY visit Colorado, California, Salt Lake area, Sun Valley, Washington state, etc - IF I were planning on being AT LEAST 5 HRS from the airport.
Or, I would visit in the spring or fall!
How about Jasper?
Or Taos/Red River?
(These places were not too crowded the last time I was there).
Silver City/Gila Wilderness (near where I live) - is only 3 hours from El Paso. The town is not very crowded and the wilderness has very few people. It’s cheap and very relaxing. Although, not always postcard beautiful.
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did you get any cancellations? when will you be on MDI?
Hey! We actually are coming to MDI tomorrow! Staying Mon-Fri. Packing now, we just got back from a beach vacation for the week of the 4th. I’ll message you to see if we can meet up.
Do you or anyone have any hiking/biking recommendations for a family at Acadia? Probably a 4-5 mile hike tops (although they both ran their first 4 mile race in 90 degree humid weather on the 4th, so maybe 6 miles if it’s stretched out with lots of snack breaks).
May skip beehive because it will be too crowded.
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A Cadillac traverse - go up one side and down the other - is good fun. You can take the Island Explorer to get back to your car. That’s 4-5 miles. Of course, either trail on it’s own is half that distance so if you go up and down the same way you don’t have to deal with getting back to the car. The buses are free, though, and I’ve always thought traverses are kinda cool.
Most hiking on the island is under two miles; Caddy is an exception. The mountains are short. There’s just lots of them.
I like Acadia Mountain and Flying Mountain the best. Hiking to Bubble Rock (the trail is either a mile each way or a total of a mile round trip) is cool because Bubble Rock is cool.
Precipice is closed right now because there are falcons nesting on it.
If you want to do Beehive, get up in the early AM and it won’t be so busy. That’s actually true for all the trails, but Beehive in particular. That trail suffers from the fate of being right near Sand Beach. Anyway, if you do it, walk a bit past the summit to the Bowl, which is a little pond on the top of the mountain. That water is fine to swim in.
Biking - there are 55 miles of carraige trails if you have Not Road Bikes. The Eagle Lake, Bubble Pond, Jordan Pond loop is 11 miles. The Aunt Betty trail is REALLY hilly and honestly isn’t the prettiest of the trails; the upside of this is it’s one of the quieter ones - but your kids would likely be walking their bikes up a lot of hills. Eagle Lake and Witch Hole Pond is 11-12 miles. Eagle Lake is the busiest carriage road by far.
Thanks this is awesome info! 11 miles is probably too long for a bike ride but we will see.
Do you have any food recs? Pizza and or easy in/easy out? I heard about Beals, is that easy to manage?
Pizza in BH - Rosalie’s
Pizza in SWH - Little Notch
I’ve never been to Beal’s. Check out the Common Good Cafe in SWH for popovers that are WAY cheaper than Jordan’s.
IDK much about food places that are good with kids; if I’m in BH in the summer I want to go to the Lompoc for the tofu bahn mi. I think Geddy’s is overrated. I like Thrive in BH too.
My main rec is for lunch or dinner in BH, get it to go and go eat it in Agamont Park, where you can watch the town pier / have an ocean view.
Skip the Lobster Ice Cream at Ben and Bills. It is a tourist trap.