 |
| Petrified National Park |
Among the best ways to see Grand Canyon National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Just four short walks will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – the Colorado River gorge, archeological and historical ruins, and incredible sunrises and sunsets.
Best trails to see Petrified Forest National Park’s wonders
Among the best ways to see Petrified Forest National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Three short trails and one brief walk will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – petrified trees, painted deserts, ancient pueblos, and volcanic craters.
Great Logs Trail
Petrified Forest National Park
Families can hike the remains of a woodlands dating from the dinosaurs’ earliest days on the Great Logs Trail in Petrified Forest National Park. The fairly easy walk consists of two loops that combine for a 0.6-mile round trip. Because of the hot Arizona weather, spring and autumn mark the best time to hike the trail.
Best trails to see Saguaro National Park’s wonders
Among the best ways to see Saguaro National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Just five short trails will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – towering saguaros, desert wildflowers, petroglyphs, the Javelina Rocks, and Sonoran Desert wildlife.
Tanque Verde Ridge Trail
Saguaro National Park
Among the most popular picnic spots in Saguaro National Park is the Javelina Rocks, located off of Cactus Forest Drive. Formed more than 25 million years ago, the rocks are an interesting example of Catalina Gneiss, in which sheets of other minerals were melted into one another while deep underground.
BONUS: How to avoid, treat hyponatremia on hike
If hiking in the desert or on an extremely humid day, beware of suffering from hyponatremia. This ailment – a low sodium blood level – has been on the rise, in fact, at Grand Canyon National Park.
Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.
