One of our favorite stories from serving in the Peace Corps happened to a friend of ours. At dinner one night, Josie was served a heaping plate of rice, beans, ugali … something starchy. The details of what was on the plate are foggy, but the point of the story is that it was stacked high, and, as...

We’ve hiked the trails in Zion. We “did” Bryce. We’ve visited the Grand Canyon—both rims, one in the winter and one in the summer. When it comes to the spectacular parks of the Southwest, we’ve made a dent.

Utah, in particular, is filled with gorgeous national parks. You leave Zion just...

At the Grand Canyon, you stand at the edge, peering into a gaping hole, the splendor of the canyon sweeping before you. At Badlands National Park, the unforgiving precipices exist as far as the eye can see. In Yosemite, the waterfalls and cliff faces surround you.

For me, in most national parks, it...

When I first enter a national park, I have little choice but to be That Guy. I don’t know the lay of the land, I am unfamiliar with the famous landmarks and I yearn to learn about the biggies that make a park worthy of national park designation.

Hence my day as That Guy in Yosemite Valley. An...

Far away from anywhere, the snake-like road of King’s Canyon offers few amenities for the curious explorer. Due to the unusual layout of the park, in order to travel from the western portion of the park to the eastern portion, drivers have to pass through Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National...

King’s Canyon National Park, California.

If you want to experience it, you have to work for it. Parks like these are nearly always worth the long and arduous trip.

The road into King’s Canyon is closed through the winter, and it’s easy to understand why. The narrow, winding road balances...

There are big trees, and then there are big trees. In Sequoia, there are neither. Instead, there are BFTs (Come on … you know what the “F” stands for.)

The Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park is home to three of the five largest sequoias in the world. Straight, tall, wide, plentiful. It’s...

I’d been under the impression that I would find Sequoia National Park to be empty and quiet, void of a lot of people. For some reason, I just assumed everyone migrated north to the more famous sister park, Yosemite. So I was surprised that we had to work on claiming our spot in the long line of...

In Rosamond, California, a small, unsuspecting town in the middle of the desert, we found the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound, one of the most successful feline breeding facilities in the world. I get a bit queasy around zoos, with oversized animals confined to small cages, pacing back and forth, back...

Digital Vagabonding.com and Matador Travel are offering a "Roads Scholarship" to enable a talented writer to road trip across North America this summer and share their journey online.

We received 101 thoughtful proposals along with over 1,000 comments in support of the proposals. It's now time to...