The Badlands are at their mildest in June, with wildlife about and even some greenery. Spend some time soaking in the scenery from a campground, time your hikes for the sun angles and weather, and listen to a ranger talk at an amphitheater. You won’t have the place to yourself, but do you really want to be in the Badlands by yourself?
Great Smoky in June is good for seeing bears, fireflies, and for swimming holes or rafting, so no wonder it’s so popular. Plan ahead and spend some time camping here, so you can visit the most popular spots on weekday mornings. Take your time hiking and ask folks what they’ve seen.
Teddy Roosevelt is another fun park that’s great in June. I enjoyed driving to all three park units, hiking and enjoying wildlife and scenic viewpoints. But if I go again, I’m going to stay longer. The folks at the campgrounds were very friendly and nice.
Yellowstone is the best park in the contiguous US and is big with lots to see and do. So you need to go when there’s good weather and activities are in full swing. Book campgrounds and activities well in advance, give yourself time for everything on your list, and go in June before it gets even busier in July and August. The grand old park can handle the crowds, but planning ahead is the key.
Wind Cave is crowded in summer, so common advice says to visit in May or September to avoid crowds and heat. But it’s a cave, so heat is not an issue. And the cave tours are all in guided groups, which are similar in size most of the year. So my advice is to visit when you’re visiting other parks above in the region. And you should absolutely book your tickets in advance. Bison can be seen outside the park entrance in June and other months.
June is a beautiful month, so take advantage of the fine weather, go camping and enjoy some of the best national parks in the country.
After driving down Baja and to Mexico City in the last two years, this time I drove from California to the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico. Highlights included seeing flamingos in Celestún above and jumping into Ik Kil cenote below, plus visiting many world heritage sites along the way. Look for my individual site reports and coming summaries, Pyramids of Mexico and Colonial Mexico.
Recent headlines and photos of several burning vehicles have inflamed fears of travel to Mexico. Many Americans have a bad attitude about Mexico, wrongly believing it is too dangerous to drive around, imagining bandaleros and corrupt police demanding bribes around every corner. Some Americans apparently enjoy horror stories about Mexico, while ignoring gun violence in the US. I have now driven to almost every state in Mexico without encountering any crime. I spoke with other foreigners who have been visiting Mexico annually for decades, and they also did not experience crime. This trip, I went through a couple of checkpoints and had my car searched once, exactly the same as in Texas.
Of course, there is serious crime and violence in Mexico. So are the statistics accurate or are the reports overblown? I had a long conversation with my Spanish teacher about some common stories. She thinks that in most cases American tourists are not worth the trouble for criminals, who prefer to prey on poor Mexicans whose cases might not be investigated as thoroughly. The corruption cases she heard about involved Americans who broke the law and were trying to evade responsibility by bribing police officers, which is obviously illegal. I’ve also heard this kind of story where Americans break traffic laws, especially driving under the influence of alcohol. Such behavior puts Mexican cops in a tough spot, where they don’t want to ruin someone’s vacation, but they have a job to do. So, be careful, avoid drugs, follow the law and in my experience, you will be fine.
If you’re driving from California, Tuscon is convenient for getting pesos and printing out car documents like your Mexican insurance policy. You need a hard copy of that, in case you have any trouble in a place without cell service. I found the small Santa Teresa border crossing very quick and easy for getting my TIP—temporary import permit to avoid paying taxes on my car at customs—, and I ended up recrossing the border at Laredo, in order to take advantage of Texas’ high speed highways. Laredo is a great place to get pesos and cross too, and there’s an interesting little history museum next to La Posada Hotel.
Since there is a 542 mile gap in the supercharger network between Veracruz and Campeche, I charged at my hotel overnight. That’s also necessary to get to Calakmul and Palenque and from Veracruz to Sierra Gorda, so I booked hotels with destination chargers, which are cheap and convenient for guests since slow charging is fine overnight.
However, you need to confirm with your hotel in advance that they both have a charger on site and that it is currently working. I arrived at my hotel in Palenque, which advertises “electric car charging on site”, but they laughed at me when I asked to use the car charger. So I had to spend a couple hours at the local Nissan dealer slow-charging for $11. After that, I checked with the rest of my hotels and changed my itinerary when I found two other hotels without working chargers. In another case, a third party charging site at an important stop for me went offline sometime after I departed the US, another unpleasant surprise for me. Off the supercharger network, you need to double-check and have a backup plan, with adapters and third party apps to find alternate charging. But if I can drive to the Yucatan and back, it can’t be that difficult.
See January, February, March, and April. May is a great month to visit many parks, especially river and forest parks that are full of life in spring. I recommend Congaree, Cuyahoga Valley, New River Gorge, Olympic and Yosemite.
Congaree is a great place to kayak, so high water may allow you to roam more. But May is also when the fireflies all blink together. Recreation.gov holds a lottery in early April for evening passes during the week long synchronous firefly event mid May.
Cuyahoga Valley is popular in May as the Brandywine Falls are awash and the trails are surrounded by spring greenery. I like biking there, and the tourist trains run a full schedule in May also taking bikes.
New River Gorge may be best in May as the wildflowers are out on the trails, the temperature is just right, and the river runs fast for rafting.
Olympic for me is all about the rainforest. Go early, wear good hiking boots, a thermal layer and rain gear, but try to visit Hoh Rainforest and hike the Hall of Mosses when it’s wet and green. Visiting the rainforest is a unique national park experience, unlike mountain hikes or beaches. The park is beautiful during the summer, but it gets very crowded at Hoh beginning Memorial Day weekend.
Yosemite’s waterfalls all flow strong in May, and Bridalveil, Sentinel and Yosemite Falls are spectacular at peak snowmelt. Wildflowers bloom on the valley trails, the temperature is pleasant during the day, and it’s not as crowded as summer. Glacier Point viewpoint usually opens to vehicles in May, earlier now that there’s less snow.
You may notice that my recommendations on when to visit are often a little earlier than common advice, and that’s usually to avoid crowds, to take advantage of planning and because the climate is changing. Planning ahead is particularly important for saving time and money, as a simple campground reservation made six months in advance can put you in the best possible location at the best time for $30. Summer used to be the best time to visit most national parks, but many parks are now too crowded and too hot in July and August. But stay tuned, because I’ve got more national parks recommendations coming on the first Friday of each month.
One time in Saskatchewan, I had to turn back when I realized I would not make my destination, due to the cold. The winter storm that buried my car the day before was still blowing arcticly, so I had been carefully watching my mileage. EV batteries must keep themselves warm, and regenerative braking is less efficient in cold weather. I still should have been fine, but the rural washboard road turned to mush in a sleet storm. (At the time, I didn’t know that my front struts were broken, thus causing friction on the insides of the front tires on bumpy roads). My range was dropping considerably faster than my miles passed, even as I slowed to a crawl.
So, I turned around and headed back—while still in range—to a charger I’d used recently. And then I took the long way around. I no longer have range anxiety; I have contingencies.
“It may be taken for granted that, rash as the Americans are, when they are prudent there is good reason for it.”
— by Jules Verne in Around the World in 80 Days
This was a wake up call that my battery just doesn’t have the range it did when I started four years ago. Let’s face it, using up to six superchargers a day while crossing the continent repeatedly isn’t common use. Ever since I drove through clouds of locusts on a hot day in eastern Oregon, I’ve noticed the car struggles with heat. (I’ll have to get my radiator checked more thoroughly, too). And I’ve driven through all four major deserts in the contiguous US many times, including getting stuck in traffic south of Vegas mid-day in the summer. Extreme cold requires extra energy and slows charging, but it’s extreme heat that damages batteries in the long run.
For most folks, the decline in battery range wouldn’t matter, as it’s not quite bad enough to be covered under warranty. My Tesla 3LR can still drive further than most EVs (or RVs). But I’m going to the Yucatán, and there’s a gap in the supercharger network in Tabasco. So I need every mile of long range.
While supercharging on Route 66 above and consulting with Tow Mater—“average intelligence”—, I decided to get a new high voltage battery. TSK (TeslaService.LA) gave me a good price on a lightly used battery. Turns out that since most folks treat their batteries much better than I do, the collision repair shop has plenty of used high voltage batteries in stock. They did a great job, including a thorough cleaning and minor fixes, so, next stop, Mexico!
Bryce Canyon is spectacular in April with a chance of snow on the hoodoos. The best of Bryce is a horse or better a mule ride down into the canyon, and the park concessionaire starts riding tours on April 1. The canyon rim is around 8,500 feet, so late snow and leftover morning ice are quite possible. Except for a couple roads up to mountain peak lookout trails, the park opens for spring between the end of the first week and mid-April. If you are a serious hiker and want all the trails open, then I’d recommend the first half of October before the snow falls. Otherwise, I’d check the weather, wear a thermal layer and go in the second half of April, when wildlife and flowers are just emerging after a cold winter. May or September are also nice, as they are at most parks.
Canyonlands has good weather in April and has many different places to explore by bike, drive or hike. The roads and trails are often rough especially after rain, but there are wildflowers. Campgrounds require early reservations and background camping requires permits, gear and experience.
Capitol Reef has some excellent hiking in April ~65° F. There may be some rain, but that brings wildflowers. Some like visiting the orchards in fruit picking season, but I’d rather be biking here when the orchards are in bloom.
April has pleasant weather for taking photos of the Petrified Forest with wildflowers. Summer is too hot and winter is too cold. You need decent weather to hike around, and the contrast between the fossilized trees and living flowers is nice.
First Saturday of the month, so here are the three National Parks best visited in March. See January and February for more.
March is a tricky month for parks, as many parks are still in winter or are too cold and wet to enjoy. But in the west at higher elevation, spring comes earlier and a few parks are fairly dry year round. Arches, Joshua Tree and Pinnacles are my March park picks.
Let’s be honest, an enjoyable experience at Arches is all about parking. Ideally, you want to stop at each arch spot, hike a bit, take photos and then move on to the next. If it’s overly crowded, that can be difficult, even with timed entry or arriving at sunrise. Since it’s too hot in summer, the shoulder seasons are crowded. Winter is too cold, and slick rock trails are dangerous when there’s ice. The solution is March. Snow is rare, but it makes a better photo if you see any on or through an arch. Temperatures are fine, with most daytime highs in the 70° F range. There will still be plenty of people, but not nearly as many as Spring Break. Sure, fall is fine too, but you could say that about most of the parks.
Joshua Tree is a great spot for hiking and camping, but the campgrounds are mostly at ~4,000 feet. So winter is uncomfortable, and as the park is in the Colorado and Mojave deserts, summer is uncomfortable too. I prefer March, when you can see wildflowers. The trees and rocks are great, but it’s even better to find a pretty little flower unexpectedly blooming off some rough trail. Like Arches, the park is popular and crowded at Spring Break.
Pinnacles similarly is high, relatively dry, and has limited trail side parking, so I like March there before Spring Break. But there’s a special reason to go in March (or maybe October), as the entire Bear Gulch cave is open. My favorite part of Pinnacles are the caves, but due to bats raising their young, many underground areas are off limits for months of the year. The weather is fine for hiking too, and you can see wildflowers.
Hope this series helps you plan your next national park adventure!
In case you want to visit all the National Parks in the contiguous US, this year I’m sharing my recommendations for 3-5 National Parks to visit each month. By the end of the year, you’ll have a full list of all 51 parks, evenly spread out over the different seasons with as few compromises as possible.
Since January is typically the coldest month, it makes sense to visit southern Florida, the only tropical climate in the continental US. That means Biscayne, the Dry Tortugas and the Everglades. These are beautiful parks for enjoying snorkeling, beaches and nature outdoors, so January is a great month for avoiding the hot, humid weather with afternoon thunderstorms that would bother you much of the rest of the year.
Hurricane season is lengthening, and now some tropical storms form in May before the official season of June through November. I visited the Dry Tortugas in May with an eye on the weather, and I was lucky. Some see sea turtles up close, but I was not lucky. Nesting beaches are often off-limits, and the water visibility wasn’t as clear for snorkeling as it would be in January. If you want to see the turtles, take the short, low altitude seaplane out to the Dry Tortugas, and you will see them swimming all year long.
Sometimes a winter storm will bring winds down to the keys with cold snaps in the 50s, but they don’t last. Many places that rent snorkel gear will have various wetsuits to keep you comfortable, if needed, but the water temperature usually stays above 70° F. Day highs are around 75° F, and most evenings are very mild.
Since the Everglades are dry in January, wildlife tends to concentrate around reliable water sources, making them easier to spot. Birding is best in January, as many migratory birds are in the park, and large charismatic birds like roseate spoonbills and wood storks are laying eggs. And there are few mosquitoes in January.
Weather makes a big difference in how much we enjoy our park visits, so—despite the high season costs—, I recommend visiting these three tropical parks in January, when most other parks are cold, closed and difficult to access. Plan ahead, be flexible on where to stay, and be efficient with your time to save money. But enjoy your time on a tropical beach or amongst the mangroves while others are home shoveling snow.
For 2026, I resolve to complete all UNESCO sites in half of Canada’s provinces, make a third road trip to Mexico, find even more national monuments and recreation areas in the US, and drive to southeast Alaska. Logistical challenges and new site designations may thwart my plans, but I will do my best.
Weekly Monday posts will continue to be a new visit. Thursdays will still be sporadic summaries and viewpoints. The first Saturday of each month will be park recommendations. And mid-month on Saturdays I will highlight a climate issue. Hope you have a happy New Year!
Once I get to a park, I like to explore, preferably without burning carbon. I have a folding e-bike (Gocycle G4) and a folding kayak (Oru Bay) that fit in my car (Tesla 3LR). I also bring an old packraft (Kokopelli) for remote camping trips. [To be clear, I receive zero compensation related to any products or services, neither referral bonuses nor discounts.] Despite some wonderful experiences, I would not recommend anyone buy any of these products, which all have drawbacks. Instead, pick what works best for you.
In many parks—especially for normal folk who don’t visit a hundred a year—the smart paddling choice is to rent. Often the only way to get a pickup / drop off is free with a rental. If you don’t paddle frequently, this ends up being relatively cheap, with less hassle and without maintenance. Many places are very concerned about invasive species, so careful cleaning and drying of your own equipment is time consuming too, not to mention fees for licenses and mussel stickers.
My folding kayak works well for shallow, flat water. I have a spray skirt for whitewater, but it’s best in swamps like Congaree and Big Thicket or in long relatively flat rivers like the Delaware or Big South Fork. Because it tracks straighter than my packraft would go, I can cover a lot of ground, frequently passing younger, fitter raft paddlers. It’s a bit expensive, tippy, and it doesn’t carry a lot of gear, so I use it for day trips. But folks renting $90 a day gear often say ‘good idea’ when they see me pull my kayak out of my car trunk, not realizing this is possible. Their guides look much less pleased with the idea.
I wish I had a lighter packraft, as mine is almost as heavy as my 25 pound folding kayak. But it packs up small and carries much more gear, so that’s the only option when the campsites are far from the car. The Kokopelli is also more appropriate for whitewater than my Oru.
Which brings me to my new inflatable boat (Takacat 260) with electric outboard (E-propulsion Spirit Plus). Charging my new outboard battery with a solar panel (above) is easy, and the battery floats. While heavier than I would like, this is the lightest combo I could find. With a solar panel, I can run this at low speed all day, even charging underway. I find it works best when carrying gear across open bays or trying to cover longer distances when time is short. One surprising benefit is that I can approach birds very quietly and closely both in the water and on rocks or shore, with a more stable platform for photos. If everyone switched to electric, the shores would be much quieter and cleaner.
My favorite place in Baja is Loreto, above. It’s a magical town, both Mexican and touristy, with good restaurants, not too big nor crowded, near beautiful beaches and with quality tours to explore the bay. The bay and islands are part of a national park, where I saw blue whales. Simple restaurants on nearby beaches have the freshest seafood: try Vista al Mar.
Winter is the time to see the gray whales in their favorite lagoons, mating and raising their calves. And some of the tour operators offer rock painting and other tours, if it’s too cold or windy for watching whales. Ensenada has vineyards with wine tasting in the surrounding valleys. And folks enjoy biking, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, kayaking and more along the whole peninsula. More folks should make the drive from the US state of Alta—‘upper’—California to the Mexican state of Baja—‘lower’—California and Baja California Sur—‘south’.
Everyone who has driven to Baja has stories, but there’s a lot of BS from people who want to make it sound more rugged and dangerous than it is. Americans often drive big expensive campers with all sorts of extra gear, imagining they’re on some challenging off-road expedition, like one of the Baja races. They talk about camping at some perfect remote cove only accessible with a specialized vehicle and extreme skills, even though many beautiful beaches are on easily driven roads. I saw a van roll over after swerving to avoid a pothole on the highway, so I think the last thing you need is some top-heavy monstrosity. (Driver said he was fine, but I asked the police nearby to check on him).
While I saw several large motorcycle packs of ‘rugged individuals’ staying at comfortable hotels, I drove my Tesla 3, with a low center of gravity that steers well, and I visited some of the most wonderful places in Mexico, without drama. As on my drive to Mexico City, I was neither asked for bribes nor witnessed any crimes. There’s much less traffic in Baja, and there’s no need for a car permit in Baja or neighboring Rocky Point. I crossed the border at Tecate, where I simply drove through without a wait. There are a few checkpoints, but—besides asking questions about my car—they typically just wanted to know my destination, to be sure I wasn’t trying to drive at night. (Due to politics, returning to the US is far more time-consuming than it was last year, as inspections have increased significantly).
50 years ago maybe, you needed a small private plane to stay at Hotel Serenidad, one of John Wayne’s old favorites, but I just drove there. The restaurant still has delicious food, and the atmosphere is tranquil. The road was a little bumpy, but I charged my Tesla 3 at a nearby hotel, while playing with their dogs. Then, down the coast, I had one of my favorite meals, aquachiles mixto, at Ana’s restaurant on Playa Santispac, while mesmerized by the view from my table below.
The plain truth is that Baja is drivable by electric vehicle, and I was surprised to see only two Teslas south of Ensenada. Even the US CBP officer was surprised that I had driven my Tesla 3 all the way to La Paz and asked about road conditions and charging. There are two routes from the last Supercharger in Ensenada, either via Hotel Cataviña and the pacific highway or via San Felipe on the more recently paved ’faster’ route. I took the pacific route, since it’s a few miles shorter. Sure, my car lost signal for the whole round trip between Ensenada and LaPaz, so it missed the time zone change between north and south Baja. But I used my iPhone to navigate, entering my next destination whenever I was in a town large enough to have cell service or at a place with WiFi.
The destination chargers I found on PlugShare are much slower than superchargers: +42 miles/hour, but some are free with lunch or $20 to charge. La Paz to Loreto can be done in one drive, and both ends have hotels with free charging for guests. (Here’s a tip. If you’re charging overnight, don’t set a full charge as ‘one time only’. When I woke up, a power outage during the night had reset my charge level from full back to daily 80%.) I drove Bahía de Los Angeles to Ensenada in one long day, charging in San Quintín. The trick is to obey the speed limits and take your time. Since charging is so slow, there’s no point in saving 40 minutes speeding, only to have to charge for an extra hour when you arrive. Besides, you need time to avoid potholes.
Although too many people have thrown trash along the roads and too many developments and small buildings have been abandoned, Baja is still very scenic, with beautiful beaches, craggy peaks, canyons, deserts, dunes, farms, salt flats, volcanoes, date palms, countless cacti, osprey, and more. OK, it can be dusty and dirty, but not everywhere. Mexico is an informal country, and Baja is even more so, where folks just do things their own way. (Every margarita I drank, tasted different than the last). But if you put a smile on your face, be patient, thoughtful and keep your eyes open, then Baja is a beautiful place to visit, especially in a small electric car!
