It’s finally October, which means it is prime leaf-peeping season!  In this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we are excited to talk about one of our favorite leaf-peeping parks - Great Smoky Mountains National Park! 

If you are looking forward to learning five fun facts that will enhance your visit to the Smokies, this is the episode for you.

Join us as we cover: 

• The fascinating roots of the Great Smoky Mountains

We hope you enjoyed these fun facts about the Great Smokies! This park is truly life-giving, not only for creatures and plants but for the people as well. 

We hope you get a chance to get out there and explore these mountains for yourself in the near future! And if you need any help planning your next trip, check out this Great Smoky Mountains Itinerary.

Is there anything more fascinating to us than falling water? We absolutely love waterfalls! So in this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we are sharing some of the best national parks to visit if you want to see waterfalls and some of the best waterfalls that you can’t miss. 

If you are ready to go on a waterfall-chasing adventure, this episode is for you! 

Join us as we cover: 

• The six best national parks for seeing waterfalls 

We hope you enjoyed this episode and that you get to check out some of these amazing waterfalls on your next trip to the national parks. We would love to hear from you! What are your favorite waterfall parks? 

Leave us a comment and let us know at dirtinmyshoes.com/podcast. And if you love the show, we would love it if you left us a 5-star review!

Is there a more life-giving place than Great Smoky Mountain National Park? We don’t think there is! This is the time of year this park really shines, so in this episode, we are exploring everything the Smokies have to offer. 

We know that some of you are heading out there in the next few weeks to see the fall colors, so we are excited to talk about and celebrate this beautiful national park with you!

Join us as we cover: 

• Why this park is the most visited national park in America

We hope you enjoyed exploring this stunning park with us! It is truly amazing, and it deserves all of the hype that it gets. There is so much magic in this park, and we know you’ll love it. 

If you want some help planning your trip to the Smokies and avoiding the massive crowds, grab your Great Smoky Mountains Itinerary before you go!

Check out the full show notes here.

In this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we are revisiting one of John’s favorite topics- food! This is Volume 2 of our favorite food that you can find in and near the national parks. 

Food is a huge part of traveling, so we want to make sure you don’t miss any of the delicious eats in the national parks you visit. Join us as we share two great places to eat and one that didn’t quite meet our expectations. 

Join us as we cover: 

• The restaurant you can’t miss in Astoria 

We hope you enjoyed hearing about our top three picks in this episode! If you head to any of these parks, make sure to stop in and try it for yourself because, hey, what’s a trip without good food?? 

For help planning your next trip to the national parks, head over to DirtInMyShoes.com!  And if you want to listen to National Park Foods Volume 1, you can find it here.

Check out the full show notes here.

Who’s ready to learn some Rocky Mountain fun facts?! In this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we are sharing some fun facts about this park that you won’t find on the NPS website. 

John did some digging and found some fascinating facts, particularly about the rocks and mountains in this park. Let’s discuss what makes this national park so special! 

Join us as we cover: 

• How old these rocks really are

We hope you enjoy these Rocky Mountain fun facts! The magic of this park is in the small details, and it truly is an incredible place to visit. 

If you are looking for help planning your next trip, head over to DirtInMyShoes.com to get your Rocky Mountain Itinerary!

Check out the full show notes here.

Fall is here!  The national parks are absolutely incredible this time of year because the crowds die down, the air is crisp, and the colors are vibrant. 

In this episode, we are sharing our top 10 favorite national parks to visit in the fall! *Disclaimer – this episode is heavy on the Lord of the Rings references.  If you are like Ash and can only handle so much, you can read through the full show notes instead for the list of our favorite fall parks :)

Join us as we cover: 

• Our top pick for national parks in the West this time of year

We hope you enjoy this episode and are able to get out and see some of these parks this fall because the colors are truly so beautiful! 

If you need help planning your trip, head over to DirtInMyShoes.com to check out our national park itineraries and other trip-planning resources.

Check out the full show notes here.

Ready to get Rocky Mountain high? We are heading over to Colorado for this episode of Exploring the National Parks! 

We recently got back from visiting Rocky Mountain National Park again, and we had such an amazing time. Join us as we share some of our favorite spots, hikes, things to do, and more! 

Join us as we cover: 

• Everything you need to know about the Bear Lake area

Hitting the trail in Rocky Mountain is where you really see the magic, so we hope you get a chance to get out there and see it for yourself! Any extra time you can spend seeing mother nature in action is humbling, especially while you’re in these mountains. 

If you are ready to start planning your trip to Rocky Mountain, we have you covered. Head over to DirtInMyShoes.com to get your itinerary! 

Let’s talk about food in the national parks!

One of the top requests we have received on this podcast is to talk about food. So in this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we are talking about three of the most memorable places to eat in the national parks. 

Join us as we cover: 

• Where you can find the most heavenly blackberry butter

There are so many amazing places to eat in the national parks, and some not-so-great options as well.  We hope these recommendations help you discover some delicious food on your next trip!

If you need help planning your next national park vacation, head over to DirtInMyShoes.com.

Check out the full show notes here.

In this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we are diving into the fun facts of Acadia National Park! 

This park is probably cooler than you think, so we are excited to share what makes it such an incredible park (aside from the gorgeous views!) with you. 

Let’s take a deep dive into the fascinating history that shaped this national park into the awe-inspiring location that it is today. 

Join us as we cover: 

• The massive amount of geological history missing from this park

Thanks for joining us for these Acadia fun facts! We hope this inspired you to finally plan that trip out to Acadia because it is just magical! If you want help planning your next trip, head over to DirtInMyShoes.com.

Check out the full show notes here.

Are you ready to learn about a few more of our favorite places to cool off in the national parks? 

This is part two of the best swimming holes that the National Parks have to offer. This isn’t an all-inclusive list – we truly love so many swimming places in the parks!  

But today, we are sharing three more of our top favorite places to cool off after a long hike. Let’s discuss the best places for a swim during your next trip!

Join us as we cover: 

• The swimming spots with the best views in Grand Teton

We hope you enjoyed hearing about the best refreshing places to take a swim and cool off in the national parks. 

If you want more ideas, make sure you listen to part one of the best swimming holes in the parks. If you want help planning your next trip, head over to DirtInMyShoes.com.

Check out the full show notes here.