Episodes

Are you thinking about visiting our nation’s 63rd national park, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia? Then you’re in luck. In this episode, we talk about our recent visit to New River Gorge National Park and Preserve with our dear friends Bob and Sue. And we’ve arranged it into a three-day itinerary to give you a starting point for planning your visit. You can find links to many of the places and activities we discuss in this episode on our blog post about New River Gorge Nati...

Did you know that Mammoth Cave National Park preserves the longest known cave system in the world? Here’s another fact you might not know: many people think the cave is haunted. Join us for this episode as we give an overview of Mammoth Cave National Park, and Karen regales Matt with frightening and sometimes ghoulish stories from the past about the caverns below south-central Kentucky. Link to the National Park Service webpage: Top Ten Tips for Visiting Mammoth Cave National Park Please subsc...

In our mailbag episodes, we answer questions from listeners about traveling, hiking, public lands, outdoor gear, and whatever else is on their minds. In this episode, we’re talking about the America the Beautiful Pass, how to get started backpacking, and our thoughts on how to balance work and travel. If you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode, email us at mattandkarensmith@gmail.com. Links we discus in the episode: · Where to purchase an America the Beautiful Pass onlin...

The trail to The Subway is one of the least traveled yet most spectacular in Zion National Park. Over countless years, water has carved a unique, tube-like slot canyon along the Left Fork of North Creek. If you’re lucky enough to win the permit lottery to hike this trail, you have two options for getting there: top-down and bottom-up. In this episode, we talk about our experience hiking the bottom-up route and tips about having a safe and enjoyable hike. Link to Zion NP’s webpage where you can ...

Starting at the shore of Lake Powell in northern Arizona, Antelope Canyon stretches for over twenty miles as it snakes its way south through pristine Navajo land. Over millions of years, water and wind carved several incredibly beautiful sections of the canyon. In this episode, we discuss four of the areas that you can visit to experience these wonders of nature up close. Links to where you can find more information about the tours we talk about: Ken’s Lower Antelope Canyon Tour Dixie’s Lower ...

In our mailbag episodes, we answer questions from listeners about traveling, hiking, public lands, outdoor gear, and whatever else is on their minds. In this episode, we’re talking about road trips, train trips, bears, and ticks. If you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode, email us at mattandkarensmith@gmail.com. Subscribe to The Dear Bob and Sue Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and if you’ve enjoyed our show, please leave us a review o...

We get a lot of questions from people asking us what parks they should visit during specific times of the year. On today’s episode we’re going season to season, talking about which parks are great to visit during the winter, spring, summer, and fall. We cover all 63 national parks, taking into account factors like their weather, accessibility, wildflowers, fall foliage, crowds, and much more. Grab a pen and paper and get ready to take notes. You might learn a few seasonal travel tips that’ll com...

From historic hotels to jaw-dropping vistas to spectacular hiking trails, Glacier has it all. Because of its mountainous terrain, activities and sights are clustered in several unique areas of the park and along the central park road corridor. A visit to this magnificent place feels like going to several national parks, all nestled around the Continental Divide. It would take a lifetime to see and do everything that Glacier National Park has to offer, and in this second episode of our two-part s...

The Crown of the Continent, Glacier National Park is one of the most visited and beloved destinations in the National Park System. In this part 1 of 2 episodes on the park, we discuss one of its most unique aspects: their backcountry chalets. Ten chalets dotted the park back more than a hundred years ago, providing visitors a place to rest between day-long horseback rides. Today, three of the ten original chalets still exist and operate as places where travelers can spend a night or two while ex...

Over the years while we explored the national parks, we also found a lot of unique and authentic places to eat, and today we’re sharing some of our favorites. In this mid-summer bonus episode, we provide a sampling of great restaurants, bars and bakeries. From donut shops to breweries and steakhouses, we discuss where you can get some delicious food while you’re visiting the parks. It’s always fun to find your own hidden gems when traveling, but if you find yourself at a loss for where to dine, ...

Our country’s national parks are frequently referred to as “America’s Best Idea,” for good reason. There are 423 National Park Service sites that protect everything from natural wonders to historical sites to endangered animals. Every one of them has something unique and special to offer visitors, but on this episode, we showcase our favorite 25 national parks. If you’re not planning to visit every national park, these are the ones we think you should visit in your lifetime. What are some of th...

The southwest corner of South Dakota has an incredible variety of National Park Service sites to explore, and one of our favorites is Badlands National Park. From its mixed-grass prairie to its jaw-dropping geologic rock formations, this is a must-see park. In this episode, we talk about ways to explore the area on foot, by driving along the scenic road and by stopping at the numerous overlooks. You’re likely to spot the resident wildlife: bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and lots of pr...

It’s time again for our monthly mailbag episode where we answer questions from our listeners about national parks and other public lands, as well as questions about gear, hiking trails, and a broad range of travel-related topics. Some of the questions/topics we discuss in this episode: What kind of backpacks we use on our hikes Whether or not mosquito headnets really work Why we don’t use hydration bladders in our backpacks Which parks are good for small children Why we each have our own p...

Only a three-hour drive from Seattle, North Cascades National Park looks like you’ve traveled all the way to Switzerland. With its 300 glaciers and soaring mountain peaks, North Cascades is a wilderness park best explored on foot during the summer months. We discuss our favorite hikes, as well as a unique park lodge in the tiny town of Stehekin that can only be reached by boat, seaplane, or on foot. And we share a story about a frightening night we spent in a remote backpacking campsite. Some o...

In the third episode of our series about volcano parks in the Pacific Northwest we’re featuring Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park, which has one of the most stunning scenes in any national park: a sapphire-blue lake situated in the middle of a collapsed volcano’s caldera. Reaching a depth of almost 2,000 feet, Crater Lake is the deepest and most pristine lake in the country. What is there to do in this park besides gaze in awe at this incredible view? A lot, actually. On this episode we talk ab...

Rising more than 14,000 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. In this episode we discuss this active volcano and the incredible national park that surrounds it, one of the oldest parks in the national park system. With 97% designated as wilderness, we share tips on how to visit some of the developed areas, with information about what to see, where to stay, when to go, and our favorite hiking trails. Some of the topics we discuss in this episode: Why...

What’s the most difficult day hike we’ve ever done? Without question it was climbing to the top of Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in WA state. Mount St Helens is part of the Cascade Range: 13 volcanoes that lie in an 800-mile chain from British Columbia to northern California. Seven of these thirteen volcanoes have erupted at least once in the past 200 years, one of those being the most catastrophic and deadly volcanic event ever experienced in the United States: the 1980 eruption ...

It’s time for our monthly mailbag episode again, where we answer questions about national parks and other public lands, as well as gear, camping and a broad range of travel-related topics. Some of the questions/topics we discuss in this episode: What NPS sites turned out to be more than we expected Whether or not you need a campsite reservation in Olympic NP in the summer Have we been recognized by fans during our travels In which parks did the cost to get there outweigh the experience How...

What’s in your backpack? To prevent emergencies from happening while you’re hiking, and to deal with any that might arise, it’s important to include items from the Ten Essentials list. The National Park Service encourages all hikers to know what the Ten Essentials are, and to carry some version of them in their backpack. In this episode, we’ll discuss each of the ten categories, and give suggestions about what we like to carry with us on day hikes. Some of the topics we discuss in this episode ...

Alaska’s eight national parks contain some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the NPS system, but two of them, Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley, consist of nothing but millions of acres of wilderness. There are no roads, no trails, no campsites and no services of any kind. In this episode we talk about our adventure to these two remote parks, the last parks on our original national park journey. Join us as we travel to these places that few visitors ever see, above the Arctic Circle...

One of the most beautiful state parks in the country, Utah’s Dead Horse Point State Park, offers jaw-dropping views and incredible hiking trails. You can also rent one of nine yurts for a camping experience that combines the fun of tent camping with some of the luxuries of a hotel room. In this episode, we’re coming to you from inside one of those yurts, and we’ll discuss what it was like spending the night here, plus everything you’d want to know about the park and our experience driving the ne...

It’s time for our monthly mailbag episode again, where we answer questions about national parks and other public lands, gear, camping and a broad range of travel-related topics. Some of the questions/topics we discuss in this episode: Is it a good idea to visit all four Colorado national parks in one trip? What happens after you spray a bear with bear spray? What kind of shoes are best to hike in for water crossings? What are some good parks to visit if you only have a long weekend? Where ...

New Mexico has so many natural and historical wonders you’ll have to visit several times to see them all. But if you have a free week, might we suggest that you start in Albuquerque and make a big loop the way we did a few years back. Whether you do this trip yourself or simply join us on this episode as we recount our experiences, you’ll agree that Land of Enchantment is a fitting nickname for New Mexico. Some of the sites we discuss in this episode include: Bandelier National Monument – coul...

When we set out to visit all of the national parks, we drove past countless national monuments on our quest to check all the parks off our bucket list. Thankfully, in the years since we completed our original goal, we’ve retraced a lot of our road trip routes, adding stops at many of the incredible monuments that we missed on our first go-around. While national parks often get most of the headlines and visitors, our country’s 129 national monuments are every bit as remarkable, each in their own ...