Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best 3 day hike in America?

Another for Glacier NP

Hike that area quite a bit and spectacular

I missed that. You're right, scratch Glacier.


Travis

You really should not have a problem getting a permit for the rim to rim... you can't apply until the first day of the forth month from you desired month. If that's april, apply on Dec 1st. People applying late are the ones not getting permits.

Havasupai as Randy mentioned is also a great hike and not hard to get permitted for.

Kent

The instigator of this trip did Havasaupai Falls this year so that's out. I realize we could do a rim to river to rim (or for that matter rim to rim) without needing an overnight permit but part of the point is to spend a few nights out and not race through the hike. I'd be PERFECTLY fine with day hikes out from the lodge. If we don't get our permits for the GC, we could do most any time of year. I'd personally prefer fall but I think the instigator is itching to go sooner than later.
Grand Tetons were mentioned. I mentioned the App Trail just for ease of logistics but it got shot down. They want to go west.

Centennial trail in the black hills, its a long one but you can pick your stretches you want to do, trout in the streams, beautiful views and not too high in altitude for those who are first timers. plus it's not terribly hard to find cell reception in the event there is a problem. chance to see elk, deer, sheep, goats mule deer and whitetails.

plus while out here you can see Rushmore, crazy horse and deadwood among other places.

best weather for the GC is middle march through april and october... also the most popular.

Rim to rim in one day is for very advanced athletes. 21 miles if you take N Kaibab/S Kaibab and 24 miles if you take N Kaibab/Brightangel. 5000 ft elevation change.

Kent

Pike's is still an option. It's a 27 mile round trip from the trailhead at Manitou. And you can spend the night on the mountain at Barr Camp.

If the goal ain't killing or catching something I can't help.

For me, crossing over Gunsight Pass in Glacier, if you can do it in the summer. Spend a night at Lake Ellen Wilson and another at Gunsight Lake. Goats are everywhere at the pass, and can be agressive.

The Appalachian Trail along the Blue Ridge is magnificent.

Mount Whitney in California can be done in one day, by the very fit, most people take two days - it is very rugged scenery. The trailhead is at 8000 feet and of course the peak is about 14,500, the highest in the lower 48. Along the same line, walking the pacific crest trail through the Sierra Nevada is very scenic

Hike along the north rim of Yosemite canyon. Park and Yosemite creek campground. Then hike 5 easy miles to rim and then along the rim for the best scenery in the world.

For something really different, and at sea level, hike the wild beach on the Pacific side of the Olympic Penninsula. That's a good three day hike. Might rain the whole time. Stunning visuals, towering rocks, rain forest, natural driftwood, reefs, tide pools. At the right time of year sea run cutthroats are in.

Some creek crossings and headlands, gotta watch for high tides. I've done parts of it, not the whole. My son has hiked the whole thing, and I think he started from just south of La Push. There are sections without road access that make for a good three day hike.

I missed that the OP was going in the spring. I'd go with Southern Utah - Bryce or Canyonlands.

So far this thread should be called "the most well known 3 day hikes in America." Look beyond the National Parks. There are great hikes in every western state that are doable almost all year. I am not going to name them because this is too public of a forum. Look in some guide books. Look up some websites. Ask around.

Okanagan,
Good idea. It is great to see the elk herds grazing on seaweed. My family is from WA since 1889.

My Dad is 88 years old and expressed interest in going deer hunting one last time next year. I plan to take him to "the Okanagan" in north central WA.

Paintbrush canyon in the tetons is nice but probably not open that early.

I vote Mt Katahdin in Maine or the presidential range in New Hampshire ending on top of Mt Washington. Katahdin is gorgeous, and Mt Washington is billed as home of the worlds worst weather with world record wind speed being recorded there over 200 mph. All the buildings are cabled to the ground. Only problem is both can get touristy. Katahdin less so.

1100 miles of trails within Glacier National Park.

I've probably hiked about 30 miles of them,..maybe a bit more.

They're all fantastic.

My first trip west was to Glacier in the summer of 1969, with 15 boys in our Explorer Post...all military dependents...

one of the guys Granddad's had just retired from the Air Force as a Major General, and had a 6,000 acre spread at Great Falls, that served as our base camp...Land he bought from the military, just after the end of WW 2...for peanuts.

Can't remember all the trails we hiked, but all in all we were there a month almost and hiked 292 miles total...

we never could get into Philmont because there was a waiting list in the Wash DC council... so we went to Glacier...

that holds a special place in my heart....

I have hiked the entire Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, and as wonderful as it is.. it doesn't touch the awesomeness of the American and Canadian West...