Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

National Parks

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota: Bison, Wild Horses & Badlands

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Last Updated: June 22, 2026

Theodore Roosevelt first came to the North Dakota Badlands in 1883 as a young man, drawn by the promise of bison hunting and the wide open West. What he found instead — or perhaps in addition — was a landscape that would shape him profoundly. After losing both his mother and his wife on the same day in 1884, he returned to these rugged badlands to grieve and heal. The land, he later wrote, made him the man he became. It’s impossible to stand in this park and not feel some of that pull yourself.

Bison surrounded by dust, illuminated by a passing car's headlights at dusk in Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit, North Dakota — wildlife photography by Michael Huntley travel blogger
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Northern California Redwood Coast: Humboldt, Avenue of the Giants, Fern Canyon & Crescent City

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Last Updated: June 18, 2026

The Coast Redwoods are the tallest living trees and among the oldest living things on Earth. The tallest known Coast Redwood stands 379.1 feet — about 37 stories high. Both Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) belong to the cypress family, and the giant sequoias, which we saw at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, are the biggest trees in the world by overall volume.

Looking straight up through the canopy of a Coast Redwood grove toward the sky, Humboldt, California
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Yosemite National Park in Winter: Snow, Ice & Waterfalls

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Last Updated: June 18, 2026

Yosemite National Park is breathtaking in any season, but winter transforms it into something almost otherworldly. We visited in February, coming north from Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and encountered back-to-back winter storms that closed most of the park roads. We were fortunate to get one hour of blue skies during our entire stay — but that hour was spectacular. El Capitan gleaming in the sun, Bridalveil Falls thundering over ice-crusted rocks, and the Yosemite Valley floor blanketed in fresh snow. If you ever get the chance to see Yosemite in winter, take it.

Snow-covered Yosemite Valley floor with the Merced River and Yosemite Falls in the distance, Yosemite National Park, California in winter
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Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks in Winter

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Last Updated: June 18, 2026

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks were a few hours’ drive from Paso Robles, California. We knew there would be limited access to both parks because it was February, but a few days of brilliant blue skies following a major winter storm gave us exactly what we were hoping for — snow-draped giant sequoias, frost-encrusted trees, and a winter solitude that summer visitors never see. The General Sherman Tree, the largest living tree on earth by volume, was magnificent even from a distance. This is Sequoia and Kings Canyon in winter: raw, cold, and extraordinary.

Looking up through a cathedral grove of giant sequoia trees toward a blue winter sky, Sequoia National Park, California
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