gshc2020.com

A decade later, I've accomplished this goal — and to say I've learned a lot would be an understatement. 

I'm frequently asked for tips for new visitors who want to make the most of their time in the parks. Of course, there is no one right way to travel, but several considerations will make a first-time trip much smoother.

Here are my 10 best tips for first-time visitors.

Don’t be afraid to go alone.

When I entered my 30s, I wanted to visit the Grand Canyon but had no one to go with. Instead of waiting for company, I went for it alone. 

That was just eight years ago, and now I've visited hundreds of NPS sites and all 50 states on my own. None of that would have happened if I hadn't taken that first step solo. 

Research and secure reservations and permits ahead of time.

Like it or not, many of the most popular parks have implemented some form of reservation or timed-entry system in the past few years. 

Although it's necessary to combat the overuse and degradation of pristine landscapes, some of the systems can be confusing. That's why it's vital to research the reservation process ahead of time and follow it closely. 

Visitors can — and will — be turned away at entrance stations without a reservation.

Arrive early (or late) for smaller crowds.

Visitation at some of the most iconic national parks has exploded, leading to frustrating crowds and congestion. 

To mitigate this, I always recommend entering a park early in the morning. If you're not an early riser, later in the afternoon, when other visitors leave, is also a good time to explore.

Invest in an America the Beautiful Pass.

At just $80 for US residents, an America the Beautiful Pass grants you (and those in your vehicle) entry into all of the 63 major national parks.

It also covers the entry fees at lands managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and US Army Corps of Engineers. 

With some parks charging entrance fees of $35 alone, just a few visits each year will recoup your investment.

Ask a park ranger for tips — and then ask a local what they'd do on their day off.

Park rangers are an incredible resource for planning your day. 

After I talk with them, I love to go into a gift shop or nearby restaurant and ask a local what they do in the park on their day off. Often, their recommendations lead me to places that are less crowded and more peaceful.

Respect and preserve the land.

It should go unsaid, but when visiting any park, you must always respect the land. Be considerate of others, of wildlife, and of the land itself. 

Becoming familiar with the seven Leave No Trace Principles is a fantastic way to minimize the impact on future generations.

Keep your itinerary fluid.

I've visited Glacier National Park four separate times, but due to wildlife and weather closures, I was only able to complete a hike I've had on my list during my last visit. 

Although national parks can seem like a natural Disneyland, it's important to remember that you can't control nature. Have some hikes and stops in mind, but also have backup plans in place.

Don't be shy with photos — your trip is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

When I started traveling solo to the parks, I was embarrassed to take photos of myself. 

I didn't want to seem narcissistic, be seen setting up my tripod, or draw attention to the fact I was alone by asking others to snap a picture for me. I now regret not taking more photos and would love to be able to reflect on those special memories.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself to check all the boxes — just enjoy the beauty.

Traveling can become stressful quickly, even when surrounded by nature's beauty. In my experience, trying to fit too much into one trip or experience is a recipe for disaster.

Instead, my goal is to just enjoy the beauty. And if I do that, it's all been worthwhile.

This story was originally published on September 24, 2023, and most recently updated on July 15, 2026.

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Emily Hart

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Emily is a content creator, writer, teacher, painter, yogi, and solo explorer based in Colorado. She has visited 59 major US National Parks and all 50 US states solo. You can follow Emily on Instagram @emilyventures.  

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The great hero Odysseus overcomes many obstacles in his epic story: a cyclops, witches, the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, among others. Now he faces his greatest challenge: Fortnite. Epic Games has announced that Odysseus is coming to the battle royale later this week to celebrate the release of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

Epic Games made the announcement on the official Fortnite X account on July 15. It includes a short teaser that shows a digital Matt Damon — Odysseus himself in Nolan's film — walking through vaguely Greek environments that evoke the movie. Some scenes from previous trailers are even recreated, such as Odysseus and his men walking into Polyphemus' cave. There is also, of course, a shot of Odysseus floating aimlessly in the ocean. That guy can't catch a break. More details on the tie-in will be announced later this week, perhaps when the movie is released on Friday.

This is actually the second video game tie-in for Nolan's Odyssey. At the beginning of July, Roblox announced a free mode themed to the movie. Nolan has shown a surprising love of video games over the years, something that may come as a shock from the director known for his devotion to the cinematic experience. The second trailer for Nolan's underrated masterpiece Tenet (I said what I said) premiered in Fortnite on May 21, 2020. Later that year, in June, Epic Games hosted a movie night event that allowed players to watch a selection of Nolan movies live in the game world. Depending on region, players were treated to free screenings of Batman Begins, Inception, or The Prestige.

The Odyssey is Nolan's first film since the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer was released in 2023. Matt Damon takes on the lead role alongside a star-studded cast that includes returning Nolan collaborators Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Himesh Patel, and Elliot Page, among others. They are joined by the likes of Tom Holland (as Odysseus' son Telemachus) and Zendaya, both of whom will be starring in their first Nolan picture.

The Odyssey will be released in theaters on July 17. %!s()

I told you guys about a scary interaction I had in a parking lot, and no one told me I was going it all wrong! Thanks! Nice to have the support of Jalopnik readers. Maybe you let me slide because of parking problems you've had in the past. We've got tales of overcrowded dirt lots, confusing parking garage parking and, as usual, scofflaws who can't be bothered to follow even the clearly marked lines and rules right in front of their faces. One reader was waylaid by Americans' desire to suck down booze during sporting events. Scroll on through to see the worst of the worst parking stories.

Only jerks park too close

Scharfsinn/Shutterstock

In a parking garage, I purposely parked way in the back, next to no other cars. Spots were tight, didn't want any door dings. I don't mind walking. When I got back to my car, person parked right next to me, within 6 inches. No other car on either side of us for 20+ spots. Ugh!

and

I do this at work. I intentionally look for spaces on the end (to cut my chances of a door ding in half) and scoot as far to the side as possible without curbing my wheels. There's someone in a Kia Optima that hasn't been washed since delivery with a rusty roof where the paint peeled away years ago, that seems to seek out my car. No matter where I park (end spots vary each day) I will come out and find that POS next to me with their tires on, or over the line into my space.

From Gnome and Michael Tonelli

East coast parking is a special kind of hell

Diy13/Getty Images

Being in Baltimore, MD, I've developed immunity to parking shenanigans, so it's more entertaining than anything else. And the 2 most entertaining ones are seeing folks circling around the gym parking lot endlessly looking for the closest spot, can't waste those precious calories, can we?

The second one, is backing into a tight Best Buy parking lot in a 2 ton dually pickup that quiet literally cannot fit there.

From igmgag

Two wheels won't save you

Eric Lafforgue/art In All Of Us/Getty Images

Okay, so more of a parking situation than a parking lot.

When I went to Texas Tech a billion years ago, during weekdays, every road inside the inner ring road was closed to drivers unless you were faculty or had a special parking permit. Students were expected to walk to class or take one of the busses that constantly circled the ring road. Problem was, those busses tended to be PACKED. Like, Tokyo subway packed.

I lived on campus and had a motorcycle with a parking permit. Interestingly, every parking lot inside the ring road had designated motorcycle parking that anyone with a permit could use.

You just couldn't GET to it during the week.

Well, that just seemed like a challenge to college me.

One day, I hopped on my KZ440 LTD, and tucked right in behind one of those busses and followed him right through every checkpoint. Made it to class in record time! Now that I was inside the ring road, the traffic cops assumed I was allowed to be there!

So I did this every day for about a week or so. It was glorious! I had beaten the system!

Then one day as I was basking in the diesel smoke and blasting through the checkpoints, I spotted the motorcycle cop stationed at the booth waiting for me.

I did get off with a warning, but it was the shoe leather express for me from then on.

From Stillnotatony

Big game, big drinking, big problem

Smith Collection/gado/Getty Images

I once made the mistake of needing to get something from Home depot between Nov 10 and Feb 15th. The reason these dates are important is because you have entered the holiday to Championship NFL game season and the Home Depot shares a parking lot with a Total Wine that is yards from the PA state line as well as a Wawa. For optimal fun the parking lot has 3 entrances and two exits, with 1 exit next to the Wawa (cross traffic here has no stop sign or light) and other next to the Total Wine (cross traffic here only has a stop sign for traffic coming from the right). People were being nice, let 1 person out of a row, then move forward, and the foot traffic leaving the Total Wine was being managed but the Home Depot is as far from the exits as possible and the 600 foot journey to leave took about 45 mins.

From Cluck

A tight squeeze

Halbergman/Getty Images

Any parking lot ever, people seem to loose their minds.

But one in particular, I worked in a mixed use retail/commercial development that meant for my job I had to park with the public in a parking garage. The garage has a one way entrance, with arrows and signage indicating as much. I was coming back from lunch, coming into the garage and this lady all of a sudden starts turning towards me. I slam on my brakes and turn to avoid her. She then honks at me, in a bewildered look, I just point to the sign above me that says "no exit, entrance only." She honks again and throws up her hands and continues to squeeze past me.

Nothing bad happened, but it is one of those "you clearly could no be more wrong" situations but some people will forever believe they are in the right.

From TheStoned

A squeeze so tight logic can't park there

Dmitry Kirilov/Getty Images

I'd like to take a moment to vent about narrow spots marked as "Compact"... which I believe should not be allowed to exist, mostly because nobody pays attention to those words anyway.

From WeryPert1

Tiny cars leaves reader short on patience

J. Richard Singleton/Shutterstock

Long while back, in Los Angeles, at the Santa Monica Pier. I enter a parking garage which indicates it has a dozen or so spots open. This was on a fairly busy day, so I was glad to see I would find some parking.

Well, since you're here, you probably know what actually happened. This garage was equipped with the fairly new tech (at the time) of the red/green lights above spaces indicating when a space is free. Unfortunately, all the green light spaces that I encountered were actually occupied by a Smart car, Fiat 500, Mini Cooper, or some other vehicle that was uncommonly short and thus evaded the sensor.

I drove around the garage up, down, and up again, for probably an hour. About halfway through, I let my wife and kids out to go to the Santa Monica Pier. Sometimes I would pass a spot, then see someone leaving in my rearview mirror, only to see another car immediately take that spot.

After about an hour, give or take, I finally was able to park.

These days, fortunately, those red/green light sensors seem to be more capable and able to detect shorter vehicles. But that day at Santa Monica was the most frustrating parking lot experience in my life....so far.

From DynamicPresence

Two cars enter, two cars leave a long time later filled with gas

Orjan F. Ellingvag/Getty Images

There's a large shopping center with a Costco, Target, Best Buy, Petco, etc., with very poor infrastructure getting in and out of the area, that draws in thousands of cars. There's multiple support roads on the property to get through to specific areas of the parking lot. Most are four lane (two in each direction) with the left lane usually dedicated as a left turn only lane and the right lane as a through lane. The amount of people that can't figure this out is astounding. You'll pull up beside someone in the left lane, expecting them to turn left (as they are in the left turn lane) and then they just proceed straight with you and try to merge two cars into one lane unexpectantly.

Then there's the thunderdome that is the Costco gas station. It's an older one, so it's not far enough removed from the main store/parking lot, so it turns into utter gridlock as cars line up from every direction trying to get into the gas station. They block the only exit so cars can't leave the gas station and then nobody can go anywhere.

From Michael Tonelli

Done dirty

Tupungato/Shutterstock

General Frustrating issue is with Parking lots with spaces that are striped in the narrowest possible width. Our favorite Pizza place is located in a strip mall type place that consistently stripes the spots at what feels like the width of every average car thus leaving about 3.5 inches to open your door to get out.

Specific: Back in my college days in Newark NJ, the school was mostly a commuter college with not enough spaces. Typically they'd buy a bunch of buildings, flatten them and use the now dirt lot as parking. You'd get aisles blocked at the end (sometimes both ends), cars three deep or cars just parked blocking you in.

From monsterajr1

Rocky parking low

Kevin Moloney/Getty Images

Our Whole Foods parking lot is much worse than our Trader Joe's, but that's probably because TJ's lot is shared with other businesses so there are sane people mixed in with the crazies.

The truly worst experience was at Rocky Mountain National Park. You had to park and catch a tram to go further into the park, and if you weren't one of the first people there you had to slowly roam the (admittedly large) lot until the first people started trickling out, and compete against others doing the same. I didn't have the patience for it, and I had to sit on a bench and let my wife do it (which she did in like five minutes).

From 6thtimearound %!s()

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday by the Washington, DC-based DAWN rights organisation and the Taxpayers Alliance Against Genocide (TAAG). It specifically targets sanctions imposed by the Trump administration beginning in February 2025 in response to ICC arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

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Trump’s executive order at the time imposed penalties on ICC officials who take part in investigations related to the US and its allies, particularly Israel. Organisations or individuals who supported those investigations are also targeted.

The administration has since sanctioned ICC prosecutors and judges, several Palestinian organisations that have provided evidence to The Hague-based court and United Nations Special Rapporteur for occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese.

The sanctions under Trump’s executive order “violate Americans’ constitutional right to engage in Palestine-related human rights advocacy”, DAWN and TAAG charged in the lawsuit.

That includes “limiting what Americans can say to an international tribunal or to foreign advocates, as well as by limiting their ability to associate with the sanctioned parties”, the groups said.

The lawsuit also said the Trump administration’s actions violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), passed by the US Congress in 1977, which “bars the president from using sanctions to restrict ‘personal communications’ or the transmission of ‘information or informational materials'”.

The filing comes days after the Trump administration promised to escalate its campaign against the ICC, saying it would seek to “dismantle” the world’s top international criminal tribunal, which was founded in 2002.

In a video statement and an opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged “a whole-of-government response” against the court, which he said “threatens every aspect” of the US political and legal system.

The US is not a signatory to the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, and is, therefore, not subject to its jurisdiction. The court, however, has maintained that US citizens may be investigated and prosecuted for abuses committed within the territory of members of the court. It has taken the same position towards Israel during its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

No US citizen has been prosecuted by the ICC although the court still has open investigations into abuses committed in Afghanistan during the two-decade deployment of foreign forces that began in the early 2000s, including US military and intelligence personnel.

Rubio said the US was considering several tactics in its approach, including heaping pressure on US allies and aid recipients not to comply with the court. The administration has also promised more sanctions and travel bans.

The DAWN and TAAG lawsuit is the latest to challenge the sanctions.

A federal judge in New York previously sided with two law professors who argued the sanctions stifled their First Amendment rights under the US Constitution, which allows them to advise the ICC prosecutor and his office.

The sanctions against Albanese were also briefly lifted after a court order in May but were reimposed upon appeal from the Trump administration.

Sanctioned ICC judges have also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

In a statement, Omar Shakir, the executive director of DAWN, said the Trump administration “is using the blunt instrument of economic sanctions not only to punish human rights defenders but to police the political expression of millions of Americans”.

“The US government has the largest megaphone in the world and it is perfectly capable of pleading its case – or Israel’s,” Joseph Pace, a lawyer representing DAWN and TAAG, said in a statement.

“What it cannot do is bar Americans from sharing a contrary perspective with the ICC, much less criminalise contact with non-American human rights defenders whose only ‘misdeed’ was calling for justice for US and Israeli crimes.” %!s()

On Tuesday, storms dumped up to 16in of rain in some rural areas of the state, leading to the dispatch of emergency crews to make at least two dozen rescues across the region. Officials shut down parts of a highway near Uvalde, 80 miles west of San Antonio.

“This is called a typical mid-summer tropical weather pattern that happens in Texas,” Monte Oaks, a meteorologist with the weather service, told the Associated Press.

“About once every five years, we’ll get socked in with a daily recurrence of heavy rain chances that’s generally produced by a stagnant kind of a pattern with a low-pressure center that’s just not moving very fast.”

A flash flood warning is in place in the San Antonio area with torrential downpours expected through the afternoon. Most areas of the metro area are forecast to get between 2 and 4in of rain.

Areas of central Texas also remained at risk of excessive rainfall, including the Hill Country and areas such as Kerrville were at a moderate risk of flash flooding. Two years ago, an area bordering the Guadalupe River experienced flash flooding that killed at least 139 people.

The National Weather Service warned that storms overnight into Wednesday could dump more than a foot of additional rain to some places, creating potentially catastrophic impacts from flash flooding in areas west of San Antonio.

More rain is expected over the next 24 hours, with parts of the region upgraded to a rare level 4 “high” risk of excessive rainfall, indicating that flash flooding is likely. Rainfall totals between 3 and 7in are expected, with isolated higher totals of up to 15in possible.

“Intense rain rates and compounding effects from multiple rounds of storms will result in a dangerous flash flooding threat through Thursday,” the National Weather Service said.

Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, issued a disaster declaration for 59 Texas counties as severe storms continue to threaten the area.

In a statement on X, Abbott posted a weather map that showed 20in of rain could fall in some areas: “Texans, this is JUST ONE of the weather scenarios I have been referring to in my disaster declaration. Note the amount of rain and the early morning hour it is being predicted. We have deployed rescue teams, Blackhawk helicopters & state personnel to respond to this danger.”

He also advised Texans to “heed weather warnings and local advisories”. %!s()