Field Notes
Beyond the Crowds
The Parks
Four we send people to when they have already done the famous ones, or when they would rather skip straight to the quiet.
Great Basin, Nevada
Ancient bristlecone pine forests, some of the oldest living things on earth, under some of the darkest skies left in the country. We arrange private stargazing with working astronomers. The caves and the night sky do the heavy lifting.
North Cascades, Washington
Alpine lakes, jagged peaks and wildflower meadows that rival anything in the more famous parks nearby, and fewer than forty-seven thousand visitors in 2025. Late summer brings the best hiking weather, and the lodge-to-lodge trek here is badly underrated.
Capitol Reef, Utah
Hidden canyons, working orchards you can pick fruit from, and rock striped in colors that look invented. The park itself is busier than people expect, so we send you into the remote Cathedral Valley section by private Jeep, which almost nobody reaches.
Lassen Volcanic, California
Boiling springs, lava tube caves, and alpine lakes clear enough to mirror the peaks around them. This one is close to home for us, which is why we can pair it with the Northstate wine country and stays most visitors never find.
What We Design in the Parks
- Quiet-park routes: two or three lesser-visited parks with room to breathe between them.
- The famous ones, done properly: Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion and the Grand Canyon, timed and lodged so the crowds are somebody else’s problem.
- Private access: Jeep routes into Cathedral Valley, stargazing with astronomers, sunrise kayaking through Congaree’s bottomland forest.
- Lodge-to-lodge walking: North Cascades and the Sierra, without carrying a tent.
- Parks and wine country: Lassen and Shasta paired with the Northstate, or Yosemite with the Central Coast.
- Multigenerational trips: paced for mixed ages, with the driving cut down rather than the parks.
