While we live in Portland now, Matt grew up in the Seattle area (in Issaquah, which is where a few of the closer-in hikes below are located) and we regularly come up to Seattle to visit friends and family, oftentimes including a hike or two during our visit. There are very few big cities with…
Want to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park? Understandable, considering it’s on countless “best day hikes in the world” lists. When we got back from our New Zealand North Island road trip, most of our friends and family asked some version of “what was your favorite part of the trip” and, invariably,…
On New Zealand’s North Island, you’ll find a landscape shaped by volcanic activity over countless millennia – which is a unique aspect of this part of the world – along with beautiful stretches of coastline featuring sweeping views and glorious sand beaches, fertile agricultural land producing some of the country’s best produce (and cheese!), and…
Is there a better way to spend a morning than hiking past a gorgeous waterfall and climbing through the brush with views of not one, but two active volcanoes? The Tama Lakes track takes you through a beautiful, desolate landscape where you’ll have simultaneous views of Mount Ngāuruhoe, the inspiration for Mount Doom in the…
There are quite a few things we like about the Helen Lake Trail in Banff National Park, but we’ll give you two here at the beginning of this guide. First, bursting forth from the treeline into the meadows that sit at 7,000 feet above sea level is one of our single favorite moments on the…
The Wilcox Pass Trail is probably our favorite stop on the Icefields Parkway, and is our pick for the best hike on the drive between Banff and Jasper (not including the hikes at Lake Louise). The reason? You spend most of the hike above the treeline (which means excellent alpine meadows and views), you get…