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Backpacker Magazine – October 2000

National Parks: Best Solitude

More than ever, these empty parks offer medicine for the soul.

by: BACKPACKER Editors

Lonely Trails

Denali: Park officials regulate how many people enter each of the park's 43 units, and can tell you where others aren't. Hiking here is cross-country, so whether you follow the Sanctuary River to Refuge Valley or the Thorofare River to the base of Scott Peak, the crowd-shedding starts the moment you step off the bus. Contact: (907) 683-2294; www.nps.gov/dena.

Voyageurs: Water "trails" are the easiest means of escape in this 218,000-acre park. Paddlers can quickly find themselves alone after putting in at the Ash River Visitor Center, then dispersing into the islands around the narrows of Kabetogama and Namakan Lakes or along the convoluted shoreline of Rainy Lake. Backpackers can also find plenty of solitude on the 9.5-mile (one way) Cruiser Lake Trail traversing the remote and roadless Kabetogama Peninsula. Contact: (218) 283-9821; www.nps.gov/voya.

Isle Royale: One of the least-used long trails on the island is the 30-mile (one way) Minong Ridge along the upper side of the island. It's also one of the premier hikes in the park, with bogs, cliffs, pristine streams, views into Canada, loons, possible wolf serenades, eagles, quiet campsites, and challenging miles of difficult trail. Contact: (906) 482-0984; www.nps.gov/isro.

Theodore Roosevelt: This park is made up of northern and southern units, and the 120-mile-long Maah Daah Hey Trail (one way) visits not only the wilderness of each, but also whispering grasslands and high, brooding badlands in the empty space between the two. Sometimes the trail is well marked, sometimes it seems to fade into the hilly rangelands. For a shorter trip, start at the southern end of the trail and walk north as long as time allows before turning around or heading cross-country to reach the nearest road. Contact: (701) 623-4466; www.nps.gov/thro.

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