Peak Performance: Summiting Shasta at 60
My 60th birthday. Typically, I celebrate milestone birthdays with some serious pampering. But I wanted to shake things up as I entered a new decade, one that felt especially significant. Old age was coming at me like an avalanche. How long would I be healthy enough to handle a demanding physical challenge?
In the Land of Saguaro: A Two-Month Trek on the Arizona Trail
To truly understand the extremes of terrain, weather and geology, nothing beats a walk along Arizona’s longest hiking route, the 800-mile Arizona Trail.
No Surf, No Snow, No Problem: Sandboarding in the Colorado Dunes
There are a handful of places in the U.S. where you can sandboard, but with the highest sand dunes in North America, Great Sand Dunes National Park is an excellent place to start.
Where in the West Should I Go? • 52 Places to Visit in 2022
From cities and towns to national parks and lesser-known landscapes, this inaugural special section has your 2022 travel through the West covered! We’ve curated a list of 52 places to visit this year – four in each of the 13 states we cover. If you travel at a breakneck pace, that’s one a week. Let this guide serve as inspiration and enjoy the West!
Ka’ū District of the Big Island of Hawaii
Few tourists visit the Big Island compared to the more popular islands like Maui and Oahu. Fewer visitors still visit the southern end of the island, which is a shame.
Explore Washington’s Yakima River Canyon
The Yakima River Canyon has always been a special place, even before The Nature Conservancy designated it in 1993 as a “desert oasis in eastern Washington.”
Discover Nevada’s Rugged Christmas Tree Pass
Christmas lasts year-round at Nevada’s Christmas Tree Pass. Meandering through the Newberry Mountains, this pubic land is in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Transcontinental Railroad Anniversary Celebrated
The 153rd anniversary of the completion of the world’s first transcontinental railroad was celebrated May 7 and 10 at Golden Spike National Historical Park in Promontory Summit, Utah.
Yellowstone Wolves Killed in Record Numbers
This winter saw the most wolves from Yellowstone National Park killed in nearly a century.
The Gold Rush Returns to California
Gold still exists in the veins of an abandoned Grass Valley mine, and Rise Gold has reason to believe that reopening it makes financial sense. Not everyone’s on board.
Colorado River, Stolen by Law
The Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo — the four tribes that comprise the Colorado River Indian Tribes, a federally recognized tribe that is also known as CRIT — have relied on floodplain and irrigated agriculture along the Colorado for 4,000 years.
Music Festivals Back with a Vengeance
With many music festivals nixed for the past two years, 2022 is set to become the Year of the Music Festival. Lucky for our readers and travelers of the West – so many of the best of them will be held somewhere in this region.
Licorice Pizza and Other Must-Watch Recent Films
(Note: possible spoilers ahead.) Set in 1973, the film follows Gary Valentine (Hoffman), a 15-year-old actor and entrepreneur who is smitten with the twentysomething Alana Kane (Haim), a photographer’s assistant who he meets on picture day at school.
Publisher’s Note, No. 2
If nothing else, the West is known for its open spaces. In some areas, there’s nothing but nature. In others, there’s little more than a dirt road and a few signposts.
The Silence is Deafening
A painting of Yellowstone National Park by Joel Patience.
Dead Horse Point
A poem from Moab, Utah, by Wendy Gist.
King of the Range
A photograph taken by Jamie Johnston in Hartsel, Colorado, on Feb. 6.