The Best Hikes in North America

Early starts

Parking sets the start time at many North American trailheads. The lot at Cascade Pass in Washington fills by 6 or 7 am, and Logan Pass, where the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park begins, is full by 7. The small lot at Tent Ridge Horseshoe in Kananaskis fills early too. Shuttles replace the car in some parks: Zion runs a free one to the start of The Narrows, and a shuttle is advised for Moraine Lake below Sentinel Pass in Banff.

Autumn colour

Larches turn gold in the mountains of the north-west in autumn. Maple Pass Loop in the North Cascades draws large crowds for them, The Enchantments in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness have larches around their upper lakes, and Larch Valley below Sentinel Pass peaks in late September. Further south the colour comes from other trees: aspens turn yellow at Big Pine Lakes in the Eastern Sierra in October, and leaves colour the canyon of West Fork Trail near Sedona in late October.

Wildlife

Large animals are a normal part of a mountain day here. Bears, moose and bighorn sheep are seen on the way to Grinnell Glacier, mountain goats on the Highline Trail and in The Enchantments, marmots and bears at Cascade Pass. The coasts have their own animals: whales and icebergs are sometimes seen off Skerwink Trail in Newfoundland, and sea turtles and monk seals often appear along Mahaʻulepu Heritage Trail on Kauai.