Travel Day

After arriving in Montrose, pick up your rental 4WD car and make your way southeast along Highway 145, winding through the Uncompahgre Plateau and into the San Juan Mountains. Check into your hotel and drop your bags—if you’re staying in Mountain Village head to the free Gondola which you will take down into the town of Telluride—before heading for pre-dinner drinks at The National before dinner. If you’re staying in town, you can walk over, there will be plenty other opportunities to ride the Gondola. This 13-minute ride will offer sweeping views of the Sneffels Range, Mt. Wilson, and Palmyra Peak before dropping you into town. Take advantage of The National’s rooftop bar for pre-dinner drinks before making your way back downstairs for your meal.

Day 1

Agenda

• Imogene Pass Jeep Tour

• Jud Wiebe Trail - 3 mile loop from town

Morning

Start the day with breakfast at The Butcher and Baker on E. Colorado Ave. Telluride’s downtown is compact and walkable—Colorado Ave, the main street, is just about half a mile end-to-end. Grab a coffee, some pastries, and their veggie burrito before heading to Telluride Outside—one of the area’s established outfitters—for your 4WD tour over Imogene Pass. The tour is approximately 4 hours, and the pass connects Telluride and Ouray via Tomboy Road, traveling to over 13,000ft, Imogene Pass is one of the highest drivable passes in North America and takes you through dramatic high alpine terrain. The pass has a rich history, serving miners, housing Fort Peabody—a military outpost established in 1904—and hosting an annual foot race. The guided tour will take you past abandoned mines and through sweeping views of the San Juan backcountry.

Afternoon

After returning to town, it’s time for lunch. If you’re looking for a quick bite, head to Baked in Telluride for a sandwich and caffeine, otherwise, head to the bar at Brown Dog Pizza before heading for a short hike of the Jud Wiebe Trail. This is a 3 mile loop that climbs directly from downtown Telluride above the box canyon. The trail offers some of the best panoramic views of the surrounding peaks and valley floor. Depending on your pace, plan for about 1.5-2 hours to complete. If the thrill of Imogene pass tired you out, stroll down Colorado Ave to do some shopping or make your way to the San Miguel River Trail. The trail is sandwiched by the Idarado Legacy Trail to the east and the Valley Floor Trail to the west.

Evening

If you’re feeling up to a pre-dinner drink and manage to get a reservation, take the Gondola back into town and head to Van Atta before making your way to The Grand for dinner. For a more casual evening, we recommend the bar at StrongHouse and ordering their pretzel, chicken sandwich, and local beer.

Day 2

Your biggest hiking day. If you’re staying at a hotel, ask your accommodation to pack you a lunch for the trail, or pick up snacks and sandwiches at The Village Market in Mountain Village or Clark’s Market in town. Choose from one of the three options below based on how much you feel like driving and how your body is feeling — you can't go wrong, all three offer stunning views.

Option 1: Hope Lake Trail

Miles: 6

Type: Out and Back

Elevation Gain: 1,515ft

Difficulty: Moderate

Estimated Time: 3-3.5hrs

Driving Time (from town and Mountain Village): 35min

The trailhead is roughly 35 minutes from Mountain Village and town. Note that the last few miles are on unpaved road and a high clearance 4WD is highly recommended. The trail winds through the Uncompahgre National Forest, crossing several small streams before climbing to Hope Lake at just under 12,000ft. Trailgoers recommend an early start to beat the crowds and catch the best conditions.

Option 2: Blue Lakes Trail (Lower, Middle, and Upper)

Miles: 9

Type: Out and Back

Elevation Gain: 2,513ft

Difficulty: Hard

Estimated Time: 5.5-6hrs

Driving Time: 1hr 14min

Blue Lakes Trail is one of the most popular hikes in Colorado. The trail climbs through subalpine forests and meadows beneath the northeast face of Mt. Sneffels—a 14er—to three turquoise glacial lakes (“Blue Lakes Trail,” n.d.). The trailhead is located southwest of Ridgway via County Road 7, approximately one hour from The Madeline. Plan for 5.5 to 6 hours to complete the trail. Make sure to check The Blue Lakes Visitor Use Management Plan and see what phase they are in and whether a permit is required. We recommend starting early to secure parking and avoid afternoon thunderstorms which are common in the San Juans during the summer months.

Option 3: Bridal Veil Falls to Blue Lake Trail #637

Miles: 8.5

Type: Out and Back

Elevation Gain: 2,763ft

Difficulty: Moderate/Hard

Estimated Time: 5.5-6hrs

Driving Time: 20min

Head east on Colorado Ave through town, continuing on the same road until you reach the Bridal Veil Falls lower parking area. From the trailhead, follow Bridal Veil Trail up through the canyon, passing Bridal Veil Falls—the tallest free-falling waterfall in the state at 365ft. Once you reach the falls, follow the road, past the gate where you’ll intersect with Blue Lake Trail #637. The trail from this point follows an access road and is steep and rugged in places. Along the trail you’ll see evidence of historic mining activity including tram towers and tunnel entrances. Once you reach the lake you’ll be surrounded by La Junta Peak, rising 13,472 feet, and Wasatch Mountain, rising 13,555 feet, visible to the west. Plan for 5.5 to 6 hours on trail.

If you’re looking for a bit of a shorter hike, you can just do the Bridal Veil Falls trail which is just over 2 miles out and back with 850ft of gain.

Evening

After returning from your hike, head back to The Madeline to clean up before heading to your final dinner. Allred’s is perched at 10,500ft at the San Sophia Gondola Station and is one of the most celebrated dining experiences in Telluride. Go a few minutes early and order a cocktail at the bar and enjoy the views looking down into town and the Sneffels range.

Subscribe now

Day 3

Before leaving the hotel, make sure you ask for late checkout! Head over to The Coffee Cowboy for coffee and burritos on S. Willow St and E. Pacific. From there, it is another 10-15 minute drive east along Colorado Ave to the Bridal Veil falls lower parking area. Today you’re tackling the Telluride Via Ferrata, located on the south-facing wall below Ajax Peak. The route was conceived by renowned climber and builder Chuck Kroger who identified the ledge systems on the canyon wall. Via Ferrata is Italian for “iron road,” and allows participants to travel through the mountains with the protection of cables and steel and iron rungs.

We strongly encourage booking a local guide. Mountain Trip and San Juan Mountain Guides are trusted local outfitters who offer a range of guided activities throughout the year. Your guide will provide necessary equipment and expertise. Once you’re on the Via Ferrata, there is no escape route.

After completing the route, head back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for your drive back to Montrose for your flight home.

Subscribe now

Share Nature's Playbook

Nature’s Playbook was built on a simple belief: people connect most deeply through the stories of others. Sharing insights on an outdoor adventure with a friend creates connection—something more meaningful than a review or search result—and that’s the basis of NP.

At its heart, NP is a living library of firsthand outdoor experiences. Every experience shared comes from a person who has been there, explored that place, and chosen to pass along what they learned to help others experiencing that area for the first or 100th time.

Why does that matter?

Storytelling inspires action. When we hear how a place made someone feel, what they discovered, what surprised them, or what they wish they had known beforehand, it helps us see ourselves there too. It encourages us to get outside, try something new, and connect with nature and each other in meaningful ways.

These stories are more than just inspiration. They are a playbook of trusted resources for discovering places, activities, and ways to engage with the outdoors. When people connect with a place, they are more likely to care for it, protect it, and advocate for it, and that’s where environmental stewardship begins.

Our community has grown to include experiences from more than 60 countries, and with that so have the range of activities that can be shared. We wanted to make exploration easier while staying true to NP’s commitment to authentic experiences, and that’s why we created Kai.

Kai uses AI as a planning assistant, not an experience creator.

Whether someone is looking for a hike, beach, park, birding location, paddling route, ski destination, or another way to connect with nature, Kai helps generate ideas based on their interests and location. Kai can suggest routes, nearby parking, dining options, practical tips, and answer planning questions.

Kai helps people discover experiences. It does not create them. The stories, recommendations, personal insights, and lessons shared within NP will always come from real people and their firsthand experiences—pulling from information already available within the app. AI is never used to create content of experiences for the community. Instead, Kai serves as a discovery tool, helping people find places they may not have otherwise found.

Our hope is that someone uses Kai to plan an adventure, creates their own memories, and then returns to share that experience with the NP community. In doing so, they help grow a trusted collection of stories that inspire others to get outside, connect with nature, and become stewards of the places they love.

We acknowledge that AI can be divisive, and that is why we’ve been working for the last year to develop Kai thoughtfully and responsibly. Kai does not simply trust AI output. Suggested places are validated against map data before being shown to the user, and the final plan is grounded in real-world information such as coordinates, nearby places, routes, and relevant Nature’s Playbook community content. AI is used only where it provides meaningful value—helping with planning, answering questions, and providing context. Real-world location information, maps, parking data, and community experiences are pulled from within the app and Google. Kai follows a guided process rather than operating as an unlimited chatbot, helping reduce unnecessary AI usage while keeping the experience focused and purposeful.

This approach allows Kai to provide helpful, contextual guidance while reducing the risk of generic or unreliable AI-generated recommendations.

Our team is building this platform with community and sustainability in mind to get more people outside and connected to nature. We invite your thoughts on this topic as we build a better platform for discovery and outdoor connection. Our hope is that by adding Kai, it gives more travelers the opportunity to plan outdoor experiences that are backed by authenticity and first-hand storytelling. So, next time you find yourself googling or asking ChatGPT what to do in your area, open the NP app and ask Kai where to take you.

Our standard remains unchanged: Authentic, firsthand experiences shared by real people. Kai simply helps people discover where their next story might begin.

Subscribe now

While each park has its own system, destinations like Carlsbad Caverns and Yosemite have reservation requirements for timed entry or specific areas. Reservation systems change frequently and are often seasonal. Below are some of the major parks that typically require reservations—but always confirm details on the National Park Service (NPS) website or Recreation.gov before your trip.

Acadia National Park

Reservation Type: Vehicle reservation

Acadia National Park, located in Maine, protects a stretch of rocky coastline, and called the “Crown Jewel of the North Atlantic Coast. While you do not need an entrance reservation, you will need a permit to drive Cadillac Summit Road from May 20-October 25. Cadillac Mountain is a popular destination for visitors to Acadia National Park, especially for sunrise. Accessible by car, it is the highest point on the eastern seaboard of the U.S., and offers magnificent views of a glaciated coastal and island landscape. You can make a reservation up to 90 days in advance on recreation.gov.

Subscribe now

Carlsbad Caverns

Calling all fans of National Treasure, this park is for you. Explore more than 119 caves, walk a surface trail, stargaze, and drive Walnut Canyon Desert Drive. Timed entry reservations are required all year. Reservations are released 30 days in advance.

Reservation Type: Timed entry

Glacier

With glacier-capped mountains, aqua lakes, and 700 miles of trails, it’s fitting that Glacier National Park is called the “Crown of the Continent.” Going-to-the-Sun Road is one of the most beautiful scenic drives in the U.S. (and only entry point to many trailheads). This year the park is piloting a shuttle reservation system. Starting July 1, 2026, parking at Logan Pass will be limited to three hours. This shuttle will replace the previous first-come, first-served shuttle system.

Reservation Type: Shuttle reservation

Haleakala

Standing at 10,023 ft above sea level, Haleakala National Park is Maui’s highest peak. Haleakala translates to “house of the sun” and is named for the demigod, Maui, who lassoed the sun, extending its passage and allowing people more time to dry cloth and grow food. Sunrise (or sunset) at the summit is a must if you’re visiting this park. However, you will need a vehicle reservation if you plan to enter the park between 3-7am. For more information on planning your sunrise hike, visit the NPS website.

Reservation Type: Vehicle reservation

Muir Woods

Located just outside of San Francisco, this national monument protects the old growth coastal redwoods. Parking reservations are required all year to prevent overcrowding.

Reservation Type: Parking reservation

Rocky Mountain

Covering 415 square miles, Rocky Mountain National Park offers a variety of ecosystems. Rocky Mountain is one of the highest-elevation national parks in the country. Straddling the Continental Divide, it includes more than 75 summits over 12,000 ft. If you’re feeling up for a challenge, Sky Pond via Glacier Gorge Trail won’t disappoint. You will need timed entry reservations to enter the park from late May-mid October. Please note there are two different types of reservations to choose from: Timed Entry and Timed Entry+ Bear Lake Road.

Reservation Type: Timed entry

Check out our three-day guide to RMNP here.

Shenandoah

75 miles from Washington, D.C., Shenandoah National Park is located within the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. There are over 500 miles of trails through the park, including a section of the Appalachian Trail. You won’t need a reservation to enter the park, but if you plan to hike Old Rag (one of the most popular trails), you will need to make a reservation for a Day-Use Ticket.

Reservation Type: Hiking permit/Day-Use Ticket

Yosemite

As of February 2026, Yosemite no longer requires timed entry reservations. However, the popular Half Dome hike does require permits for day hikers. These are distributed by lottery via Recreation.gov, with one preseason lottery having an application period in March and daily lotteries during the hiking season. Backpackers—including those who plan to spend the night in Little Yosemite Valley—should apply for Half Dome permits with their wilderness permit.

Reservation Type: Hiking permit

Zion

From the tall stretching walls of narrow slot canyons, to the sheer drops of Angels Landing, Zion has many experiences to offer. If you’re planning to hike Angels Landing, you will need a Hiking Permit. However, no reservation is necessary to visit the remainder of the park or to ride the park shuttle.

Reservation Type: Hiking permit

Final thoughts

The guide above is based on information available as of 5/20/26, please make sure to check the NPS and recreation.gov websites for up-to-date information.

Subscribe now

Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) covers over 415 square miles with more than 350 miles of hiking trails, diverse wildlife, and the opportunity to hike along the Continental Divide. If you’re a seasoned hiker, we recommend spending at least three to five days to explore RMNP. Beware that crowds are largest during the summer months, especi…

Read more

Sterling Pond

Difficulty: Moderate

Length: 2.3 miles out and back

Gain: ~938ft

Seemingly short and …

Read more

If you've been following this series, you already know that public lands decisions are rarely simple — they involve competing mandates, multiple agencies, and stakeholders with vastly different relationships to the land. The fight over the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota is one of the most consequential public lands battles p…

Read more

If you’ve been following this series, you already know that BLM lands and other federal public lands are managed under a complex web of mandates, agencies, and competing uses. The San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado are a good example of how that complexity plays out on the ground. The BLM’s Tres Rios Field Office manages more than 600,000 acres…

Read more

How is BLM land actually managed?

The d…

Read more

What is the BLM

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is one of four primary land management agencies in the US. It sits within…

Read more

March is my favorite month of the year. It’s the beginning of Spring. Flowers are blooming, there are little ducklings and baby r…

Read more

Read more

Spring is in the air in Southern California. It may not be official for another week or so but we are seeing it pop up all around us. On freeways, backyards, mountain, or hillsides, and valleys. If you live here, you know what I’m talking about. The wildflowers. Oh yes! The joy that springs up (pun intended), when seeing bits of yellow, orange, purple, …

Read more

This is a recording of our second Nature’s Playbook “The Atlas” Book Club discussion of Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith. It was such a thoughtful and engaging conversation, and we truly appreciate everyone who took the time to participate, ask questions, and share ideas.

A special thank-you to our guest keynote speaker, Mae Connor, for joining us and generously sharing her expertise. Mae is an Aquatic Biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers based in the Pacific Northwest. Her work focuses primarily on anadromous salmonids—particularly ESA-listed species—studying their populations, reproduction, and habitat restoration. As someone working closely with these ecosystems in and around Seattle, Mae brought real-world insight to many of the themes discussed in the book.

Our conversation ranged widely—from salmon ecology and regional tribal knowledge to the current realities Mae is seeing in the Pacific Northwest. We discussed common misnomers surrounding farmed fishing, particularly salmon farming, and some of the environmental challenges and trade-offs associated with those systems. The book’s candid and often humorous storytelling style also sparked conversation, as Bren Smith shares his journey in a very honest, fisherman-to-reader voice. Many of us were surprised by what we learned—from the role of kelp and shellfish in improving ocean health to the broader food and environmental implications of regenerative ocean farming. While the book doesn’t shy away from difficult environmental realities, it also offers a hopeful vision for the future of food production and ocean stewardship. We also explored complex topics like hydropower, recognizing that even solutions considered renewable can carry environmental costs if the full chain of cause and effect isn’t fully considered and planned for. Mae’s perspective helped bring these ideas to life in a way that deepened the conversation for all of us.

For those who may be newer to the book, Eat Like a Fish is both a personal story and a hopeful vision for the future of our oceans. Bren Smith shares his journey from commercial fisherman to ocean farmer, pioneering regenerative ocean farming that grows kelp and shellfish while restoring marine ecosystems, creating jobs, and helping feed communities sustainably. It’s a fascinating and inspiring look at how working with nature—rather than against it—can help heal our waters.

We were especially grateful for the thoughtful questions and insights that came from this group. The curiosity and perspective each of you brings is what makes this community so special.

Looking Ahead

If you have a book suggestion for our next Atlas read, we would love to hear it. Please feel free to reply with a title you think would spark meaningful discussion and connect to our shared curiosity about nature, place, and stewardship.

We would also love to see experiences inspired by our recent reads shared on the Nature’s Playbook community page under The Atlas.
If you haven’t yet, consider posting an outdoor experience connected to The Enduring Wild. Over the next couple of months, we’d also love to see experiences connected to Eat Like a Fish.

The idea is simple: share an experience through the lens of what you learned from the book—whether that’s understanding ecosystems differently, noticing the role each species plays, or thinking more deeply about how human choices affect the natural world.

Experience Ideas Inspired by Eat Like a Fish

Coastal Experiences
• Visit a working harbor or fishing dock
• Walk the beach after a tide and observe seaweed washed ashore
• Explore a rocky shoreline tide pool and observe how different species coexist
• Snorkel, kayak, or dive above a kelp forest
• Visit a shoreline where oysters or mussels grow naturally
• Go fishing
• Visit an outdoor fish market

Anywhere Experiences (including landlocked regions)
• Visit a farmers market and talk with growers about soil health
• Explore a community garden and ask about composting or natural fertilizers (including seaweed or kelp if used)
• Visit a garden focused on biodiversity and soil health
• Observe a river, lake, or wetland ecosystem and note the interconnected species
• Participate in or organize a river or lake cleanup
• Visit a water garden and observe how different plants and animals contribute to the ecosystem

Finally, if you’ve enjoyed these conversations and have a friend or family member who might enjoy joining us, please feel free to invite them. We always welcome new voices and perspectives to the group.

Thank you again for being part of this community and for bringing your curiosity, ideas, and passion for the natural world.

Warmly,
Nature’s Playbook
The Atlas Book Club

So don’t worry — as we step into this mini blog, we’re doing it the Nature’s Playbook …

Read more

I could write a whole series on Glacier, but for the purpose of this blog post and your short attention spans, I’ll keep it quick to our NP communities top hikes.

A Brief History of the Park

Established in 1910, Glacier National Park protects over a million acres of rugged peaks, alpine meadows, and glacially carved valleys in northern Montana. The land has long been home to the Blackfeet, Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’Oreille peoples, whose deep cultural connections to these mountains pre-date the park by thousands of years. Often called the “Crown of the Continent,” Glacier sits at the headwaters of multiple major river systems and was shaped by massive glaciers that once covered much of the landscape—many of which, while rapidly receding today, still define the park’s dramatic terrain.

To learn more about the park’s history listen to the official podcast of Glacier National Park, Headwaters. Follow Headwaters on Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your podcasts.

Subscribe now

Grinnell Glacier

Length: ~11mi

Time: 5.5-6hrs

Elevation gain: 2,000ft

Type: out and back

Details: Grinnell Glacier

If there’s one hike that encapsulates Glacier’s scale and grandeur, it’s Grinnell Glacier. Images really don’t do this place justice. Be prepared for a long but incredibly epic day.

Read more

I hope your elf on a shelf survived another week from the family dog, and your Q4 projects are coming to an end. We’ve got a lot to cover, so pour that coffee and keep reading. This week’s deep dive focuses on the impact of low snow years on water storage.

A quick recap of what we learned last week:

• Snow Drought is a period of abnormally low snowpack for …

Read more

This month we’ll be talking about all…

Read more

I think we often forget NYC is a small island. You might be asking why I’m opening this email this way. It’s about perspective. Odds are your mind went straight to a tropical place, and that’s understandable because islands are generally associated with warmer climates. I made a very lo…

Read more

The weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving in NYC go by both quickly and feel like an eternity. Some …

Read more

Shifting Focus

This past summer I made an effort to view every moment outside as a mini adventure. We have a tendency to get caught up in our routines and miss the small moments in our everyday. I started viewing my daily runs as mini adventures throughout the city. Thinking of my daily routine in this way made me mo…

Read more