Editor’s note: Monthly Ticket is a CNN travel series that highlights some of the travel industry’s most fascinating topics. In July, we’re heading into the great outdoors, covering everything from incredible adventures to unique camping experiences.
CNN —
When it comes to camping in U.S. national parks, forget about the road less traveled. What about evacuating to a place without roads?
While most national park campgrounds are easily accessible by motorized vehicle, some of the coolest campgrounds are located in areas that cannot be reached by car. We are talking about permanent campsites with basic facilities that can only be accessed on foot or by boat.
Of course, you’ll have to bring all your own food and tools (and your own waste). But the reward is a stay in the great outdoors, where your sleep isn’t disrupted by nasty car exhaust fumes, annoying RV generators, or people arriving too late or leaving before dawn.
Here are eight great national park campgrounds that aren’t accessible by car.
Have you always dreamed of staying on a romantic deserted island? Garden Key is as close as you can get without actually becoming a castaway.
Located on the westernmost tip of the Florida Keys, 110 miles from Key West, this campground is the only campground in Dry Tortugas National Park. The only way to get to Garden Key with camping gear is on the Yankee Freedom III ferry, which runs daily.
Surrounded by palm trees and other shady trees, the campground is nestled between two small beaches and Fort Jefferson, the largest brick early 19th-century U.S. military fort in the Western Hemisphere.
The campground is equipped with picnic tables, barbecue grills, and composting toilets. But that’s it. Campers must bring all other food and fresh water, tents and sleeping bags, snorkel gear, etc.
Niebrugge Image/Alamy Stock Photo
Bright Angel Campground is located next to a stream at the end of the South Kaibab Trail in Grand Canyon National Park.
Deep in the Grand Canyon, Bright Angel takes its name from the adjacent stream, not the trail of the same name that leads there from the South Rim.
Popular with hikers making rim-to-rim treks, this campground features a ranger station (with seasonal ranger programs), drinking water, restrooms, picnic tables, and storage lockers to keep food safe from animals. Meals and snacks are available for purchase at the nearby Phantom Ranch.
A backcountry permit is required for overnight stays. This campground can be accessed via three trails from either the South Rim or the North Rim. The shortest of these is the 16 km (9.9 mile) Bright Angel Trail. Campers should be aware that temperatures can be incredibly high at the bottom of the canyon during the summer.
Another contender for the best deserted island campground in the national park, Scorpion Bay is located near the eastern tip of Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California.
Island Packers operates daily (year-round) ferries from Ventura Harbor on the mainland. The campground is about a half-mile walk from the ferry pier in a coastal canyon that was once home to the Chumash Indian tribe and later became a cattle and sheep ranch.
The campground is shaded by large eucalyptus trees and has picnic tables, drinking water, food storage bins, and pit toilets. Campers must bring their own food and equipment, as well as recreational equipment (snorkel gear, short surfboards, etc.).
Six trails radiate out from Scorpion Canyon across the island. Keep an eye out for the rare Channel Islands fox that often hangs out around the campsite.
Ashley Cooper Photography/Alamy Stock Photo
Pool above Nevada Falls in Little Yosemite Valley.
Whether you’re planning a sunrise summit of Half Dome or setting out along the John Muir Trail, Little Yosemite Valley offers a great overnight adventure.
The trail up from the large valley passes right by Vernal and Nevada Falls. It’s only 8 miles from the Happy Valley Nature Center trailhead, but with over 800 feet of elevation gain, it’s a challenge with backpacks, sleeping bags, and tents.
In addition to spectacular night skies, the campground features potable water, composting toilets, a communal campfire ring, and food lockers to keep Yosemite’s notoriously clever bears at bay. A backcountry permit is required even if you are not spending the night.
If you’ve ever used your imagination and wondered what it would be like to camp on the moon, head immediately to this secluded campsite at the bottom of the crater of Haleakala Volcano, Maui.
Palikoo is popular with trekkers who take a two-day hike across the national park, but it can also be used as a multi-day walking destination from the West Rim Visitor Center and back. The one-way trip is 15.3 miles through a colorful desert-like wilderness dotted with cinder cones, old lava flows, and other volcanic features.
Despite being deep inside the crater, the campground is located 6,380 feet above sea level, and nighttime temperatures can drop below freezing. Volcanic stone walls around the campsite help protect tents from the occasional howling winds.
Wilderness campsite permits are required. The only facilities in Pariku are pit toilets and non-potable water, which must be filtered for drinking.
Jim West/Alamy Stock Photo
Washington Creek, part of Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park, has 10 campgrounds.
A large natural island in the harbor of Lake Superior has some 34 primitive campsites accessible only by foot, boat, or seaplane. One of the most accessible locations is Washington Creek near Windigo on the southeast coast of Isle Royale.
Washington Creek has 10 sites and sheltered camping facilities, and picnic tables and drinking water are also provided. Nearby is a seasonal ranger station, camp store, comfort station, and a dock where campers can drop off their boats for the night.
Those without a boat can take ferries to Windigo from Grand Portage, Minnesota, and Copper Harbor or Houghton, Michigan.
Although it’s rare to see Isle Royale’s famous wolves these days, the island is still home to a fairly healthy elk population (more than 2,000) and many other animals.
A dramatic fjord-like valley in Washington state’s North Cascade Mountains provides a stunning location for this walk-in or boat-in campground on the northern end of Lake Chelan.
Just arriving at the campsite is an adventure. Campers must either operate their own boat or take the ferry in Chelan to cross the long, huge, beautiful lake to Stehekin. From there he hikes or paddles 5.5 miles across the lake to Weaver’s point.
Lake Chelan Boat Co. transports kayaks, but not canoes, paddleboards, or other watercraft. Weaver Point Campground is first-come, first-served. No reservations or backcountry permits are required. The campsite is equipped with picnic tables and barbecue grills. And you can even bring your dog!
Michael See/Moment RF/Getty Images
Cumberland Island National Seashore is located off the coast of Georgia.
The main attraction of this overnight spot on Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia is 17 miles of pristine Atlantic beach and falling asleep to the nightly sound of the waves.
Tucked away in a coastal forest, this well-equipped campground includes picnic tables, fire pits with grills, food storage containers, drinking water, and restrooms with cold showers to wash away sand before hitting the hay. Masu.
Campers can bring their bikes in by ferry from the mainland or hike to the Dungeness Ruins, Stafford Plantation, or High Point Ghost Town near the northern tip of the island.
Joe Yoghast is the author of National Geographic’s 50 States, 500 Campgrounds and 100 Parks, 5,000 Ideas.
