Fall 2021: Top 5 Bucket List Hiking Spots
As summer winds down and the weather gets cooler, it’s a beautiful time for some fall hiking!
Autumn colors and crisp mountain air make for a tempting adventure. But where to? We’ve done the work for you and created a list of the top 5 places you don’t want to miss. You’ll want to make sure you add these to your hiking bucket list!
Do you love to hike? At Tarma Designs, so do we!
Our hiking and outdoors collection features unique pendants perfect for the hiking and adventure lover.
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1. Rainier National Park, Washington
Featured Pendant: Mountains for Me
With bursting Fall colors found only this time of year, you will quickly become enchanted by this amazing destination. Gorgeous evergreen trees and colorful hillsides are sure to capture your heart along with some incredible views of Tatoosh Peaks, Nisqually glacier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Hood at Panorama Point.
Entrance Fee & Parking: $30 per vehicle - valid for up to 7 days
2. Letchworth State Park, New York
Featured Pendant: Mountain Spirit
Your Fall visit to the Grand Canyon of the East Coast will be stunning! With beautiful Autumn colors, over 23 hiking trails, bird watching, and hot air balloons overhead, this Fall destination will surely be one you’ll want to visit again and again.
Entrance Fee & Parking: $10 per vehicle. Parking is included and available throughout the park.
3. Cook’s Meadow Loop, Yosemite, California
Featured Pendant: Bear Happy
Yosemite is the perfect place to visit in the Fall! Smaller crowds and gorgeous Autumn colors transform the valley into a magical experience. Not only does this trail offer breathtaking views of the changing leaves, but some of the most iconic sights like Half Dome, El Capitan, and Yosemite Falls can be seen along it!
Entrance Fee & Parking: $35 per vehicle — valid for up to 7 days
4. Ptarmigan Lake, Colorado
Featured Pendant: Compass
One of the best hiking spots you’ll find in Colorado is Ptarmigan Lake. This enchanting hike features beautiful Fall colors against an icy blue high alpine lake. The 6-mile out-and-back trail will be the perfect challenge for hikers, and the stunning views are totally worth it.
Entrance Fee & Parking: No fee or permit required. Parking gets crowded during peak fall season (usually toward the end of September) so make sure to arrive at the trailhead by 7 am.
5. Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee and North Carolina
Featured Pendant: AT Pendant
Hiking the Great Smoky Mountains in the Fall is truly a bucket list experience you don’t want to miss. You can experience incredible views from mid-September through late-October/early- November thanks to varying elevations. The birch, beech and maple trees will show off extravagant Fall colors and you’ll want to hop on the Appalachian Trail for a once in a lifetime adventure!
Along the Appalachian Trail, you can hike along Charlie’s Bunion for an 8 mile round trip or check out Alum Cave Bluffs, Andrews Bald, and Rainbow Falls.
Entrance Fee & Parking: With the exception of camping, this park is absolutely free!