Going out to the American West over Spring Break for the first time to hike in Colorado and Oregon;
What can I expect the trails to be like?
Also does anyone with personal experience have some good trails for reference?
All I am going on so far is google references.
Have hiked the Appalachian before;
No worries about difficulty.
Also, General Trail and hiking thread.
Colorado mountains will be full of snow, except the very front of the front range, like Boulder. Some passes will still be under like 20ft of snow in the high country. Snowshoes would be helpful haha.
>>710556
Get some yaktrax or anything in those lines. If you find yourself going down on a steep path covered with mud because of the melting snow, it will really help, specially if you are carrying a big backpack.
Keep at hand cheap construction leather gloves and use them when fixing camp. Nothing worst than ruining your hands because of wet and muddy rocks and wood.
>>710556
Oregon here. You will need to purchase a recreation pass/license if you wish to use our trails. Not even joking.
>>710775
Is it worth it?
>>710775
Oregon here. Never bought one in my life and I've been here for 39 years.
Anyway, OP, if you let us know where you'd be I could give you a better idea of what's good and what you're in for. In general Oregon's trail system is VERY good and very well maintained. There's quite literally thousands of good hikes in the state, so again, let me know where you're going to be.
>>710775
Wtf? Really? How much is it?
I mean if it is $15 a year just to help maintain the trails and stuff almost like a fishing license and DNR, I guess I'm ok with it. Seems like a small entrance fee to certain parks would be enough on top of state taxes though. "Recreation Pass" is just a funny way of putting it.
Florida actually has a handful of parks and preserves that you have to pay like $2 to get into. I found that strange when I moved down here. But we also have no state income tax and a low sales tax so that's a far cry from IL and kinda makes sense why it would cost a couple dollars to enjoy some picnic tables and grass.
another anon here ill be in boulder from march 30 til april 5 what are the best trails to hike also and good bike spots
>>710784
Are there any parks that overlook mid to large sized towns like those of Eugene and Portland? I need this info for a book I'm writing.
>>710788
Also Oregon here, State forest recreational trails are free to use.
National forests have a parking fee at the trailhead which is $5/day or $30 for an annual 'northwest forest pass' that works in washington as well as oregon.
You don't need a forest pass if you hike in or walk from a free parking area.
mt hood national forest gets a *lot* of use and the trails are expensive to maintain due to the constant erosion since it rains so much.
