Although one might associate many national parks with the arrival of icy roads and mountain snows in December, there are many Southern parks that are still suitable for a late-year group visit. Just south of Natchitoches, Louisiana, is Cane River Creole National Historical Park, which protects two great cotton plantations: Magnolia and Oakland.

In 1753, Jean Baptiste LeComte obtained the land grant that became Magnolia Plantation, while in 1789, Jean Pierre Emmanuel Prud’homme also received a land grant which became the core of Bermuda Plantation, later renamed Oakland. Even though well-managed plantations like Magnolia and Oakland survived the war, low prices, boll weevils, and the departure of former slaves from the region brought hard times. 

Although World War I initially increased cotton demand, it wasn’t long before depressed prices and lean times returned. And as modernization and mechanization increased, from the 1930s to the 1960s, many plantations like Magnolia and Oakland were gradually abandoned. Nevertheless, descendants of families and workers who have farmed the region for over two centuries have been able to successfully adapt to social, agricultural and economic change, carrying on many traditions and an enduring Creole culture into the 21st century.

Today, visitors to the two plantations can explore a varied collection of carriage houses, overseer’s houses, slave quarters, plantation stores, a doctor’s cottage, and other facilities, including the country’s last remaining mule-powered cotton press.  The main house at Oakland, fully furnished with period and some original pieces, is open for guided tours, while the main house at Magnolia, burned during the Civil War, was rebuilt in 1896 and is still in private ownership outside the park boundary.  There is no charge for admission to either park site.

Oakland Plantation - Counter and shelves in Plantation Store

Magnolia Plantation - Old steam-powered cotton press

Magnolia Plantation - Slave/tenant quarters

Spread out through the countryside of East Texas north of Beaumont are the 15 separate units that make up Big Thicket National Preserve. Called the “biological crossroads of North America,” Big Thicket was established to protect an amazing diversity of plant and animal species that thrive in the confluence of forests and central plains. 

With the arrival of white settlers during the 1850s, harvesting of native timbers was soon followed by sawmills, railroads, farming and eventually oil strikes, so designation as a national preserve by the National Park Service created a new management concept to shelter remaining portions of the original ecology. To further environmental impact studies, the United Nations also named Big Thicket an International Biosphere Reserve in 1981.    

Here travelers can explore this extraordinary landscape on easy hiking trails, birding, canoeing, fishing and ranger-led activities. With the splendid weather that accompanied my December visit, hiking several Big Thicket trails became a truly inspiring experience. I was particularly fascinated by the variety of mushrooms that I encountered, including the oyster mushrooms which grow in rows on tree trunks, as shown in the accompanying photograph. 
 
Groups should begin their visits at the excellent Big Thicket Visitor Center.  From here it’s only a short distance to the outstanding Kirby Nature Trail, at the entrance to which fine picnic facilities can be found. Other interesting (and easy) hikes in the area include the Sundew and Pitcher Plant Trails, the latter offering a unique opportunity to explore a bog of the renowned insect-eating plant species.  There is no charge to visit Big Thicket.

Cypress knees in the swamp

Carnivorous pitcher plants

Reflections in Turkey Creek

Not all parks are freezing in December. Parks like the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi can be a perfect way to get outdoors during the winter.

The Gulf Islands National Seashore created in 1971 to protect the long, narrow barrier islands along the Gulf of Mexico. These islands contain salt marshes, wildlife, historic forts and archaeological sites. Most this National Park Service is offshore, and over 80% of the park is actually submerged lands.  

Although the islands in the Florida District are always accessible, the pristine beaches, maritime ecology and old Fort Massachusetts found on the islands about 10 miles off the Mississippi Coast are only available to travelers who have their own boats, or wish to charter one locally (a good option for tour groups), or, from Gulfport to West Ship Island during the public tour boat season, from late March through late October.

However, a hidden gem of the Seashore is the unspoiled Davis Bayou Area, in Ocean Springs. Davis Bayou offers exhibits and video presentations in the William M. Colmer Visitor Center, extensive picnic facilities, plus easy-to-negotiate nature trails and boardwalks along the bayou. These trails offer wonderful opportunities to experience the fascinating plants, animals and birds that have adapted to life in this sometimes harsh, yet beautiful subtropical landscape. 

Don’t fail to save some time (but no money, as admission is free) to include this nearby showcase of Southern Mississippi’s natural beauty during your group’s next trip to the Biloxi casinos!

Hundreds of winged sumac berries

Mama heron and her young ones

They don't call this the "Gator Pond" for nothing!

Unfortunately, some extraordinary sites administered by our National Park Service are not very accessible. Among these is surely Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in northwestern Nebraska, even though it is not all that distant from South Dakota’s popular Black Hills resort region. 

The Monument was once part of the Agate Springs Ranch, purchased by James and Kate Cook from her parents in 1887. Strange “Devil’s Corkscrew” formations were first studied here by scientists soon thereafter, which were eventually identified as fossilized burrows of a prehistoric beaver-like creature that lived more like a prairie dog.

Here, around ancient waterholes, animals had apparently congregated and eventually died when supplies of the nearby grasses that they foraged, already drastically reduced by drought, were exhausted. The bones of hundreds and even thousands of several species were eventually covered under several feet of sediment. Mostly between 1904 and 1923, paleontologists from several renowned Eastern institutions worked these fossil beds, uncovering bones that are now found in outstanding museum collections around the globe. 

Today, in addition to displays explaining and exhibiting some of the fossilized bones, as well as complete replica skeletons, the Monument’s excellent visitor center also contains a video theatre and the Cook Collection of Indian Artifacts. Even by itself, the Cook family’s magnificent collection of Plains Indian cultural artifacts makes a trip to the Monument worthwhile. However two interpretive trails, the 2.7-mile round-trip Fossil Hill Trail to the University and Carnegie Hill dig sites, and the one-mile Daemonelix Trail, all contribute to a memorable visitor experience.

Red Cloud's ceremonial shirt in the Cook Collection of Indian Artifacts

Daemonelix in the "phone booth"

Mule deer viewed from the Daemonelix Trail

The Missouri, North America’s longest river, meanders from its headwaters in Montana and through the Dakotas, borders Nebraska and Kansas to the east, and Iowa and Missouri to the west, before crossing the “Show Me” State and joining the Mississippi just north of St. Louis.  Although it became an important commercial waterway as the U.S. expanded westward during the second half of the 19th century, the river remained treacherous going for steamboats of the era.

However, after a series of particularly devastating floods in the early 1940s, Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1944, a provision of which eventually resulted in six dams being built, massive reservoirs being filled and the end of regular seasonal flood destruction. But there are still two historic, free-flowing stretches of the Missouri along the Nebraska/South Dakota border that were preserved by Congress in 1978 and 1991 as the Missouri National Recreational River. The 39-Mile-District, downstream from Fort Randall Dam as far as Running Water (SD), offers visitor centers at both the dam itself and Niobrara State Park (NE), while the 59-Mile District, downstream from the Gavins Point Dam to Ponca State Park (NE), has a visitor center in the state park, as well as the major Lewis and Clark Visitor Center at the dam. 

In addition to splendid views of the river and Gavins Point Dam, the latter facility has numerous exhibits, a video theatre and a bookstore. Both districts offer a wealth of opportunities for water sports, fishing, hiking and picnicking.

Park facilities along the Missouri River

Lewis and Clark Visitor Center

Missouri River model in the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center

A unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge makes a wonderful tour stop for groups traveling in Nebraska. Only about five miles off of I-29, DeSoto is one of over 500 refuges protected and managed nationally. However, DeSoto is much more than just a place to view spectacular flights of ducks, geese and bald eagles along a traditional flyway route. The refuge also offers beautiful indoor galleries overlooking DeSoto Lake during the spring and fall months.

The visitor center not only houses the galleries, but it is also the home of one of the most unusual historic collections in the country, the Steamboat Bertrand Collection.  Due to the numerous perils of traveling the Missouri, the river’s hazards exacted a heavy toll on early ships, with over 400 steamboats sunk or stranded between St. Louis and Fort Benton, Montana.  Among these was the Bertrand, which sank here in April, 1865 and was quickly covered completely by thick river mud. 

This time capsule of Civil War-era goods destined for the Montana Territory rested undiscovered for over a century, finally being unearthed in 1969. Unfortunately, during the summer of 2011, the rising waters of a major Missouri River flood threatened both the fabulous Steamboat Bertrand Collection as well as the DeSoto Visitor Center itself. As a result, the entire collection of artifacts was quickly shipped to a warehouse in Omaha as a precautionary measure.  A complete cataloging and re-cleaning of all items is now being completed in the Omaha facility. 

Happily, the collection will gradually be returned to and reinstalled at DeSoto beginning in early 2013, and the entire move is expected to be completed by next fall.  If you plan a visit, which I highly recommend, make sure to say ‘hello’ to Ken Block, the amiable, highly experienced and knowledgeable USFWS (and former NPS) ranger who helped make my visit in early November (I had last been here in 1984) a particular pleasure.

Wildlife exhibit

Historic artifacts from the Steamboat Bertrand Collection

Ranger Ken Block assists visitors

Mount Rainier National Park is one of America’s oldest and best-known national parks, roughly a hundred miles north-northeast of the “City of Roses” as the crow flies. Established as the nation’s fifth national park in 1899, Mount Rainier is about a 155-mile drive from Portland, or approximately 90 miles by road from Seattle.  


The centerpiece of this glorious national treasure is, of course, perpetually snowcapped Mount Rainier itself, the towering, 14,410-foot dormant volcano that can easily be seen from throughout the Seattle and Tacoma areas on a clear day. Travelers who have visited Colorado are likely aware that there are 55 peaks exceeding 14,000 feet in that photogenic state, although none of them are as visually prominent as Mount Rainier for one very important reason.

Remembering that the base altitude in Colorado is Denver’s 5,280 feet, the “Fourteeners” there are actually only in the 9,000-foot range. Mount Rainier, however, is less than 50 miles from sea level, thus constituting a much more massive geologic landmark.  Eventually, it also holds the potential for creating a catastrophic natural disaster, since the Cascade Range has been active volcanically for eons. 

Needless to say, the eruption of nearby Mount St. Helens in 1980 provided a graphic reminder of this situation. But unlike the latter peak, Mount Rainier is much closer to the densely populated areas surrounding Puget Sound, so the danger posed is likely of a much higher order. Please don’t let this deter you from visiting this truly superb park, however, since geologists are confident that there will be ample warnings, should Mother Nature ever decide to initiate any significant volcanic activity here.

Carbon River Rainforest

Lake Louise

Box Canyon of the Cowlitz River

As one of our natural treasures that rewards repeated visits, I have visited Mount Rainier on many occasions. There are hard-to-obtain, somewhat basic group accommodations (although with incredible views) available in the park at the historic, 121-room Paradise Inn, built in 1917. 

Nevertheless, most groups will likely opt to stay in the Tacoma or Seattle areas, where there are a wide range of lodging choices available in all price ranges. A full-day excursion into the park will likely suffice as a thrilling “overview” experience for most groups, even though it is possible to take advantage of but a few of the scenic opportunities which this 368-square-mile facility has to offer in such a short time frame. 

Given that the park contains 26 glaciers covering some 35 square miles, more than 300 miles of trails, and over 140 miles of roads, the challenge to visitors attempting to “see it all” is readily apparent. 

Mount Rainier National Park is open year-round, although only the road from the west (WA 706) to the Nisqually Entrance, Longmire and Paradise is open during the winter months due to the heavy snowfall. In fact, the Paradise area, at an elevation of only 5,400 feet, annually gets an average of 126 inches of the white, fluffy stuff. 

On my most recent trip to the park in mid-July, at Paradise I had planned to take the relatively short Nisqually Vista Trail, which offers superb views of the great Nisqually Glacier. Unfortunately, I was prohibited from doing so because I wasn’t prepared to negotiate the deep snow still remaining on the trail from a much greater than average snowfall last winter. 

There is also one other caveat to remember before your group departs for a Mount Rainier day trip. If the sky is overcast and you can’t see the peak before leaving town, unless a change in the weather is anticipated during the day, you are likely to see mostly clouds and possibly no Mount Rainier at all once you reach the park proper.

Paradise Inn

Glaciers on Mount Rainier

Martha Falls

Although a lot of snow was still evident during my two-day July visit to Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, nature provided more than enough compensation for the minor inconveniences it posed. First, the melting snows at higher elevations made the park’s countless waterfalls truly spectacular. The rushing waters of Chenuis, Ranger, Christine, Narada, and Martha Falls, as well as many others along my route, made this trip to Mount Rainier a most memorable one.

The multitudes of brightly colored “spring” wildflowers were obviously at their peak this year in mid-July, while numerous birds and small earthbound critters added to the awe-inspiring splendor. At the northeast corner of the park, I also took an incredible hike though the Carbon River Rain Forest, where ample precipitation had decorated the verdant forest floor with all shades of green.       

Of course, this park is also famous for its deep canyons, beautiful mountain lakes and dense forests of giant Douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock. Although I had planned for an extended picture-taking session at lovely Reflection Lake, it turned out to still be snow-covered, so I moved down the road and got some great panoramic shots overlooking Louise Lake, which is at a significantly lower elevation. 

Other sights that are also sure to be appreciated by group travelers include Stevens Canyon, plus the easy trails at the Box Canyon of the Cowlitz River and the Grove of the Patriarchs. On this trip I did not have time to make it to the Sunrise Visitor Center, which, at an elevation of 6,400 feet, is the highest point in the park accessible by vehicle, and an ideal spot from which to view Mount Rainier. Due to the snow, the road to Sunrise had just opened for the season during the previous weekend. I was reminded of another visit on a July 13th many years ago, when I was required to take a pathway cleared through the remaining ten feet (!) of snow to reach the visitor center building.  

Mount Rainier National Park is a truly magical place, so don’t miss it when you plan a trip to the Pacific Northwest!

Bob Hoelscher, CTC, CTP, MCC, CTIE, is a longtime travel industry executive who has sold his tour company, bought a motorhome and is traveling the highways and byways of America.  He is a former chairman of NTA, and was a founding member of Travel Alliance Partners (TAP).

Well-known in the industry as both a baseball and symphony aficionado, Bob is also one of the country’s biggest fans of our national parks, both large and small.  He has already visited more than 325 NPS sites and has several dozen yet to see.  He is currently traveling the country to visit as many of those parks as possible.  His blog, “Travels with Bob,” appears periodically on The Group Travel Leader’s blogsite, “Are We There Yet”. 

Bob is available for contractual work in the industry and may be reached at bobho52@aol.com or by calling (435) 590-1553.

Stevens Peak

Narada Falls