The Best of the National Parks

National Geographic Adventure Magazine
June/July 2007

Sea Kayaking
Channel Islands National Park
 And the Central California Coast

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For our annual parks issue, we polled rangers, guides, and outfitters to find fifty easy-to-execute plans that put you in the wild heart of America's national parks, whether you love hiking, paddling, climbing, wildlife viewing, or sublime lodges. By Robert Earle Howells

Hike to lava, paddle with icebergs, look a grizzly in the eyethe national parks are a breeding ground for extraordinary adventures. For our annual parks issue, we polled rangers, guides, outfitters, and Contributing Editors (heck, even the Secretary of the Interior chimed in) to find out their most cherished activities.

The result? Fifty easy-to-execute plans that put you in the wild heart of America's national parks.

Channel Islands National Park, California Santa Cruz Island There are more than a hundred sea caves on the north side of Santa Cruz Island and every one of them is different. Complete with arches, grottoes, and blowholes, some caves are more than 200 feet (61meters) long (one 1,215-footer [370-meter] is considered the world's largest) and beg to be explored by kayak, with a helmet, headlamp, and ideally a guide. Try the 3.8-mile (6-kilometer) from Potato Harbor to Cavern Point for starters, and don't miss Surging T, an exhilarating 354-foot-long (108-meter-long) pass-through.

Vitals: Aquasports, in Goleta, leads guided trips ($275 for two days).
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