The rain is hard and relentless. The gas station ahead, a few miles from Window Rock, AZ, offers shelter. In seconds, the parking area is flooded, but my motorcycle is safe and dry. “Do not go out further just yet,” the old Navajo man says. “The roads will be full of mud, and it will […]

Once upon a time, Manzanar National Historic Site was called Manzanar War Relocation Center. It was one of 10 camps where Japanese American citizens were incarcerated during World War II. I had never been there, and I knew little about this site, though I knew that it is managed by the National Park Service, for […]

Rarely do I ride 1,800 miles just because a stranger suggests an awesome ride, but I had just met a fellow rider, Scott, in Springerville, AZ, and he was already persuading me to take a ride near his home in Utah. He called it the Nebo Loop, but it’s also known as the Mount Nebo […]

In the 2009 documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Director Ken Burns spoke about the grandeur of a world known as Yellowstone National Park, as well as less familiar National Park Service areas, such as Abó Ruins, an integral part of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in New Mexico. Burns once said: “We are […]

The Pacific Ocean is jaw-droppingly beautiful as I ride my motorcycle along Highway 1 from Monterey, CA, toward San Diego. It’s easy to allow your imagination to run free along each curve on this scenic highway, envisioning sailing ships exploring new lands. Albert Einstein said that “imagination is more important than knowledge.” I think that […]

I just returned from an awesome motorcycle tour chasing butterflies and wildflowers. You can expect the full article on the wildflower super bloom at Joshua Tree National Park and surrounding areas in an upcoming issue of RoadRUNNER. In the meantime, you can read more about this awesome park in my article, In Pursuit of Wildness: […]

As Steve McQueen said, “I’d rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than any city on earth.” I’m not sure if Steve McQueen considered the badlands of Texas “nowhere,” but that’s where I’m riding my motorcycle on this epic adventure into the Wild West. In four days and 1,700 miles, I intend to wake up in […]

I’m on my motorcycle, heading west on I-10 back to California, when I see the sign for a destination totally unfamiliar to me: Chiricahua National Monument. Just the name sparks my interest. Although best known for being the home of the Grand Canyon, Arizona is rich with more than a dozen less-frequented national park areas, […]

“There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic […]

As I press my tent stakes into the mineral-rich soil of the nation’s oldest national park, I am glad that I didn’t heed the impulse to turn around before even rolling across the western boundary of Yellowstone earlier in the day. The big jugs on my BMW R 1200 GS were getting hotter than I […]

Imagine: your saddlebags are packed, your gear’s on, the sun’s out, and you’re excited to spend several days exploring Sequoia National Park. You roll out of the driveway in a great mood. Then you get there and see the long line to purchase a park pass. Developed in conjunction with the National Park Service, Your Pass Now is […]

To celebrate the National Park Service’s 100-year anniversary, last year we launched In Pursuit of Wildness, a new series about exploring our country’s national parks on two wheels. Penned by Robert Griego, a motorcyclist who spent 35 and a half years with the National Park Service, we’ve covered Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, […]

Everyone knows Yellowstone is America’s first national park. Few, however, know that Sequoia is the nation’s second national park and California’s first. That’s where this story begins. The giant sequoias were here some 2,000 years ago. Their root system is shallow and they drink about 500 gallons per day. If you come by after a […]

The wind, the open road, and my motorcycle: this is my mantra. Motorcycles have been a part of my of life since I was 16. My first bike was an 80cc Yamaha, and for a high school kid it was magic. I am 67 years old and still riding motorcycles. Today I ride a Yamaha […]

Although it’s still snowing in some parts of the U.S., it’s technically spring, we’re on daylight savings time, and we need to get serious about planning our 2014 riding season. Last month I talked about using the digital cache of tours on RoadRUNNER’s website (www.roadrunner.travel) to plan a trip. Once a touring destination has been […]