Where to hike in March

[Biloute]

My school's spring break is March 16-20, plus the surrounding weekends. I had thought of going to the Grand Canyon to hike to the bottom and back up, but it sounds like there might be ice or snow or other non-ideal conditions. Can anyone recommend some good places for either multiple day hikes or overnight trips that would be nice in mid-March? I live in Kansas and wouldn't want to drive more than 2 days each way.

[tmountainnut]

My school's spring break is March 16-20, plus the surrounding weekends. I had thought of going to the Grand Canyon to hike to the bottom and back up, but it sounds like there might be ice or snow or other non-ideal conditions. Can anyone recommend some good places for either multiple day hikes or overnight trips that would be nice in mid-March? I live in Kansas and wouldn't want to drive more than 2 days each way.

My article on the grand canyon in issue 18 was written on my grand canyon trip in mid march, so a south rim trip would be a great trip during that time frame. Ice/snow is a possibility near the rim, but only if you tried to go after a large storm and a cold snap. I didn't encounter any, so i would encourage you to go for it.

There are also plenty of great areas around southern utah and northern arizona that would early in their season but still fun and doable as long as a big winter storm didn't come through. The area around escalante and capitol reef are some of my favorite places to go in the spring.

-Ted

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

My vote would be for Utah or close by as well...If you need some ideas you can always take a look at this map:

http://www.trailgroove.com/content.php/168-trailfinder

[Gearspoke]

If you go to Colorado, there is a train that takes you from Durango to Silverton, and you are able to go hiking for about two hours in Silverton then they take you back. It is a 3 hour train ride each day! Another park that you can visit in Colorado is Mesa Verde National Park. You can walk around and see all of the amazing ancient buildings that were constructed into a cliff. Pretty amazing to see!

[Hiker22]

My Son and I are planning to hike the Trans Catalina Trail in March over his Spring Break. Working on the logistics now. Oops, just reread the part about living in Kansas, might be more than a 2 day drive.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Hiker22

[Absarokanaut]

I'd suggest Utah as well with Guadalupe NP in SW Texas as an option. Both are a half day's [12hrs. +/-] from Manhattan, KS. Doing the Needles District of Canyonlands would likely be a blast. You could go two different ways, through Denver on the way out and Durango on the way back.