NPS #4: Grand Canyon National Park Mule Rides or 4 Mule Days

Mules at Grand Canyon National Park  Photo by Krenda Frushour

Mules have played a part in American history through agriculture, war, pulling canal boats along the Erie Canal, and hauling goods along the trail rides west.  Famous leaders appreciated mules from George Washington the mule breeder to President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir riding mules in now Yosemite National Park.  If you have older kids age seven or above, your kids can ride mules in national parks.

Mules have characteristics that make them right for the job of carrying people near a canyon rim.  As an offspring of a donkey and horse, many consider mules as hardy and long-lived, less likely to spook, slower, more patient, and having higher endurance than horses.    

Grand Canyon Bright Angel Lodge

Shuttle to Mule Rides

We took a mule ride along the Grand Canyon south rim.  Reserve early because the park limits the number of riders per day.  The Grand Canyon is a popular National Park.  National Geographic's book 100 Places That Can Change Your Child's Life lists the Grand Canyon as a must see site, "The iconic Grand Canyon experience is the overnight mule ride down to the Colorado River; riders must be at least four feet seven inches tall and weight less than 200 pounds.  The ride can be physically taxing, especially in the heat of summer."
We had my younger, shorter nephew and took a less taxing ride under two hours.  It began our adventure by checking in at the Bright Angel Lodge's transportation desk.  The employees checked whether we met the requirements (above age seven years old, below two hundred pounds).  A shuttle bus took us to the mules and wrangler.  Park employees helped visitors get into the saddle and they assured us of the positive mule traits such as sure-footed and motivated by self preservation.  Our mules took us up and down the trails, through the forest, and giving us unique views of the canyon.  I'd suggest wearing jeans, sunglasses, hats, and bandanas.  The sun shines down and the dust kicks up.    

Grand Canyon guide, photo by Krenda

National parks seem like the perfect place for a mule ride.  It combines the natural beauty of the park and guides to tell you more about the park.  The Grand Canyon offers rides at both the north and south rim.  Here's three other national parks offering mule rides:

1.  Yosemite National Park by Big Trees Stables, 2 hour horse or mule ride, views of Big Trees Lodge, the Wawona Meadow Loop, a former encampment, and Wawona Dome.  $65/rider.

2.  Bryce Canyon National Park - Bryce Canyon Lodge, leaving from Sunrise Point for views of Wall of Windows, The Chessman, and Bristle Cone Pine Trees; 2 hour tour to canyon floor $65 or 3 hour Peek-A-Boo loop trail $90

3.  Zion National Park by Canyon Trail Rides - offered March to Oct., one hour trip Virgin River Ride $45/person includes view of Three Patriarchs, The Beehives, and cactus gardens or 3 hour tour along Sand Bench Trail $90 offering views of the park's southern end

 If you want to spend less than $65/person, find other ways to get your kids close to mules.  Look for a Mule Days festival.  Here's four annual Mule Day festivals:

1. Mule Days Bishop (Bishop, CA, Memorial weekend, Sat. show $15 adult and $10 child): attracts over 300,000 fans, 700 mules, and 14 shows within six days, boasts the "World's Longest Non-Motorized parade", watch hitch classes, timed cones, donkey driving timed, team roping, Sat. night dance $10, BBQ dinner $25 adult and $10 child
 

View from mule, Grand Canyon NP, photo by Krenda

2. Mule Days Columbia (Columbia, TN, April, Fri. & Sat., $10 and free for kids under 12)- celebrate the "mule capital" of the world, even began in 1840 and now over 200,000 people attend; lumberjack competitions, clogging, log pulling competition, bluegrass music, gospel singing, worship service, chili supper, dance, Mule Day Queen competition; entertainment includes a mule pull contest requiring a pair of mules to pull a sled loaded with cinder blocks ten feet

3.  Benson Mule Days (Benson, NC, Benson Singing Grove downtown, 4th Sat. of Sept.), attracts 40-50 thousand people, rodeo $15, American Legion dance $9, mule pulling contest, camping, sidewalk chalk art, bluegrass, karaoke, 
 
4.  Harrison Mule Days (Woodbine, MD, Carroll County Equestrian Center), primitive camping $20, mule jump, hay ride, baby bottle race, night coon hunt, cornhole tournament, animal dress-up competition, cowboy church, and auction

State Park #2: Hocking Hills State Park, Logan Ohio - geology lessons

Get out of the house and go explore and you will see majestic cliffs, waterfalls, gorges, and more. Especially if you drive to Hocking Hills State Park. I've been to a lot of State Parks, but none like this one in Ohio.  While hiking, you have time to discuss geological processes.  Gorges are mainly formed because of the flow of water or lava.  Smaller than canyons, gorges still have deep, narrow valleys with a river or stream running.  Even easier than creating your own science lesson, check out the park schedule for educational talks hosted by naturalists. 

Besides admiring the rocks, go on a hunt for waterfalls.  This photo shows Cedar Falls, the largest in terms of water volume.  From the photo, it's difficult to tell size.  It spans 50 feet with water cascading between limestone and ending in a pool.  I'd also recommend the waterfall at Ash Cave.  You'll be impressed with the size of the 700-foot long cave.

Gorges make beautiful scenery for a hike with your family.  Two of the top three parks winning the USA Today 10 Best Readers' Choice Award Best State Park rating have well known gorges:

1) Letchworth State Park (Castile, New York) rated #1:  includes Genesee River Gorge, sometimes referred as "Grand Canyon of the East"
2) Watkins Glen State Park (New York) rated #3:  includes Gorges of Finger Lakes, 200 foot cliffs, 19 waterfalls, part of the Finger Lake State Parks

Readers rated Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan as the #2 state park.

Here's 9 Other gorges you could visit with your family:
1.  Quechee Gorge, Vermont: (Quechee State Park):  deepest gorge in Vermont, view from US Route 4 bridge
2.  Bluestone River Gorge, West Virginia: canyon land around the Bluestone National Scenic River and protected by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (est. 1988)
3.  Rio Grande Gorge, New Mexico: approx. 50 mile gorge beginning near the Colorado border, part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument (designated 2013)
4.  Avalance Gorge, Avalanche Cree, Montana:  narrow chasms near the falls within Glacier National Park
5.  Linville Gorge, North Carolina: part of the Pisgah National Forest and sourced by Linville River, also claims "Grand Canyon of the East"
6.  Bad River Gorge, Wisconsin (Copper Falls State Park): walls can tower up to 100 feet above the river bed, watch for flash floods
7.  Cathedral Gorge, Nevada near Panaca, Nevada: (Cathedral Gorge State Park) established 1935, early construction included picnicking facilities built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
8.  Malad Gorge, Idaho; (Malad Gorge State Park):  narrow steel walk way across the gorge
9.  Columbia Gorge, Oregon Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area: managed by the Columbia River Gorge Commission and the US Forest Service, 80 mile canyon up to 4,000 feet deep and spans Oregon and Washington

Transportation Lesson #6: Ticket to Ride, Lebanon Ohio & 9 Train Rides

Depot, Photo by Krenda

Games, geography, history, and trains.  You can combine them for your kids.  Kids love trains, so you'll have a hit.  Bring in the edutainment, starting with the game Ticket to Ride.  This board game for kids 8 sets the scene of a 1900 adventure.  The game requires strategy as you choose routes across the US, completing trips and competing for longest route.  It's rated 5/5 stars on Amazon and while you play on the map board game, the kids will likely learn geography, searching for cities.  Credit to my brother-in-law for introducing us to the US Ticket to Ride game.  When my son got older, my sister bought him Ticket to Ride Europe, a bit more complicated with tunnels and stations.



For parents with kids under 8, you may jump to train activity #2:  take a train ride!  My friend from Atlanta visited us in Ohio and we bought tickets for the LM&M, Lebanon, Mason, & Monroe train.  Most trips include a history lesson, explaining that the locomotive CNRY is one of the oldest GP& locomotives still operating and the coaches 101-104 were built in 1931.  You can get outside to view the countryside because the train includes an open car built in 1934 as a freight gondola.  This special excursion brought history to life by acting out a train robbery.

Facts:
Typical tickets cost $13 adult, $8 children.  Themed outings at a premium:
-Fall: Harvest Flyer adults $19, kids $16
-Winter: The North Pole Express including the reading of The Polar Express book cost $20.50 adults, $15.50 for kids.
 http://lebanonrr.com/



Here's 9 other train trips to consider:
1.  Durango & Silverton Train - Colorado - 45 miles narrow gauge railroad takes you through the San Juan National Forest, originally built to carry gold and silver down from the peaks; my friend got married on the enclosed Prospector Car; enjoy the beautiful mountain views, $85 adults, $51 kids

2.  Heber Valley Railroad - Utah - Heber Valley & Provo Canyon, steam and diesel trains, adventure outings take you to whitewater rafting

3.  Thunder Mountain Line - Horseshoe Bend, Idaho - ride along the Payette River & thru the Boise National Forest, explore gold mining exhibit in Banks

4.  Mount Washington Cog Railway - Marshfield Station, NH - 3 miles up the steepest railroad tracks in North America to get to views of New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont; kids $39, Adults $69

5.  Strasburg Railroad - Ronks, PA - coal burning steam train thru countryside and Amish area, look for special outing Day Out with Thomas

6.  Virginia & Truckee Railroad - NV - 90 min. ride from Carson City to Virginia City, pass thru tunnels and near cemeteries and abandoned mines

7.  Grand Canyon Railway - Williams, AZ - ride through desert and mountains to reach the Grand Canyons South Rim

8.  Cass Scenic Railway - Cass, WV - 11 mile journey within the state park includes a steep incline and great views of the mill town Cass

9.  Great Smoky Mountain Railroad - Tuckasegee River Excursion - Bryson City, NC - 32 miles through railroad towns and meadows.  Check if special for kids free with paying adult on Tue. is offered. 

Transportation Lesson #2: Mail Boat Delivery Jump Tour (Lake Geneva, WI)

Lake Geneva, Photo by Krenda

"Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat...", we all hear about how the United States Post Office employees deliver mail despite bad weather.  We also hear about the many different transportation methods needed throughout history to transport the mail - horse drawn wagons, airplanes, trucks, etc.  There's stories about mail delivered by bush pilots in Alaska and mule train to the Havasupai Indians at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  To learn more, you can take your kids to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.  

The museum includes an exhibit about the relationship between mail and our national parks "Trailblazing 100 Years of Our National Parks."

Then I heard about an experiential learning opportunity on CBS News Sunday Morning segment in which Bill Geist describes a timeless place where the arrival of summer is announced by the first mailboat.  In Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, mail still gets delivered by boat daily from June to September.  It began approximately 100 years ago before the government built roads around the lake.  Before the summer season, Gage boat company holds tryouts for mail jumpers who will ride the boat, jump onto the pier, put mail in and out of the mailbox, and jump back on the boat.

You can take your kids on the Gage boat tour "U.S. Mailboat Tour".  The 2.5 hour tour takes you on a cruise around Lake Geneva to watch a mail jumper in action.  He or she delivers the mail to about 75 homes on the lake with approximately 160 tourists watching.  The service continues as a free service.  To watch the action on Wadsworth 11, the only mail jumping boat in the U.S., you'll need to pay $38 for adults and $22 for children.

Our mail jumper had skills.  He'd sprint to the mailbox.  At one point, he had to jump off the boat and put mail in an entire row of mailboxes, run about a mile, and time it right to jump back on the moving boat.  He really showed off by jumping off a dock and then doing a cartwheel before placing mail into the box.  Everyone cheered for him.  The residents also seem to enjoy the service.  Some would sit on their pier in big wooden chairs waiting for the mail delivery and waving to the tourists.  Another resident waited by his box for a hand delivery.

Besides the entertainment, the boat emcee provides history lessons about the mansions surrounding the lakes and the famous business families like Wrigley owning them.

Today email works fast.  But think about the years of news delivered by the mailman.  Letters from soldiers, love letters, holiday cards, postcards giving you a glimpse of a place far away.  I still find joy in sending and receiving postcards.  Thanks to the U.S. Postal Service employees for delivering through difficult weather or taking a risk to fall in the lake so residents can open a envelope of joy.