My previous blog called Gatekeepers of the West started out as a preface to this blog. That preface turned into enough paragraphs to become its own blog.

Consider this post prefaced.

Now, this secret isn’t really a secret. But to some it is. To some it’s a concept they never knew to think about.

Maybe they still won’t. But maybe some will.

What’s this not-really-secret secret? America’s National Forests. They’re everywhere out West.

Look the the below maps. They’re photos of maps from my DeLorme atlases showing the forest Service land in the 4 Corner states. It’s the green swathes. The green across the 4 totals 66,000 square miles. That’s an area about the size of Washington State. That’s a lot.

West of the Great Planes, the USFS controls roughly 141.5 million acres, or 220,000 square miles. That is 2 Nevadas. That’s a huge amount of land.

Actually, the federal government controls roughly 45% of the land west of the Great Planes through various agencies like the Department of Defense, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and, of course, National Forest Service, or the USFS.

Whether the Founding Fathers intended the federals to control so much land far away from the District of Columbia, and whether that control is benevolent, are serious questions. Personally, I don’t think the federals should control that land, and I don’t think that control is benevolent. My opinions are firm. But I’ll leave this controversy for other posts.

Currently, this is reality, and I ake advantage of this reality. That is, I like to explore USFS lands, by driving the roads and hiking the trails. America’s National Forests provide views that rival anything you’ll see in National Parks. Views like…

Anywhere in the Red Rock Ranger District of the Coconino NF in Arizona, which is commonly known as the Sedona area, which is not a National Park.

Then there is the Inyo NF in Eastern California, where you can stand at 10,000′ in the White Mountains, and look west to the Sierra Nevada rising to 14,000′.

And, of course, there is the San Juan NF in Colorado at 12,000′ looking at the peaks of the La Plata mountains rising even higher above you.

Indeed, I could list views in the Sequoia, Angeles, Humboldt-Toyabe, Kaibab, Dixie, Bridger-Teton, La Sal, Apache, Santa Fe, so on and so forth, National Forests that rival National Parks.

And virtually no one knows about them.

Well, that’s not entirely true. The locals know about them. The locals go into them. But tourists don’t.

Tourists know about the National Parks. They know about the stuff that is widely advertised. They go to the places where there are already tons of people, but they do not go off the beaten path. Finding Grand Canyon is enough exploring for them.

And that’s fine. I’d be a fool to criticize the travel habits of people from New York, Texas, Florida or Minnesota who live far away from the forested lands of the West. Time is limited. They’re busy putting food on the table. If they only have a week to see the best of the West, they should go to the National Parks. They should go to Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc.

Truly.

But this post isn’t about National Parks. It’s about National Forests. It’s about the fact that the National Forests across the Western States can provide views that rival Parks, and trying to find those views can be an enjoyable and even mesmerizing experience.

See, Western Forests are on top of mountains. As I wrote in an older post called Why Arizona Surprises So Many, the mountains out West are the very thing that causes forests to grow on top of them. Mountains orographically lift air masses into colder altitudes where moisture in those air masses more easily condense into clouds, rain and snow. Thus, there, in higher elevations, forests grow.

What I’m saying is that where forests are out West the land is elevated, and vistas are better from up high. You explore the forests not to look at trees. That would be kinda boring. You go to find those vistas. Those vistas are the secrets. Again, they can be stunning like Parks.

So why doesn’t everyone do this? For a bunch of reasons.

They don’t know about the Forests; they don’t have the time; they don’t have the right vehicle; they don’t want to camp; they’re scared about getting lost; they don’t care; etc.

Again, whatever reason is fine.

But, if you do know about the open lands of the National Forests, and have the inclination for the adventure of exploring new lands, and have a high clearance and 4-wheel drive vehicle, and like to camp in the middle of nowhere, and no how to read a map…

Well, some of that exploring will be boring or frustrating. Endless pines can be boring. Washboarded roads are awful. Then, you get to your objective and there are no views. You drove 25 miles to look at trees!

That can happen.

But it also can happen that a feeling of freedom possesses your soul in the wild, warm and sunny lands of Western America which changes you forever. This is a quintessential American feeling.

It can happen that such views yield a new type of happiness and even a pride in knowing that you went out into the unknown and found your way unto a gem most will never know. Seeing forever does something to you.

Certainly, I can share much more information about this process of exploring the Forests. I can share pointers, advice and wisdom. Indeed, there are more things to consider: cell service, rainy seasons, bears, guns, etc.

I’m not suggesting what I know is impressive – not at all. I’m still leaning. I’m still exploring.

But I do imagine there are many thousands of Americans who would love to do something like this, and I wish y’all Godspeed.

And maybe I will write more – even much more – about this “secret”.