Hiking Destinations?

[Fly2Scuba]

What are the best hiking destination airports in the US? Are there some good airports like in Montana or so where you can just walk off the airplane, and hike out of the terminal into nature without renting a car? How about world also? Carribean? Thanks in advance.

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

I can't think of any real good ones in the US. Most you will probably have to hitchhike a little way to get anywhere. Durango, CO is an easy one to hitch away from, and you could get into the Chicago Basin real easily. Anything in Summit, Pitkin or Eagle counties, CO are pretty safe bets. I've never done it, but the hike from Jackson Hole to the base of Grand Teton looks easy enough. Decent choices in SE Alaska too (Juneau, Skagway especially).

Internationally, Ushuaia, Argentina has easy access to the park at Tierra del Fuego. You can easily walk from the airport to the park (about 6 miles) or you can simply catch a minibus.

Pokhara, Nepal. 20 minute car ride and you're on the Annapurna Circuit. I'm pretty sure you can't jumpseat from Katmandhu to Pokhara though, if you could, you might as well hitch a ride to Jomsom, Lukla, or that strip just uphill of Chame. Yes, "that strip," real scientific I know.

I might also guess that Easter Island would be good, since the island isn't all that big, and Moai are seriously cool.

Hope this gives you some ideas my man. But summertime backpacking is for amatuers!

Dan

 

[TonyC]

Anchorage - - you can get to Alaska from there!









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[wxman]

Cataina Island

Santa Catalina Island... off the coast from Los Angeles. Fly in and hike all over right from the airport. Looks like good camping there, too. Personally, it is one of my favorite places to fly to when I'm in SoCal.


The runway is a little rough and sits on top of a mountain. I think that the landing fee is around $15-20. There is food and beverages available at the airport. Do a search for the island online.

 

[Flywrite]

Roanoke, VA (ROA) is a beautiful little town with decent hiking close by. The AT is about 9-10 miles away.

 

[CorpLearDriver]

Santa Catalina Island... off the coast from Los Angeles. Fly in and hike all over right from the airport. Looks like good camping there, too. Personally, it is one of my favorite places to fly to when I'm in SoCal.


The runway is a little rough and sits on top of a mountain. I think that the landing fee is around $15-20. There is food and beverages available at the airport. Do a search for the island online.

The last time I went hiking and camping on Catalina was some 20 years ago. There are four (maybe five) camping areas on the Island. You can hike from the airport four miles to Blackjack campground near the two tallest hills on the island. However, you may have to go into Avalon to pickup the permit. The way we did it was fly over, spend a few hours in Avalon, pick up the permit and then head back to the airport. Then hike from the airport. The permit is just for camping, not hiking.

 

[westwind]

There are some great places to do this in the Southwest. If you can take the plane into unimproved airstrips (not necessarily hardcore bush strips) you will have many more choices. Check out Southwest Aviator magazine's website for some cool ideas. Bryce Canyon Airport is a nice paved runway that will get you to some great hiking in the National Park. It shouldn't be too difficult to get to a bit of hiking from the Grand Canyon airport as well. Utah Backcountry pilot's website and the Idaho pilot's website can give you some good ideas too.

 

[hydroflyer]

If you want more flying destination ideas, take a look at Pilot Getaways magazine. You can find it at some bookstores like Barnes and Noble.
http://www.pilotgetaways.com/index.html

 

[414Flyer]

There are some trailheads within 1-2 miles of Angel Fire NM airport. You could just park the plane, put on a backpack and go.

 

[Yodafly]

barharbor maine is a great spot.

look up arcadia park,

coast line and good size mountain

get bored try the hig speed ferry boat from here to canada very fast at 70 mph