Even if visitor numbers are declining and budgets are chronically thin, a new study shows the majority of Americans would place their Dream Vacation in one of our National Parks.

The study, conducted by the Y Partnership, asked people which of a selection of 25 travel destinations they would most like to go on for a “dream vacation,” and the number one choice – with 66% of participants choosing it – was the National Park System. The good ol’ NPS beat out the Hawaiian Islands, Orlando, the Florida Keys, and cities like New York, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, that’s all the info I can get without forking over almost $3000 for the full report, but it’s a little heartwarming to know that we’re in the majority when I say I’d rather go backpacking in Joshua Tree than spend a weekend in Vegas, right?

Via National Parks Traveler.

The Appalachian Trail – that world-famous 2175-mile-long trek from Georgia to Maine – teaches lessons to everyone who walks it. From what I can tell based on the stories I’ve heard, most of them seem to end with “hiking this trail has opened your eyes, and now you can never live in the city again.”

But the Massachusetts-based Eagle-Tribune newspaper found an incredibly articulate 21 year old from Andover to write about his Trail experiences once a month while hiking, and the most recent entry on trail lessons is a great reminder of why we wake up early on the weekends and slog our gear up miles of dusty trails for fun … or, maybe if you need it, a reminder of how you should be doing that sort of stuff more often.

Yup. The annual political teeth-pulling exercise known as the California Budget Approval Process continues to drag out with few concrete milestones reached. It does look, however, like our State Park System may not be the sacrificial lamb it once looked like.

Apparently, 69 of the threatened state parks were given to the state or contain land donated by the federal government, and those donations were only given under the agreement that the lands remain open to the public forever. Closing those parks, which include locals like Point Mugu and Topanga, would probably result in a bunch of lawsuits and loss of a significant chunk of federal funds.

Someone probably should have done a little more research before they put all those parks on the chopping block, right?

And of course, on the legislative side, things also remain stalled. There are a bunch of different plans being put on the table right now, and it can get a bit confusing, but right now it still boils down to: Democrats are trying to offer plans that salvage some state programs and raise revenue through additional fees and taxes (like the proposed $15 vehicle license fee increase that would cover State Park budgets and give all California residents free day-passes to those parks), while Schwarzenegger still says he would veto any budget that included new taxes or fees, and instead wants to cut the paychecks of state employees and other state services.

As usual, the LAist has a great summary of what’s been going on so far … and if the budget isn’t passed by midnight tonight, the state will start issuing IOU’s instead of paychecks.

Anyone want to take bets?

In case you missed it this morning on my twitter feed, I had the honor of having a featured interview in the LAist today.

The Los Angeles branch of the Gothamist empire does a great job of highlighting local people who are doing cool things, and this little ol’ hiking blog is proud to be among them.

Some of the information you probably already know, but I bet there’ll be one or two new factoids in there for ya. Enjoy!

I’m headed back to the east coast for some family celebrations, and will be gone for a few days.

Have fun hitting the trails while I’m gone, and feel free to share some of your trail tales in the forum. A reader just posted an account of his first ascent up Baldy, with some great pictures and some unintentional exploration. Check it out, and I’ll be back next week.

As part of running this site, I get asked a lot of questions. I try my best to answer them all, but over the years I’ve noticed a few questions that keep popping up every couple of weeks. So, in a long-overdue move, I’ve decided to add a “Frequently Asked Questions” page to the sidebar on the right.

On this page, I’ll try to answer questions and link to older posts that have some good info on the topic. There’s a few good questions up there now, but I’ll be adding to it as people continue asking questions – so if you’ve got something on your mind, feel free to send me an email or leave a comment.

Hiking takes center stage in the July issue of Los Angeles Magazine, with “10 Great Hikes (and 5 easy walks)” blasted across what appears to be a photo from the Chumash Trail in Point Mugu State Park.

There’s a brief intro to the series on the LA Mag’s web site, but the magazine’s worth picking up – even if just for the great trail photos.

Some of my personal favorites are covered, like La Jolla Valley, Sandstone Peak, and the Bridge to Nowhere, and they also highlight some areas I haven’t been to yet, like the Fish Canyon Narrows.

The magazine did a good job of pointing out some great local trails, although their recommendation for Mount Lowe follows the old railway grade and misses all the great ruins at Echo Mountain.

They also rightly call Runyon Canyon a “power walk,” not a hike. I hope they get as many impassioned, defensive letters as I have over the years :)

I’m willing to bet most of us with office jobs have had more than our fair share of “I wonder if I could sneak out of here and get a hike in” moments … probably most often the day after a good rain, when the air is clear and California views stretch for miles. But I’m also willing to bet that most of us are fairly responsible workers, who would at least have the decency to call in to let our workmates know where we are.

Not so for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, apparently. He’d been missing for several days, and no one knew where he was – not even his wife. Now, after the entire state was going insane trying to figure out who was officially in charge, a spokesman for the Governor came clean and said Sanford was spending a few days hiking the Appalachian Trail.

There appears to be some confusion over who, exactly, was in-the-know on this one. The Lieutenant Governor said he knew where Sanford was, but when he tried to get in touch with the Governor, he was told by the chief-of-staff that the Governor was out and they didn’t know where he was.

I don’t know much about Governor Sanford other than he was one of the governors making a bunch of noise about not accepting federal stimulus money, then ended up being forced to accept by his state’s Supreme Court … but who are we to deny a hard-working public servant a little R&R in the wilderness? Let’s face it, there are far worse things an elected official could be doing to recharge his or her batteries.

But Governor, at least have the good sense to tell someone where you’re going – it’s the most important safety step a hiker can take. And, maybe next time, take a note from Justice Souter and just wait until your term is done to do some serious hiking.

This weekend is the California State Parks Association’s “Save Our State Parks” weekend, where parks-supporters are encouraged to visit their favorite state park, take a picture with a banner, and upload it to their site.

But if you wanted a way to offer more hands-on support, Will Rogers State Beach (one of the 80% of parks threatened with closure) is having a volunteer cleanup day on Saturday from 10AM to noon, hosted by Heal the Bay.

Volunteers can park at the beach for $1, and should meet at the north side of the entrance near Temescal Canyon. After signing a few waivers, you’ll be off to comb the sands for stuff that doesn’t belong there! The LA Times blog has a bit more info.

If you were sitting at home, thinking “well, there’s not any state parks near me that would get closed down,” you can think again. The LAist posted a Google map of our local state parks that are up on the chopping block, which includes great hiking spots like Point Mugu, Malibu Creek, and Topanga Canyon State Parks, but also summer hot-spots like Will Rogers, Leo Carillo, Malibu Lagoon, and Robert Meyer Memorial State Beaches … so if the parks close, I hope your favorite part about the Santa Monica Beaches are the crowds, ’cause it’s gonna be packed!

Image by Here In Van Nuys.

After you’ve visited and supported your local state park this weekend, you might also want to make a trek out to one of our nearby National Parks — over 100 National Parks will be celebrating a “Fee-Free Weekend,” so you can get in without having to pay an entrance fee.

The list of participating parks includes Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Sequoia, and Yosemite National Parks, as well as Pinnacles National Monument and San Diego’s Cabrillo National Monument.

In addition to the free admission, some of the parks – as well as some of the parks where you’ll still have to pay to get in – are offering additional discounts or deals. Yosemite and Sequoia are both offering vouchers good for $5 off food, services, or retail inside the parks, while the Santa Barbara Adventure Company is offering $20 off their sea cave kayaking packages at Channel Islands National Park.

For the full list of participating parks, visit this National Park Service web site, and for the full list of additional deals and discounts, visit Park Partners.org.

And if you can’t make it out this weekend, don’t worry — the Park Service will be offering two more fee-free weekends later this year, on July 18-19 and August 15-16.

Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park.