Anonymous wrote:Maybe they would like the Smoky Mountains. Stay in one of the touristy towns like Sevierville, go to Dollywood, do a little hiking, go to one of those dinner shows?
There's also white water rafting in West Virginia. Or stay in Asheville, NC, do a little hiking and go to the Biltmore Estate.
also, when you went to Shenandoah did you visit Luray Caverns? Most kids think caves are pretty cool.

We did both of these. Hiking in the Smokies was not a highlight of the trip. Same with Luray Caverns. I fear we're just not a family with a huge appreciation for the wonder of nature.

OP here with more context. First, thanks for the input so far.

Kids are in 3rd and 5th grade. I'm the past, we did a hike in the Smokey Mountains as part of a trip to Dollywood, Pigeon Forge. They (and us) enjoyed the amusement park and even kitschy aspects of Pigeon Forge more than the hike that ended at a waterfall. The kids threw some rocks but the waterfall wasn't particularly impressive.

We've done a few hikes in the Shenandoah and after getting to the top, it's just kind of like "cool view, but now what."

DW and went to Iceland and, while I recognize the beauty of the country, it wasn't awe-inspiring. Just "cool... we've seen it." Also hiked a Piton in St. Lucia. It was challenging but I haven't thought of the view ever since

As an individual, I've been to Hawaii. Hiked Diamondhead and Kokohead by myself and just took some pictures and went back down. I also enjoy trail rides on bikes so maybe I'm looking more for outdoor activities that justify the trips.

The responses so far have helped me focus more on my questions: what do families do on "nature trips" beyond hiking or just being outside that may resonate with my family? The dude ranch idea may be interesting but I don't know much about dude ranches.

When people go to Grand Canyon, Sedona, and those places, what else is there to do besides hiking and just looking at the scenery. If we spend a week at Jackson Hole, how donwe feel the whole week? Someone mentioned whitewater rafting so maybe those are the types of things that could be interesting for us.

Thanks so far...I feel like I'm rambling but appreciate the input.

Maybe they would like the Smoky Mountains. Stay in one of the touristy towns like Sevierville, go to Dollywood, do a little hiking, go to one of those dinner shows?
There's also white water rafting in West Virginia. Or stay in Asheville, NC, do a little hiking and go to the Biltmore Estate.
also, when you went to Shenandoah did you visit Luray Caverns? Most kids think caves are pretty cool.

Something out west where the scale can’t be found here. Yosemite, Arches, Monument Valley, Banff, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Sedona and grand canyon.

I was going to say this as well. We're not super-woodsy and hate camping. We started at Sedona where we did a relatively short (less than two hour) hike and did a Pink Jeep tour. Then went to Page, AZ and did a nice guided tour of Antelope X and looked at (but didn't go into) Horseshoe. We rented a house with an amazing view and a hot tub and enjoyed to scenery. We also attended a Navajo dance performance there. We then went to the Grand Canyon and stayed one night at El Tovar. We walked around the rim, but two of my family are deathly afraid of heights so the other two of us hiked a bit down into the canyon, but not super deep. We did another few short hikes along the way back to Phoenix, and stayed in a hotel with a nice pool. All in all it was a fun trip, we saw some nice scenery, did a little hiking, and relaxed.

Do you just not like camping? Do you like things like white water rafting, horseback riding, animal watching, nice views, science like geology? If not those seems pointlesss. If you like any of those things let us lmow and we can pick a good spot.

Yellowstone or Grand Canyon.

Our family sounds similar to yours and we are not campers. We did a family tour through the Canadian Rockies and it is by far one of the our favorite trips. The kids talk about it and reference it all the time. It has become a vacation by which others are compared!

Sedona and grand canyon.

Galapagos!

Hawaii

I had a friend do a dude ranch family vacation. They loved it.

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to broaden my family's vacations/experience by doing something other than tropical islands and major cities.

DW and I are considering a national park vacation but we don't really LOVE the outdoors. We've been camping a couple of times and it's been fine but not incredible.

Are we just not an outdoors family or will the right experience change our perspective. What's a good destination that will wow us or get us hooked?

For reference, we've hiked the Shenandoah and Smoky Mountains. DW and I have visited Iceland. We've enjoyed, but not life changing and I don't want to commit resources to "fine".

Colorado summer. Try a full array of (potentially) fun activities. Rafting, climbing, biking, hiking, etc.

Adventure, accomplishment, challenge, and exploration. But do it in comfort. Have the right gear, the right knowledge (or guide), and most importantly don’t camp!

I’ve spent 200+ nights backcountry camping and don’t view it as an inherently enjoyable activity—it’s just something that’s necessary to access certain outdoor experiences.

So rent a nice house, enjoy your outdoor stuff, stop at a brewery in a nice mountain town, then report to the hot tub to relive the day’s adventures and plan tomorrow’s.

You already know you're going to be disappointed, not sure why you want to waste your time and money.

If you're going to do it, pick a place that has an established town with amenities that you will like. Jackson WY is right next to Grand Teton NP, you might like Bar Harbor and Acadia in Maine, Everglades are an easy trip from Miami, etc. Many of the major parks are very remote, I wouldn't recommend that for you.

I'm trying to broaden my family's vacations/experience by doing something other than tropical islands and major cities.

DW and I are considering a national park vacation but we don't really LOVE the outdoors. We've been camping a couple of times and it's been fine but not incredible.

Are we just not an outdoors family or will the right experience change our perspective. What's a good destination that will wow us or get us hooked?

For reference, we've hiked the Shenandoah and Smoky Mountains. DW and I have visited Iceland. We've enjoyed, but not life changing and I don't want to commit resources to "fine".