What’s New in the West: July 2006

• The California State Parks Golden Poppy Annual Day Use Pass covers parking at 97 select parks and reservoirs, mainly in Northern California, and costs $90. (800) 777-0369, www.parks.ca.gov [3].
• Let a new book show you the towns and landscapes that inspired an iconic Western writer: A Journey into Steinbeck's California, by Susan Shillinglaw, the scholar in residence at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, Calif. $20. www.roaringfortiespress.com [4].
• Severe, striking, sublime, our country's landscape comes into focus in Ansel Adams: America, a collection of 45 photographs on view at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in Las Vegas through May 2007. (702) 693-7871, www.bgfa.biz [5].
• Visit Montana's rugged Durant Canyon aboard the Copper King Express. The refurbished train travels on a historic line between the old mining and smelting communities of Anaconda and Butte—52 miles round–trip—on Fridays and Saturdays, June to September. $25. (406) 563–5458, www.copperkingexpress.com [6].
• Enter any of more than 50 national parks through October 15, and you'll receive half off your stay at the Mountain Lodge at Telluride in Colorado. The resort, located within two hours of Arches, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Mesa Verde national parks, requires a minimum two–night stay and proof of your park visit. (866) 368-6867, www.mountainlodgetelluride.com [7].
• Walk in Lewis and Clark's footsteps on the recently completed Fort to Sea Trail in Astoria, Ore., connecting Fort Clatsop and Sunset Beach. Through Labor Day, park at the beach, hop on a shuttle bus ($1) to the fort, and hike the mostly downhill 6.5 miles back to your car. (503) 861-2471, www.nps.gov/lewi [8].
• Planning to travel with Fido this summer? For a list of destination ideas, look at Dogfriendly.com's [9]Top 10 North American vacation cities of 2006, which include Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., as well as San Francisco and Long Beach, Calif.
• At the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, a restored carousel originally made for the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918 will start turning heads on July 22. (206) 684-4800, www.zoo.org [10].
• The growers and vintners at a top Willamette Valley winery, Lange, star in Brian Doyle's book The Grail, his account of a year spent pursuing world–class pinot noir in Oregon. $19, Oregon oregonstate.edu/dept/press/ [11].

Photography courtest of David Beart/VPI Pet Insurance

This article was first published in July 2006. Some facts may have aged gracelessly. Please call ahead to verify information.