Weather Resources

Air Quality Maps

Does your camera prefer blue skies over gray? So does mine. I use these free forecast maps from NOAA and the National Weather Service to see how ozone or wildfire smoke will impact my travels:

• Air Quality Forecast Guidance – CONUS Area
  Includes Ozone, Surface Smoke, Vertical Smoke Integration, and Surface/Column Dust Concentration
• NOAA HRRR-Smoke

The US Forest Service and EPA have also teamed up to bring us:

• Fire and Smoke Map

Weather Forecasts

Weather apps are great tools for populated places—but the best campsites and hikes are usually nowhere near weather stations—and even when one is nearby, it’s often at a vastly different elevation, making conditions difficult to predict.

Thankfully the National Weather Service provides point forecasts that are elevation-specific! Below are direct links to the forecast for several key locations:

National Parks

• Arches
  • Devils Garden Campground 5,200 ft
• Big Bend
  • Chisos Basin Campground 5,400 ft
  • Cottonwood Campground 2,100 ft
  • Rio Grand Village Campground 1,850 ft
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison
  • South Rim Campground 8,000 ft
• Bryce Canyon
  • Campgrounds/Lodge Loop 8,000 ft
• Canyonlands
  • Needles District Campground 4,900 ft
  • Willow Flat Campground 6,069 ft
• Capitol Reef
  • Fruita Campground 5,400 ft
• Crater Lake
  • Mazama Campground 5,800 ft
  • Rim Village 6,800 ft
• Death Valley
  • Furnace Creek -183 ft
  • Panamint Springs 1,900 ft
  • Stovepipe Wells 180 ft
  • Wildrose 4,400 ft
  • Dante’s View 5,100 ft
  • Emigrant Campground 2,175 ft
  • Mesquite Spring Campground 1,850 ft
• Glacier
  • Avalanche Campground 3,420 ft
  • Fish Creek Campground 3,200 ft
  • Logan Pass Visitor Center 6,660 ft
  • Many Glacier Campground 4,940 ft
  • Rising Sun Campground 4,560 ft
• Grand Canyon
  • Mather Campground 7,000 ft
  • North Rim Campground 8,200 ft
  • Phantom Ranch 2,546 ft
• Grand Teton
  • Colter Bay Campground 6,800 ft
  • Jenny Lake Campground 6,800 ft
  • Lake Solitude 9,035ft
• Great Basin
  • Upper Lehman Creek Campground 7,500 ft
  • Wheeler Peak Campground 9,886 ft
• Great Sand Dunes
  • Piñon Flats Campground 8,234 ft
• Great Smoky Mountains
  • Elkmont Campground 2,500 ft
  • Newfound Gap 5,177 ft
• Guadalupe Mountains
  • Pine Springs 5,822 ft
• Hot Springs
  • Gulpha Gorge Campground 535 ft
• Joshua Tree
  • Black Rock Campground 4,150 ft
  • Cottonwood Campground 3,150 ft
  • Hidden Valley Campground 4,200 ft
  • Indian Cove Campground 3,200 ft
• Kings Canyon
  • Cedar Grove 4,700 ft
• Lassen Volcanic
  • Manzanita Lake 6,200 ft
  • Summit Lake 6,700 ft
• Mesa Verde
  • Morefield Campground 7,775 ft
• North Cascades
  • Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
    • Stehekin 1,100 ft
  • Ross Lake National Recreation Area
    • Newhalem Campground 550 ft
• Pinnacles
  • Pinnacles Campground 1,230 ft
• Redwood
  • Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park 200 ft
• Rocky Mountain
  • Alpine Visitor Center 11,800 ft
  • Moraine Park Campground 8,160 ft
• Saguaro
  • Cactus Forest 2,874 ft
  • Tuscon Mountain District (Signal Hill) 2,600 ft
• Sequoia
  • Lodgepole Campground 6,700 ft
• White Sands 4,000 ft
• Yellowstone
  • Canyon Campground 8,250 ft
  • Madison Campground 7,000 ft
  • Mammoth 5,750 ft
  • Old Faithful 7,400 ft
• Yosemite
  • Curry Village 4,000 ft
  • Tuolumne Meadows 8,650 ft
• Zion
  • South Campground 3,940 ft

Arkansas

• Buffalo National River
  • Steel Creek Campground
• Petit Jean State Park 715ft

Arizona

• Sedona 4,364 ft
• Tucson 2,388 ft

California

• Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
  • Agua Caliente County Park 1,400 ft
  • Borrego Palm Canyon Campground 970 ft
• Crescent City 43 ft
• Devils Postpile National Monument 7,600 ft
• Lake Tahoe Area
  • Emerald Bay State Park
    • Lower Eagle Point Campground 6,320 ft
  • Fallen Leaf Campground 6,377 ft
• Malibu Creek State Park Campground 600 ft
• Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park 1,075 ft
• Redding 600 ft

Colorado

• Arapaho National Recreation Area
  • Arapaho Bay Campground 8,320 ft
  • Green Ridge Campground 8,360 ft
• White River National Forest
  • Difficult Campground/Aspen 8,180 ft
  • Prospector Campground 9,000 ft
  • Redstone Campground 7,200 ft
  • Silver Queen Campground 8,700 ft

Indiana

• Brown County State Park
  • Buffalo Ridge & Raccoon Ridge Campgrounds 896 ft

Mississippi

• Natchez Trace Parkway
  • Jeff Busby Campground 393 ft

Montana

• Gallatin National Forest
  • Red Cliff Campground 6,250 ft

Nebraska

• Chadron State Park 3,800 ft
• Chimney Rock 3,750 ft
• Fort Robinson State Park 3,800 ft
• Niobrara State Park 1,280 ft
• Ponca State Park 1,300 ft
• Smith Falls State Park 2,280 ft

Nevada

• Humboldt National Forest
  • Thomas Canyon Campground 7,600 ft
  • Lamoille Canyon/Roads End Trailhead 8,800 ft
• Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area 3,800 ft
• Valley of Fire State Park 2,050 ft

New Mexico

• Las Cruces 3,900 ft

Oklahoma

• Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
  • Doris Campground 1,509 ft

Oregon

• Barview Jetty County Park 23 ft
• Cannon Beach 30 ft
• Fort Clatsop 40 ft
• Harris Beach State Park 150 ft
• Umpqua Lighthouse Campground 105 ft

South Dakota

• Black Hills National Forest
  • Bismarck Lake Campground 5,240 ft
• Custer State Park
  • Sylvan Lake 6,280 ft

Tennessee

• Natchez Trace Parkway
  • Fall Hollow 600 ft
• Reelfoot Lake State Park
  • South Campground 260 ft

Texas

• Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Utah

• Cedar Breaks National Monument
  • Point Supreme Campground 10,400 ft
• Dead Horse Point State Park
  • Kayenta Campground 5,872 ft
• Fishlake National Forest
  • Maple Grove Campground 6,520 ft
• Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
  • Calf Creek Campground 5,314 ft
• Green River 4,100 ft

Washington

• Chelan 1,120 ft
• Grand Coulee Visitor Center 1,150 ft

Wyoming

• Ayers Natural Bridge 5,300 ft
• Independence Rock 5,900 ft
• Medicine Bow National Forest
  • Tie City Campground 8,580 ft
  • Vedauwoo Campground 8,257 ft
• Sinks Canyon State Park
  • Popo Agie Campground 6,670 ft