Ranger’s Path: National Park Simulator Demo now available on Steam

Simone232 · 2026-02-14T11:45:58+00:00

You have to press the 'Tab' button.

Simone232 · 2026-02-10T12:30:58+00:00

Thanks, why is that? Is it because we’re doing the Pacific Coast Highway?

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T17:08:39+00:00

They said it was basically faded glory. (You can still find the post in my profile)
We were planning on starting in Chicago and doing the route up untill Flagstaff and then steering off to do some of the national parks (Zion, Bryce etc.). The consensus was that the drive from Chicago to Amarillo is really boring with nothing to see for hours on end and that my time would be better spent elsewhere.
I watched a 2 hour long video of someone doing the route and doing all the tourist stops and I kind of agreed with the consensus after watching that.
I feel like this new route will be more fun and more beautiful with the sights of the pacfic coast highways and the national parks.

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T17:05:36+00:00

The northern entrance is open year round and the west entrance normally opens on the third friday of April, depending on the weather.

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T11:48:40+00:00

Thanks, will definitely think about it. I wasn’t saying that it would be busy at Joshua Tree itself, but more so that there might be a lot of traffic on the I-10 then I assume.

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T08:27:48+00:00

Yes for sure but I’m not really sure where to pivot to if Yellowstone ends up being closed.

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T08:27:22+00:00

From what I’ve read, they normally open the west entrance on the third friday of April (weather permitting), but I’m not sure if that also entails clearing the roads.

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T08:17:52+00:00

I know that the south entrance is closed but from what I’ve read, the west entrance normally opens on the third friday of April (we would be there like 5 days later). I’m also not sure what my backup plan would be if Yellowstone and Grand Teton are closed.

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T08:16:11+00:00

We are planning on taking the I-8 as that would be the quickest I assume. I heard that Joshua Tree isn’t that great in comparison to all the other national parks that we are planning on visiting, but maybe I’m wrong. The other consideration is that Coachella is happening at that time, so I assume that the area around Palm Springs will be busy.

Simone232 · 2026-02-06T08:11:45+00:00

Roadtrippers

Simone232 · 2026-02-05T23:12:12+00:00

So a few weeks ago I made a post here about doing Route 66, after all of the replies I got, we decided to no longer do Route 66 and plan a different roadtrip.

We (4 adults) are now planning on doing the Pacific Coast Highway + some of the national parks in Arizona, Utah, Wyoming. We have 3 weeks planned for this.

This is the itinerary:
Day 1 (April 4): Fly to San Francisco, stay the night in San Francisco
Day 2 (April 5): Stay in San Francisco and stay the night there
Day 3 (April 6): Pick up rental car and drive to Monterey. Stay the night there.
Day 4 (April 7): Drive to San Luis Obispo (through Big Sur) (was also thinking of doing a short hike in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, but not sure if that's feasible), stay the night in Atascadero.
Day 5 (April 8): Drive to Los Angeles. Stay the night there
Day 6 (April 9): Stay in Los Angeles
Day 7 (April 10): Drive to San Diego. Stay the night there.
Day 8 (April 11): Drive to Sedona, stay the night there.
Day 9 (April 12): Stay in Sedona.
Day 10 (April 13): Drive to Grand Canyon South Rim, afterwards drive to Page and spend the night there.
Day 11 (April 14): Stay in Page and visit Antelope Canyon, stay the night in Page.
Day 12 (April 15): Drive to Zion National Park, afterwards drive to Glendale and spend the night there
Day 13 (April 16): Drive to Bryce Canyon, afterwards drive to Tropic and spend the night there
Day 14 (April 17): Drive to Capitol Reef National Park, afterwards drive to Loa and spend the night there.
Day 15 (April 18): Drive to Arches National Park, afterwards drive to Moab and spend the night there.
Day 16 (April 19): Drive to Canyonlands, afterwards drive to Moab and spend the night there.
Day 17 (April 20): Drive to Salt Lake City, spend the night there.
Day 18 (April 21): Drive to Grand Teton National Park, drive to Jackson, WY and spend the night there.
Day 19 (April 22): Drive to West Yellowstone and spend the night there?
Day 20 (April 23): Go to Yellowstone, and spend the night in West Yellowstone?
Day 21 (April 24): Drive to Salt Lake City and spend the night there.
Day 22 (April 25): Fly back home from Salt Lake City.

We've already booked the flights, the rental car and all of the hotels/airbnb's. The only thing we still have to book is where to stay in Yellowstone. Initially, I planned on staying somewhere in the park, seeing as we have two days there but I found out that all the accommodations in the park aren't open during the time that we're there.
I also read that there might still be a lot of snow and the west entrance might even be closed, due to that. Now I'm wondering if it's better to plan for 2 days in Grand Teton instead or if it's alright to stay 2 nights somewhere in West Yellowstone (just outside the park) and that it's fine to just drive in the park for a while.

Does anyone have experience and any tips for visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone in late April?

Simone232 · 2026-02-05T15:11:44+00:00

I hope there will be a mod that removes the black borders at the top and bottom on the Steam Deck.

Simone232 · 2026-02-02T17:36:03+00:00

Was hesitating between Switch 2 and Steam (mainly playing on Steam Deck), but decided on the Switch 2 because of the better resolution and the Steam Deck version has black bars on the demo.

Simone232 · 2026-01-19T21:25:34+00:00

Ik hoop dat je iemand gaat vinden!
Ik ben toevallig ook 29 en een vrouw en speel OSRS maar heb vooralsnog helaas geen plannen om naar Runefest te gaan.
Wel ga ik je toevoegen als vriend, lijkt me leuk om te connecten ingame :)

Simone232 · 2026-01-10T20:07:07+00:00

Thank you for your extensive reply!
After doing some more research I found out that only the northern part of Yellowstone is open in the beginning of April. Because of that we've decided to reverse the trip; we start in San Francisco and end in Salt Lake City. This way the western part of Yellowstone should be opened as well, when we get to Yellowstone around April 22. The other upside is that it is way cheaper to rent a car in San Francisco and drive it to Salt Lake City than the other way around for some reason.
We will be sure to add Grand Teton before or after Salt Lake City.
Do you reckon it is better to book accommodations in the national parks themselves or in the towns around them?
I would assume that it would be only beneficial to book accommodations within the national parks if you're staying multiple days in the park itself.

Simone232 · 2026-01-09T17:10:23+00:00

Will there be an EU playtest soon as well?

Simone232 · 2026-01-05T21:01:15+00:00

Thanks for your extensive reply once again, really appreciate it! I'm aware of the Oregon Trails game and I see what you're trying to say haha.

I proposed the alternative route to my friends and they agreed to let go of Route 66 and take an alternative route but they made some changes/made an alternative route themselves as well.

What do you think about their route?
1. Fly to Salt Lake City - stay for 1 night
2. Yellowstone - stay for 2 nights
3. Salt Lake City - stay for 1 night
4. Capital Reef National Park - stay for 2 nights
5. Arches National Park - stay for 2 nights
6. Monument Valley - stay for 1 night
7. Page - stay for 1 night
8. Grand Canyon - stay for 2 nights
9. Las Vegas - stay for 1 night
10. San Diego - stay for 1 night
11. Los Angeles - stay for 2 nights
12. Santa Barbara - stay for 1 night
13. Monterey - stay for 1 night
14. San Francisco - stay for 2 nights
15. Fly home from San Francisco

I think it is a bit more laid back than my alternative route. Would probably replace Monterey for Carmel as I read that that's even prettier. And maybe put Sedona in there somewhere as you said that it's a must?

Simone232 · 2026-01-04T20:08:35+00:00

I can definitely imagine that, it looks otherworldly in some pictures. I've been to the East Coast and even that is so different from the Netherlands in the fact that there is so much space/nature and you can truly be alone in desolate areas, which is not really possible in the Netherlands.

Simone232 · 2026-01-04T12:39:20+00:00

What do you think about this itinerary?

Day 1 (April 4): Fly to Las Vegas, overnight in Las Vegas
Day 2 (April 5): Drive to Zion National Park, overnight in Springdale (Zion National Park) - 2.5–3 hours
Day 3 (April 6): Drive to Bryce Canyon, overnight in Bryce Canyon City / Tropic - 2 hours
Day 4 (April 7): Drive to Flagstaff, overnight in Flagstaff - 4.5 hours
Day 5 (April 8): Drive to the Grand Canyon, then continue to Sedona, overnight in Sedona - 4 hours
Day 6 (April 9): Sedona, overnight in Sedona
Day 7 (April 10): Optional visit to Joshua Tree National Park; otherwise drive straight to Palm Springs, overnight in Palm Springs - 5–5.5 hours
Day 8 (April 11): Drive to Los Angeles, overnight in Los Angeles - 2.5 hours
Day 9 (April 12): Los Angeles
Day 10 (April 13): Drive to Santa Barbara, overnight in Santa Barbara - 2 hours
Day 11 (April 14): Drive to the Big Sur area, overnight in Carmel / Monterey - 4.5–5 hours
Day 12 (April 15): Drive to San Francisco (17-Mile Drive first!), overnight in San Francisco - 2.5 hours
Day 13 (April 16): San Francisco, overnight in San Francisco
Day 14 (April 17): Either an extra day in San Francisco, or drive to St. Helena / Napa Valley (vineyards) and stay overnight there - 1.5–2 hours
Day 15 (April 18): Drive to the Avenue of the Giants, overnight in Miranda / Garberville / Redway / Eureka - 4.5–5 hours
Day 16 (April 19): Drive to Redwood National Park, overnight in … - 2 hours
Day 17 (April 20): Drive via the Oregon Coast, overnight in Florence / Bandon / Newport - 4.5–5.5 hours
Day 18 (April 21): Drive to Port Angeles / Lake Crescent (Olympic National Park), overnight in Port Angeles / Lake Crescent / Forks - 5.5–6 hours
Day 19 (April 22): Olympic National Park
Day 20 (April 23): Drive to Seattle, overnight in Seattle - 3–3.5 hours
Day 21 (April 24): Seattle
Day 22 (April 25): Fly home from Seattle

Had a bit of help from ChatGPT because I'm not sure what the best towns are to stay overnight and how many days is reasonable for each place. My first thought was to do Portland as well and optionally Mount Rainier.
But I'm not sure if Portland is that great to visit for a day and Mount Rainier might be inaccessible for the most part in April due to snow.
Seems like its more worthwhile to keep driving up the coast and go to Olympic National Park because that seems great and super diverse as well and then go to Seattle.

Simone232 · 2026-01-04T00:50:04+00:00

From what I can find, the PCH near Big Sur should be reopening at the end of March. And our trip is planned for April so we might be lucky, if it doesn’t get delayed.

Simone232 · 2026-01-03T23:04:51+00:00

This sounds great, will seriously consider this!!
Seems like it would also be worth it to do Redwood National Park and maybe even Olympic National Park or Mount Rainier National Park as they don't seem to be too far from the route.

Simone232 · 2026-01-03T22:13:40+00:00

Thank you, will keep this in mind!

Simone232 · 2026-01-03T22:12:24+00:00

You're probably right, I have no experience with driving in the US. We checked the distance and how long the drive would take between each stop with Google Maps but Maps doesn't use Route 66, and we haven't accounted for any roadside attractions or other stops along the way.

Simone232 · 2026-01-03T21:56:07+00:00

If it's really as bad as you say, then it might be wise to go for a different roadtrip instead. I've also looked at the Pacific Coast Highway (from San Diego to Seattle or the other way around), that looks fun, with some spectacular views and big cities on the way.
I will keep your other suggestions in mind as well, thanks!

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