National Park(USA) tour?

[nvestysly]

Great idea to visit National Parks! Our general approach is to spend at least 3 days in or near a park. For some locations that doesn't make sense but it's a rule of thumb for us. We try to avoid seeing too many in a short period of time for reasons mentioned above.

We really enjoyed our recent visit to Big Bend National Park and the surrounding area in far west Texas. We spent five days in the park and over a week in the general area. It was wonderful. In general, not many people attend the park (compared to Yellowstone for instance) but there are times when it's crowded so plan ahead. The winter months are a great time to visit.

 

[Helen]

I am planning on hitting a lot of National and State parks this year. For backpacking I far prefer wilderness areas. The wilderness areas are beautiful, under populated and have very few regulations (fill out a short form at the trailhead and pitch your tent pretty much anywhere as long as you are 100 feet from the trails and any bodies of water).

 

[JakeBrake]

We have been to most of the national parks from Acadia National Park in Maine, to Olympic National Park in Washington state, to Big Bend in Texas, and to the Everglades National Park in Florida. Gettysburg and Vicksburg National Military parks are also must-sees. Those epic battles were 150 years ago in July, 2013.

We did it with several trips over several years. We prioritized the parks we wanted to see first, like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Sequoia and made various trips to see them and other parks in the areas.

Personally, I can only stand so many ranger talks at a time.

 

[travelover]

I've found that National Parks are crowded around the parking and visitor centers, but if you can hike a couple hundred yards off the main drag you practically have the place to yourself.

 

[Covbro]

Thank you for the link to "The Most Senic Drives in America", I purchased the kindle version of it. DW and I drove from Florida to the Grand Canyon NP last summer. We also stopped at Tuskegee Airman NP in Alabama, the Petrified Forrest NP in Arizona.
We have camped at Shenandoah NP, in Virginia, several times (in prior years). This is my favorite.

 

[Alan]

I've found that National Parks are crowded around the parking and visitor centers, but if you can hike a couple hundred yards off the main drag you practically have the place to yourself.

Exactly our experience.

 

[omni550]

Sequester may result in Park closures

I recently visited the Everglades N.P. in Florida. Our guide thanked us for visiting and mentioned that it's likely that attendance at the National Parks will be used to determine which parks remain open and which may close (due to a lack of visitors).

So,if you like certain National Parks which may not be the ones that are the most popular, please consider visiting them soon to help keep them open.

omni

 

[hsv_climber]

One more thing - many State Parks are much more beautiful than some National Parks.
Actually, I was more impressed by Watkins Glenn State Park than by any National Park east of MS.

 

[In-control]

One more thing - many State Parks are much more beautiful than some National Parks.
Actually, I was more impressed by Watkins Glenn State Park than by any National Park east of MS.

I agree, I live in MA and we have lots of nice SP but few NP's. Since we are not in a rush I am hoping to use guides and ask them where the other interesting places are.

 

[In-control]

We are also looking to get Folding bikes to take along with us. On planes(checked w/carry case), rental cars and to just have in the back of the car.

Folding Bikes by Citizen Bike

 

[Helen]

We are also looking to get Folding bikes to take along with us. On planes(checked w/carry case), rental cars and to just have in the back of the car.

Folding Bikes by Citizen Bike

Great idea and thanks for the link. I think I'll get one to throw in the back of my van.

 

[caninelover]

My wife and I discussed our bucket list and number 1 was visiting every national park in the USA. Put Two kayaks on the roof of our Prius and bikes on a rear hitch and go.

Has anyone done this? Do you know of a good tour book that would cover this?

If you do this, please write a book about it. I'll need it in the future as I want to do something like this too. So far I've only been to 6 of the National Parks, but will add 2 more this summer as I'm heading up to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons...

 

[jambo101]

May not be dedicated to national parks but a great resource non the less. .
I ordered the brochure and they sent me a 300 page travel the USA book

America's Byways®: National Scenic Byways Online

 

[kaudrey]

This website might be of interest to you...

News - ParkStamps.org - Home of the National Park Travelers Club

 

[rodi]

We just knocked another Nat'l park off our bucket list last weekend - Death Valley.
Very cool. (not literally, figuratively.)

We've made it a goal to visit Nat'l Parks on family vacations on years we don't go abroad. Last year we did Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton... with several historic sites included on the tour. My kids are young enough to get their Jr. Ranger badges - so they've got quite a collection going.

 

[anethum]

I've visited to at least 3 dozen U.S. national parks (several of them multiple times) and many more national monuments. Plus quite a few Canadian national parks. Virtually all of the national parks I've visited are gorgeous. I'm always surprised that a relatively small percentage of Americans have visited more than a handful. In the summer, a majority of visitors to some of the parks are foreign tourists. They especially seem to like the national parks in the southwest, though I've tried to visit those in the spring or fall when the temperatures are more reasonable.

I love going on dayhikes, and even in crowded parks, it's easy to find solitude on the hiking trails. Among my favorite parks: Redwood, Yellowstone, Olympic, Glacier, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Yosemite, and Crater Lake.

 

[padlin00]

I agree, I live in MA and we have lots of nice SP but few NP's. Since we are not in a rush I am hoping to use guides and ask them where the other interesting places are.

We live outside Springfield, last summer we went to Cape Cod for a week and found that the National Park pass we had bought for a fall trip the year before got us into all the national seashore parks for nothing.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Going to Acadia NP in early September. Pretty excited about this as I've heard and read some great things about this particular park.

I've read the past threads on the Maine area in general and Acadia specifically. We likely will follow up on Gumby's excellent recommendations on our way from Boston to to the park.

I'm not much of a collector usually, but we do have one of the NP stamp books and enjoy getting stamps at the park ranger offices of each park we visit. Getting the Acadia stamp will be a nice addition as we don't often go up NE direction. So far we have:
Yosemite
Redwoods
Glacier
Bryce
Zion
Grand Canyon
Yellowstone
Death Valley
Joshua Tree
Sequoia
Smokey Mountain

 

[meierlde]

I've found that National Parks are crowded around the parking and visitor centers, but if you can hike a couple hundred yards off the main drag you practically have the place to yourself.

Saw that this summer at Zion. The valley was so overrun you could not park to get on the shuttle or go to the visitor center. Going to the Kolob Canyons section (it even has its own exit off I-15 so its not hard to find), and there were very few folks. Then there is the Kolob Terrace road, just west of the valley, which eventually will take you to Lava Point where you can overlook the valley. Few folks on this road.
I understand that the same is true of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, it has far fewer folks than the South Rim. Let alone talk about places in the park like Tuweep/Toroweep, which you need 4 wheel drive to get to. Capitol Reef was not overrun either, nor was Great Sand Dunes NP

 

[photoguy]

Saw that this summer at Zion. The valley was so overrun you could not park to get on the shuttle or go to the visitor center.

I normally don't like crowds but I'm glad that the NP system has so many visitors. The way I see it, the more people that visit, the more likely that the NP system will continue to have funding (and maybe even expand).

 

[seraphim]

Denali was great. No private vehicles and they limit the number of buses inside. Hike all you want. It's immense and beautiful. We hooked a park CG spot with no reservations. Go during the week. Better yet, make a reservation for the furthest CG inside, then walk into park proper. Carry bear spray. We saw numerous grizzly, one with two spring cubs.

Talk to the people at RV.net. Our two month trip to Denali went great (still havent returned home yet) because we spoke to locals all along the route prior to leaving, and got many great tips.

Currently camping in Minot ND, wondering whether or not to head to mt Rushmore before going back to Ohio. Or anywhere else. Love being FIRE'D (up).

 

[iam21177]

I think it sounds fun! I even want a Prius! I might not do them all in one big yer long road trip. I can comment on any Utah parks and Yellowstone/Grand Tetons as those are the parks I've seen the most of.