10 Tips for Planning your National Parks Trip
Tips for Planning Your National Parks Trip
DO: Start Early! Some of the Parks take special reservations (more below!)
DON’T: Plan too much-think quality over quantity!
In this post you will find:
10 tips to help you plan your next trip to any U.S. National Park!
A full sample itinerary to Joshua Tree National Park to show you how we plan!
Links to some of our favorite accommodations and activities in the parks!
Photo Location: Yosemite NP
When the world shut down in March of 2020, we were extremely bummed because we had an amazing Vietnam Trip Planned and of course was canceled. Along with this, It looked as though International Travel was going to be out of the question for quite a while. Luckily, our Colorado-Native friends had just taken us to our first National Park that Fall (Arches!) on an amazing Long-Weekend in Palisade! Our experience at Arches really inspired us to visit more places here in the United States, and after an Epic trip to Yosemite in the Summer of 2020, we were absolutely hooked on National Parks! We have checked many off of our bucket list and our son’s nursery was even National Park Travel-Themed! As we’ve started to navigate the parks, we’ve found that planning can sometimes be difficult because there is just SO much information out there! That’s why we created these top tips for planning your next trip to the U.S. National Parks!
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Our Expert Advice on Traveling to your next National Park Destination!
Our top 10 tips for Planning a National Parks Trip!
#1-Choosing Your Park
This can sometimes be the most difficult part! We have so many parks on our list to visit that sometimes we get overwhelmed with this step! This website called Find Your Park can help you narrow down your adventure based on activities and location!
Picture Location: New River Gorge National Park
#2-America The Beautiful Pass
Most National Parks are around $20-30 per vehicle to enter the park. Here is a list of all of the Entrance Fees by Park! If you plan on going to multiple parks within a year, the best way to save money is by getting an America The Beautiful Pass! For $80 you get access to all of the National Parks and Monuments and many other sites throughout the country! If you go to 3 or more parks, it pays for itself! The pass covers one vehicle!
#3-Park Reservations
We are not the only people who are really catching on to the National Parks right here in our own country. People are traveling domestically more than ever and the parks have been more busy than normal for the past few years! Because of this, the NPS has put in place a reservation system for a lot of the famous parks & attractions. For example, if you want to go to Arches National Park, you need a pass to get in. Another example is the famous Angels Landing hike– it is moving to a lottery system in April of 2022.You will also need a permit to visit the backcountry and need to reserve campsites for inside the park too!
The best place to find the most up to date information for each park is on the NPS Website! Definitely check here first before making any set plans… and, do so early!
Once you find out what you need to reserve, much of this (like campgrounds/activities/passes) are made through Recreation.Gov.
Photo Location: Delicate Arch-Arches National Park
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#4-Book Your Lodging Early!
It is an amazing experience staying right in the heart of the park! We were lucky enough to secure a campsite in Upper Pines at Yosemite National Park when we went, and staying right in Yosemite Valley was something we’ll never forget. With big parks like Yosemite, sometimes the drive to some of the major attractions and trails can be very long, so it’s nice to stay right where all the action is. Other parks, like New River Gorge,can be accessed easily even if you stay right in the town outside of the park. We found these amazing tiny cabins in Fayetteville when we visited for the weekend and the location was perfect. We usually try to find something through AirBNB when we stay outside of the park!
#5-Find Inspiration & Research, Research, Research!
Once we have decided on our destination, I like to do a lot of research! Although sometimes it’s fun to wing it, there is just so much to do and see in each park! Reading other blogs, finding tips about the park and really just immersing yourself in the planning is half of the fun. Our Favorite Websites & Apps for inspiration are:
Pinterest-not just for recipes! This is probably the first place I look to find blogs and articles about the place we are going. It is easy to do a quick search and find so many great resources for your trip!
All Trails-a great place to find everything you’ll need for hiking. Along with the trail specs, there are great reviews and pictures that can be really helpful when deciding where you’d like to trek.
Instagram-This might sound kind of silly to do research on Instagram but searching a hashtag or following the park pages will give you a great deal of inspiration for places you’d like to see. #hikesinrockymountain for example may just help you find your next trail! That’s how we found this amazing spot for our time at RMNP!
Photo Location: Dream Lake-Rocky Mountain National Park
Follow us on Instagram & Pinterest for more inspiration!
Photo Location: Arch Rock Trail-Joshua Tree National Park
#6-Take the Right Gear!
Time of Year, Weather, Camping vs. Resort Accommodations, Activities & other many factors go into what you’ll need to pack. Having the right gear can really make or break your trip. Going somewhere hot & hiking all day? Clothes that will protect you from the sun & hydration packs are essential. A park with water? Maybe snorkeling gear should be on your list! For our trip to Joshua Tree National Park, baby carriers were a must! A backpacking trip at Yosemite-a great pack & tent really made the trip great!
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#7-Don’t Overdo It!
It’s really easy to fall into the trap of over-planning. For example, you have a week to plan a trip, and as you start researching you find that there are five national parks in Utah! Wow, why not hit them all? But then, hey, the Grand Canyon is only a few hours from there, and ohhh, if I’m adding the Grand Canyon, might as well stop to do some of the epic hikes in Sedona! We did this once when planning a trip to Europe-we were just sooo close to so many places we wanted to see. And what happened is we spent so much time traveling that we lost a lot of time exploring. Keep it simple. Yes, it’s do-able to see some of the parks in a quick day trip, but if you really want to immerse yourself in the park and everything it has to offer, spend more time there!
#8-Download the Map!
Service can be sparse in many of the parks. One example is Joshua Tree! Once you enter the park… nothing. This is amazing for really going off-grid & enjoying nature, but it makes it difficult to find things. This is why we always pin all of the places we want to check out while on our trip. Then, we just download the selected areas of Google Maps! Once it’s on your phone, you can use it even without service. This even lets you use navigation tools** which are really helpful when driving (or hiking) from place to place!
**When you purchase a Curated Itinerary, we create this Google Map for you!
Photo Location: Quail Hollow-Joshua Tree National Park
#9-Roughly Plan Out Your Days!
As stated above, over-planning can sometimes take the fun out of the trip. There are always special tips or finds we learn about while were actually on our trips. When traveling, it’s usually easy to meet people and everyone loves sharing about their favorite places to go! We have definitely found there’s a 3-day “sweet spot” when at most destinations, and of those three days, I try to leave one empty for just exploring and seeing where the day takes us!
The Logistics→ I use a table planner for each trip we take that consists of the following columns: Date, Travel, Accommodations & Things to Do! This helps me really see how the whole trip will go and also helps us see how much travel we have to do each day, whether that’s by plane, car, bike, or ferry! This is also a great place to link in booking receipts, confirmation numbers and guides to the places you’ll be visiting.
Here’s a sample 3-day itinerary for Joshua Tree National Park! This includes a day-to-day plan and also an example of the logistics table I make for each trip!
#10- Have Fun!
Maybe you like to take things slow & relax on vacation, or maybe you like to cram everything into every last minute. Either way, when you plan your trips, take this into account. Know that everything doesn’t always go as planned and the journey truly is just as important as the destination in some cases! Enjoy the beauty our National Parks and country have to offer.
Our National Parks Adventures
Does this sound like a lot of planning? Don’t Worry… We can Help! Check out our Curated Itineraries! You pick the destination, we plan your trip!
Visit Our Posts about National Parks for itineraries & our best tips!
3 Days in Joshua Tree with a Baby
A National Parks Travel-Themed Nursery
A Florida National Parks Bucket List
One Perfect Day at New River Gorge National Park (Dog & Baby Friendly!)
3 Days Camping & Hiking Yosemite National Park
The Perfect Weekend in Palisade, CO (With a Day Trip to Arches!)
