How to Travel the U.S. National Parks

Whether it’s hiking through the majestic Redwoods, getting up close and personal with an alligator in the Everglades, or kayaking on a beautiful mountain lake in Glacier, embarking on a National Parks vacation offers the experiences of a lifetime. We fell in love with National Parks years ago,  and try to visit them often. Over the years, we’ve definitely learned how to take advantage of everything they have to offer, so I want to help you maximize your own National Parks experience.

Get a Pass!

Most parks cost $25-30 to get in. That is a price for your vehicle, and everyone in it. The entrance fee is less for people on motorcycles, bikes, or on foot. Prices are also less for seniors, active duty military, and people who are disabled.  If you go to one or two parks in a year, then the regular entrance fee is the way to go. If you visit more than two parks in a year, buy an annual pass. This pass costs $80 and it gets you in to all the National Parks along with other federal recreation areas run by agencies like the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc. Annual passes are free for military members and people with disabilities, and the price is reduced for seniors. Seniors can also buy a lifetime pass. And great news for 4^th graders – President Obama put into place a program where all kids can get a free annual pass for the year that they are in 4^th grade. You can find detailed information on annual passes here.

Where to Stay on your National Parks Vacation

Camping

Camping definitely adds to the outdoor experience of your National Parks vacation. The vast majority of National Parks offer a variety of camping services. The smaller parks usually have tent and RV sites, no hook ups for RVs, with vault toilets and no showers. The bigger parks often offer more. Each park will have detailed information about camping on their website, so I won’t go into detail here, but I will offer some advice.

First of all, if you’re planning to go to one of the “big” parks – Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier and a few others – you need to make camping reservations at least 6 months in advance. For some of them, you should look on the website and see what day the reservations will open for the time period you plan to visit and make your reservations that day. Very few parks offer hook ups (electric and water) for RVs, so either plan to camp without or camp outside the park. That being said, we’ve camped both inside and outside parks and enjoyed both experiences, so don’t worry if you don’t get reservations.

The first time we went to Yellowstone we stayed outside the West Entrance at a KOA and had a great time. At Glacier we stayed outside the park (because I waited until January to make reservations for July!!!) It was wonderful because it was not very crowded and it was super inexpensive. There’s more detail in my post on Glacier National Park. The vast majority of camping spots are for tents, so if you are a tent camper, you will have more luck. Additionally, some parks offer “primitive” or “backcountry” camping, where you have to hike in to your site and there are no amenities. If you are this adventurous, you usually have to get a backcountry permit from the park rangers before heading out.

Non-campers

There are tons of options for non-campers. Many of the big parks have lodges inside the park. Some of them are beautiful, historic buildings and are quite luxurious (and quite expensive). There are also parks that offer cabins, teepees, and other interesting places to stay that are still not quite camping. We travel in our RV, which tent campers will say is also not quite camping, and I agree because we sleep inside on a memory foam mattress and do not have to brave the cold or the bears if we have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night!! If you want all the experience of camping (building a fire, staying in a beautiful site in the mountains or forest, making s’mores, etc.) but don’t want to sleep in a tent, consider renting an RV for your trip and check out my tips for RV National Parks vacations.

National Parks Vacation Activities

This is probably the most important part of this post. I’m constantly amazed at how many people I meet in the parks who have no idea what to do or where to go, and just sort of follow the crowds to the “big” attractions. That’s fine, they will still have fun and can still marvel at the beauty of nature, but I feel that if you’re taking the time (and money) to plan a trip like this, you should make the most of it. To maximize your National Parks vacation experience, I recommend the following:

1. Do your homework and plan ahead.
2. Get the free park maps, newspapers and trail maps.
3. Take advantage of kids’ programs.
4. Talk to the Rangers!

Plan Ahead

The park websites have tons of information; use them! See what the park is like at the time of year you’re going. For example, weather will make a big difference in obvious things, like temperature, but also in what kind of plants and wildlife you’ll see. If you have the luxury of not traveling on the weekends, the parks are far less crowded midweek. Also, consider some of the less popular or less well-known parks. They are often inexpensive, comparatively, and not as crowded as the popular parks. For example, we went to North Cascades National Park in northern Washington. It was mid-July – prime vacation time – but there were plenty of empty campsites. There were no traffic jams, no crowds, we only encountered a few people on our hikes and never worried about finding parking at various attractions or exhibits.

Use the Park Maps

Usually as you go through the entrance booth, the ranger will offer you a map. Take it, your GPS will not always be accurate or reliable, or even accessible, inside the park. The map usually has some information on it, too, like about wildlife or other park attractions. Our first stop in the park (besides setting up our campsite if we’re staying inside the park) is to a Visitors Center. At the center make sure you get the park newspaper from the rangers. The newspaper is invaluable! It gives sample itineraries, it lists all the ranger programs, it gives advice for various activities like fishing, hiking or horseback riding, and safety tips. The rangers can also give you trail guides and advice on hiking for your comfort level. At the rangers’ desk they will have important information on things like road closures, trail closures, construction, animal sightings, weather, etc. Of course, the visitors center usually has a store with all kinds of park merchandise and post cards, too. Some of them sell stamps and will mail your postcards for you. There is usually some type of educational display and it is often kid-friendly. This takes me to number 3…     

Take Advantage of Kids’ Programs

Junior Ranger Program

If you have small children, you know that you can be at the most beautiful waterfall or mountain vista in the country but if they’re bored, tired or hungry they simply Will. Not. Care. We’ve found that the Junior Ranger Program is far and away the best way to keep kids active and engaged during a National Parks vacation. The visitors’ centers or ranger stations have Junior Ranger booklets for every age group. The kids have to gather information around the park, but it’s pretty easy – it doesn’t have to dictate what you do.  For example, it might have a bingo page for spotting different plants and animals. The Junior Ranger program helps kids interact with the park at their level, and they learn about science, nature and whatever else that park has to offer.

Once they complete the booklet, take it back to a ranger station or visitors center and a ranger will go over it with the child and then swear them in as a Junior Ranger and give them a badge! This is super fun and the rangers always make a big deal of it. The kids have to raise their right hand and take an oath. My 11 year old has at least 25 badges and she never tires of it. The Junior Ranger program is available at many of the national monuments, national historic sites and battlefields, and other places run by the National Park Service. And, by the way, it’s completely free. You don’t even have to go to the parks to be a Junior Ranger – there are some online programs, too!

Other Ranger Programs

In addition to the Junior Ranger program, the parks offer Ranger Talks and programs, some of which are aimed at kids. The park newspaper will have a list of program times, descriptions and locations. We’ve done hikes with a ranger, critter talks where they feature a specific animal like bats or moose, stargazing programs and more.

Yellowstone also offers a Junior Scientist program! They charge for it, it’s $5, but it’s totally worth it! My daughter did it recently and here’s what she got to do: She got a booklet and a backpack full of scientific instruments and she was given three hours to complete the activities around the Old Faithful geyser area of the park. It was so fun! She used an infrared thermometer to check the temperatures of the hot springs and geysers, then record them on a table to see what she could discover about how the colors change according to the temperature and what kinds of micro-organisms reside at which temps. I learned so much!! At the end she checked in with the ranger and she got a Junior Scientist patch.

Now, for those of you who feel like this sounds like work when you’re supposed to be on vacation, let me explain: as we were out on this adventure, I must have seen at least a dozen different kids whining, complaining or crying while their parents were trying to enjoy all the unique geothermal wonders that Yellowstone has to offer. Those of you with kids know that vacation isn’t always easy on little ones who are used to certain routines for sleeping and eating. But let me tell you what: stick an infrared thermometer in a kid’s hand and ask them to record the temperature of every hot spring and you’ll be the one trying to convince them that it’s time to go back!

Okay, last part of this loooong post (thanks to those of you who have stuck it out)!

Talk to the Rangers!

The rangers are your friends. They have a wealth of information that they are dying to share with you and they can tell you things about the park and the wildlife that you won’t find in any brochure or newspaper! For example, everyone who goes to Glacier National Park wants to drive the Going-to-the-Sun road. It’s magnificent and awe-inspiring. Our first day in Glacier, we asked for specific tips about hiking and about driving Going-to-the-Sun. Our ranger told us that we should drive early because it’s far less crowded, but she also suggested that we drive around to the east side of the park and drive the road in a westward direction for two reasons: more people drive west to east so there’s more traffic; and driving west to east in the morning means driving with the sun in your eyes which is far less enjoyable when on a death-defying, twisty mountain road! We took her advice, got up early and drove around to the east side of the park and took the road back. We noticed all the traffic back-ups going by us in the other direction and were so thankful for the advice we’d gotten.

The vast majority of rangers are eager to share their knowledge with you. These people spend all day every day in the most beautiful places in America and they know these places intimately, they’re usually happy that someone has taken the time to acknowledge and ask after their expertise. The kinds of things I ask, when I don’t have a specific question, are: What are your favorite hikes in the park? Where would you recommend we go if we want to see ____? If you had ___ days in the park, what would you make sure to see? Lastly, I also found out that there are programs for teachers who can be park rangers in during their summers off! If I were 20 years younger I would totally want to do that! I also learned that there are internship ranger programs for high school and college students, and volunteer opportunities for everyone, including senior citizens. In fact, if you volunteer a certain number of hours, you get a free annual park pass! You can find information about summer and teacher/internship programs here.

If you made it all the way through this post, I appreciate your time!! Many of you love to visit National Parks as much as we do, if you can think of any advice you would offer to people heading out on a National Parks vacation, please add it in the comments!!