View Full Version : National parks tour
I was just wondering if anyone has done a National Park tour. I have on my "life list" to take 6 months or so and really explore our parks. I want to be as frugal about it as possible. You know, just live out of the car. Set up camp in a park (Glacier for example) and go on day hikes, overnighters, and longer hikes for a few weeks then move on to the next Park. I'm thinking this way you can really "saunter" around and explore. It won't happen for a while because I'm a tempting an A.T. Thru-hike this year. I'm just curious if anyone on here has done something like this. Or knows of any books or info about the subject. Thanks.
If you want to be frugal you will need to find National Forest/BLM land to use for camping in some areas.
What you are describing is a road trip. I thought everyone did that.
Yea, I guess it is just a road trip. I never did one when I was younger and regret it a bit.
4eyedbuzzard
01-18-2009, 14:58
We did a 6 week, not 6 month trip through Rocky Mtn, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier about 12 years ago when our kids were little. They(and we) absolutely loved it. I think my favorite was the week we spent camping up by Kintla Lake in Glacier, pretty remote by car camping standards. You should definitely get the Interagency Annual Pass (http://usparks.about.com/od/nationalparksus/a/parkpassesnp.htm)for $80.
And believe it or not, even 6 months probably won't be enough to "see it all". There are over 300 NPS administered sites, 100's of National Forests, etc. Still, it would be one heck of a nice experience.
Spirit Walker
01-18-2009, 18:04
The last two years we've done extensive road trips (six months one year, seven the next). We have visited most of the national parks and monuments in the west and several in the east. Get the Golden Eagle Pass so you get unlimited entry to the parks and monuments. They also have a free map that shows where all the NPS sites are located. Since we have the Golden Age pass we get half price camping as well as free entry but even without that, camping in the parks isn't that expensive. Many of the western Park campgrounds are very small though and may fill up early. We stayed in NF campgrounds, camped for free in BLM land and many national forests and stayed at a lot of state parks that had good showers.
If you have questions about specific parks, I'd be happy to help. Bottom line though, despite the crowds in the front country, I've enjoyed every national park we've visited. There is a reason they were made national parks and monuments. They are unique and beautiful! Once you get into the backcountry you generally lose the crowds. Look into wilderness areas along the way as well. They are frequently as crowded as the National Parks, if not more so, but they also offer some incredible backpacking. (i.e Wind River Range, Beartooths, Grand Gulch, etc.)
Thanks for the info everyone!
Tennessee Viking
01-18-2009, 20:06
My family usually does some multiple park vacations.
We flew into Denver and drove through Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Custer State Park/Mt Rushmore, Badlands, and Grand Tetons.
Another trip we flew into Seattle drove up to ferried over to BC, Mount Saint Helens, down the coastline, up the Columbia River Valley, and Glacier & the Canadian parks around Banff.
Flew into Las Vegas and toured the Arizonia, New Mexico, and Utah parks.
Flew into San Francisco visited the northern California parks and up to Crater Lake.
I love national parks, and I have a fascination with the lodges, too. I'm slowly ticking off parks and monuments. This year was the first that I bought the access pass. I live near Philly, and most of the NPS sites near us are free entry. But once my son and I started taking road trips west, the pass was the ticket. Entrance fees can add up, and the park pass can be a real deal. Last summer we drove west from Philly with our turnaround point being Yellowstone/Grand Teton. Along the way we stopped at Badlands, Little Big Horn, Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Devil's Tower, and few others that escape me now. It was a great trip. I plan to go to Glacier in 2010 and hope to hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim the year I turn 50. Do try to research parks before you go. Some of the more visited parks can have a camping/lodging shortage. Camping in Grand Canyon campgrounds, for instance, can be hard to come by on a walk-in basis. Reservations are a must and they book early. At Yellowstone, however, we simply drove in on a weekday morning in mid June and found plenty of campsites. That probably wouldn't be so easy to do later in the summer at the height of their season. In recent years, some of the most frequently visited parks have started to post podcasts, both audio and video, to help you plan your trip. The Yellowstone and Grand Canyon podcasts were very well done, I thought. Parks that have associated podcasts post links, usually under the "Plan Your Trip" heading.
Have fun visiting the parks!
I just thought of something else. It's kind of silly, I suppose, but I got hooked on those park passport booklets that are sold in the park gift shops. It's a small blue book that is set up like a passport, and you stamp the passport whenever you visit a park. For years I watched people going nuts over the stamps, and one day my son, who was fairly young at the time, begged me to buy him one. He got into it, and the following year I bought one, too. Now I enter a park and I'm immediately looking for the ink pad and rubber stamp on the ranger's desk. I've turned into one of THOSE people! I actually stood in line with a bunch of people waiting to get to the special Old Faithful stamp this past summer. I have to admit that I felt a bit pathetic standing there waiting for a turn at a rubber stamp, but there it is. I'm a lost soul now, wandering around the land collecting stamps in a little blue book. It's kind of fun, actually.
Blissful
01-18-2009, 23:21
We're doing a trip this year, don't have the time for a big multo week thing, but we plan to fly out to Utah, rent a car and see parks and then drive to Oregon and Washington State (never been there). If you can do it and have the means, do it. Some great areas and land to discover.
I admire what U plan on doing. Few Americans avail themselves of the full opportunities presented in the NPs. They R, after all, part of America's national treasures. However, I would stress, that if U want to even more deeply experience them U need to get away from the car and the front country, when ever U can. It sounds like this is what U R planning, but too often, the lure of camping near the car is a temptation that can keep people from taking their experiences to a higher level!
Only 4 % of the annual visitors to the Grand Canyon ever get below the rim. Of those that do get below the rim, more than 75 % of them stay on corridor trails. More people visit Gatlinburg TN, one of the gateways to Great Smokey Mountains NP, than actually ever visit the park. Why? Can't get too far from the car!
Don't make the mistaken assumption that U have really explored the NPs if U don't get into the backcountry and get off the beaten path!
buckwheat
01-19-2009, 05:21
However, I would stress, that if U want to even more deeply experience them U need to get away from the car and the front country, when ever U can.
This is the key to doing this frugally, I think. I've been thinking of doing this for many years (I've spent the past 10 years travelling all over the world for my job ... but haven't even been West of Texas in the United States!).
I think that a good strategy is to use your car to get from park to park, but while in the park, consider it a backcountry experience. You're there to "hike" the park ... which means you're not staying in the campground ($$$ per day), you're "backcountry" (free to tent).
Use the park headquarters as your "base camp" to which you can bail on days when it's too (hot/cold/wet/dry insert complaint here). Live like a backpacker, and you can live very frugally. Shop the grocery store outside the park gates (where the park employees live/shop) and eat the same stuff thru-hikers eat ... lots of noodles.
Occasionally splurge to treat yourself. After all, you're saving money on gasoline! Get a room at the fancy hotel during the week when rates are lower than on weekends, the food is better because it's slower, and there aren't a lot of kids running around the hotels. Lots of hot water, too!
You can't really experience a park from your car. You need to be on foot. Thankfully, its cheaper that way.
Take lots of pictures.
We're doing a trip this year, don't have the time for a big multo week thing, but we plan to fly out to Utah, rent a car and see parks and then drive to Oregon and Washington State (never been there). If you can do it and have the means, do it. Some great areas and land to discover.
I could burn a week within Utah. Or within 4-5 hours of SLC. If you feel the need to see the Pacific, be sure to swim in it. Part of the experience.
Yea, I'm definitely gonna get away from the car and really explore the parks.(That reminds me of Ed Abbey's book "Desert Solitaire" chapter episodes and visions) I just hope I don't get too tied down after the thru-hike this year. I don't think I will. I want to really do my research and have a good plan when I leave. I'll have a desk drawer solely for the purpose of maps, guide books etc.. and work on the plan every chance I get. Right now my mind is pretty focused on the A.T. (One dream at a time right)
I have done 3 XC trips in the past 3 years. 1 month, 4 months, and 7 month. I lived out of my car and back pack the whole time. only rented 4 hotels rooms in all three trips combined.
Get out west, but don't go in the summer. I spent like 2 months in Yosemite then 2 months working my way home. A week in Sequoia NP it was my favorite forest hikes, it felt like Jurassic park. You can hike through groves on trees larger then you can ever imagine. A week in San Bernardino NP or state park. They have a hike called 13 peaks and I saw a few wild cats there. Lots of parks in the mountains of Cali. I was not a fan of the coast in Cali thought. It was like one big traffic jam.
Then on the way home I went through Brice, Zion, grand canyon, pikes peak, arches, a meteor crater, some volcano park, canyon lands (that is 3 parks right there), moab, big bend, white sands, Carlsbad caverns, the last is endless out there. you are never more then a few hours from your next park.
A few of my hiking partners will be in Philly over the weekend visiting a friend at some bar thing.
Everyone has to design their own trip to meet their own desires. While I commend anyone who takes on a trip of this magnitude I think it's false to assume U have truly experienced all/most that most NPs have to offer without getting away from the car. I have witnessed many people express the mistaken cavalier attitude that because they visited Newfound Gap for 1 hr. they have had an in depth experience at Great Smokey Mountains NP or because they visited the S. Rim of the Grand Canyon they have experienced Grand Canyon NP. Many visitors to the NPs take the "been there done that" attitude when in actuality what they have experienced is a very small % of the park! I think visitors short change themselves when they design whirlwind trips that never venture far from a parking lot.
Of course, I come from a pro-hike get away from the car perspective, but I like this idea:
I think that a good strategy is to use your car to get from park to park, but while in the park, consider it a backcountry experience. You're there to "hike" the park ..
Use the park headquarters as your "base camp".
I think this strategy, to at least some degree, can be incorporated into most NP visitor's trips
Everyone has to design their own trip to meet their own desires. While I commend anyone who takes on a trip of this magnitude I think it's false to assume U have truly experienced all/most that most NPs have to offer without getting away from the car. I have witnessed many people express the mistaken cavalier attitude that because they visited Newfound Gap for 1 hr. they have had an in depth experience at Great Smokey Mountains NP or because they visited the S. Rim of the Grand Canyon they have experienced Grand Canyon NP. Many visitors to the NPs take the "been there done that" attitude when in actuality what they have experienced is a very small % of the park! I think visitors short change themselves when they design whirlwind trips that never venture far from a parking lot.
Of course, I come from a pro-hike get away from the car perspective, but I like this idea:
I think that a good strategy is to use your car to get from park to park, but while in the park, consider it a backcountry experience. You're there to "hike" the park ..
Use the park headquarters as your "base camp".
I think this strategy, to at least some degree, can be incorporated into most NP visitor's trips
great advice. I spent many MONTHS in yosemite NP. The more I explored the park the less of the park I felt like I had seen. You need to get away from the road.
Worldwide
01-19-2009, 16:12
In about 1 week to 10 days I am about to head out West to visit and hike Big Bend, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Redwoods, Arches, Zion, Canyonlands, Moab, Bryce's. I have room for 1 person and their gear if you need a ride out West. I won't be returning until I am done the PCT.
P.S. I am a Montgomery County PA native and will possibly be returning to PA to dump some crap into storage there. I don't know your timeline but if you need a ride PM me.
Cookerhiker
01-19-2009, 17:22
In about 1 week to 10 days I am about to head out West to visit and hike Big Bend, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Redwoods, Arches, Zion, Canyonlands, Moab, Bryce's. I have room for 1 person and their gear if you need a ride out West. I won't be returning until I am done the PCT.
P.S. I am a Montgomery County PA native and will possibly be returning to PA to dump some crap into storage there. I don't know your timeline but if you need a ride PM me.
Sounds like a great trip. I visited Bryce last winter and was captivated by the beauty of the snow-covered hoodoos.
2 things about your trip I'm curious about:
1. Redwoods? Are you referring to Redwood NP way up in the NW corner of the CA coast? That's rather far from every other place. Do you mean Sequoia?
2. For all the great places you're going, will you have time to get to the Sororan Desert and spend time among the saguaros? You don't have to go all the way to Saguaro NP. Tonto National Forest about 60 miles east of Phoenix has good hiking including the Arizona Trail. I spent a week on a Sierra Club service trip last March helping build the Arizona Trail and can testify to its scenic worth.
Agree on the cactus. Should be some viewing just outside Tucson, where people go for sunsets. Fuzzy on the spot.
frisbeefreek
01-19-2009, 22:00
I did this for the last 18-months. Highly recommend it.
Went from Jasper National Park in Canada (best scenery of the entire trip) south along the Rockies.
State Parks are almost universally better than the National Parks. Cheaper, cleaner, nice showers, less crowded, etc.
Plan to be deep in the woods around holidays. Many places have showers for $3 (best shower is Yellowstone Lodge where it's marble!).
My wife and I, occasionally with our kids, significant others, and others, have done several multi week trips, none yet reaching six months. But I dream on.
I walked the eastern parks that touch on the trail in 1993. Earlier we had spent several weeks on several occasions in the west exploring the southern parks and forests -- walking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, exploring Yosemite twice, Sequoia, the California parks and forests and places in between.
Then three years ago we explored the northern tier of parks, and forests, west to Washington State, Rainier, and Olympia.
And finally two years ago we spent six weeks exploring Alaska and some of the special Canadian places on our drive home to Maine from Wisconsin.
My conclusion. All the major parks are great. But none were greater than a Maine Woods National Park would be, if we could ever put such a thing together.
IN the meantime I work on creating buffers for the narrow Appalachian Trail "National Park" in Maine, and in creating new protected land at the mouth of the Kennebec estuary, where I have lived for nearly 50 years.
Weary
DuctTape
01-20-2009, 01:20
great advice. I spent many MONTHS in yosemite NP. The more I explored the park the less of the park I felt like I had seen. You need to get away from the road.
On that note, it's possible to spend a lifetime in some of our parks without "seeing it all."
buckwheat
01-20-2009, 02:55
I have done 3 XC trips in the past 3 years. 1 month, 4 months, and 7 month. I lived out of my car and back pack the whole time. only rented 4 hotels rooms in all three trips combined.
Did you do much sleeping in the car (say, enroute to destinations?) I ask because I'm curious what other people's experience is getting hassled for sleeping in their cars, and also their strategy for where to "camp" in their car. I have a SUV that isn't much good on gas mileage, but the good thing is that if I want to sleep in it I can throw one of those large twin bed inflatable mattresses in it and it's almost like having a bed along for the ride. Very roomy in back.
What other advice can you provide for living out of your car? Helpful hints, things to avoid, that sort of advice! Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Buckwheat
Many county, state, and national parks have showering facilities. Some state and many national parks also have laundry facilities. RV parks and campgrounds also will usually let U take a shower and/or use laundry facilities, some at little or even no charge or even if U R not staying on the premises. If U learn to be comfortable with it, stealth camping is possible at many roadside picknick areas.
Great idea!
Kate and I spent well over a month exploring New Mexico in a travel trailer this past fall. Plus a month getting out there and a month getting back. Completed surprised by Carlsbad Caverns backcountry (Sitting Bull Falls was spectacular.). Sunset in White Sands is amazing and Bandelier is a place any hiker could spend lots of time in. We visited any and all state parks, National forests, BLM areas we could get to. Plus, stopped at many a small town Mexican cafe, market, festival and one Indian casino. What a blast.
Would like to do Arizona the same way next, then other states later on.
BTW. Check out Corp of Engineer campgrounds. IMHO these are the nicest and most reasonable campgrounds in the country. All we stayed at or saw in guidebooks had bathrooms, hot showers, water and electric hook-ups. Additionally they're mostly on lakes and reservoirs. Plus they're half off for Senior Pass or the older Golden Age pass holders. (http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm) That was like $7.00 a night in some places.
Cookerhiker
01-20-2009, 09:49
Did you do much sleeping in the car (say, enroute to destinations?) I ask because I'm curious what other people's experience is getting hassled for sleeping in their cars, and also their strategy for where to "camp" in their car. I have a SUV that isn't much good on gas mileage, but the good thing is that if I want to sleep in it I can throw one of those large twin bed inflatable mattresses in it and it's almost like having a bed along for the ride. Very roomy in back.
What other advice can you provide for living out of your car? Helpful hints, things to avoid, that sort of advice! Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Buckwheat
If you're talking about a trip to western national parks, nearly every one of them is surrounded by national forest land. In general, national forests are much more flexible and less restrictive on camping - stealth or in campgrounds.
Did you do much sleeping in the car (say, enroute to destinations?) I ask because I'm curious what other people's experience is getting hassled for sleeping in their cars, and also their strategy for where to "camp" in their car. I have a SUV that isn't much good on gas mileage, but the good thing is that if I want to sleep in it I can throw one of those large twin bed inflatable mattresses in it and it's almost like having a bed along for the ride. Very roomy in back.
What other advice can you provide for living out of your car? Helpful hints, things to avoid, that sort of advice! Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Buckwheat
Wow I had a whole thread in another forum starting in the planning phase for my trip (36 hours). Just kind of picked up and left. I had never camped before or traveled alone or even been to a national park. Got out to Yosemite and my cars engine blew up and it was a rare car so it took 3 months to get my car back. This 7 month trip was supposed to only be 2 or 3 weeks.
I did sleep in my car a lot, but not as much as my tent. I will say no one every bothered me about sleeping in my car. Not even once. You? There are times when you are just driving long distances and you all of the sudden just get tired so I would look for a truck stop or a rest area and just pull in by all the trucks. Some times you are almost on empty and get to the only gas station for 50 miles and they are closed till the morning so I would just pull off in some corner and sleep. What would happen the most was I would finish up a week or three in a NP and get to my car. I would find some fast food and a shower then head out. I would find a place for some internet and decide where to go next and restock things like food. Then I would drive to the next park. Out west parks are everywhere usually only a few hours apart. I would usually get to the next park in the dark, good for not paying entrance fees if you don’t have the year long pass but bad for getting back country permits. When in the Nation Parks I would find a pull off some where because you would usually wake up to some sort of awesome view. In Brice I woke up to a huge arch in my face. AWSOME. You can also spot other car campers by the dew in the windows. Any where that says view or scenic overlook is a great place to spend the night because it’s a great place to wake up.
On my first two trips I took my Subaru WRX STI, great for driving in not so great for sleeping. I had the windows tinted and that helped a lot for some extra privacy. I was able to rig on an old square style sleeping bag with safety pins and zip ties to hook on to the child seat anchors above the back seats and on the oh sh1t bar/ back seat handles then I would drape the rest of the sleeping bag over the front seats. It was small be no one could see me when I was sleeping in my car. It looked like I was just hiding what ever was in my back seat. It also didn’t let any sun in so I would sleep much longer then the other cars around me.
Your windows will get dirty from condensation and you will have to clean then from time to time or night driving will get harder and harder and you in car pictures will turn out bad. I tried cracking my windows because I was worried someone would know I was sleeping in my car from condensation. I did wake up to snow in my car once, that wasn’t fun.
I bought a DC to AC adapter and a surge protector so I would be able to run my GPS, and charge my cell, laptop, batteries, MP3 player, and what ever else I wanted. The lap top came in real handy, look up info on the go, store pics, talk to family and entertainment. I would love to watch top gear and movies before bed. Some times I would buy DVDs at Wal-Mart but usually just park my car while hiking near some where with wireless internet and set it up to down load some movies.
In bear country you can not leave anything in your car that smells, bears will try and eat it. Keep it all in one spot so you can quickly put it in the bear boxes. Food, drink, chap stick, gum, deterrent, toothpaste, shampoo, synthetic motor oil.
And completely off topic I met so many solo hikers at the trail head when packing out backpacks who ended up being good friends by the first night.
If you're talking about a trip to western national parks, nearly every one of them is surrounded by national forest land. In general, national forests are much more flexible and less restrictive on camping - stealth or in campgrounds.
great point, i totally forgot about this.
If your car has AWD or 4WD its usually just a short drive up a dirt road to a small parking area where you can pull off. The national forest are almost deserted compared to the parks.
buckwheat
01-20-2009, 18:31
Tuswm,
Thanks much for taking the time to pass on the wisdom of your experience. Much appreciated.
Cheers,
Buckwheat
Good luck on your trip, it always sounds much harder then it is. I think the hardest part is actualy leaving. When I left I had never traveled alone, never camped, never done anything like that and never even read about it on the internet in a place like this.
Also before I left I decided to get a car GPS, I figured that it would save me that much in gas from not gettting lost and its great for estimating time of arivals and finding small dirt roads that are in the middle of no where.