Many people are venturing out in nature these days. National Parks and State Parks are a popular destination because you can get out of the house while still social distancing. In light of the popularity of our National Parks and our family’s experience visiting so many of them, I thought it may be helpful to share our experience from last year. I will also share some tips on how I plan these trips.

We hit many of the best highlights in our country’s National Parks system this past year including Glacier, Yellowstone, the Rocky Mountains, and the Grand Tetons. Keep reading if you are interested in traveling to any of these locations or any other National Park for that matter. You should find some nuggets that will be helpful for you own National Park trip planning in the future.

Our National Parks are beginning to open back up. Not all are open yet, but those that aren’t open yet have deadlines to open in the near future. Covid caused the closures. Be sure to check with the National Parks Service before you plan a trip to any of the National Park locations. You don’t want to plan a trip only to find out that they are closed.

Our family became fans of the National Parks after we traveled to several of them with our Friends, the Perez family, five years ago. Our family of five has now visited a total of 33 National Parks in the United States. With 61 National Parks in the United States, we have now been to more than half of them. This summer will be our fifth year traveling to see more National Parks. I planned our trip long before Covid and thankfully never cancelled any of our plans. We will be traveling this summer and socially distance from others as needed from the comfort of our camper.

Our 2019 trip was a success. It was also one of our longest trips, as we we traveled to seven National Parks, one National Memorial, and two state park in three weeks.

I am sharing our route, the postings from each National Park we visited, and how I planned our trip so it can be helpful to others. Knowing how we plan our routes and how we plan each National Park visit itinerary may be helpful to others who are interested in visiting National Parks. I know this information was helpful and has helped us to streamline our road trips. We learned as went went along. You can benefit from what it took me five years and 33 National Parks to figure out.

Our 2019 National Park trip covered visits to Caprock Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It was one of the most amazing trips. These are each remarkable locations. My top three were Glacier, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone. I loved the remoteness and Glacier the best and seeing a moose was incredible. Yellowstone with its plenty of Bison and natural geysers was a phenomenon unto its own. The grand Tetons embody elegance and natural beauty unlike any other National Park we have visited. Lake Jenny in the Tetons was magical.

Roadtrippers App to Create a Master Plan for the Trip

To plan our trip I use the Roadtrippers app. It is free to initially use. We have used it past the free usage phase and we pay a yearly fee that is reasonable to us. I like to think of this app as my tool for creating a master plan for the entire trip.

This app allows you to plug in locations and it tells you the miles and plots the trip on a map for you. Once you plot your trip and add your destinations, you can get a final mileage, along with the amount of time it will take to travel from one location to the next. All of our previous trips that I have planned using Roadtrippers are in my App, so I can easily find where we went, on what days, and how many days we stayed at each location. I use this app for mapping our routes. I play around with different routes and locations to create the best route possible. Below you can see our entire route for our 2019 National Parks trip- it is three screen shots I took when I pulled up the app on my phone.

Waze App and Google Maps for Driving

When we are driving on our trips we use both the Waze app and Google Maps. We have found that one or the other will work better in certain areas of the country. We pull up both apps each day we drive, so we can compare routes and times to get to our destination. Because we are pulling a camper we like to avoid gravel or dirt roads for long distances. We have found that Google or Waze will periodically try to route us on these small roads because it can be the shortest distance. We prefer interstates and highways when towing a camper. That is why we always look at the route before we get started, because you can change the route option if there is more than one option to get to the destination.

One Must Have Book on the National Parks

There are a variety of books on the market about the National Parks. I have most of them. The one book that has been the most reliable and utilized by our family is the National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States (8th edition): https://amzn.to/30Rsi6M

This book has been our go-to for finding highlights of each park, the must see points, and a general history on each park. The book is laid out by region. They then have several pages (or more) for each of the National Parks in each of those regions. This book has been very helpful in planning our trips and knowing what to do when we got to each National Park

Dirt In My Shoes: National Park Itineraries

Another great way to plan your adventures for your National Park visits is to use the itineraries from Dirt in My Shoes. I wrote an entire blog posting about this amazing resource. Here is the blog posting in full so you don’t have to even go to a link:

I wrote about the website Dirt in My Shoes in my Yellowstone blog posting. I believe this website and resource is so helpful it is worthy of its own article. I am not compensated in any way for this article, I just like to share helpful information and valuable resources. This is one of the best resources I have come across regarding the National Parks.

I have had many people ask me how I plan our visits to the National Parks. Meaning, how do I decide what to see because it is difficult to see it all in any National Park in one visit. It usually takes a considerable amount of time and research on my part to create an itinerary that maps out what we will do and see during our visit to a National Park. I use the National Park books and resources that I blogged about previously: https://livingjoydaily.com/2017/09/20/national-parks-materials-i-recommend/

Again, it takes lots of time and energy to research each National Park. I came across the Dirt In My Shoes websites and I am so thankful!! I purchased a two-day itinerary for Yellowstone National Park for $9.99. It was worth every penny! Ash, the founder of this website has created itineraries for self-guided tours of many National Parks. She is a former National Park Ranger. When you go to her website to purchase an itinerary for a specific National Park, she has options for number of days you are spending in this park. This is amazing!! We had two full days in Yellowstone, so I purchased the two-day itinerary from her website. She has options for one day itineraries, three days, and so forth. She has invested a great deal of time and energy creating these itineraries. They are much better than any itinerary I could create myself. Her experience in the National Parks and countless hours in each park researching the best things to see is what makes her itineraries so valuable. She also provides a description for each stop she recommends along with maps. Paired with the free map you get when you enter each National Park, you are set! I didn’t even break out my National Park books for Yellowstone because her information was everything I needed.

Honestly, I think you are crazy to visit a National Park without purchasing her guide for the park you are going to visit. I won’t go to another National Park without buying her guide for the park we are going to visit. The itinerary provides a description of each stop. She also includes suggestions for the best hikes in each park and where to find each trailhead (super helpful info!).

I used her guides for both Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. I have to say that those two parks are now my top two favorite parks we have ever visited! It has a lot to do with what we saw. Her written guides from Dirt in My Shoes pointed us in the right direction and we had the best experiences in these parks because of her itineraries.

Her website also has a blog that provides super helpful free information! Because of her article about the top 10 things to do in Glacier National Park we got to see moose! She wrote in that article to check out Fishercap Lake. It is a super small lake located in the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park. She said in her article that this location is the closest she can provide to a guaranteed moose sighting. The lake isn’t even on the National Park map it is so small. We never would have known to go there if it wasn’t for her guide. Guess what? We saw a mama and baby moose in the wild at Fishercap Lake because of her blog article! It was the best experience ever!! Brielle said our hike to Fishercap Lake and seeing the moose was “Epic!”.  I would have to agree. Thank you Ash for your article and excellent advice!

You can check out her blog postings and itineraries for the National Parks on her website: https://www.dirtinmyshoes.com/

Caprock State Park

Our first stop on our 2019 National Parks trip was Caprock State Park. This is located in the Northern part of Texas. The park has beautiful canyon lands and bison that roam free. The bison will even roam through campgrounds. Especially in the early morning hours, while the humans still slumber. We got great photos of the hundreds of bison during our visit to Caprock. This was a stopover, but I would go back in a heartbeat! It is one of the best state parks in Texas. In fact it far surpasses Guadalupe National Park in Texas. I have no idea why Guadalupe has a National Park status, while Caprock only has a state park status. Caprock is far more impressive. Here is the link to the full blog posting I wrote about Caprock: https://livingjoydaily.com/2019/07/19/caprock-canyon-state-park/

Buy a National Park Year Pass

My next tip is to buy a National Park pass. We buy ours every year at REI. It is less than $100 and gives you unlimited access to the National Parks for a full year. Average cost is $25-$35 a day per car to enter the National Parks. With the yearly pass you get unlimited access to the parks.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Our first National Park stop was Rocky Mountain National Park. It was our second time visiting this National Park. It was a great stop on the way to the Tetons and Yellowstone. Here is the link to my blog posting about our visit to this National Park: https://livingjoydaily.com/2019/07/20/rocky-mountain-national-park/

Grand Teton National Park

After our visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park we headed north to Grand Teton National Park. We stayed at a campground in Jackson Hole. It is a beautiful area. This National Park is incredible. Lake Jenny area of the park was my favorite. I would love to go back to Jackson Hole in the winter, I hear the skiing is the best. It was amazing in the summer, but I bet it is equally amazing in the winter. Here is my blog posting about Grand Teton National Park: https://livingjoydaily.com/2019/07/23/teton-national-park-2019/

Yellowstone National Park

Our next stop was Yellowstone National Park. Our stay in the Grand Tetons was about two and a half hours from the place we stayed at near Yellowstone. If you go to visit the Grand Tetons then make plans to see Yellowstone at the same time, since it is nearby. We stayed at a campground outside of Yellowstone West. It is my favorite campground of all time. Check out my blog posting of where we stayed and our experience at Yellowstone: https://livingjoydaily.com/2019/07/25/yellowstone-national-park-2019/

Glacier National Park

After our time at Yellowstone National Park we headed further north to Glacier National Park. It is located in Northern Montana right next to the border of Canada. This National Park may be my favorite of all time. Not only are the temperatures mild in the summer, but the views are some of the most spectacular in the lower 48. I am fairly certain the National Parks in Alaska will trump all other National Parks. We will be planning our Alaska National Park trip a few summers from now, when our boys will be old enough to remember the experience. Glacier is also one to remember! Going to the Sun road was incredible. Another major highlight of our entire trip was hit here when we saw a mama and baby moose in the wild. To read about our Glacier National Park experiences, check out my article: https://livingjoydaily.com/2019/07/29/glacier-national-park-2019/

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

After Glacier National Park we headed East to North Dakota. Our next stop was Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This is a park that is not as busy as the more popular National Park locations. It was easy to find parking, no lines to get in, and we were able to spend more time chatting with the rangers. It was a great experience. We stayed in Medora, which is a neat town I recommend if you are going to travel to see this National Park. Here is the info about our trip to this location: https://livingjoydaily.com/2019/07/31/theodore-roosevelt-national-park/

South Dakota: Badlands, Custer State Park, Wind Cave, and Mount Rushmore

South Dakota is amazing! I had no idea there was so much in one state. Custer State Park (which rivals most National Parks), Wind Cave National Park, Badlands National Park, and Mount Rushmore are all within a two hour radius. You could definitely vacation here for a week or two and find different things to do every day. If you can get a place to stay inside Custer State Park I highly recommend it! We tried, but it was booked solid. Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park is where I would try to get reservations if I could stay anywhere. It is the most beautiful lake area. Google it, you won’t be disappointed. Here is my blog posting about our adventures in South Dakota: https://livingjoydaily.com/2019/08/06/top-5-places-to-see-in-the-black-hills/

The National Parks are a gem in our country. I am happy to see that they are becoming increasingly more popular. They added two more parks to National Park status in 2019, bringing the National Park count from 59 to 61. There are many more National monuments, National preserves, and forests that aren’t included in that count. The official count for all the lands under the National Park service umbrella number over 400. Our family’s personal goal is to visit all of the 61 big National Parks. Of course we will hit many other National Monuments and other highlights along the way. I am thankful for the preservation of these lands. They are to be admired, cared for, and cherished. They are incredible because God makes the most amazing things!