National Park...Must-sees

My top five National Parks for children of every age, without regard to the cost of getting there, have easily viewable wildlife and "active" features--geysers, glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls, etc.--or ancient American cultures:

Yellowstone, WY (herd animals, bears, wolves, geothermal features, waterfall)
Kenai Fjords, AK (sea otters, whales, sea lions, sea birds, tidewater glaciers)
Hawaii Volcanoes, HI (humpback whale watching and active lava flows)
Katmai, AK (brown bears, salmon, volcanoes)
Mesa Verde, CO (climbing through 1,000 year-old cliff dwellings)

My grandsons still talk about a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, their whale-watching boat trip, and seeing the lava flows pouring out of Kilauea Volcano at HV NP. They were 5 and 7 at the time.

Thinking about this, there is one western park that hasn't been mentioned. Rocky Mountains NP. It is near the eastern edge of Colorado and might only be a two day drive from KY. Assuming your week includes weekend on both ends, that would give you 9 days. 4 days driving and 5 days in the park. If you haven't been to the mountain west then RMNP will catch your attention and make a big impression on your child.

Boundary Waters is probably also in range but it is a specialized park that requires a boat/canoe to see. That's one we haven't been to yet.

We've only been to 3 national parks but plan to do more every year. You can always do the close ones if you have an extended weekend. We did Cuyahoga over memorial weekend. You can also mammoth cave and smokies like that since you're so close. Honestly unless you're going to fly, I don't think you can get to places like Yellowstone and back in a week, not if you plan on enjoying it at all. But there is lots of other stuff that is close enough for you to drive to. Happy planning!

Matt_Colie wrote:
From where you to what you want to do - without dragging the house, Take a week to do the Blue Ridge Parkway. Line up motels, carry a cooler for lunches and at least one camera per person. Get a guide book and try not to pass anything that might be anything at all. It you run that out, there is still Skyline Drive.

Matt

This is a great suggestion. We have done it twice. Once we had a popup with two kids and many years later we did it alone with our 5th wheel.

You said this is an annual trip, but didn't say which NPs you have already visited. Have you been to the Smokies, Mammoth Cave, Shenandoah, and Natchez Trace and Blue Ridge Parkways?

As others have said, if you can fly, our sons still remember a boyhood trip to Yellowstone. It had the geysers, hot pools, mudpots, paintpots, and Yellowstone Lake, of course, but also had more wildlife than they had ever seen.

When our youngest son was 6, we went to Yellowstone Falls very early one morning. We were the first car in the parking lot and there were buffalo grazing on the parking lot landscape strips. We parked, stayed quietly in the car, and watched adult buffalo walk right around the car to get to the other side of the parking lot. We waited until they were completely out of sight, then ventured to the overlook for the falls. The falls are spectacular, but the proximity and size of the buffalo were the primary topic of conversation among the boys for the remainder of the trip!

If you have to drive, you might be able to get to the Black Hills and back in a week. You can go to Mt. Rushmore, then Wind Cave National Park for a view of the buffalo and elk herds there. The giant faces, the cave, and the buffalo should leave your son with some lasting memories.

You can also drive through the Badlands NP on the way there or back just to check it off your list, but there may not be much of interest there to a 6 year-old. And, if you had more time, I would highly recommending spending time in Custer State Park, which also has a buffalo herd, fishing lakes, and great drives through some very narrow tunnels. There is also a steam train that your son might enjoy that runs from Hill City to Keystone (Google "1880 Train").

Nutinelse2do wrote:
Must see is Arches National Park in Utah in the Fall months. If you do any hiking, plan on spending 5-7 days driving and hiking the area. Exploring Arches, and Utah in general is truly a life changing experience.

Sorry, just read the 6 yr old. Something you and your wife should do alone, or when your child is older, say 15-16. It would be fun to drive through but there are quite a few hikes there where it would be too much for him.

And if you go to Arches NP, make sure you take the short drive up to Canyonlands NP. It's only about an hour away. And if you have time, take the side trip to Dead Horse State Park.

From where you to what you want to do - without dragging the house, Take a week to do the Blue Ridge Parkway. Line up motels, carry a cooler for lunches and at least one camera per person. Get a guide book and try not to pass anything that might be anything at all. It you run that out, there is still Skyline Drive.

Matt

Our top:
Glacier National Park
Tetons
Yellowstone
Acadia
We also loved the Oregon Coast and seeing the Redwood Trees. Although not a national park it was awesome!!
Have you considered Washington DC?

Why not see them all!!!

-Tom, W3TLN

Are you flying or driving? If flying: Katmai, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Hawaii Volcanoes

If driving: Mammoth Cave, Great Smokey Mountains. After those two your options get severely limited due to the length of time it will take to drive. If you only have a week and you have to drive at least two days each way, it no longer becomes fun. At that point I would suggest Gettysburg, PA (might be tough for a 6 year old) or Colonial Williamsburg, even though they aren't National Parks.

Definitely heed the advice given about timing. Being miserable because it's too hot or too cold is not fun. You can't foresee every potential weather event but you probably don't want to be in Death Valley mid-summer or in Katmai in April.