National Park Trip

[Harleydmn]

We are planning to head out west in 2019 for a 3 month trip to the National parks. Anyone have any tips or advice? We want to head out from southern PA in the spring of 2019.

What are all the great areas to see? Plan on stopping 4 nights at each location. Is this enough time? I heard you need reservations a year in advance, this would make planning a trip like difficult, Ant tips for our planning?

If anyone who has done this would like to share their itinerary this would be helpful. This will be our first ever trip like this,usually we just camp close to home.

Very excited we never seen the western states.

Thanks for any help

[RGar974417]

WE live near Reading,Pa.Last May we went to Yellowstone in May. Great trip. Here are a few recommendations.Buckeye Lake State park in Ohio is nice. $26 for electric hookups. They have a big lake with a separate beach for campers. We took I-70 to I-74 then RT 36 across Missouri. This is in my opinion a better road than I-70 through Missouri.It is 4 lane,64mph. And there are 2 nice Missouri State Parks ( Long Branch and Pershing )along this route.We stayed at Pershing. $19 a night with electric and it's right off the highway. We then took I-29 north and then took a shortcut,Nebraska Rt 6 to I-80. We stayed at Olagalla Recreation Area. It's about 12 miles north but a beautiful campground on a lake. $18 a night plus $5 entrance fee.But there are other State Rec areas off I-80 that are closer. In Nebraska,we stopped at Minden to see the Harold Warp Pioneer Museum. If you like history,old cars,trucks,motorcycles,snowmobiles or tractors,you'll love this place. There is a campground at the museum.If you stay overnight you get one free pass to the museum.In Yellowstone,we stayed at Madison campground. It doesn't have hookups but is centrally located. In Yellowstone,go into the Inn at Old Faithful. The lobby is beautiful and the restaurant is very good and the prices are reasonable. Either going to,or leaving Yellowstone, there is a nice campground in Dubois,the Longhorn Motel and RV Park. Full hookups sites along the wind river. $49 a night. The bathrooms were like in your own home. Each one had a toilet,vanity and shower.

[tragusa3]

I didn't say this before, but I highly encourage reservations at the "go to" campgrounds for each park. We did that our first year, and it completes the "national park experience".

I mean, come on, spending the night in the back of Arches, watching the sun set on the park and then climbing down off the rocks and into your camper....how cool is that? VERY COOL! Would have been a different trip to have to drive 45 minutes back to a pack and stack campsite in Moab.

Camping at the Watchman in Zion right on the Virgin River and surrounded by the majesty of Zion! Again...much better than driving out of the park each day.

Watching the animals in Hayden Valley of Yellowstone until well after dark, knowing that in 15-20 minutes you'll be in your camper.

Watching a storm move in over snow covered peaks in Grand Tetons while your camper is being surrounded by moose. Sure, you could be in Jackson Hole closer to a restaurant, but I don't do National Park trips for the food.

I could go on and on. There are cons to it sometimes. Like no electric and water in Arches. It was a challenge, but sooo worth it!

Figure out the premier option each park has for camping within the experience. It will feel more like camping, and that's not a bad thing! 🙂

[Thom02099]

For the National Parks in Colorado, you don't need to make reservations a year in advance. In fact, you can't. There's a 180 day window. If you are outside of that window, The Reserve America site will tell you what date to check back.

For the CG on the east side of Rocky Mountain NP, you will need reservations. On the west side there's Timber Creek CG and you CAN'T make reservations -- it's all first come/first served.

On both sides of Rocky, there's a variety of USFS CG, and if you're there during the week, reservations usually are not needed, but on weekends, you'll need them.

There's also Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon of the Gunnison for National Parks as well as Dinosaur and Colorado National Monuments to visit. Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes have CG inside the respective parks, as well as commercial CG outside, and at Great Sand Dunes there's a State Park not far away -- San Luis SP.

Can't advise in Black Canyon of the Gunnison, since I've not camped there. But the others for Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes you'll likely need reservations. Again, 180 days out.

[msmith1199]

I've been to many of the National Parks here in the west, and yet never camped in any of them. Never wanted to mess with reservations. We normally stay in commercial RV parks that are just outside of the National Parks. They all have them. Also at your first park buy a annual pass. I think they are $80 for an all park pass. That gets you into all of them.

[Harleydmn]

Thanks for all the replies! this is a lot of help. We can't wait,the excitement is killing us.

[GeoBoy]

We just finished up visiting 10 NP's that interested us on the west coast. We left May 30 th for Great Basin NP, spent 2 days there, then headed to Sequoia/Kings Canyon, spent 3 days there, then onto Yosemite NP, spent 3 days there. We then headed to Lassen Volcanic NP, spent 1 day there, then onto Crater Lake NP, spent 1 day there because the snow had roads closed. We then went to Redwoods NP and spent 3 days there. We then headed up the 101 along the coast of Oregon. Then onto Olympic NP and we spent 3 days there, we then took the ferry to Coopesville and onto North Cascades NP where we spent 1 day due to the strange hot weather, not normal. We then drove to West Glacier and visited Glacier NP, took the Going to the Sun Road in the 1930's Red Bus, we spent 4 days there. We then went onto Teddy Roosevelt NP and spent 1 day there and then onto home.
The only reservations we made were for Kings Canyon/Sequoia and Yosemite NP and stayed at private campgrounds. All in all it took 6 weeks and 8,600+ miles. After 6 weeks we were ready for home. Seeing 10 NP's in one big trip is a lot to see and take in. Take your time and don't try to do it ALL in one big trip. Have fun.

[Mike_Taverniti]

Have a plan and make reservations. I have a 2004.5 Duramax and it tends to run hot on some of the long climbs. Make sure your truck is ready and enjoy every mile

[Taxman2004]

Go to NPS.gov. It will show you all of the National Parks. Most sites in the parks do not include hookups. I would get an Atlas of the western US, highlight all of the national parks, look them up on NPS.gov and print out the maps and info on each park. I do not think that 4 days at each park is a good idea. Some you can do in 1 or 2 days and Yellowstone is probably worth more than 4, if your time allows for it. We are headed for Yellowstone for the eighth time this September and planning on 12 days. Baker Hole in the National Forest is 5 miles north of West Yellowstone and has electric and water hookups.

[bgum]

In different years we were able to get accommodation s in both Grand Canyon south rim and Yellowstone. Both times were May before school was out. Just try to checkin early in the day. At that time we had a 35ft MH and a 35ft 5th wheel.

[linnemj]

Jim2007 wrote:
Hi.. lot of good suggestions as to parks to visit. Make a reservation early as national parks are very popular. 2 month ahead should give a pick of campING sites.... Jim2007

We are heading out to CO and UT this fall to hit 7 national parks as well as 4-5 state parks in the area. You can make National Campground reservations 6 months in advance of your first night. Our experience is that all the sites were booked within 1 hour of the first time to reserve at 10 AM. We like to stay within the parks to avoid travel and wait times within the parks. Most national parks have no hook ups. You have time to try this out - get a generator to charge batteries and conserve water and you will be fine. This will be our fourth trip out west. Every popular park we visit is full. Unless you want to boondock in those areas, going without reservations seems difficult.

As to your question on how long to stay at a park. Each park is very different. The Grand Canyon may only be 3 nights while Yellowstone can easily be a week. Expect crowds when you go. Many people home school their kids and the major parks get many, many foreign visitors.

For me, planning is enjoyable and I like to know I have a site when traveling to an area.

[Jim2007]

Hi.. lot of good suggestions as to parks to visit. Make a reservation early as national parks are very popular. 2 month ahead should give a pick of campING sites.... Jim2007

[2gypsies1]

In our opinion you don't need reservations a year in advance if you're capable of staying in campgrounds with no hookups. Also, in some of the national parks there are campgrounds that don't even take reservations. We've never been without a place to stay!

[joelc]

We finished a x country trip out West and to Alberta and British Columbia last year. Study the weather patterns. We took RT 10 West and then the Northern route I-40 on return due to bad weather from I-40 North in the Spring. We started from LA, though and not NJ. If you had the time and wanted to, take I-84 W to I-81 then head South. Avoid Baltimore and D.C. taking I-64 toward Richmond, VA and take a view of some of the Southern states, then head West. On the return you could go further north than I-40. We plotted areas of interest, left our 40' 5er at a CG using it as a hub and then took the truck to the area around the hub. Plan in advance, and I would advise having reservations ahead of time, by at least 3-4 wks. You might run into rallies and other events that might make it hard to stay in some areas. Some areas do not have cell or internet. Bring bottled water.

[Ivylog]

Early May is good heading to the Grand Canyon and then UT's NPs. I would leave CA off and head to CO next doing RMNP from the west side...Grand Lake. From there do the Tetons and Ystone. ID on your way to the OR coast north to Seattle and then east to Glacier and then SD and home.