Which parks do I NEED to see?

[Fastfwd75]

We are leaving from Montreal and going mostly towards the west coast. East coast is easy to do on other years when I get less vacation time.
We have 2 months to see as much as possible while enjoying the trip and probably driving 100-300miles per day. Should be enough to get us from Montreal to California by the way of Yellowstone and Moab.

Right now our main destination is Moab but we will probably hook north by Yellowstone first. After that probably towards Las Vegas and California.

Any major parks we HAVE to see on the way? I can find maps of national parks but can't find a map of the "10 must see". Too many to see them all. Also maybe some places are state parks or not parks at all but still must see. Maybe the salt flats(no idea where that is)?

[michigansandzil]

Fastfwd75 wrote:

profdant139 wrote:
I ruined a few family vacations by trying to do too much and trapping the kids inside a vehicle for too many hours on too many days.

That is one of my worry. We have to find our family's balance on the first days. How much can we travel and still all enjoy ourselves? I will definitely pay special attention to that.

For us, it's more the number of days of travel in a row that will do us in. We have traveled 650 miles in one day to get to a destination. Then rest for 2 days, then travel for 400 miles, then rest, etc.
The kids (and parents) need a few days to play in the campground pool, swing sets and see the surrounding area. I am finding that most major cities have fun attractions for the kids. If you stay put for 2 or 3 days and run into town for a few hours one day to visit a museum, that will probably go over well instead of being in a car every. single. day. We prefer this over moving even 100 miles every day. That gets tiresome.

[Fastfwd75]

profdant139 wrote:
I ruined a few family vacations by trying to do too much and trapping the kids inside a vehicle for too many hours on too many days.

That is one of my worry. We have to find our family's balance on the first days. How much can we travel and still all enjoy ourselves? I will definitely pay special attention to that.

[profdant139]

I ruined a few family vacations by trying to do too much and trapping the kids inside a vehicle for too many hours on too many days. Speaking from painful personal experience, I would focus on having leisurely fun with the kids, rather than trying to rack up lots of "must see" sights that they will not remember.

Two months is a nice long time, but if you chop it up into quick hits at a lot of places, it will seem like a blur. Again, I speak from experience.

Instead, maybe focus on "wow" experiences in places that are not too hot and that involve short hikes. Take time to make campfires and roast marshmallows and read stories. Make sure they have time to wade out into a cool shallow stream and build a dam out of rocks. Maybe get them each a cheap point and shoot digital camera and put together a blog that includes their shots.

[bikendan]

Fastfwd75 wrote:

bikendan wrote:
Fast, i'm guessing that you're traveling this summer.
therefore, reservations will be necessary for most of these "must-see" places, especially in California and the West Coast.
if you haven't made them already, you'll have some difficulty finding some available places.

Do you mean reservation for RV campgrounds or just to hike in the parks? I was planning to camp wherever I could and expected near and good spots to be already taken. I don't mind driving an extra 30 minutes to get to the park in the morning. If there are so many people just walking there that a reservation is needed maybe I want to visit something else.

you'll probably have to pay for a day parking pass, but no reservations needed to hike.
but depending on which "must see" place you want to go to, a 30 min. drive may not be a reality.
as someone said, Yosemite will be at least an hour or more drive to the Valley floor, from an campground outside the Park.
same thing for a coastal "must see" place. an available campground in the summer, with no rezzies, may be quite a ways away.

[michigansandzil]

4runnerguy wrote:
Personally, unless you really want to donate money to the casinos, I'd skip Las Vegas. Far better places for kids.

Yikes! Yep, without a doubt Vegas is NOT a place for kids, especially at night. Lake Meade and Hoover Dam are close by and good for kids, but a 7 and 9 year old don't need to see the vans that drive up and down the road with pictures of strippers on them. Or the cards that are passed out on the street with pictures of strippers on them. Visit some other time with adults only and enjoy the night life appropriately.

Your trip sounds amazing! Have a blast. I think it will take us 10 years to see all of the places you'll get to this summer. Enjoy!

[tsetsaf]

Valley of Fire SP northeast of Vegas
Tippanogos Cave near Provo Ut
Zion NP

For moab campgrounds and the others too you can see them Here

[lfloom]

Capitol Reef NP is wonderful - it would be the place to go after Moab. The CG there is in amongst historic fruit farms, and if you are there at the right time you are free to pick the fruit. There is also an old farm house there and you can get pies and other baked goods. One of the hikes will take you through an area where early settlers stopped to write their names into the desert varnish (after 100+ years graffiti becomes historic...)

Think carefully of where you will stay in Moab. Even the best of the RV parks is going to be a flat, mostly gravel lot. Try and plan ahead and stay at Dead Horse SP. You need to come in with your own water in your RV, but there is electric. Also, just because there is no water hookups, the bathrooms are excellent, and there is water there (I assumed pit toilets...) Lots of places to shower in town. You can get a list at the visitors center.

Canyonlands can almost be considered 3 separate parks - with entrances that are distant from each other, and do not connect within the park (well, there is this huge canyon in the way) Needles is quite a long drive from Moab - next time I will stay there, too.

[Drbolasky]

At risk of being redundant, I'll give you our list based on what we saw "back in the day" (our kids were 9 & 12 at the time) in no particular order:

Yellowstone NP
Cody WY (not a park but a lot of history and stuff for kids to do)
Craters of the Moon NM
Golden Spike NM
Arches NP
Yosemite NP
Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP
Death Valley NP (and stop at the ghost town of Rhyolite)
Lewis & Clark Caverns (near Cardwell, MT)
Elkhorn MT (ghost town)
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR
Great Sand Dunes NM
Pipestone NM (Pipestone, Minnesota)
Ingalls Family Homestead DeSmet, SD
Dodge City, KS

I've included a few non-National Park destinations there. Now all the National Parks & Monuments have Junior Ranger programs, but we also wanted to have things for the kids to do that were not necessarily connected to national parks. For example we stopped in Fossil, OR so the kids could dig for plant fossils.

Whatever you choose, enjoy & safe travels.

[2gypsies1]

...and you definitely don't need reservations to hike in the popular parks. You're idea of 'winging it' and staying near the parks is a good one. You'll find many RV park openings. Reservations are not a must if you're flexible and it sounds like you are.

[4runnerguy]

You don't mention when you are leaving and that can determine where to go first and what will be uncomfortably hot for the kids.

Yellowstone is always my first pick for kids of yours age. I still remember going there as a kid. Wildlife, geysers, canyons, lakes and streams -- there's so much to keep kids attention that I'd recommend a minimum of four full days there, the more the better.

At Grand Teton, pack a picnic, take the boat across the lake and do a short hike.

Moab is great for kids, but can be too hot in the summer. The short hikes to the various arches is great fun. Lots of rocks to climb on and sand dunes to dig in. BLM CG's along the river are first come, first served. But don't arrive on a Friday expecting to find a place.

For kids Zion is another great one. Hikes to hidden little lakes or up the narrows if the water level is appropriate. Even in the middle of summer, with some attention to the sun, one can comfortably hike on the shady side of the canyon. The CG at Watchman is great fun for the kids, with the Virgin "River" flowing right nearby.

Crater Lake is memorable. South of there, check out Lava Beds NM. Lava tubes to crawl through on your own. Bring some flashlights. Kids get a kick out of exploring these underground passageways -- real adventure!

Yosemite is a good park, but w/o reservations, you may be driving several hours to find an open campsite during busy times.

Mt. St. Helens or Lassen Peak are interesting visits for kids to see a recent volcano up close and personal.

While reservations may be impossible for the most popular places, keep on checking as there are cancelations. The SP's along the OR coast are among the finest anywhere. Also in OR is the Columbia River Gorge, with lots of waterfalls that the kids will like and a big fish hatchery by Bonneville Dam.

Personally, unless you really want to donate money to the casinos, I'd skip Las Vegas. Far better places for kids.

[Fastfwd75]

bikendan wrote:
Fast, i'm guessing that you're traveling this summer.
therefore, reservations will be necessary for most of these "must-see" places, especially in California and the West Coast.
if you haven't made them already, you'll have some difficulty finding some available places.

Do you mean reservation for RV campgrounds or just to hike in the parks? I was planning to camp wherever I could and expected near and good spots to be already taken. I don't mind driving an extra 30 minutes to get to the park in the morning. If there are so many people just walking there that a reservation is needed maybe I want to visit something else.

[bikendan]

Fast, i'm guessing that you're traveling this summer.
therefore, reservations will be necessary for most of these "must-see" places, especially in California and the West Coast.
if you haven't made them already, you'll have some difficulty finding some available places.

[Impkitti]

Near Arches is also Dead Horse State Park - spectacular views.

When near the West Coast, the drive around the Olympic Peninsula is beautiful, and on your way back south, stop at Mt. St. Helens.

[rexlion]

Arches is the #1 must-see park, in my personal opinion. However, if this is a summer trip, it will be very hot there. Figure on walking some of the trails in early morning and just before dark, and resting in the RV at midday.

My second favorite is Yosemite. I spent a week there, and I only had reservations for 2 nights. The trick is to show up in the morning (Sunday through Thursday) at one of the no-reservations campgrounds. If you get to Yosemite, definitely do not miss Glacier Point.

If the kids would like to see some native ruins, Mesa Verde is one of several possible destinations.

Not all of the beauty is to be found in the parks. Driving from one to the next will reveal much great scenery, too.