If you and your family are serious about seeing the National Parks you need to get organized. I’d suggest coming up with a plan of action. We are lucky to live in the (southern) middle of the United States which makes driving to many of the parks an option for us. Our kids are also road warriors and a 12 hour road trip is nothing to them (anymore). Thad spent hours coming up with different routes that would hit as many parks as possible on one trip. Now, we will not and have not driven to all of these but it was our starting point.

Get your National Park Annual Pass! https://store.usgs.gov/pass Whether you have a trip planned for this year or not, get one. It is $80 dollars per year and gets you free admission into over 2,000 different parks and land grants across the country and it all goes to the Park system. Bonus if you have a 4th grader you can get a FREE annual pass through Every Kid in a Park! Thanks Obama! https://www.everykidinapark.gov/ Here is a list of all the parks and land grants that are included: https://store.usgs.gov/s3fs-public/PassIssuanceList.pdf

The next thing I’d suggest doing is getting a hotel rewards credit card. I know, most people would say an airline card would make more sense for a family of five but we have found that, if we plan far enough ahead, we can get good deals on air travel. We have a Marriott Rewards card and use it for our daily purchases. Thad primarily stays in Marriott’s when he travels so we bank the points until trip time! The majority of the trips we have taken have been virtually free lodging between cashing in those rewards and camping. Now, if your family is NOT gonna drive that much then maybe the airline rewards is more for you, either way, get a rewards card and save up those points for your park trips!

Get this book! We have had ours for almost 10 years and it is falling apart but it is our biggest help (besides the ole interwebs) when planning our trips. We also take it with us and put our NP Passport stamp in it. One thing I love about it is that it gives a few other places of interest that are close in proximity to the park.

Another important thing to think about when planning is the intensity of the parks. That might not make much sense but a trip to a smaller park like Congaree in South Carolina is tame compared to a trip to the Grand Canyon. Think about the ages of your children and whether you are going to be a Nervous Nelly the whole time worrying about whether they are going to fall off a steep cliff. Play it safe. If they are younger, start smaller. That is what we have done (for the most part) and honestly it has made the kids all that more excited about going to Utah, Glacier and The Grand Canyon.

Now go… Get to planning! I can’t wait to hear where your family will start your Park-a-palooza journey!