Latest Posts:
Park Trips (and More)
Category

NPS Site

Category

5 Beautiful Pennsylvania National Parks for Your Western Pennsylvania Road Trip

Itinerary 15 Mins Read
Western Pennsylvania Road Trip

Looking for beautiful Western Pennsylvania road trip stops? There is no need to look beyond our National Parks!  In this Western Pennsylvania road trip itinerary, we will introduce you to five of Pennsylvania’s National Parks (four that we never even heard of!).  Together, these parks connect to make a great weekend road trip. The most noteworthy stop on this road trip route is the Flight 93 National Memorial.  This site attracts visitors from all corners of the country that wish to pay homage to the heroes that gave their lives on a Western Pennsylvania field on 9/11.  If you recall, American Airlines, Flight 93 was one of the four planes that were hijacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001.  This was the plane that was halted as the passengers and crew overtook the terrorists that had turned the plane in hopes of heading to Washington D.C. Our Western Pennsylvania Road…

Keep Reading
By

South Dakota Road Trip Itinerary: An Epic South Dakota 7 Day Itinerary to National Parks and More

Itinerary 33 Mins Read
Badlands National Park

It’s time to plan your South Dakota Road Trip! With 6 National Park units in the area, diverse State Parks and legendary towns, there are plenty of adventures to be had. But can you visit them all when you only have one week to travel? This one week South Dakota itinerary will take you on a road trip to the various National Parks and other special places in South Dakota! We share South Dakota 7 day itinerary below. We visited the Presidents at Mount Rushmore, the Coyotes at Wind Cave and the aliens at Devil’s Tower – and you can too! South Dakota 7 Day Itinerary at a Glimpse Day 0: Arrive in Rapid City, South DakotaDay 1: Visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial and Jewel Cave National MonumentDay 2: Explore Devil’s Tower National Monument, Sturgis and Spearfish Canyon Scenic BywayDay 3: Drive the Needles Highway and Visit…

Keep Reading
By

1 Week in National Parks Near Las Vegas: The Ultimate Road Trip from Las Vegas

Itinerary 47 Mins Read
The beautiful road from Las Vegas leads to magnificent National Parks! This post dives into National Parks near Las Vegas and presents a week-long itinerary that you can use to visit 12 parks including Great Basin, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon and Death Valley! #ParkTripsAndMore #FindYourPark #RoadTrip #Travel

There are several adventure-packed National Parks near Las Vegas! In this post, we share our itinerary for a week-long road trip from Las Vegas to National Parks that will leave you fulfilled and ready to plan your road trip out west! This Las Vegas National Park road trip includes 12 National Park Units in Nevada, Southern Utah, Arizona and California covered in 6 days – all from a starting point in Las Vegas. Day 1: Experience Great Basin National Park Road trip from Las Vegas to Great Basin National Park We arrived in McCarran airport right around 8am Pacific. Flying Southwest Airlines from Columbus got us in a little earlier than planned. Our early arrival was extremely helpful to us as we had to pick up our luggage, pick up our rental car, grab some groceries and necessities for our road trip, and make it to Great Basin National Park…

Keep Reading
By

Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour: A Lovely Way to See Bryce Canyon in One Day

NPS Site 6 Mins Read
A view from the Bryce Canyon Rainbow Point Overlook.

According to the National Park Service, the Rainbow Point Tour has been discontinued and is no longer available.  Check out this NPS site to research commercial tours and services that may be available during your visit. Pressed for time, but want to see the highlights of Bryce Canyon? A week prior to our trip, we were able to book the free Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour offered by Bryce Canyon National Park, and we highly recommend it! This is a great way to see Bryce Canyon in one day. This tour takes you beyond the regular shuttle circuit that circulates every few minutes during operating hours. Our tour was one of only two guided tours that leave each day and lasts for about 4 hours. During the tour, you are taken out to Rainbow Point and back, stopping at a few of the park’s famous vistas. Rainbow Point Shuttle in Bryce…

Keep Reading
By

Cedar Breaks National Monument in the Snow

NPS Site 5 Mins Read
Cedar Breaks National Monument is a beautiful park to see hoodoos. It is less well-known than its companion, Bryce Canyon, but boasts beautiful views. Be prepared for snowy conditions, however, that may linger well into May. This is a story of getting stuck in this beautiful monument - shared so you can avoid a similar experience. Happy Exploring! #parktripsandmore #cedarbreaks #findyourpark #utah #roadtrip #nationalparks

The wind was whipping, and the inches of snow that lined the path to the overlook stretched only about 30 yards or so in front of me.  This, and Jason’s ultra-cautious warning that the weather wasn’t good for this short jaunt were the only deterrents that stood between me and what was to be my grand overlook into the beautiful hoodoos that formed Cedar Breaks. The Quest for the Ultimate Cedar Breaks View I stepped out of the car, immediately frigid from being beaten in the face by the wind, but determined to put one foot in front of the other to see the awe-inspiring view.  I stepped in a path of footprints in the snow that was made by a previous onlooker – evidence that others too had been drawn to the views.  Until those steps ran out… and the 30 yards seemed to grow into a football field…

Keep Reading
By

Lehman Cave Tours: A Review of the Lodge Room Tour

NPS Site 7 Mins Read
Lehman Cave Tours: Lodge Room Tour

When visiting Great Basin National Park, do yourself a favor and book one of the Lehman Cave Tours. We booked the Lodge Room tour, and this experienve was the highlight of our visit to this remote park in Baker, Nevada.   Tips for Exploring Lehman Cave Tours You will not regret taking the time to visit when you plan your Great Basin National Park adventure. Here are a few tips for making your visit: Schedule Your Lehman Cave Tour in advance Guided tours are the only way that you will get to take advantage of the opportunity though.  Plan ahead, space is limited!  We put the Lehman Cave Visitor Center into our GPS, and the rest was history! Three tours that are offered: The Lodge Room Tour – this is the tour that we went on. The Lodge Room tour is about an hour long. It takes you to three rooms…

Keep Reading
By

Camp Nelson National Monument: Our Kentucky Kick Off to National Park Week!

NPS Site 6 Mins Read
Park Trips and More at Camp Nelson National Monument

We just got back from our visit to Camp Nelson National Monument – the 66th of our National Park Unit visits!  Despite a rainy forecast, it was a great time to visit because we got to meet up with our friends at TNA Travels and do some adventuring with them around Louisville, KY!  We also celebrated the start of National Park Week (score!) What is National Park Week? National Park Week is a week in April that is proclaimed each year by the President to celebrate our National Parks!  This year, the festivities kicked off on April 20 and will run through April 28.  If you can, get out and explore a park near you!  Don’t know where your nearest park is? Take a look at this map.  More details on National Park Week is found at the end of this article. Visiting Camp Nelson National Monument This year, we…

Keep Reading
By

National Parks in the Carolinas and Tennessee: A Fast Travel Case Study

Itinerary 13 Mins Read
Kings Mountain had some gorgeous forested areas. During the Revolutionary War, Continental Soldiers used the cover of trees to defeat British troops. #FindYourPark #KingsMountain #ParkTripsAndMore

Want to visit more parks, but short on time? You likely have some strategic road trip planning in store! But how much is too much activity to pack into a short trip? In this post, I share a case study of a recent trip in which Jason and I sandwiched 6 National Park Units into 2 days while traversing 5 States! We maximized our 2-days in the parks to collect as many National Park Passport stamps as possible, and share some of our tips to do this. But did we go too far? We will let you decide. A Quick Story (for Context) I’m embarrassed to admit this… I’m not even sure that I should… but I suppose that transparency is a good policy to have when trying to build online friendships, right? You’ll forgive me, won’t you…? Ok, here it goes …on our most recent road trip, I did…

Keep Reading
By

What is “Stamp Cramp”…? (Our National Park Passport Story)

NPS Site 6 Mins Read
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Cancellation Stamps

As we start our journey with Park Trips and More, we thought that we would let you know right away what “Stamp Cramp” is, and why Jason and I have made it a part of the site. It all started with our very first National Park trip (yes, every great National Park addict story seems to begin this way)… Our first National Park trip together was to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2011. This park is consistently one of the most visited parks in the National Park Service (NPS) system. It is huge, spanning the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, and there is a ton to do there from hiking and fishing to scenic drives and historical tours. We stayed in Gatlinburg, TN, and enjoyed the charm of the town against the backdrop of unimaginable beauty! We were so excited to enter the park, but hardly knew anything…

Keep Reading
By