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7 Fun Things To Do at White Sands National Park in One Day

NPS Site 11 Mins Read
sunset-at-white-sands-national-park

White Sands National Park is a snow-white oasis in the middle of the New Mexico dessert. It’s truly one of the most unique places that we’ve ever visited… and with that comes opportunities to see and do some singular activities. Here is our recommended itinerary for what to do in White Sands National Park in one day! 1. Explore the Map of White Sands National Park Before you visit the park, it’s a good idea to understand the geographic layout of White Sands. The National Park Service has some beautiful maps of the park that help visitors understand what they will see and experience. A subset of the Dunes Drive map is seen below. This is the main driving route through the park that is available for visitors. You enter the park at the bottom of the map (the red road marked Highway 70). The yellow road is the Dunes…

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National Parks in Nevada: Best Experiences and Things To Do

NPS Site 4 Mins Read
National Parks in Nevada - Tule Springs

There are four National Parks in Nevada, each with fun things to do. This post introduces each one as well as some great experiences that you can have in each. Four National Parks in Nevada The four Nevada National Parks are listed below: Death Valley National Park (portions in Nevada and California)Great Basin National ParkLake Mead National Recreation Area (portions in Nevada and Arizona)Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument There are also a number of affiliated park units that are managed by the National Park Service. These additional sites include the California National Historic Trail, the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, and the Pony Express National Historic Trail. We visited each of the four Nevada National Parks in Nevada on our National Park road trip from Las Vegas. We can attest that there are great experiences to be had in each location. Make sure to grab your National Park passport…

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9 Amazing Things To Do at Zion National Park in One Day

NPS Site 11 Mins Read
Zion National Park

Even when your time is short, you can still have an amazing experience in one day at Zion National Park in Utah. Check out these awesome things to do at Zion National Park in one day, and get inspired for your own Utah trip! When we visited Zion National Park, we did so as part of an action-packed road trip from Las Vegas. We sorely underestimated how much we would fall in love with this park! That being said, the time that we allocated (less than 24 hours) was simply not enough. We arrived in the late afternoon after an awesome Bryce Canyon tour, and spent the following day through the early afternoon in the park. Nevertheless, there was a lot that we were able to fit into our Zion National Park experience in just one day. Here are our takeaways! Zion National Park Canyon Views 1. Drive the Zion-Mount…

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The Best Southwest National Parks Road Trip from El Paso!

Itinerary 13 Mins Read
Southwest National Park Road Trip from El Paso, Texas

This week-long road trip to seven southwest National Parks near El Paso, Texas made me a southwesterner at heart. I bet you will be too! This post lays out our easy to replicate trip to give you a chance to envision “what could be” on your own southwestern adventure! You’ll explore several National Park Units in New Mexico and West Texas, all within a few hours drive of El Paso. You could also treat this as an idea for day trips from El Paso if you’re looking for things to do within 2 hours of El Paso, TX. What Are the National Parks Near El Paso? Over the course of one week, we were able to visit the following National Park Units on our southwest road trip: Chamizal National Memorial White Sands National Park Carlsbad Caverns National Park Guadalupe Mountains National Park Fort Davis National Historic Site Big Bend National…

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Our National Park Trips Timeline

Our Story 12 Mins Read
National Parks Travel Timeline

I officially LOVE reading lists of travels like the one we’re sharing here! Putting together our National Park trips timeline was therapeutic in a sense. In creating this, I got to see my own growth and development that has been directly shaped by the travel I have completed. Lists like this are also interesting because you get to see the logistical fit of the sites visited. I will do my best to group itineraries and link to things we may have shared on this site that can help with your own planning. A couple of other guiding thoughts: since we both work full time jobs, we usually have one “major” trip each year and several others on the periphery we like to visit as many sites as we can fit into our limited vacation days, so the pace of our trips is often pretty fast I’m only including parks that…

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National Parks in Alabama: Best Experiences and Getting Stamped

National Park Interest 12 Mins Read
National Parks in Alabama - Freedom Riders

There are nine National Parks in Alabama, each with unique experiences to be had. We have had the good fortune of visiting each Alabama National Park, and want to share them with you so you can make the most of your own visit! I grew up visiting Alabama frequently. My mom was born and raised in Birmingham, and attended college at Talladega College, located only miles from the famous Talladega Speedway. Much of my family still lives in Alabama, so packing up a car and heading down from Ohio to Alabama for holidays and vacations was commonplace in my youth. Alabama: Welcome to the South Alabama is a state with a lot of history formed of natural and human history that dates back to 10,000 years BC. The state also was at the center of many momentous events of the Civil Rights movement. Alabama National Parks preserve a lot of…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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