Colorado is a beautiful state with a lot of amazing scenery to enjoy. You could easily spend a month here. This itinerary is a giant clock-wise loop starting and ending in Denver. It focuses on two of Colorado’s national parks – Rocky Mountain and Black Canyon of the Gunnison – with the classic mountain resorts of Aspen and Vail sprinkled in-between. There is a precarious drive to a 14-er in there, too…. Read More
[This blog post will be continuously updated with new information. Last Updated Jan 4, 2023] As more and more national parks institute timed entries, reservations and lotteries, planning your national park trip requires more advance planning than ever. I have yet to see all this information in one place, which inspired me to do it! To compile it, I visited each national park website in addition to relying on my own experience… Read More
I lived in Virginia in the early 2000s and never made it to the only national park in that state. I was excited to finally make it to Shenandoah earlier this year. With only 1 day to spend in the park, I wanted to make the most out of it. This post will help you do just that. How to Get There Shenandoah is over 100 miles long. Skyline Drive runs the… Read More
How to Get There Capitol Reef is located in south-central Utah, in the heart of red rock country. If you’re visiting this park on its own (like I did), the closest major airport is Salt Lake City, about 3.5 hrs away. You can also add it to a Zion/Bryce itinerary (Bryce is only 2 hrs away) or an Arches/Canyonlands itinerary (Canyonlands is only 2.5 hrs away). Technically, this is a 3.5 day… Read More
Big Bend National Park is in southwest Texas and includes the entire Chisos mountain range and a large swath of the Chihuahuan Desert. Due to the remote nature of Big Bend, two of the days are travel days and two of the days are fully spent in the park. Fear not, the two travel days allow you to explore plenty of things along the way! Should you have more time, consider adding… Read More