One of the best ways to really experience the beauty of America is to go on a guided vacation. Visiting the parks is an opportunity to enjoy nature at it’s best, help the small businesses in surrounding areas, support the efforts to protect animals including endangered species and take some amazing photographs.
Not sure which parks to visit? Below are the most commonly visited parks on National parks escorted vacations.
The Grand Canyon
Around 5 million people from more than 100 countries visit Arizona to see the Grand Canyon every year. It is considered to be one of the 7 Wonders of the World and did not become a national park until 1919. It is visited by so many people each year not only because of its beauty, but also because of its massive size. The Grand Canyon is 1 mile deep, 18 miles wide and 277 miles long and was actually carved out by the Colorado River. There are three sections of The Grand Canyon that include the Inner Canyon, North Rim and South Rim. The South Rim is the most visited section of the canyon because it is open 365 days of the year and the most easily accessible. During most of the year The Grand Canyon is pretty busy so if you want to camp there you should make accommodations ahead of time. There’s plenty to do in The Grand Canyon including hiking, river rafting and riding mules.
Yosemite
Abraham Lincoln signed legislation in 1864 that stated that the land, now known as Yosemite National Park located in California, shall be used for public recreation and enjoyment. It is around 1,200 square miles and has large meadows and numerous waterfalls for enjoyment. Overall, Yosemite National Park is a great place to enjoy the outdoors, do a little bit of fishing, backpacking or rock-climbing. There are numerous sites available to camp, but you will need a reservation in order to ensure that a campsite is available.
Grand Teton
Grand Teton National Park is around 310,000 acres large. This humongous park is located in Wyoming and only around 10 miles from Yellowstone. It is named after the mountain range, Grand Teton. The park is open throughout the year, but some of the ranger stations and visitor center will shut down from time to time. During the winter months skiing is very popular. When the weather is nice visitors like to rollerblade, bicycle ride or just go through a walk through the park.
Zion
Zion is the first national park in Utah. One of the attracting features of Zion National Park is Zion Canyon which is half a mile deep and has beautiful tan and red colored Navajo Sandstone. Visitors can tour the park via horseback or go on a river ride. Zion is a great place to do some bird watching since at least 207 different species of birds reside in the area. There are 3 different campgrounds available and they are usually full on the weekends and on holidays.
Yellowstone
America’s first established national park is Yellowstone. It’ 2,219,823 acres large and most of the geysers in the world are located here. The majority of the park is located in Wyoming, but some of it does extend to Idaho and Montana. It’s a great place to see grizzly bears or bison. Visitors from all over come to see the bubbling mudpots or ride on a llama. Camping is quite popular in Yellowstone and there are 12 different campsites available. Five of these require reservations while the other ones are available on a first come, first served based.
National park vacations range from 7 to 16 days. You can choose from budget, first class, deluxe and luxury trips. The main difference between all of these are the types of hotels used, as well as the amount of meals and sightseeing included in the price. Because you are enjoying nature and all it’s beauty, you may not feel it is worth spending top dollar and be quite satisfied with the inclusion of a budget or first class tour.
There are also free entrance days throughout the year. For National Park Week visitors can get in free on April 19th and 20th as well as on August 25th for National Park Service Day, September 27th for National Public Lands Day and November 11th for Veteran’s Day.
