National Parks Road Trip

Trip Date: June 2018

True story: 5 years before this trip, when I was not a self-identified “hiker,” nor was I interested in hiking, Kevin inceptioned this National Park cross-country roadtrip idea. He sat me down, opened his computer, and proceeded to present a powerpoint that highlighted all of the sites we could visit. He showed me pictures of people practicing yoga atop mountains to convince me to take this trip. Suffice it to say, we did not take the trip that year and I promptly forgot about the idea, or so I thought…

Over the next few years, I dabbled in hiking and camping (my 2nd night ever camping was at 14,000 ft on our Salkantay Trek) and Kevin gained more outdoor experience on his own. Then, in the summer of 2017, when I was transitioning to a PhD program and we had both a tight budget and a few weeks off of work together, I suggested that we do this road trip. Yes, his inception plan worked. And, I am so glad it did. This road trip transformed my life. Even though our trip fell smack dab in the middle of an unbelievable heat wave, I truly enjoyed camping for the first time, pushed my physical capabilities and hiking confidence, and found my own, independent, love for the outdoors. 

Assuming you have time off, the good news about this trip is that it is really accessible and flexible (monetarily and physically). Each park we went to had options for more or less experienced hikers, for those who wanted a lovely nature walk to see the highlights, or for those who wanted a more physically demanding experience. We chose to camp, which kept costs low, but there are more full service lodging options in most places, particularly near National Parks. Additionally, there were so many places we would have wanted to stop at if we had more time. There is no shortage of options. Ultimately, we visited four cities, eight national parks, a national monument, and a pretty hike or two in between. There were certain hikes that required permits, activities that required tickets, and campgrounds that were very popular and needed booking months ahead, so we planned this trip pretty meticulously. I was not so surprisingly nervous about hiking and camping, so we invested a lot of time and energy in creating an itinerary that I knew in advance and could mentally prepare for. Others may not need or want that much structure or advanced planning. Just know yourself and what your levels of comfort are. If you have more time and can tolerate some uncertainty, leave some time to explore more places. We found that we could take this trip and spend no more than we would have just living in Boston! 

After sending our families a detailed itinerary, we loaded up our trusty Prius and drove cross-country from Massachusetts to Nevada and back again.