The Earth is a great big amazing place…and some of the most incredible sights and adventures can be found right here in the United States—in the National Parks! My family is super active on a daily basis, so adventure is a must for us when we go on vacation to help keep everyone happy. Our last couple of vacations in the National Parks were some of our favorites we’ve ever taken.
We have been lucky enough to travel to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, Arches National Parks, Canyonlands, Monument Valley and Sedona—each more incredible than the next. While some are not technically National Parks, they are amazing sights to see and can be easily done together on a vacation.
These kinds of vacations can be as adventurous or as low-key as your family would prefer. While doing things like strenuous hikes can take you all over these amazing parks, many feature “viewpoints” where you can pull up and see the amazing sights or even take a park shuttle to see the view. Or, if you are like us, you want to get out and hike, bike, paddle or climb your way through them. We have hiked countless miles in all of the parks, mountain biked through the awesomeness of Canyonlands, climbed from top to bottom just outside of Zion National Park canyoneering and viewed the amazing night sky in Arches (we even were able to see the Milky Way with just our eyes—not special telescope needed!). There have been times when I could easily be convinced that we were exploring an entirely new world while out in the mountains of Utah because the landscape is just so different from what I am used to!
Another fun way to experience the National Parks is by exploring the myriad different accommodation options. My family has done a week in an RV, spent many nights in hotels and even were able to sleep in nature by glamping just outside of Arches National Park. Some parks have hotels within their borders, while many do not. But it’s not totally necessary to stay within the park borders to be able to experience the beauty that can be found there. In some ways, staying outside of the parks is so much easier since it allows more options for other activities, restaurants and shopping that you cannot find within the parks.
One of my favorite things about these kinds of vacations is that you can spend time staying active and seeing so much of the incredible landscape of this country, while spending time together as a family. We would do downtime activities like enjoy the pool at our hotel, roast smores by the fire or play a game together in addition to the hiking and biking we would do. Life is just so busy these days, that these opportunities don’t come along as often as I might like. And these kinds of vacations offer something for us to do as a family. It really is just perfect for us.
I love helping families make these dream vacations happen. Get in touch today and let’s start making these vacation dreams a reality!
