Randy olson a data scientist at the university of pennsylvania fashioned together an itinerary for the ultimate national parks road trip. The national park service does an amazing job with their national parks and national monuments forests and more through the united states.
Along the way you ll be treated to sheer sandstone.
Road trip us national parks map. The united states has 61 epic national parks which are looked after by the national park service. While this road trip can be done in around 2 weeks we recommend you allow yourself as much time as possible to explore these spectacular parks. But of those 50 national parks in the continental usa there are another four parks that are not accessible by vehicle due to the fact that they are maritime based national parks.
That limitation still leaves us 47 national parks which should be plenty for one road trip. The 11 day ish depending on how often you stop road trip traverses 1 500 miles six national parks that s zion bryce canyon capitol reef arches canyonlands and grand canyon plus monument valley as seen in our fave hbo thriller westworld and a slew of tiny desert towns. National park system technically consists of 59 parks but 12 of them are in alaska hawaii and other u s.
From the grand canyon national park to yosemite national park each is as diverse unique scenic as the last. In total this road trip spans 14 498 miles 23 333 km of road and will take roughly 2 months if you re traveling at a breakneck pace. National parks centennial road trip map was designed to commemorate the 100 th birthday of the national park service which was in august of 2016.
This road trip is focused solely on those you can reach by car in. The grand circle road trip includes parks. Planning an epic national park road trip.
Western national parks road trip u s a. The largest u s national park is wrangell st. Randy olson a computer science and engineering ph d.
Zion and bryce canyon national parks arches and canyonlands national parks grand canyon national park capitol reef national park and more. If you want to see all of them on one trip be sure to check out randy olson and his road trip map where you can hit all of the national parks. Within the continental united states aka lower 48 there are a total of 50 national parks there are 2 in hawaii 8 in alaska and 2 in the territories making a total of 62.
Candidate at michigan state university is a man who likes to design road trips he has previously organized the ultimate us road trip and the best cross canada journey and this time olson created an itinerary that would allow travelers to see every single national park in the 48 contiguous states without wasting any time. There are 59 well known protected lands that are the. Elias national park and preserve in alaska which spans a massive 13 2 million acres.
The optimal road trip to the u s.
