Zion and bryce canyon national parks arches and canyonlands national parks grand canyon national park capitol reef national park and more. 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.
This road trip is focused solely on those you can reach by car in.
Us national parks map road trip. Territories and drove some of the most beautiful roads in the country. Along the way you ll be treated to sheer sandstone. There are 61 national parks in the united states and choosing which ones to visit first can induce travel anxiety.
That limitation still leaves us 47 national parks which should be plenty for one road trip. 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. 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.
Our road trip started in april and finished in late october. Suggested us national parks road trip itinerary ultimate centennial parks road trip. There are 61 national parks in the us which is a lot of ground to cover.
Around 14 498 miles if you go the most efficient way. 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. While this road trip doesn t venture into far flung places like.
Randy olson a computer science and engineering ph d. It took us 7 months 25 000 miles of driving 26 flights and countless trails hiked. Along the way we passed through 39 u s.
We want to see everything. National park system technically consists of 59 parks but 12 of them are in alaska hawaii and other u s. The grand circle road trip includes parks.
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. 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. In 2017 my husband and i road tripped to all 59 us national parks with evolve and gowesty.
Planning an epic national park road trip. In 2016 data scientist randy olson created an interactive map that optimized driving times to create the ultimate us national 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.
But find your inner peace and focus on a small list of top national parks that allow one to experience a variety of natural landscapes. The optimal road trip to the u s.
