National Park Vacations

You may not be aware of this, but there are a total of 56 National Parks in the United States of America. I just found this out and had thought there were a lot less. National Park Vacations are the best way to experience some of the most scenic and breathtaking land in the world.

It would be quite the fun and long adventure to visit all 56 national parks in the United States and while I'm sure there are some of the most adventurous amongst us that have, we'll just stick with the top 10 more popular National Parks. Hopefully my wife and I will get the chance to visit all 56 someday.

If you are like my wife and I, you probably enjoy spending your vacation in the great outdoors as opposed to going to the big city or having an amusement park type vacation like Disney World and eating cotton candy until you vomit. There isn't anything like experiencing God's beautiful creation while on vacation.

So which National Parks are the most popular? Well, I've listed them below and just to let you know, I don't know if they are actually the official most popular National Parks, they are just my favorites out of the 18 or so parks I've had the privilege to visit.

Click on the links below to be taken to a more detailed page on that National Park:

Acadia National Park
Located in on the rocky coast of Maine. One of its mountains, Cadillac Mountain, has the distinction of being the first piece of land in the United States to receive sunlight in the morning.

Crater Lake National Park
An incredible sight to see in Oregon. The deep blue color of Crater Lake is like nothing you have ever seen.

Grand Canyon National Park
One of the most famous National Parks in all the world. Located in northern Arizona, it will absolutely take your breath away.

Grand Teton National Park
Located in southern Wyoming just south of Yellowstone National Park.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
One of the most famous and most visited parks in the country. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee are host cities to this National Park.

Mount Rainier National Park
A still active volcano located in the state of Washington. Mt Rainer is one of the snowiest places on Earth and receives almost 700 inces of snow per year.

Petrified Forest National Park
Located in northern Arizona, this park showcases trees that have turned to stone.

Rocky Mountain National Park
This is my favorite National Park. There are more beautiful mountain vistas here than any other place in the world. Well, at least it seems like that.

Yellowstone National Park
The home of Old Faithful. It is one of the larger National Parks as it encompasses 2.2 million acres. It is 4 times larger than The Smoky Mountain National Park.

Yosemite National Park
Located in central California and made famous by Ansel Adams. His picture of Yosemite Valley are priceless and world famous. Ansel Adams actually live in Yosemite for some time.

There at least 10 weeks worth of National Park vacations here, so get out and enjoy the great outdoors.

Places To Stay While Visiting The National Parks

Gatlinburg TN Cabin Rental: Cabin rentals near The Great Smoky MOuntains National Park.
Yosemite Cabins: Log cabin rentals and accommodations near Yosemite National Park.
Colorado Cabins: Cabins and accommodations near Rocky Mountain National Park.
Grand Canyon Vacations: Information and lodging near the Grand Canyon.
Yellowstone National Park Lodging: A variety of lodging awaits you at Yellowstone. Find information here.

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My Favorite National Park Vacation

Rocky Mountain National Park has to be my all time favorite National Pak to vacation in. Of all the National Parks I have been in, it was Rocky Mountain NP that simply took my breath away.

I live closer to the Smoky Mountains and they are beautiful, but nothing can surpass the grandeur of the Rockies.

The Rockies rise out of the plains to reach heights of more then 14,000 feet in the case of Longs Peak and the Colorado Rockies boasts more than 60 other peaks that rise above 12,000 feet.

I'll write more later about a hike a friend and I took up to the base of Longs Peak to Chasm Lake.

Hiking In The Grand Canyon

If you are into hiking you know what an experience it can be to hike in a beautiful place and end up hiking farther than you'd expected. The Grand Canyon is certainly no exception to being a beautiful place. However, Grand Canyon is one of the most unique places to hike in the United States.

Why is it so unique? Most hiking you will do in mountainous and hilly areas consists of climbing up the trail and expending the biggest part of your energy on the first part of the journey. You then have the downhill hike to take it easy. This is not the case when hiking in the Grand Canyon.

The first part of your hike in the canyon will be the easiest and many people overextend themselves hiking way too far into the canyon becoming too exhausted to make the return trip uphill.

More than 250 people a year are rescued from the canyon because they hiked too far on the first part of their journey. And surprisingly the most common rescues from the Grand Canyon are males in their twenties.

The best advice I can give you for hiking in the Grand Canyon is to not try to be macho. Pace yourself and start the uphill return trip sooner than you planned. In the Grand Canyon what goes down, must come up!

Our Adventure At Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake is one incredible site in the middle of nowhere in Oregon. The closest airport to Crater Lake is 60 miles away in one direction and 80 miles in another direction. Desolate is the word.

Crater Lake is known for its deep blue color and every photograph you have seen can never really prepare you for what you actually experience when you see it in person.

A vivid memory for me was traveling around Rim Road that goes completely around the 6 mile wide caldera and stopping at various overlooks along the way. At one in particular we walked a 3 foot wide path that went out to the overlook. What was memorable about that 3 foot wide path was that there was a drop off of about 1,200 feet in several places.

Crater Lake National Park is a sight you need to see on your next trek to Oregon.