Travel the World

There can be few vacation experiences that can compare with a hot cup of coffee to take the chill off the early morning air as you sit outside your tent or cabin watching the sun rise over an area as beautiful and wild as the Grand Canyon.  If you love the outdoors, one of the greatest travel experiences you can have is to camp in one of the US national parks.  Here you will see nature at her best, get a chance to get away from it all, whilst at the same time having the NPS Ranger personnel ensure that the area is safe for you to explore.

Camping at one of the national parks isn’t always as easy going as turning up with a sense of adventure and a tent however.  Many parks have restrictions on the amount of campers they allow into their space, and also safety limitations regarding times of the year when the weather is considered too extreme for camping.  Another problem is that some of the national parks have a limited number of camping places each night and depending on the popularity of the area, these fill up fast – especially during peak periods. 

The best way to ensure that you are able to camp in national park of your choice at the time of year that suits you is to either check the appropriate webpage at http://www.nps.gov, or to ring up the park direct.  If possible, make your reservation as far in advance as possible, and then ring a couple of weeks prior to the holiday just to confirm that they still have a record of your reservation!   Another thing you should do is to enquire if they have a list of what they consider essential equipment for camping in the area you’re headed.  It’s possible that you may be able to hire or purchase it from the park’s visitor’s center, but it’ll be a lot cheaper if you can take it with you!

If canvas camping isn’t quite your thing, then explore the accommodations available at the parks, these can include RV hook-ups and cabins, as well as smaller hotels that are either within the park or close to the national park’s entrance.  Should you really want to explore the lesser walked parts of the park however, you may find that canvas (and hiking) are the only alternative as some parks also have restrictions on how far into the park you can take your vehicle.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS