National Park Travel
If you're planning a trip to a national park, you're not alone. Millions visit America's protected parklands every year, and the Web has responded. Enthusiasts can brush up on historical background of parks, or check out sites with practical advice about how to get there and where to stay. Park sports and activities are also detailed on the Web, along with gear suggestions. Below, we've collected sites to get you out into the great outdoors.
Start with sites that provide an overview of national parks. They often serve as gateways to sites ... read more »
America's first national park was established in the early 19th century. Ever since, parks have ... read more »
Camping ranks high on any list of popular park activities, as do hiking, boating, biking, climbing, ... read more »
Not only can you compare campsites and different lodgings with ease using the sites collected here, you can find reviews and recommendations to find the best local hotels, hostels and other accommodations.
- Go beyond the nationwide Web sites to the local online sources when looking for accommodation. The big commercial sites can miss a lot of places, and the locally produced guides often go into greater depth. To find them using a search engine, try varying your search terms and be sure to consider more than the first few results.
- All that fresh air can be a powerful stimulus to the appetite. Luckily, most guides to lodging also detail local restaurants.
- A good way to find Web sites that have accurate local information is to search for a city or town's name along with the words "chamber of commerce" or "visitor center." That should turn up a locally produced site with up-to-date information and listings for services and businesses in the area.
For general information about park and local lodging ...
Recreation.gov
provides the only way to reserve a place at a campsite in a U.S. national park. Not all the parks take reservations, and those that do offer only about a third of the spaces for booking in advance.
Discover Our Town
offers a nationwide selection of guides. It's not comprehensive but Discover Our Town provides a better service and is easier to use than almost any big name travel guide you can think of on the Internet. If the place you're looking for is on their map, you'll find an easy-to-read guide to that location with a menu providing links to lodging, dining, attractions, services, and so on. The lodging page has complete listings for local accommodations with contact information and links to individual Web sites.
National Park Lodges
is a personable guide to the grand lodges that can be found in many of the national parks. Staying in a lodge usually takes some planning as they're often booked solid for up to a year in advance. This site has a general introduction to the lodges and a
list of lodges by state with photos of each lodge. To make a reservation you'll have to visit the National Park Service site; look for the "Lodging" page to find rates and reservation instructions.
For good local guides to accommodation near national parks ...
St. George Lodging
presents information on St. George, Utah, an area known as "Utah's Palm Springs," surrounded by several national parks. The city's Web site is easy to use, providing information about lodging and amenities, and offers a pretty accurate picture of St. George and what is found there.
Durango Area Tourism Office
compares well to the best local sites in making its primary aim to provide information, rather than to take your money. You'll find plenty of information on lodging in the Durango area, including Mesa Verde National Park.
Parkland across the globe is as varied as the world's nations, embracing both the English landscape ... read more »
National park supporters organize on both national and local levels. Your particular interests and ... read more »
One constant has always characterized the national parks: a lack of both money and manpower. ... read more »
Having a job in a national park could mean working for a nonprofit organization such as the ... read more »
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