USA

Quick Overview

An American road trip is perhaps the quintessential way to visit the United States. Picture yourself in a rented Mustang convertible, the sun shining, bluebird skies and an endless road ahead of you, hot summer air on your skin as your hair blows behind you.

Now erase that image.

Because I have the top insider secret that will change your US road trip dreams forever: Go in the autumn. I’m serious. Don’t go in the summer. Go in the autumn.

Sure, you might face some challenges that you wouldn’t have in the summertime, but the benefits will outweigh any losses one hundred fold. Here is what you will gain from a US road trip in the fall:

–   Fewer crowds (obviously)

–   Greater flexibility with your itinerary/less need to book in advance

–   More wildlife in certain areas

–   Cheaper prices for hotels

–   Comfortable hiking weather

–   Changing leaves

–   All 4 seasons in one single trip

–   Sleep later and still watch the sunrise

We spent two months traveling between National Parks all across the United States from the beginning of October until the end of November in 2023, and compiled the ultimate guide to US National Parks Road trip curated especially for off-season travelers. Our route is a large circle which you could, in theory, start at any point. Flights from abroad might be easiest to book into Denver, Colorado, where you can pick up a rental car and begin your trip or you could begin virtually anywhere in the US and use these blog posts to make your own decisions about where you’d like to visit given your time constraints.

Below, you can find our interactive itinerary. You can click on each of the points on the map to read more from each of the parks we visited in the western US:

Some General Notes

The United States is REALLY big. Many tourists have a hard time grasping how much time will be spent just driving on a US road trip. Most of the markers on this map are at least 5 hours apart, some up to 14 hours. Planning for days where you will just be driving is, unfortunately, part of a US Road Trip. However, if you have time, you can make these distances much smaller by stopping in towns, state parks, or national forests along the way and breaking up the number of hours you will need to drive in one day. We found that sometimes we were more interested in stopping in towns and only driving a few hours and sometimes we didn’t want to lose a day in a certain park and drove for the entire day without any stops in between.

You will need a car. Unfortunately, the infrastructure in the United States does not make it possible to do this road trip entirely by train or public transportation. Even within many parks, you will need a car in order to access any of the attractions or hikes. There are a few notable exceptions to this rule: the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Zion National Parks all have excellent, free shuttle services within the park.

Many of these parks are quite wild. While there is infrastructure for camping and services readily available around the parks, it is still important to be prepared. Carry extra water in your car and with you on hikes, learn about the wildlife in the area (and carry bear spray in grizzly country!!!!), and respect park rules like sticking to trails and proper waste disposal.

If you are going to visit multiple parks, invest in a Parks Pass. You can buy these at any National Park entrance or Visitor Center for $80 and it covers the entrance fee for everyone riding in one vehicle (so you only need one for your whole family!). Once you have visited 4 parks, the pass will have more than paid for itself. One note is that officially only US Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents can buy these passes. However, you can also buy a pass at certain outdoor retailers, like REI, which do not check for your citizenship or residence status. When you arrive at a park, you will need to show your signed parks pass along with a legal ID that has a matching signature. Although I am also a US citizen, I once showed my German passport to see what would happen, and they let me in.

Helpful apps: the NPS App has maps of all the parks, which you can even download in advance in case you don’t have wifi or cellular service in the park. The maps aren’t the most detailed, but they definitely help! There is also information about which campgrounds are open/full, although in some parks this wasn’t always up-to-date. The Recreation.gov app is also a must if you are booking camping. All national parks use this system for campground reservations, and it is the most up-to-date source for campground information. You can also save your information in the app so you don’t have to enter it each time.