We finally put our plan to the map! We sat down and plotted our route to get to every single national park in the country in ONE MASSIVE LOOP.
It gets a little complicated – we don’t want to be down south when it is a million degrees, and we have to wait for Alaska to thaw before we head up there. In short, timing was a big issue and is what influenced most of our “when/where” questions. We think we can make it all work out without causing too many temperature/weather concerns.
Google Maps was giving us a hard time because we had too many points that we wanted to link up. The only way we could figure out how to link them all together was to put in a few different layers. So, we broke the whole loop up into eight different sections. Each section starts over at “A” and goes on from there. It gets a little jumbled, but if you zoom in you can see the path. We will start in Utah and end in Colorado.
Of course, this is just down on paper to have some kind of a plan. In reality, I am sure the route and schedule will change. We may need a few extra days in one park and a few less in another. BUT, so far, this is what it is looking like!
We are planning on spending at least three days in each park. Along with that, we will give ourselves a whole day to drive to the next park. On average, it is about a seven hour drive between parks. The rest of the day we can use to set up camp and get ready for the next park. It is long, but here is the order of the parks for our trip (along with the NPS site in case your interested!).
There you have it – nine months in our parks, on the road, and in Our Vie! Giddy up!
Well you’re going to just miss us here in Dallas, but I’d take a day trip to Oklahoma City to see you! You make sure to let me know when you’re passing through so I we can drive up and meet you and we can have lunch! Xoxo
Lexi!!!! Yes! Let’s make it happen! We could meet you guys somewhere halfway of something. That would be so fun. I really miss you, you make me laugh so hard. I can’t wait to meet your little guy too! Yay! Let’s definitely keep in touch and make it happen! Love you 🙂
Hey you two,
This looks Awesome! Congratulations for being true “Adventurists”!
Not to confuse things, but here’s a few things I’ve noted in my travels that you might be interested in:
– Highpointing = the hobby of summiting the highest natural point of each state in the union. Some of these (like McKinley and Rainier) are really very tough while others you just drive up and say, “alright then”. You’ll be passing many of these spots. If you think you might have an interest in highpointing in the future, you may want to bag some of these peaks during your epic journey. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_elevation/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_elevation. You’ll be super close to Harney Peak, South Dakota when you go to Mt Rushmore. That is a hike note to be missed, along with a swim at the lake at the trailhead. You won’t regret it. Also, I can recommend a Super RV Park there. Other good ones that are on your route or close to it that I’d recommend are Wisconsin (you get to climb the radio tower), Texas, and Arizona. The Wisconsin highpoint is 400 feet or so from the parking lot. The other 3 are day hikes or half days if you’re fast.
– Each National Park Visitors Center has a free stamp. They all have the current date on them and a particular little design. They also sell little books that you can stamp and put official stickers in to memorialize your trip. If you don’t want to buy the book or the stickers, be sure to just stamp the free stamp on whatever else for good memories.
– My last silly but fun hobby is “collecting temples” as one friend put it. You’ll be passing a lot of them. You may want to consider taking in some sessions across this great land of ours. It’s interesting to see the similarities and differences in each temple. Perhaps you could get one line or family and do all their work as you travel throughout the states.
Anyway, just a few ideas I thought you might want to be aware of before you set sail. I’ll be interested to follow your adventures — write a book when you’re done. 😉
Happy Trails and All Best Wishes to the Newlyweds,
Wes H.
Wes! Thanks for the awesome ideas! I love the idea of “highpointing”! So cool! We for sure plan on getting our parks passport stamped and we want to get a sticker for the RV at each park as well! And the temple idea is great too! We should compile a list of all the temples we will be driving by… I like it! Thanks for your excitement!
Okay, y’all don’t know me (Claire Ahlstrom Folts sent me here, hahaha) but first of all, this road trip looks AMAZEBALLS. My husband and I are planning to hit all of the national parks in our lifetime too, just not all at once.
ANYWAY. I was just being a creeper and checking out your route because planning road trips is literally my jam (and people have actually paid me to plan their road trips, but I’m not saying that to brag, just saying I’m pretty awesome at it… which actually is pretty braggy, sorry) and we just did a huge road trip this past summer and visiting 13 national parks in the US and Canada. Where I’m going with this is that when you’re driving from Crater Lake to Rainier, TAKE HIGHWAY 101. The sand dunes, the views, the ocean, everything is totally worth it, and it doesn’t even add that much time to your trip. If you have even the vaguest interest in checking out our trip you can creep me right back on my blog posts about it. http://housegroves.blogspot.com/search/label/%23ERT_2015
Sorry for my creepin’. I just think this trip looks super rad and I had to say something!
Wow! Thanks for the tip. And don’t worry about the creepin! We love the excitement! I’m sure the course of our trip will evolve, as we adjust to roads more our pace (if there is any hill at all, the RV holds a solid 45 mph)… Right now the route is just what Google spit out at us. Thanks for the advice! And we may be asking you for more as the trip goes on!!
Perfectly understandable. I’m always happy to help make an adventure more exciting, and I plan on living vicariously through you guys on this awesome trip.
What an ambition you guys have there? As a big fan of national parks, I look forward to following along your exciting journey. Be safe. If the weather is not cooperating, there is always another time.
Thanks for the support! We are really excited as well! And we will for sure be safe – no need to take risks.
Thanks Keng! We are excited to finally be on the road! Thanks for the good vibes!
Hey there 🙂
It’s Jason and Heather Arbour.. You just started following our vantrails Instagram, and we gave yours a look and hopped on over to your blog too.. We are stoked for your National Parks trip.. We did one for two months about a year ago, and loved every minute of it!! We definitely didn’t hit all the national parks, but we hit over 20 of them!! If you want, check out or blog arboursabroad.com to learn about different hikes and such in the parks!!
One thing you have to know about (if you don’t already) is the website freecampsites.net!!! It has awesome campsites scattered all around the states, and made it possible for us to only spend $80 in accommodation for the entire 2 months!!
Cheers and happy traveling!! So excited to follow along on your journey!!!
Heather and Jason
Guys, thanks for the enthusiasm! And yeah – freecampsites.net is AWESOME! We hope to boondock the whole way and that site is a huge resource. We looked at your blog – its awesome! We are stoked to finally be on the road and living the dream!
I love your map! So… when you drive from grand canyon to petrified forest, I’ll be in flagstaff for nursing school! Would looooove to see you if you want to stop for a meal or even just for gas! ? alsoooo, nursing school aside, bristol and i live on the navajo reservation now… we are about 45 mins from Cortez, CO and ill be on winter break when you’re potentially going to be there. I might just show up and surprise you in a cat costume! Haha love you have so much fun and be safe ❤❤❤
Kelts! It was awesome to meet you before we set off – and we would be STOKED to meet up with you again up in Ballerado. And you know, we may be changing a few things on the map and will actually be ending in AZ – SO, we may see you down there at the end too! PARTAY.
West Virginia has a lot to offer. You’ll be missing out!
Our route is for sure tentative! This is just what Google Maps spit out at us – so who knows?! Maybe we can make a side trip!
Looks like you have quite a drive with no stops planned when you are routed across the Texas panhandle. I highly suggest you drop just a little south of the posted route and spend a night or two in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. It’s only about 15 miles south of Amarillo.
Good idea! When we get there we’ll have to evaluate and adjust! Thanks for the tip!
Utah couple to visit all 59 national parks in 2016 - EnterWorldNet » EnterWorldNet
[…] severely deliberate scrapping a trip. After pulling mixed all-nighters, spending large hours poring over maps and routes, renovating a RV, and balancing work and propagandize life, even for adventurers like a Hoffmans, […]
Give us some decent lead time, and we’ll meet up with you at Mt. Rainier. That’s a nice bike ride for us. The weather should be great up there by July. Your schedule says the 8th, but I know what happens to schedules! I hope that you’re using sun block!! Lovin’ your journey.
Ohw wow, we are so going to steal your route plan ?.
I looked on your site because of a tip from Megan from fresh off the grid.
We are planning a similar trip.
Altough we still not sure what to do with the camper. Buying and resell(very hard for foreigners) or renting(very exspensive)
Our plan is basicly the same, follow the national parks around Amerika.
Only we are taking a year for the whole roundtrip. But the summer in north and winter in the south is the same idea. We are just not sure were to start.
Anyway we will follow your yourney with great plesure.
Have fun!
Kind regards, laura
Laura, I am glad it will be helpful! I remember looking when we were planning and I couldn’t find anyone who had a map of ONE BIG LOOP through all the National Parks… So I just had to make it on my own! haha That is such a cool plan to tour the US in a year. It’s going to be a blast!
What a great adventure! The photos of your cat make my day; such a good sport! I know your trip is about national parks, but maybe consider heading up through the Adirondack Mountains (you can head north near Rome, NY), east through the Green Mountain National Forest in VT and the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire to end up in Maine and then you can take the coast back south. It’s such an incredible part of the country and you won’t regret getting of the highway. Enjoy your trip!
That’s a great idea! We will totally do that! Thanks!
Our Vie Adventures 59 National Park Tour | UCO Gear
[…] prospective itinerary can be found on our website and is here is a map of our […]
We just passed you on I30 caddo mills Texas happy travels to you both
Thanks for the good vibes!