America’s national parks are as magnificent as they are diverse, and in a single road trip, it’s easy to marvel at arid desert mountains one day and sky-high conifer forests the next.
I’ve visited all 63 national parks within the US, all on a shoestring budget, and I can attest that exploring “America’s best idea” is well worth the effort and drive time.
For those hoping to take an extended (and wallet-friendly) vacation, the national parks are a great place to look.
With my van and some careful budgeting, I was able to travel to Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands over the course of 30 days and only spend about $1,500.
Here are a few strategies and resources that helped me pull this 11-park trip off without a hitch, plus the one thing I’d do differently next time.
The key to this trip was planning far in advance
Going on a trip of this magnitude took loads of research and preparation, and I started planning several months before I headed out.
First of all, many reservations and permits within the US national parks open up six months in advance and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
This means you’ll want to have a clear picture of where you’ll be hiking, camping, or backpacking on every day of your journey at least six months before your trip, so you can take advantage of subsidized park campgrounds.
Sure, websites like Hipcamp make it easy to book a last-minute campsite near natural wonders, but you’ll often pay double or triple the price on bookings. For example, I’ve seen campsites listed for $50 or $60 a night that national parks and forests initially charged $20 for.
Oh, and don’t forget to nab an annual America the Beautiful Pass before starting your grand adventure.
For just $80, the pass gives access to all national parks, forests, and federal recreational lands for a calendar year — it’s an easy way to avoid entrance and standard amenities fees.
Groceries and homemade meals helped me stick to my budget
One of the strictest cost-cutting measures I implemented was a $100 a week grocery budget. I slept inside my kitchenless minivan each night, meaning that I’d have to get up and go outside to boil water or cook evening meals.
Since I didn’t have a fridge or much in the way of electricity, I ate a lot of simple meals, like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, mac and cheese, and carrot sticks with hummus.
As a treat, I gave myself a $50 a week restaurant budget so I could enjoy quirky roadside cafés and food trucks along the way.
Some of my favorite memories from the trip were discovering DB’s Rustic Iron BBQ, a tiny hole-in-the-wall near Big Bend, and Sweet Cravings Bakery, just outside of Arches, in Moab.
A few apps helped me save money on gas, overnight stays, and entertainment
Gas and lodging are likely to be your biggest expenses, and I definitely used the GasBuddy app every day to plan where I could fill up for the best price.
I also made sure to drive a fuel-efficient vehicle for the entire road trip, which saved me hundreds of dollars in gas alone.
As much as I could, I tried to camp in free campsites and sleep in Walmart parking lots for the duration of my monthlong road trip.
I used apps like AllStays and Campendium to find free, legal places to bed down in my minivan. Sometimes this meant I was sleeping an hour’s drive away from any given national park, but that seemed worth it to me at the time to skip the $20 to $30 park campgrounds typically charge.
The National Park Service app is also worth downloading before any trip. It’s filled with things like free guided audio tours, maps, ranger program schedules, and top attractions. In addition, popular parks, such as Zion and the Grand Canyon, offer free in-person ranger talks and activities that are open to all visitors.
These proved to be invaluable assets to my trip when I couldn’t afford guided hikes and bus trips.
Looking back, though, I wish I’d stayed at a few more campgrounds
Even though I had the time of my life exploring America’s national parks for a month straight, there’s one thing I’d do differently next time.
In the interest of saving money, I slept in the parking lots of many truck stops and Cracker Barrels, rather than driving a bit farther to sleep on federal lands or spending $20 to camp closer to a park.
As a solo female traveler, I tended to feel safer when I was camping outside cities. I slept better, too, because the woodsy environments always proved to be quieter and more soothing.
If I had a tiny bit more in my budget, I would’ve happily booked more national park and national forest campgrounds during the planning phase of my trip.
Still, I learned so much about my own ability to do more with less on this epic journey across the US national parks, and I can’t wait for my next long road trip into the wilderness.
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