Summary of Art Of Manliness Podcast Episode: Ultimate National Park Visiting and Camping Guide | Jeremy Puglisi
Podcast: Art Of Manliness
9 min. read
— Description —
Discover the hidden gems of Americas national parks and state parks From the crowded summer months to the best times to visit, learn insider tips from Jeremy Puglisi Explore lesser-known parks in the East and find out which parks require reservations
Dont miss out on the breathtaking beauty of Custer State Park, Acadia, and more Plan your next adventure and beat the crowds with this comprehensive guide.
Ultimate National Park Visiting and Camping Guide | Jeremy Puglisi
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
Intro
Jeremy’s Resume
National Park Sites
Why Is Getting Into A National Park So Hard?
Know These Tips
Getting A Campsite Inside A National Park
Camping Outside The Park
General Tips For Visiting and Camping In The National Parks
Yosemite National Park
The Grand Canyon
Great Smoky Mountains
Yellowstone
Grand Teton National Park
Overrated & Underrated National Parks
The Best State Parks
Key Takeaways
- There are 63 national parks, but there are 424 national park sites
- The most crowded time of the year is when every kid in the country is out of school; it is especially busy in the first few weeks of summer vacation
- Months in advance, check if the park you plan to visit has a reservation system
- There are only five parks that require a reservation to get into the park; however, most all require a reservation for camping
- People will get their entire family on computers to sit there are refresh the park’s website hoping that one of them is lucky enough to get access to a reservation
- “The single most important thing that we tell everybody is to get up early.” – Jeremy Puglisi
- Yellowstone is a driving park more than it is a hiking park; it is a touring park
- Jeremy’s favorite national park in Olympic National Park in Washington state and his favorite state park is Assateague in Maryland
- Jeremy and Brett liked Grand Teton more than Yellowstone
- Some of the best state parks: Custer State Park in South Dakota, Adirondack Park in New York State, Assateague State Park in Maryland, Snow Canyon State Park in Utah, and Jack London State Park in California
- Nationally overlooked parks in the East: Acadia in Maine, Cape Cod national seashore in Massachusetts, Shenandoah in Virginia, New River Gorge in West Virginia, and Cape Hatteras national seashore in North Carolina
- The most popular parks, such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon, will be less busy during the shoulder months (March-April and September)
Intro
- Jeremy Puglisi (Twitter: @thervatlas, IG: @thervatlas) is a traveler and writer. He co-authored See You at the Campground, Where Should We Camp Next, and RV Vacations with his wife Stephanie. They also cohost The RV Atlas Podcast.
- In this conversation, Jeremy Puglisi and Brett McKay share some helpful advice about visiting and camping in national parks.
- Check out these Podcast Notes on How Manhunts Work
- Host: Brett McKay (@artofmanliness)
Jeremy’s Resume
- Jeremy Puglisi and his wife have camped in half of the 63 national parks
- His favorite national park in Olympic National Park in Washington state
- His wife’s favorite is Glacier National Park
- They do a big trip at the end of August each year
- Most of the country is back to school at the end of August, so it is a great time to visit parks
National Park Sites
- There are 63 national parks, but there are 424 national park sites
- The are many different designations of “sites”: seashores, lakeshores, recreation areas, memorials, parkways, and more
- Many of the national park sites have amazing camping experiences
- While the West has most of the parks, the East has a lot of the national park sites
Why Is Getting Into A National Park So Hard?
- Jeremy believes that interest in visiting national parks increased during the pandemic, and everyone planned trips to one of the five most well-known parks
- A flood of people who were new to camping and road-tripping all of a sudden tried to descend on the same places at the same time
- The most famous parks are crowded during the most popular times, but there are other options to consider
- The most crowded time of the year is when every kid in the country is out of school; it is especially busy in the first few weeks of summer vacation
- He recommends visiting the better-known parks during the shoulder months (March-April or September) to avoid the crowds
Know These Tips
- When booking permits, use the Recreation.gov mobile app instead of the browser because Brett says a few extra licenses are reserved for app users
- Even if a park appears to be packed, you may have the trails to yourself if everyone else is there for a specific attraction
- Months in advance, check if the park you plan to visit has a reservation system
- There are only five parks that require a reservation to get into the park; however, most all require a reservation for camping
- Seeing specific attractions within a park may require a reservation, so be sure to check NPS.gov before going
- Be sure to go to NPS.gov and Recreation.gov together to get all the information
Getting A Campsite Inside A National Park
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It is very difficult to get a camping reservation at Yosemite
- There are 20 pages of instructions on Yosemite’s website about camping reservations
- Thousands of campsites disappear in seconds when they become available on the national parks’ website
- Parks like Yosemite and Zion are experimenting with a lottery system for people to be selected to gain early access to the reservation system
- People will get their entire family on computers to sit there are refresh the website hoping that one of them is lucky enough to get access to a reservation
- On summer weekends, most camping sites inside the park will be booked, regardless of the national park
- It is inexpensive to camp inside the parks, costing anywhere between $10-$30 per night
Camping Outside The Park
- It is easier to get to campgrounds outside the park than inside the park
- Campgrounds outside the park are 2-4x more expensive than campgrounds inside the park
- Generally, the outside campgrounds are not as beautiful as the ones inside the park
- Check out KOA Campgrounds to book a campground outside a national park
- Not every park has campgrounds located immediately outside the park; it depends on whether or not the park has gateway towns
- Another option is to camp in a state park or a national forest that is near the national park
- Boondocking or “dispersed camping” is another option
- Be sure to call the field office before doing dispersed camping
General Tips For Visiting and Camping In The National Parks
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“The single most important thing that we tell everybody is to get up early.” – Jeremy Puglisi
- Parking lots tend to fill up by 10:00 AM
- If you are going to a popular trail-head, try to get there by 7:00 AM
- Take it slow and do not feel like you have to cram in everything
- Create a balance between what Mom and Dad want and what the kids want
- Most parks have a Junior Ranger program where kids can become Junior Rangers
- Fourth graders are granted free entry into national parks via the Every Kid Outdoors program
- A national parks trip can be a very affordable family vacation
Yosemite National Park
- It is a challenge to visit Yosemite in the summer months
- Yosemite is the sixth most visited national park
- More people visit Yosemite than Yellowstone, and Yellowstone is 3x the size
- It is common for most people visiting a given park to want to see one specific part of the park
- Most people visiting Yosemite want to see the valley
- The camping recommendations in Jeremy’s book are 45-60 minutes outside the park
The Grand Canyon
- Williams, the gateway town to the Grand Canyon, is over an hour away
- The reservation system for the Grand Canyon is simpler than Yosemite; reservations can be made six months in advance
- While there are campgrounds open all year, you may experience bad weather if you go in the offseason
- A few nights at the Grand Canyon will be enough for most unless you want to do some serious hiking
Great Smoky Mountains
- Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park
- It had 14 million visitors in 2022, which is about twice the number of visitors that other national parks get
- Jeremy says the Great Smoky Mountains are more accessible and less stressful than other parks on the list
- There are several great NPS campgrounds in and around the park, which can be entered from either North Carolina or Tennessee
- It has several gateway towns around it
Yellowstone
- When planning to go to Yellowstone, you must decide the location of your basecamp because you can enter the park from so many different places
- Yellowstone is a driving park more than it is a hiking park; it is a touring park
- A big part of the experience will be driving in your car from place to place
- Do not be shocked that you will be doing a lot of driving
- The end of August is a good time to visit Yellowstone
- If it’s your first time and you only have a few days, Jeremy recommends doing the lower loop of the park
- If you have more time, head into the upper loop and do things like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Lamar Valley
- Go to Lamar Valley if you are going to Yellowstone for wildlife
- Hayden Valley was a “bust” for Jeremy and many others he’s spoken with
- Look at Madison Campground if it is your first trip to Yellowstone
Grand Teton National Park
- Both Jeremy and Brett liked Grand Teton more than Yellowstone
- Grand Teton National Park is about a 10 minute drive from the bottom of Yellowstone
- Grand Teton is more of a hiking park than Yellowstone, and it is great for camping
- Camping at Grand Teton is easy to figure out
Overrated & Underrated National Parks
- Jeremy does not say that Yellowstone is overrated but says that it did not live up to the hype
- Olympic National Park in Washington State is underrated, according to Jeremy Puglisi
- Other underrated parks: Mt. Rushmore, Badlands Park in South Dakota, and Theodore Roosevelt national park in North Dakota,
- You feel like you are on another planet when you’re at Badlands national park
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Nationally overlooked parks in the East:
- Acadia in Maine
- Cape Cod national seashore in Massachusetts
- Shenandoah in Virginia
- New River Gorge in West Virginia
- Cape Hatteras national seashore in North Carolina
The Best State Parks
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Some of the best state parks that are almost as good as the national parks but without the crowds:
- Custer State Park in South Dakota
- Adirondack Park in New York State
- Assateague State Park in Maryland (Jeremy’s personal favorite)
- Snow Canyon State Park in Utah
- Jack London State Park in California
- He saw better wildlife at Custer State Park than at Yellowstone
- You can camp at Custer and then go right to Mt. Rushmore
- South Dakota takes a lot of pride in its state parks, and Custer is its crown jewel
- You can camp on the beach at Assateague State Park