Jeremy Puglisi (Twitter: @thervatlas, IG: @thervatlas) is a traveler and writer. He co-authored See You at the Campground,Where Should We Camp Next, andRV Vacationswith 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 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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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