Sunday, March 31, 2019

Road trip to the U.S. National Parks

This is an excerpt from a wonderful post by Randy Olson. The source is here: http://www.randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national-parks-centennial-road-trip/



The optimal road trip to the U.S. National Parks
In total, this road trip spans 14,498 miles (23,333 km) of road and will take roughly 2 months if you’re traveling at a breakneck pace. I’ve designed this road trip to form a circle around the U.S., so you can hop on at any point and proceed whatever direction you like. Just make sure to follow the agenda from that point on if you want to follow the optimal route!

The Optimal U.S. National Parks Centennial Road Trip

Here’s the full list of national parks in order:

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
Saguaro National Park, Arizona
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Big Bend National Park, Texas
Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Everglades National Park, Florida
Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Biscayne National Park, Florida
Congaree National Park, South Carolina
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Acadia National Park, Maine
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Arches National Park, Utah
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Zion National Park, Utah
Great Basin National Park, Nevada
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Glacier National Park, Montana
North Cascades National Park, Washington
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Olympic National Park, Washington
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Redwood National and State Parks, California
Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
Yosemite National Park, California
Kings Canyon National Park, California
Sequoia National Park, California
Pinnacles National Park, California
Channel Islands National Park, California
Joshua Tree National Park, California
Death Valley National Park, California

[ there are web sites like RouteXL.com that will do it for you. They optimize road trips with up to 20 stops for free, and 20+ stops for a nominal fee.]

Lassen to Grand Canyon


https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Lassen+Volcanic+National+Park,+California/Yosemite+National+Park,+California/Kings+Canyon+National+Park,+California/Sequoia+National+Park,+California/Pinnacles+National+Park,+California+95043/The+Robert+J.+Lagomarsino+Visitor+Center+at+Channel+Islands+National+Park,+1901+Spinnaker+Dr,+Ventura,+CA+93001/Joshua+Tree+National+Park,+California/Death+Valley+National+Park/Mather+Point,+Rim+Trail,+Grand+Canyon+Village,+AZ+86023/@37.1007346,-121.65662,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m55!4m54!1m5!1m1!1s0x809d5607c14138bf:0x8f34d8a77a666742!2m2!1d-121.4206552!2d40.49766!1m5!1m1!1s0x8096f09df58aecc5:0x2d249c2ced8003fe!2m2!1d-119.5383294!2d37.8651011!1m5!1m1!1s0x80bfd5ee5ff1a77b:0x826483b770430f4c!2m2!1d-118.5551477!2d36.8878548!1m5!1m1!1s0x80bffb7d2d196579:0x440adff99f1ef464!2m2!1d-118.5657516!2d36.4863668!1m5!1m1!1s0x8092438089cedd9f:0x9b82fbee98a844ee!2m2!1d-121.1824925!2d36.4905655!1m5!1m1!1s0x80e852ce2caebea5:0x426d47e6c7ee5be6!2m2!1d-119.2665535!2d34.2484504!1m5!1m1!1s0x80da8f85b965a87b:0x1977eda73aeb9de2!2m2!1d-115.9009923!2d33.873415!1m5!1m1!1s0x80c74b7776ae8a47:0xccc9f07c7bf2b054!2m2!1d-117.0794078!2d36.5053891!1m5!1m1!1s0x87331092861740c1:0x543a485ed4aa62af!2m2!1d-112.1077182!2d36.0617143



Zion to Lassen (49 h (2,806 miles))



https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Zion+National+Park,+Utah/Great+Basin+National+Park,+Nevada/Grand+Teton+National+Park,+Wyoming/Yellowstone+National+Park,+Wyoming/Glacier+National+Park,+Montana/North+Cascades+National+Park,+Washington/Mount+Rainier+National+Park,+Washington/Olympic+National+Park,+Washington/Crater+Lake+National+Park,+Oregon/Redwood+National+and+State+Parks,+California/Lassen+Volcanic+National+Park,+California/

Badlands to Zion





Everglades to Badlands



https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Everglades+National+Park,+Florida/Dry+Tortugas+National+Park,+Florida/Biscayne+National+Park,+Florida/Congaree+National+Park,+South+Carolina/Shenandoah+National+Park,+Virginia/Acadia+National+Park,+Maine/Cuyahoga+Valley+National+Park,+Ohio/Isle+Royale+National+Park,+Michigan/Voyageurs+National+Park,+International+Falls,+Minnesota+56649/Theodore+Roosevelt+National+Park,+North+Dakota/Badlands+National+Park,+South+Dakota/

Everglades to Grand Canyon



https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Mather+Point,+Rim+Trail,+Grand+Canyon+Village,+AZ+86023/Petrified+Forest+National+Park,+Arizona/Saguaro+National+Park+Tucson+Mountain+District+(West)+Visitor+Center,+2700+N+Kinney+Rd,+Tucson,+AZ+85743/Guadalupe+Mountains+National+Park,+Salt+Flat,+TX+79847/Carlsbad+Caverns+National+Park,+New+Mexico+88220/Big+Bend+National+Park,+TX/Hot+Springs+National+Park,+369+Central+Ave,+Hot+Springs,+AR+71901/Mammoth+Cave,+Kentucky+42259/Great+Smoky+Mountains+National+Park/Everglades+National+Park,+Florida/@29.9552776,-114.6924228,4z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m61!4m60!1m5!1m1!1s0x87331092861740c1:0x543a485ed4aa62af!2m2!1d-112.1077182!2d36.0617143!1m5!1m1!1s0x872f9d467285101b:0xaecfe94549b435bf!2m2!1d-109.8067916!2d34.9099897!1m5!1m1!1s0x86d5dc2476056db5:0x97f6d83899b82970!2m2!1d-111.1972265!2d32.2543838!1m5!1m1!1s0x86e419ea5337972b:0x7d088340615f4461!2m2!1d-104.8725221!2d31.94519!1m5!1m1!1s0x86e37913c4b8d75b:0x6ed43df7bd3bb2bd!2m2!1d-104.5567138!2d32.1478553!1m5!1m1!1s0x86f217704be5ef2b:0x64467dbc2783850f!2m2!1d-103.2425379!2d29.1274869!1m5!1m1!1s0x87cd2a4f3e14f595:0x582d6639762948dd!2m2!1d-93.0423545!2d34.5216915!1m5!1m1!1s0x8866032940e7f5b5:0xaad4a8c31e8abc0b!2m2!1d-86.0999753!2d37.1861597!1m5!1m1!1s0x885e986b88fb1815:0x3c926fc1a7752461!2m2!1d-83.4895449!2d35.6117644!1m5!1m1!1s0x88d0a8307a6c05db:0xfe03e56762f3197!2m2!1d-80.8986509!2d25.2866155


Road trip to the U.S. National Parks

This is an excerpt from a wonderful post by Randy Olson. The source is here: http://www.randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national...