Arrive in the park early in the morning.
Make advanced reservations if the park allows them.
Have an idea what you want to do in the park.
Be prepared for all types of weather.
Be ready to drive defensively and courteous.
Another good reason to arrive early is that the animals tend to be more active in the early morning hours (before 7 or 8 am). This because during the afternoon hours when the temperature is at the hottest the animals are bedded down out of the sun and away from the road for the most park.
By arriving early there are not as many people on the road. So that you can get to the trail that you want to hike with out getting frustrated by the slow moving traffic on the road. And this way you will come across less people on the trail because they won't be moving that early. Also in the desert and semi-desert areas it is better to hike in the early morning or evening hours and rest during the heat of the day.
And last but not least you will have more time to spend in the park. I have known visitors to arrive 15 minutes before the visitor center was to close and they had wished that they had about 2 more hours to spend in the VC.
The news papers contain very valuable information.
If you are going to go out on a trail you should look at getting a better map than that of
the Official Park map. The National Park Service puts out brochures with trail maps and
trail descriptions on many of the popular short hikes so ask at the Visitor Center for this
type of information. There normally is a bookstore in the visitor center so you can
always purchase a better map as well. One of the best maps would be a 7 or a 15
minutes quad map produced by the USGS. But if not available another good map is to
use the Trails Illustrated Map. These maps are produced using the USGS maps with a
different scale and some of the features have been removed namely old roads no longer
in service.
As I mentioned before most of the campgrounds in some of the bigger parks are filled at
10 am and check out time is 10 am. As well during the peak periods the lodges report
full at 7am each and every morning.
Is it the wildlife? If that is the case then you need to be up and on the road by first light
and in the summer that can mean to be out by 5:00am. And then there is being out at
dusk because most of the wildlife is active in the early morning hours and the hours at
dusk.
Is it the scenery? Then you need to know when the best light is on the subject. Like in
Yellowstone the best time to visit the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the
Yellowstone is in the morning hours when the falls are light by the sun but then to come
back later in the afternoon to get the colors of the canyon down stream of the lower falls.
Is it the natural features? Then you need to know when they are in best light for those
photographs or in the case of geysers when do they go off, when was the last know
eruption and when is the predicted time. Then arrive early and stay late. Geysers have
there own schedule and not ours.
Is it the flora? Then where do you go to see it and when would be the best time. As in
most cases the best light is in the morning and in the evening.
Or is it the buildings or museums? If this is the case you want to have plenty of time to
explore the building and the museum and not feel rushed because you have to get
somewhere else by a certain time. If visiting a visitor center expect to stay at least 1
hour there may be more if they provide a video or as the case is in Dinosaur National
Monument the main exhibit for the park is located at the Quarry Visitor Center. This is
where 1500 dinosaur bones are located still in the rock as they were found.
In Yellowstone more and more people are coming in September not only because the
crowds are smaller but because the elk are in rut.
The roads in the parks are much more narrow so there is not enough room to pull off the
road so that they just stop in the middle of the road to watch their first moose cross the
road.
Another thing is that people are not use to the curvy roads in the national parks they are
use to the straight modern highways of today and expect to take each and every corner
at 55 mph while the speed limit in most parks is only 45 mph if not slower. But then there
are the people who are doing 25 in a 45 zone that have 10 or more vehicles behind
them and they should pull over but most of the are oblivious to that fact. So as I
mentioned earlier get going early to avoid the traffic on the roads and get on the trails.
Read the Newspaper
Most people when they are handed the news paper at the gate think that it is a
collectors item to be read later when they have time. Like when they get home, on their
trip home or just before they use the paper to start the campfire.
It is always amazing how many times that I have used the park newspaper to answer the
visitors questions.Read the Signs.
Now I must say this is very obvious but it must be repeated. Read and obey the signs.
They are there for your safety. But seriously if you take a moment to look around at the
signs they will tell you where you want to go. They will even point out the bathrooms.
One of the most asked questions of rangers.Get out that Park Map
It is always amazing how many people think like the park newspaper that the park map
is just a collectors item. One thing it is but more importantly it tells you where things are
located in the park a for the most part how to get there. Then as an added bonus some
parks include other information on them as well. In Yellowstone they talk about the fires
of 1988 and in Dinosaur they talk about the river canyons in the park. But by studying
the map you can better plan your day as well as know what you are looking at when you
get to a particular mountain ridge or even a lake or stream.Make Advanced Reservations
I advise anyone planning to go to the parks on vacation and wants to stay in the park in
either the lodges or in the campgrounds check on if the park excepts advanced
reservations. Since more and more people are planning trips to the parks they are
becoming over crowded so to help alleviate the problem there are less places to stay in
the parks So call ahead. Yes some of us can't plan 6 months to a year in advance but if
you know a month ahead of time then call and try to make those reservations. If you
can't get them in the park try just outside. Then once you get to the park, there is
always the chance of a cancellation but check on those early in the morning or later in
the evening when people call to cancel their reservations.Have an Idea of what you want to see or do in the Park
Some people when they visit the National Parks do not know why they are there. You
can help your self out by knowing what it is you would like to see. Have alternate plans as well
Why have alternate plans one reason is the weather. Suppose you planned to go out
on a hike that was going to take you to a lake that you were going to fish. And if a
sudden storm came in and it rained all day it would spoil your day. But remember there
is plenty to do in the parks. There is hiking, fishing, camping, boating, horseback riding,
ranger led activities, photography, wildlife watching, looking at the native plants, and
many more activities that can be done in the parks.Come during the off season
If you are one of the many people who hate crowds then plan to visit the parks in the off
season. Normally this is before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. But be prepared for
unusual weather. It may get down to freezing and might even snow. In many cases the
parks accommodations may not be open or may close while you are there so you need
to plan ahead of time.Be prepared for all types of weather
The reason being you could plan to go to Yellowstone in the middle of August and
coming from Chicago where the temperatures are in the 100's you could expect to see
snow as my cousins did a couple of years ago. So you need to plan for warm weather,
cool weather, cold weather, sunshine, rain and even snow. But if the weather does turn
bad then if you have alternate plans you can make the best of it or if you have the
proper clothes then the trip will be remember more then you had planed on it because
you came from Florida and saw snow in Yellowstone in the middle of summer. And yes
living for seven summer in Yellowstone I have seen it snow in April, May, June, July,
August, September and October so I assume that it snow the other 5 months as well.Remember to drive carefully
As this is most people first visit to the park they are unaware of the hazards in a Unit of
the National Park Service. First off there is the international drivers. Now they are not
necessarily bad drivers but they just don't drive as much as the Americans drive due to
the trains and subway systems in their countries. But then there is the added measure
that they are driving rented motor homes and are not use to the size of the vehicle.
Granted some Americans are not that versed in driving a motor home as well. In closing
Hopefully this helps you in your planning of a trip to on of the 368+ units of the National
Park Service. Thus by having some general ideas before you get to the park when you
do ask a question of the rangers you will have a better question to ask and get more
then a response of "The bathroom are out the door to the left."