Category: National Parks

Mammoth Cave National Park

National Park Week 2024: Day 2

Next on my 2024 National Park Week series, we’re going underground to Mammoth Cave National Park!

Mammoth Cave National Park

If you like caves, you have to visit Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky! Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system that has been explored at over 400 miles, but who knows how much more is yet to be discovered. There are several different tours of varying lengths and difficulties to explore different areas of the cave system.

Come join us on a tour of Mammoth Cave National Park!

Please contact me if you would like to chat about planning a National Park trip.
AdventuresByAnne.com

National Park Week

Hot Springs National Park

National Park Week 2024: Day 1

To kick off my 2024 National Park Week series, we’re going to a very unique park – Hot Springs National Park!

Hot Springs National Park

Instead of just one natural park-like location, Hot Springs National Park bleeds into the town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, all of which should be a part of your Hot Springs National Park visit. The rivers of mineral water that flow from the hot springs stream into various spas, hotels, restaurants, and other locations in town.

Come join us at Hot Springs National Park!

Please contact me if you would like to chat about planning a National Park trip.
AdventuresByAnne.com

National Park Week

National Park Week 2024

National Park Week

To celebrate National Park Week last year, I started a series featuring a different national park each day. I’ve always loved the national parks around the country, so I want to share more of them with you and hope you can visit them too. 

For this year’s National Park Week, I’ll be featuring more parks that we’ve visited. Follow along on my Park Visits page for a new post each day featuring a new park. Also, subscribe to my mailing list to follow along with emails.

This year, National Park Week is celebrated from April 20 – 28th. To kick it off, the parks that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission on Saturday, April 20, 2024. The National Park Service parks and related entities will host activities all week.

We love the national parks! We’ve been to just over half of the major U.S. ones so far, and honestly, we cannot name one that we didn’t like. It’s hard to pick a favorite. Each one is so different and so cool in its own way. Hopefully, you can learn more about each park and explore them yourself, too.

Visit this NPS page for detailed information on all of the events to celebrate National Park Week. #NationalParkWeek

Monday, April 22nd, is also Earth Day, so check out the Earth Day page for activities to commemorate this. #EarthDay

Visit the NPS site to learn more about the national parks and to plan your visit. Note that some parks require timed entry tickets, so plan ahead.

If you can’t travel to them in person, you can visit the parks virtually! There are many virtual events as well.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about a national park trip. Hopefully, we’ll see you out there!

Earth Day

Pics ©National Park Service

2024 Washington DC Cherry Blossom Festival

Cherry blossoms

The famous Washington DC cherry blossoms are about to start blooming! This years peak bloom is projected to be around March 23, 2024, which happens to coincide with the opening ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom Festival! These beautiful trees around the Tidal Basin area are an iconic symbol of spring.

This year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival will run from March 20 – April 14, 2024. There will be performances, foods, and activities for all ages, culminating with the Cherry Blossom Parade on April 13th. Another key event is Petalpalooza on April 6th, a family friendly day of performances and activities capped off with fireworks over the Capital Riverfront.

  • Opening Ceremony: Saturday, March 23, 2024
  • Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival: Sunday, March 24, 2024
  • Kite Festival: Sunday, March 30, 2024
  • PetalPalooza: Saturday, April 6, 2024
  • Parade: Saturday, April 13, 2024

The entire festival season season has been known to draw millions of people to the city in past years, and peak bloom week and the parade weekend are especially busy, so plan your trip accordingly if you plan to go.

Here are some resources to help plan your trip:

If you can’t travel to Washington DC, there are several virtual ways for you to join in the fun.

We’ve been to DC area and the Smithsonian museums many times. We love it there. If you go during this festival, definitely pack your patience because it will be extremely crowded, but the blooms will be worth it!

Of course, there are many other places with great cherry blossom celebrations too. Here are just a few ideas, but you can simply search for cherry blossoms near your city to find more.

If you would like to chat about planning a trip to Washington DC or any other city for the festival or in general, please contact me.

AdventuresByAnne.com

Last Minute Gift

White Mountains, New Hampshire

Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate it! Do you still need a last-minute gift?

Book a trip!

You can still very quickly book a future weekend getaway, a cruise, or an even longer trip today. Just do an initial booking and plan the rest together. That’s part of the fun!

Most hotel bookings don’t even need a booking payment and resorts or cruises usually only need a 20% deposit. There are plenty of deals out there right now for Disney, Universal, cruises, and many other locations. If you book far out enough, that can give you plenty of time to save up the balance and plan the rest of the trip itinerary later.

Just make sure to book something where your reservation and deposit are cancellable and refundable just in case you end up deciding to change plans. Be sure to read the fine print and know the policies.

If you want me to help you plan and book your trip, contact me anytime. For some ideas of possible trips, check out my Instagram and website.

AdventuresByAnne.com

AdventuresByAnne@gmail.com

National Plan For Vacation Day

National Plan for Vacation Day

Did you know that today, Jan 30th, is National Plan For Vacation Day??

This was created to remind us to plan our vacations for the coming year. Don’t lose your vacation days. Planning ahead can usually get you better pricing than last-minute bookings and give you more time to save up and design a better trip. If you’re dealing with the winter doldrums, this will give you something to look forward to also.

Many cruise lines, hotels, and attractions, like Disney and Universal, have sales going on already. Some of the major National Parks require timed entry reservations, and tours and campgrounds are already open for bookings too. Lock them in before they sell out.

Whether your vacation is across the globe or a local staycation, two weeks long or just a long weekend, start planning now. Contact me if you want help with vacation ideas and bookings.

AdventuresByAnne.com

AdventuresByAnne@gmail.com

US National Parks 2024 Free Admission Days

Grand Teton National Park

For several days in 2024, the U.S. National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone. Here are the entrance fee-free dates in 2024:

January 15: Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
April 20: First day of National Park Week
June 19: Juneteenth National Independence Day
August 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
September 28: National Public Lands Day
November 11: Veterans Day

The first one is this coming Monday in honor of MLK Day!

However, if you can’t make it to one this time, try to go some other time this year. The national parks are such amazing places! We’ve been to over half of them so far and hope to visit the rest soon. The pics above and below are from our trip to Grand Teton and Badlands National Parks, along with many others, during our Fall Cross Country Trip this past Sept.

If you’re planning to visit multiple parks or the same one multiple times this year, don’t forget to check if one of the park passes is right for you.

National Parks pass chart

In addition, some of the more popular parks require you to schedule a timed entry reservation time now for certain days (some are year-round) and times to reduce the line to get in. If you’re planning to visit one of these, make sure to plan ahead and make your reservation before they fill up.

Search the name of the park and check the entry requirements on the National Park Service site. If you need to reserve a time, you will do so on the recreation.gov site. This is the only legit site to reserve any tickets for entries, tours, and even some lodgings for the national parks.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about planning a national park trip.

Badlands National Park

We’re in California!

Lake Tahoe beach

We finally crossed into California on our 2023 Cross Country Road Trip Recap!

Catch up on the first leg of this mega loop around the United States that we took in September. In the first 10 days. we made it from the East Coast to the West Coast. We explored 3 national parks (Mammoth Cave, Hot Springs, and Great Basin), met some aliens at Roswell, and saw some amazingly gorgeous landscapes.

After a few days in California, we’ll be heading up the Pacific Coast to the national parks in Oregon and Washington, then head back east via some states that we haven’t been to before and more national parks. Very excited to check some more parks and states off our bucket list! Follow along!

Long road

National Park Pass Change

National Park Pass
© National Park Service

Starting January 1, 2024, you will no longer be allowed to share a National Park Pass with someone else.

Currently, the passes allow for two signatures on the back, so either person can enter a fee-based U.S. National Park with that pass. They do check IDs. However, that will be changing for any new passes purchased in 2024. There will only be one signature line so the pass is only valid for that person. No more sharing.

If you already own one of the two signature pass cards purchased in 2023, they will still honor it for two people until its expiration date. So, if you think you’ll benefit from getting a National Park Pass and would like to share it with someone, buy your 2023 pass before the end of the year! It’ll be valid for 12 months after purchase.

There are several passes available, some aimed at specific groups such as seniors, military, and even 4th graders. Check this flowchart from the National Park Service to see which one is right for you.

National Park Pass type chart
(click to enlarge)

We love the national parks and have gotten an annual pass for many years. It’ll usually pay for itself after 3-4 visits to any of the major parks. I encourage you to get one and visit all of parks too. We still have a bunch left but have already gone to many amazing ones so far!

Feel free to contact me if you want me to help plan your next national park trip.

Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park

Road Trip Prep

Road trip

Since we are doing a much longer than usual 3-week road trip this year, much more planning and prepping is involved. I’ve compiled a list of planning steps and tips to hopefully help you too. Check out how I planned our itinerary, plus packing and other prepping info.

Feel free to contact me if you want me to help you plan your trips too.

Let’s go!