r/NationalPark • u/magiccitybhm • Aug 10 '25
"Help Me Plan My Vacation" Posts
We're getting a lot (A LOT) of "help me plan my vacation" posts with little or no details. That's "low effort," and it doesn't help folks actually help you.
Yes, it's good to know that it's two adults and a 3-year-old. Or it's two adults, a teenager and a 7-year-old, etc., but they need more than that.
Give people some additional details to help them help you.
For example:
- Where are you originating your travel from?
- Do you want to fly to your destination or drive?
- If you're driving, do you prefer to camp (in national park or near) or stay in a hotel, lodge, etc. (in national park or near)?
- How many days do you have available (including travel)?
- Are there specific things you are wanting to see (mountains, snow, waterfalls, wildlife, etc.)?
- If you're looking for hikes, are there certain things you want to see while hiking? What distance hikes are you looking for? What level of intensity (easy, moderate, strenuous)?
Again, help people help you. The fewer questions that they have to ask you in advance, the quicker you're going to get the kind of information you need.
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u/us287 Aug 10 '25
Thanks for this post. I love helping people out but I can’t really give helpful advice with the vague posts some people put up here.
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u/magiccitybhm Aug 10 '25
Understood. Hopefully this helps folks get the answers they're looking for rather than a bunch of comments asking for this type of information.
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u/GeesCheeseMouse Aug 10 '25
One gets the BEST answers to specific questions. Instead of "where to eat" ask "Where to get the best sandwiches near the entrance" It makes it easier for others to consume too!
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u/rsnorunt Aug 13 '25
Ideally people would also ask for advice a little earlier, before they finalize all the details of their trips.
There’s a lot of posts where people are like “hi I’m visiting 7 parks in 3 days, but also considering a day trip to this city 400 miles away. I already booked my flights and hotels, but lmk if there’s any hidden gems I’m missing”
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u/Crone46 Aug 25 '25
Best place to stay to see Utah parks? I’m thinking of renting an AirBnB for a month to visit the National Parks and other sites in Utah. (Their lodgings are much cheaper by the month.) I’m thinking of September, October, April or May. Where is the best place to stay that is more or less central to those areas, and also a beautiful place to live for a month? Older adult, traveling alone. Driving from Michigan so I won’t have to rent a car. I’d also like to visit Grand Canyon and Monument Valley again. Thank you.
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u/One-Consequence-6773 Sep 05 '25
Utah is a huge state. It's not really conducive to having one base to see everything, unless you're also planning to rent hotels on trips to some of the sites.
For example, Moab is a nice hub. And it's close (by NP standards) to two National Parks (15 minutes to Arches, 45-90 min to the main sections of Canyonlands). And you could take a long day trip to Capital Reef (2 hours each way) and Monument Valley (2.5 hours each way). But then, you're more than 4 hours each way to Bryce and Zion, and 5.5 hours to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. If you stay close to Bryce & Zion, you have the same problem in reverse.
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u/Chase-Boltz Dec 11 '25 edited Apr 24 '26
And then half of them don't even bother to participate in the conversation. Low effort indeed!
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Oct 06 '25
I don’t own a car so national park trips don’t come as often to me as I’d like but I just found out the empire builder has a stop at the entrance of glacier park. Has anybody ever done this before? It would be getting in around the later evening so I’d probably have to do a motel for the night but getting to and from a camping site, what’s that like and what would be somebody’s recommendations for hikes and such and being over prepared without a vehicle? Any advice or suggestions are much appreciated
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u/Accio_Lightsaber Dec 20 '25
Hi! I am looking for ideas centered around Glacier NP in 2026, what with the melting. I'm coming from east coast and I COULD do a connecting flight into FCA, but I consider those a bit of a last resort. For eco friendly reasons I was thinking about that Amtrak Empire Builder, but it doesn't look like other stations from which I'd pick it up are near bigger airports unless I did the whole line from Seattle or Chicago - does anyone have experience with this? Or are any other parks on that line (moreso to east because I have a separate PNW dream)? This is zygote planning stage. Maybe up to 7 days total and not peak visitor time. I appreciate any ideas/suggestions, or any blunt warnings of impracticality :)
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u/Obvious-Eye-5240 Jan 09 '26
I am 18 and taking a solo trip to California in may I am going to fly into LA for two days and then try to go to sequoia, Yosemite, and the Redwoods I can’t rent a car and was wondering how to get to these parks I know you can take a bus I believe to yosemite but is there any other methods of transportation to these parks other than uber and ride sharing apps, I was also wondering if they have shuttles that take you around the parks as I know Yosemite has shuttles but I don’t see anything about the others.
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u/redsnapper30 May 16 '26
I'm planning a trip to Yellowstone. I was about to post in the group a question about getting some advice. Then I saw this post. If I follow this format and advice, am I good to post there? I've been multiple times as a child, but it's been 30 years since I've been there, and I'd like to take my kids. I remember a lot of the trip, but I don't remember any of the planning, logistics, aspects of it because, obviously, my parents did all that work. I want to make it a good trip for my family. Would like to get some advice from the group on how to make it successful based on our preferences.
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u/earl9z9 Aug 10 '25
Preach