How Long Would a Road Trip to All National Parks Take?

By Alice Nichols

Have you ever dreamt of taking a road trip to visit all the national parks in the United States? It’s a daunting task, but one that many people have set out to accomplish. The question is – how long would it take?

Firstly, let’s take a look at the number of national parks there are. As of 2021, there are 63 national parks in the US. This number includes both the traditional national parks and other protected areas such as national monuments and historic sites.

Now let’s consider how long it would take to visit each one. Assuming you’re driving and taking the most direct route between each park, it would take approximately 14 days of non-stop driving to visit all 63 parks.

However, this is an unrealistic scenario for most people. To truly experience each park and enjoy some local attractions along the way, you should plan on spending at least a few days in each park.

If you were to spend an average of two days in each park, that would bring your total road trip time to around 126 days or just over four months! Of course, this is just an estimate and your actual travel time could be longer or shorter depending on factors such as traffic, weather conditions, and how much time you spend exploring each park.

To help plan your trip, here is a list of all 63 national parks in alphabetical order:

  • Acadia
  • American Samoa
  • Arches
  • Badlands
  • Big Bend
  • Biscayne
  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison
  • Bryce Canyon
  • Canyonlands
  • Capitol Reef
  • Carlsbad Caverns
  • Channel Islands
  • Congaree
  • Crater Lake
  • Cuyahoga Valley
  • Death Valley
  • Denali
  • Dry Tortugas
  • Ebey’s Landing
  • Everglades
  • Gates of the Arctic
  • Gateway Arch
    • Note: This park was previously known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and was renamed in 2018.

    Glaicer National Park:

    This is a paragraph about Glacier National Park.

    As you can see, there are many national parks to explore and it would take quite a bit of time to visit them all. However, the experience of traveling across the country, seeing amazing natural wonders, and learning about the history of our nation is truly priceless. So if you have the time and means, a road trip to all national parks is definitely worth considering!