Add national parks with family to your road trip travel, summer vacation plans, or national parks homeschool learning resource list and unschooling ideas! Whether you’re looking for best national parks to visit in winter with family or taking a short summer road trip, these park tips with kids will help and keep your kids learning while traveling!
GUIDE TO VISITING NATIONAL PARKS WITH FAMILY
Looking for staycation ideas, road trip stops, or family vacation getaways? Have you ever thought about including best national park road trips for families trip?
If you’re looking for an outdoor vacation with toddler or for teens, national parks are fun for all ages!
Why is it important to visit national parks?
Reasons to visit national parks:
- National parks family vacation is affordable
- Gets kids outside to explore
- Kids can experience endemic species they may not see elsewhere
- Helps kids learn about the environment
- Take advantage of kid-friendly options park offers
- Shows kids how people lived in the past
- Encourages kids to develop an interest in hiking and staying fit
- Allows kids to view wildlife, plants, flowers, trees native to that area
- National park tourism helps local community economy
What grade gets into national parks for free?
The Every Kid Outdoors 4th grade park pass allows all fourth graders and their families to get into national parks for free. So, the fourth grade year is perfect for affordable national park road trip for families, homeschoolers, homeschooling co-ops, camps, youth serving organizations and even church groups.
How to Homeschool with National Parks
National parks make a great homeschooling unit study or project based unit because there are so many ways to learn in the parks! (And, your kids learn a lot while traveling!)
To use national parks for homeschooling:
- Sign up for the Junior Rangers program
- Read about the history of the state before you arrive
- Learn about park history
- Explore fossils
- Visit the nature centers or info centers in the parks
- Collect park stamps
- Use maps to plot and track your road trip and travels
- Take time to nature journal and draw or write about your findings
- Participate in special events like Gettysburg campfire talks
- Take tours with guides, if available, and ask questions!
- Look for Home School Days at parks
- Download a free outdoor scavenger hunt printable to do in the parks (good for all ages!)
- Grab a tree or flower Fandex and use it to identify things while you hike
- Play bird bingo
- Read about national parks
TIP: VISIT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE FOR EDUCATOR RESOURCES, PARK LESSONS, AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Can’t make it to the park? Check out parks virtual programming for homeschoolers and families
DON’T MISS:
Guide To Summer Activities With Family
How many national parks are there?
There are actually 418 national parks in the US National Parks system. However, currently only 61 of those are designated as National Parks in their title within the system. The other parks have designations like National Historical Sites, National Seashores, National Monuments and more.
TIP: Search kid friendly national parks near me to see if you can do a family day trip!
LEARN ABOUT NATIONAL PARK PASS TO SAVE MONEY
US PARKS FUN FACT:
Did you know the largest national park is Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska?
It’s 8,323,148 acres! Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is the smallest. It’s 5,500 acres could fit into Wrangell-St. Elias around 2,400 times!
What is the only state without a national park?
There is only one state without a designated national park: Delaware. However, if you’ve been to Delaware, you know that there are many beautiful park and beach areas, so put it on your list to visit, also!
Which national parks have no entrance fees?
National park fees vary and sometimes they are waived for special days or during unusual times (like 2020). One of the most popular national parks with no entrance fee is the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. That’s because it was once privately owned land. According to the National Park Service, “When the state of Tennessee transferred ownership of Newfound Gap Road to the federal government, it stipulated that ‘no toll or license fee shall ever be imposed…’ to travel the road.”
Check out all national park entrance fees here
Here’s what our guest contributor Lisa says about traveling with kids to National Parks, including National Parks for kids tips!
Our US National Parks system is an incredible, priceless gift to the world.
And, if you aren’t visiting them while traveling, you’re really missing out! (We have the best national parks!)
State parks are definitely awe-inspiring as well. Make time for these treasures as you traverse our nation’s roads, especially if you’re road schooling (or homeschooling in an RV).
You won’t regret it!
We hiked behind waterfalls, splashed in the ocean, climbed lighthouses, studied Civil War relics and tramped for miles under awesome redwoods.
The US parks system is vast, offers something for absolutely everyone, and is often overlooked in our fast-paced, instant gratification world — all reasons you need to add national parks into your travel!
Let’s take a closer look at why you should visit parks with your kids while traveling (or even make them a destination vacation!).
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Why You Should Include US National Parks With Family During Your Roadschooling or Road Trip Travel
National Parks With Family Tip #1. US National Parks Are Way Better Than You Think
Every National Park we visited during our RV road schooling was worth our time and any effort it took to get there.
First, they are really well maintained by the national park system.
I was pleasantly surprised about everything from the bathrooms to the trails to signage to ranger centers.
We didn’t see a scrap of litter anywhere (which is a nod to visitors, as well. We all need to do our part).
There were also yummy restaurants and bookstores right within the parks, which provided additional things to keep kids entertained during our visits.
National Parks With Family Tip #2. Most US National Parks Accept RVs
If you’re traveling in an RV, you’re in luck!
We only struggled once or twice with parking our RV at national parks, but that was due to our destination being a popular spot.
We didn’t take our fifth wheel inside a park, but you can do that with many of them.
So, if you are full time roadschooling in an RV, then national parks won’t be a problem!
TIP: Search for national park family vacation packages before you go!
National Parks With Family Tip #3. You Can Camp in US National Parks
Camping in a national park is reasonably priced and fun, but you absolutely must plan far in advance to secure a campsite!
If you are mapping out your road trip, be sure to check out the park website or call ahead to see if there is room for camping while you’ll be there.
You don’t want to get stuck without a place to sleep after a long day of roadtripping!
If you need a US national parks map, you can check with the US Parks Service here.
National Parks With Family Tip #4. Every Fourth Grade Kid (and Their Family) Gets Into US National Parks FREE
Really!
We were fortunate to travel during our daughter’s fourth grade year.
US national parks offer a free program specifically for fourth graders called Every Kid in a Park.
With this pass, Reagan got us into nearly every, single park we visited FOR FREE PARK ADMISSION (this included Benjamin Franklin’s house in Philadelphia, but excluded the Statue of Liberty).
She just flashed that fancy card and voila, in we walked.
It was a huge blessing but even if you’re not traveling with your very own fourth grader, most of the national parks are still reasonably priced and worth every penny.
And, you can even add a national parks research project 4th grade for homeschool!
National Parks With Family Tip #5. Educational Opportunities are Endless in US National Parks
If you’re thinking that parks are just about hiking and woods and nature, you may be surprised to learn that the parks are that… but they’re so much more, too!
We saw reenactments at a couple of different parks (Fort Sumter and Castillo de San Marcos) and the participants were knowledgeable, patient and kind with our children.
At every park, rangers treated us with the utmost respect and made our girls feel very welcome.
At a historical site in Natchez, Miss., one man stayed 20 minutes after closing to make sure we had enough time to walk through the museum.
National Parks With Family Tip #6. Junior Ranger Programs Rock
Most national parks have a Junior Rangers Program where kids complete various activities within the park.
Once completed, they get a Junior Ranger badge and a certificate!
Our girls loved the junior ranger program and participated whenever we had the chance.
Each park has a little pamphlet of puzzles and questions pertaining to that particular place.
Our daughters wandered around finding the answers (mostly on their own) while my husband and I slowly made our way through the exhibits.
It was a wonderful way to include them in the experience and it also freed up mom and dad to just be adults for a while and breath free.
After they completed the pamphlet, we found a ranger and he or she did a little “swearing in” ceremony with our daughters.
They promised to explore and preserve the parks and we took pictures and clapped.
It never got old.
Several of the bigger parks also offered park passports and ranger vests on which to pin the badges we collected through the program.
You can get learn more about the Junior Ranger program and see a list of parks that participate in the Junior Ranger program on NationalParks.org.
US National Parks are an affordable way to learn more about our history and appreciate our country’s glorious natural resources.
Every time we explored one, we were so glad we did.
When you have the opportunity, please take it!
You won’t be sorry.
I promise.
Guest contributor Lisa Farrar Wellman writes at www.armedonlywiththis.com about her adventures traveling in an RV with her family.
WHAT NATIONAL PARKS WITH FAMILY HAVE YOU VISITED? LEAVE YOUR TRAVEL TIPS IN THE COMMENTS!
STARTING HOME SCHOOL? CHECK OUT OUR HOW TO HOMESCHOOL GUIDE
