National Park Trip - May/Jun 2024

Day -1 (May 5)

Flight to St Louis

Gateway Arch NP including Tram ride to the top

Day - 2

Drive to Bowling Green, KY

Day - 3 

Mammoth Cave NP

  - Heritage Trail 

  - Historic Cave Tour (ticketed)

Drive to Lafayette 

Day - 4

Indiana Dunes NP

  - Dunes Ridge Trail (nothing much, bug spray needed)

  - Dunes Succession Trail 

Flight to Phoenix 

Day - 5

Saguaro NP

  - Desert Discovery Trail 

  - Majato Scenic drive 

  - Valley view Trail 

Drive to Show Low (Towne place Suites excellent hotel)

Day - 6

Petrified Forest NP 

  - Scenic drive 28 miles (Action guide)

  - Mesa Blue Trail 

  - Crystal Forest Trail 

  - Giant Logs Trail Trail (not needed)

Day -7

Grand Canyon NP

Mathew view point

  - Blue/Red Shuttle 

     - Mohave/Powell/Pima view points

Day - 8

Great Basin NP

  - Osceola Ditch Trail

  - Baker Creek

  - Mountain view Nature Trail 

  - Lehman Cave Lodge Tour

(Scenic drive open only up to Ditch Trail)

Day - 9

Lake Tahoe 

Day - 10

Lassen Volcanic NP

  - Walk to Sulphur works from Southside

  - drive in Scenic road until devastation area from north side

  - Manzanita.lake trail

(Scenic drive only partly open)

Day - 11

Redwood NP

  - Trillium Falls Trail 

  - Drury Scenic drive 

Day - 12

Crater Lake NP

  - Steel visitor center 

  - Rim village 

  - view point

(Rim drive will open only in July)

Day - 13

Portland sights

  - Intl. Rose Test Garden 

  - Columbia Gorge view points

  - Bridal veil Falls

  - Latourell Falls

  - Multnomah Falls

Drive to Seattle 

10 Days

Seattle stay May 17 to 27

Day 24

28 May flight to MSP

Day 25

Voyageurs National Park

  - Kobetegama lake overlook Trail 

  - Beaver lake overlook Trail 

  - Sullivan Bay trail

(Missed boat tours - only from mid Jun)

Day 26

Drive to MSP and flight to Bismarck 

Drive to Medora

Day 27

Theodore Roosevelt NP

  - Painted Canyon trail 

  - Scenic drive outlooks

  - Wind canyon trail

  - Boicourt trail 

Drive to Rapid City 

Day 28

Badlands NP (Guide Along tour)

  - Pinnacle entrance 

  - Priere dog town (not worth the drive)

  - Scenic drive & outlooks 

  - Window/Door Trails

  - Visitor Center 

Wind Cave NP

  - Priere nature trail 

  - Scenic drive to Route 5 for wildlife 

Day 29

Black Hills 

  - Needle Scenic drive 

  - Custer State Park (Sylvan lake trail)

  - Wildlife drive from Rte 87 (better to from here to Wind cave NP to avoid 7-11 dirt road)

  - Iron mountain scenic drive 

Mount Rushmore 

Flight to Denver 

Day 30

Flight to Anchorage/Kotzebue 

Day 31

Visitor Center etc

Day 32

Flight seeing 

  - Gates of Arctic NP (could not land)

 - Kobuk NP (landed in Dunes)

Day 33

Flight to Anchorage/IAD