National Parks are great destinations to see some breathtaking scenery. However, many RVers are surprised upon arrival that not all National Park campsites are RV friendly. Sometimes, RVers need to stay in private campgrounds close to the park, instead of actually in the park. RVing is an experience like no other, but you do need to prepare before embarking on your journey. Check out our list of parks that are great for RVers, all with their own write up from our resident RV travel expert: Sue Bray. Sue Bray has worked in the RV industry for 35+ years. Over the summer, Sue, her husband Mel, and their boxer Harley took off to tour the country in their 31’ fifth wheel, with no exact plans except to have an adventure. She’s chronicled her trip to provide advice for RVers for many of the most popular parks.
Bryce Canyon National Park
A relative youngster in geologic time at only 60 million years old, Bryce Canyon National Park is a lacy combination of spires and pinnacles which form the most incredible breathtaking views. Of all the Utah parks we visited, I’d have to say it’s my favorite.
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Zion National Park
The breathtaking scenery we found driving through northern Arizona and southern Utah was overwhelming. I had recently asked a very well-traveled RVer (49 states in seven years) which was his favorite state to travel, and he immediately answered “Utah.” I was shocked, but now I see why. Fortunately, we live close enough to go back – many times, I’m sure. As we were visiting in the peak summer months, we elected to stay in a private campground just outside of Zion where we could get reservations.
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Arches National Park
True to its name, Arches National Park just outside of Moab, Utah, displays 2500 natural arches of amazing sizes, shapes, and colors. It’s easy to look at the arches and picture all sorts of shapes and figures in this magnificent masterpiece of nature. My imagination was definitely running wild in this park, and often found myself taking a second or even third look at these breathtaking arch formations.
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Yellowstone National Park
There are many publications and websites out there touting the glories of Yellowstone National Park, many with probably much more authoritative information than I can provide in this blog. But we spent a glorious week camped just outside of Yellowstone this summer, and I can share with you just some of the discoveries we made.
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Rocky Mountain National Park
Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park is 415 square miles of some of the highest terrain in the world. It encompasses the Continental Divide, and those mountain peaks are surrounded by alpine lakes, forested valleys, and a wide range of plants and animals. About 11,000 years ago, early man ventured into these valleys and mountains, hunting for food. Later, the Ute Indians and other tribes would travel through this area in summer months, with the Utes dominating the others in their hunts, fishing, and searches for food.
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Mesa Verde National Park
For decades, driving south from Durango, Colorado, I’d seen the somewhat innocuous signpost for Mesa Verde National Park. I’d always intended to stop, but never did… until this trip. First impressions can be deceiving – for Mesa Verde (which means “Green Table” in Spanish), turns out to have much, much more to do and see than I expected, offering a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for more than 700 years, from AD 600 to 1300.
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Grand Canyon National Park
Much has been written about the Grand Canyon – most of it far more eloquently than I could ever dream of putting into words. It’s awesome. It’s breathtaking. It’s inspiring. And it’s truly overwhelming. The Canyon just draws you in – every time you look into its mile-long depth colors and shadows change, or you notice something you never saw before.
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Glacier National Park
Often referred to as the Crown of the Continent, Glacier National Park offers visitors incredible views, 762 amazing lakes, 2865 miles of streams, 175 mountains, 700 hiking trails, and a variety of wildlife freely traversing through the Park’s more than one million acres. It’s a spectacular mountain landscape, and despite its name, to me the Park is really more about the land the existing 25 glaciers created, rather than the glaciers themselves. In fact, those glaciers are vanishing – in 1850, there were an estimated 150 in the Park.
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Olympic National Park
The crown of the Olympic Peninsula has got to be Olympic National Park, consisting of a million acres – including 73 miles of pristine Pacific Ocean beaches, rain forests, alpine meadows, clear mountain lakes, abundant wildlife, and of course that magnificent mountain range.
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Where’s your favorite place to travel in your RV? Let us know in the comments below!
You might also be interested in:
On the Road with Sue: Planning for the Big Trip
On the Road with Sue: And So It Begins
On the Road with Sue: Dead Horse Point State Park
On the Road with Sue: Devils Tower National Monument
On the Road with Sue: Mount Rushmore
On the Road with Sue: Black Hills, Badlands, Bikers, and More
On the Road with Sue: A Hidden Gem in Missoula, Montana
On the Road with Sue: A Visit to Oklahoma City
On the Road with Sue: Durango Silverton Railroad
On the Road with Sue: The Surprising Olympic Peninsula
On the Road with Sue: Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
On the Road with Sue: Monument Valley Navajo Nation Tribal Park
On The Road With Sue: Arizona State Parks – Just A Sampling!
Like to put Articulated shower rod on wall is it ok to drill into.
I’ve Tried twice to get some info., I’ll try again. The fiberglass roof is delaminating along the sides, about 6-7 ft. and about 6 to 12″ in. I’ve had it checked for moisture, reads from 0 to 4%. I’m Planning on sealing the gutter to roof joint with Eternabond but how do I reattach the roof? I have some West Sistem105 epoxy. Do I have to cut holes in the fiberglass? Or is there some other way? Clary
Most of the time the roof will not reattach depending on the damage underneath. Sometimes it does work but if the moisture is too high it might not work. You are getting good readings so with it being dried out you might have some luck. I have used PL400 in the past with success but it has to be clamped for a while. You could try an epoxy but I have not tried it myself so I could not tell you the results of it. I’m sure it would do fine and would set up faster so it wouldn’t need pressure for long. If you can’t get around the sides to apply it you would have to drill holes and then patch them. If along the edges I have always taking off the edge moldings and lifted the panels to apply the adhesive. If hard to get to or this can’t be done, drilling would be the only option.
Sincerely,
Dan RV Repair Club Technical Expert
Looking forward to good information
Looking to visit almost all National and State Parks in the US.
Where is the hot water heater bypass located?
Where is the water pump located?
Hello Connie,
Can you please confirm the year, make, and model of your RV and we will look further into your question for you.
Thanks,
Becky
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Planning on a Grand Canyon trip w/40 ft. fiver.
Just bought a 1996 Coachmen class C Catalina Sport 25 foot motorhome –
My awning wont come in.
New member. Planning our 6wk RV trip from Brownsville,Texas heading west to the coast and north to Washington and east bound to Minneapolis and south back to Brownsville. Any suggestions on must see places we should include in our travel is appreciated. I’m a long time RVer.
Having a problem with the wood looking paper peeling off the walls
Hello Elmer,
To provide more specific troubleshooting information on your paneling issue we need the make, model, and year of your rig. Most interior walls are a 1/8” inch panel with a decorative wallpaper similar to what you would find at a home improvement store. If the paper is peeling off, you most likely have a moisture issue that is affecting the adhesive. The best thing you can do is pull off the wall paper, check to see what type of moisture damage there is, and either paint or wallpaper the board.
Thanks,
David
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Traveled to many of the National Parks and love them all.
WHAT NATIONAL PARKS WILL ACCOMODATE MY 39′ RV? WE ARE NOT FULL TIME YET BUT MAYBE SOON!! WE WANT TO SEE MORE OF OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. WE ARE NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN FOREIGN OR OVERSEAS TRAVEL. WHY BOTHER WHEN WE HAVE SOME OF THE WORLDS MOST BEAUTIFUL LANDS IN OUR BACK YARD??
Excellent choice of parks.going to go to Grande canyon
Looking for any information
Looking to travel down the Baja when things open up . I would love some advice on places to visit, good campgrounds , safety etc. Hoping to go with another group for safety too.
One of the parks in Utah had a tunnel too low for Class A Motorhomes and I saw no by pass road do you know which this was?
The park near a low tunnel is Zion.
Pretty sure that’s Zion National Park that has the tunnel
Sue, we stayed in a boondocking site just to the west of the Capitol Reef NP west entrance and it made for a perfect visit to this wonderful park. The park CG s hard to get into but this site (and there is another a bit west of it) even with the lack of amenities was perfect and had some good hiking itself.
Good choices on those parks.
My 5th wheel trailer is plumbed for a washer and dryer, but we have never opted to have one. Now that we are retired and plan to travel farther from home, it is something that we have talked about. Just wondering what there is out there for our unit. It is the 34 foot Presidential model with slide outs in the dining/living area as well as the front bedroom. Was also wondering the average price.
Hello,
Without the model and year, I am not sure what space you have for a washer/dryer as there are combination units that are only about 4’ tall, or stackables that go up to about 6’. Either way, there are several models that are popular such as Dometic, Splendide, and others. Most are going to be around $100-1200 MSRP. No matter what brand you get, make sure it has an external vent otherwise it will take a long time to dry clothes and you will have a “sauna” inside your rig!
Thanks,
David
RV Repair Club Video Membership
New to All.CampGrounds
I am just getting started on my journey. Can’t wait to visit Utah. Any other full time RVers?
New to the RV thing so looking for places to travel and check out this fall!
Looking to travel down the Baja when things open up . I would love some advice on places to visit, good campgrounds , safety etc. Hoping to go with another group for safety too.
Glacier National Park
New to this site, looking for any information from current or past blogs.
Looking for advice on motoring to Alaska from Seattle late this summer.
Buy the mile post magazine/book it gives you things of interest and to see as well as camping information by the mile in Alaska. When we drove up in 2014 it was very helpful as we would have missed a lot of things had it not been for this. We happened to stop in the same campground and we’re checking in at the same time as an editor for this magazine and had an interesting conversation with her. They travel and camp the AlCan highway every year to update it and we’re hoping to get it into an electronic version. We spent 3 months all over Alaska. Don’t be in a hurry, it was my dream trip of my life and didn’t disappoint there is so much to see, experience and enjoy. The roads in Alaska were better than those in Northern California that we drove. I can’t say the same for those in the Yukon especially from White Horse to Dawson City and Top of the World Highway but is well worth the trip for the views and to see this old gold mining town. We were on all major roads in Alaska and were advised by friends to take the inter costal fairway one way if we could afford it, which we did on our return back to Seattle as we wanted to stop in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan which you can’t drive to. We were on 3 different ferries and spent a few days in each stop. Book the ferry and campgrounds in advance as they fill up fast in the summer months. I started planning my trip 1&1/2 years ahead of time. We live in Florida and spent 10 months on the road in 2014 from February to December and spent $37 thousand for everything. I would make the trip again in a heart beat if I could afford it. Plan your trip in advance and enjoy and don’t be afraid of the roads or lack of services just fill up when you get under 1/2 tank and by 1/4 tank. Most of all definitely go and enjoy!😀