You already know where you are going for your next weekend trip – but how will you see it all?
This guide will teach you my strategy to hit all parks and other interesting features on your next trip. You will learn to optimize your itinerary to find and see all of the parks and other interesting features on your next trip. I will share a roadmap to be more efficient on your vacation so that you can drive less and see more.
Throughout this guide, we will work together to plan a weekend trip to Charleston, SC.
Basics For How Plan A Trip:
- Search for National Parks and NPS Sites nearby
- Search for State Parks and Historic Sites
- Look for other landmarks and points of interest
- Look for nearby National Forests
- Determine recommended amount of time for each interesting park or sight
- Plot out your itinerary on Google Earth
- Write your itinerary and plan the order you will see it
How To Find Parks In The Area
The first place I look when planning a trip is the NPS Map Finder. Note down any national parks or park sites within an hour.
For a sample trip to Charleston, SC, here is the NPS site situation:
The second place I look is the state park map for the state I am going to. Most states have their own, here is a directory to help you find the one for your state:
| State | Map Type | Link |
| Alabama | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.alapark.com/parks |
| Alaska | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits |
| Arizona | Map-based park locator | https://azstateparks.com/explore/park-locator |
| Arkansas | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks |
| California | Interactive statewide park map | https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=712 |
| Colorado | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks |
| Connecticut | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/State-Parks |
| Delaware | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://destateparks.com/FindPark |
| Florida | Interactive statewide park map | https://www.floridastateparks.org/statewide-map |
| Georgia | Interactive statewide park map | https://gastateparks.org/map |
| Hawaii | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/ |
| Idaho | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/ |
| Illinois | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks.html |
| Indiana | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/parks-lakes/ |
| Iowa | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks |
| Kansas | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://ksoutdoors.com/State-Parks |
| Kentucky | Map-based park finder | https://parks.ky.gov/find |
| Louisiana | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.lastateparks.com/parks |
| Maine | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/ |
| Maryland | Interactive statewide park map | https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/pages/parkmap.aspx |
| Massachusetts | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.mass.gov/visit-massachusetts-state-parks |
| Michigan | Interactive statewide park map | https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/parksandtrails/ |
| Minnesota | Interactive statewide park map | https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/map.html |
| Mississippi | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.mdwfp.com/parks-destinations/ |
| Missouri | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://mostateparks.com/find-a-park |
| Montana | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://fwp.mt.gov/stateparks |
| Nebraska | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://outdoornebraska.gov/locations/ |
| Nevada | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://parks.nv.gov/parks |
| New Hampshire | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails |
| New Jersey | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/ |
| New Mexico | Map-based park locator | https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/spd/find-a-park/ |
| New York | Map-based park interface | https://parks.ny.gov/parks/ |
| North Carolina | Map-based park finder | https://www.ncparks.gov/find-a-park |
| North Dakota | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.parkrec.nd.gov/parks |
| Ohio | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property |
| Oklahoma | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://www.travelok.com/state-parks |
| Oregon | Map-based park interface | https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=visit.find |
| Pennsylvania | Map-based park interface | https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark |
| Rhode Island | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://riparks.ri.gov/locations |
| South Carolina | Map-based park finder | https://southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder |
| South Dakota | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://gfp.sd.gov/parks/ |
| Tennessee | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://tnstateparks.com/parks |
| Texas | Interactive statewide park map | https://tpwd.texas.gov/nearby-maps/all.html |
| Utah | Map-based park interface | https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/ |
| Vermont | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://vtstateparks.com/ |
| Virginia | Map-based park finder | https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/find-a-park |
| Washington | Map-based park interface | https://parks.wa.gov/find-park |
| West Virginia | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://wvstateparks.com/parks/ |
| Wisconsin | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/findapark |
| Wyoming | Official park directory (no statewide map) | https://wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/places-to-go |
For our sample trip to Charleston, here are the nearby state parks using the state’s park finder tool:
The parks and attractions can be crowded. If you have additional time to fill, or are looking for a more relaxed and secluded experience, look for National Forests in the area. I have found the National Forest system to be excellent, and in some areas just as beautiful as the National Parks. There is even a tool to help you find a national forest unit near you.
Here is an example from our theoretical Charleston trip:
To find other popular things to do in the area, Google is your best friend to learn about other people’s experiences. A personal favorite of mine is Atlas Obscura, which is a great resource to eclectic and unique places to visit on your vacation.
Searching Atlas Obscura for Charleston led us to Rainbow Row. We’ll go there!
How To Plan Trip Duration
In a perfect world (i.e. retirement), you have unlimited time and funds, so you should stay for as long as you want. In actuality, you are limited by time, funds, and PTO. Here’s how to optimize the time you have.
Now that you have a punch list of potential parks and points of interest, search for blogs like this one that have been to where you are wanting to go. Look for recommended visit duration for each park, I promise it is out there. It may even be on the park’s website.
For a place like Canyonlands National Park, recommendations will be for multiple days so that you can experience every unit the park has to offer and have time for long hikes. For a place like May Forest State Park in South Carolina, a quick 30-minute stop to eat a picnic lunch may be sufficient.
National Forests are a little trickier. Your time spent in a national forest should be dictated by the trails you want to hike and the activities you want to do. If you are planning to kayak, add a half day. A 2 mile hike will be completed in under an hour. A 20 mile hike is an all day event. I recommend checking All Trails and planning your hike ahead of time so you know how much time to spend there.
Here is a sample trip to Charleston, South Carolina:
- Fort Sumter: 2.25 Hours
- Fort Moultrie: 2 Hours
- May Forest State Park: 30 Minutes
- Charles Pinckney National Historic Site: 2 Hours
- Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site: 3-4 hours
- Rainbow Row: 1 hour
- City Market: 1 hour
- Total: 12 hours of sightseeing at sights.
Including meals and drive time, you could fill a day and a half easily with this itinerary.
If you are already in Charleston for example, you might as well stop into Francis Marion National Forest and see what it’s all about. Hikes are available from 1 – 26+ miles, so there is something for everyone. I found a 9.5 mile trail called the Palmetto Trail: Awendaw Passage. I would plan to add a half day.
How To Be Efficient On Your Trip
I know, the point of travel is not to be efficient. You should still plan out the order you will see sights, because they may be geographically distributed and the last thing you want to do is spend your vacation backtracking.
I would start off by finding out if any of the parks have delayed entry or tours at a specific time. If there is a tour at a specific time, you need to plan around that. For our sample trip to Charleston, you will have to plan around the Fort Sumter Ferry and it would be worth getting your tickets ahead of time.
Next, plot all points of interest on google earth. This will show you where everything is in reference to the other parks on your itinerary. You will want to go in order to minimize drive time, and maximize sightseeing.
As you can see by our Charleston plot, some attractions are close to each other and should be lumped together. The last thing you want to do is travel from Fort Moultrie to May Forest to Charles Pinckney NHS to Charles Towne Landing. Try to do them in geographical order to make the most of your vacation.
Zooming out, you can see the trail I selected outside of city limits in the national forest. Since it is not close to the other parks, you will want to dedicate at least a half day to it. If you have another day of PTO and budget for travel, you should visit nearby Congaree National Park and Columbia, SC!
Since you already know how long you are planning to spend at each sight, now that you know the order too you can define it by day. Write this down and take it with you on your trip. Better yet, print out a snip of the map you made on Google Earth.
Summary
In this post, I shared valuable resources to help you find parks, recreation areas, and points of interest for your next trip. I would recommend starting with NPS sites, then also checking out State Parks, National Forests, and other sights in the area. Learn from others to find recommendations for amount of time to spend at each site, then book and enjoy your trip!
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