See 7 National Parks in One Weekend

You can have a lot of fun outside on two-day trips to some national parks, from hikes to watching wildlife.
For a stress-free weekend trip, find out about parks, pet rules, and places to stay ahead of time and make reservations.
Acadia, Shenandoah, the Great Smoky Mountains, Arches, Saguaro, Mammoth Cave, and Cuyahoga are all great places to get away for the weekend.

Going to a national park on the weekend is a great way to enjoy some of the United States’ natural beauty without taking a long trip. These seven U.S. national parks are great for a weekend trip because they have a lot to offer, from hiking and seeing wildlife to beautiful scenery and historical places.

It’s possible to have a lot of fun and enjoy nature’s beauty in just two days by hiking, having a picnic, seeing wildlife, and visiting historic places. For longer trips with more time to enjoy and learn, many national parks are best left for longer stays. However, some parks can be fully explored in just two days for those who want to take a shorter trip. Whether you want to find the national parks with the most people in the summer or the parks with the hardest hikes, you can fit a lot of fun and excitement into a shorter trip.

No matter how long the trip is, it’s a good idea to look into National Park fees, opening hours, and whether bookings are needed. If you are going with pets, you should know what the park’s rules are and if your pets are allowed on the trails. Plan ahead for where to stay as well. In most parks, you can camp, and some also have cottages and cabins.

Do some study ahead of time to see what’s available, and don’t count on being able to make reservations the same day. The same goes for hotels in towns close to these national parks; they may fill up quickly during peak park-visiting season.

7Acadia National Park in Maine

Along the Atlantic coast, you can hike, swim, and take scenic rides.
Four million people visit this park along the Atlantic Coast every year, making it one of the most popular parks in the U.S. There are 158 miles of hiking trails and 27 miles of old motor roads for people to enjoy. Along with climbing and biking, kayaking and biking are also popular things to do in Acadia National Park.

For a weekend trip, you can’t miss hiking Cadillac Mountain, driving the beautiful Park Loop road, or riding in a carriage. A third party, not the National Park Service, runs the carriage rides.

Sand Beach, Echo Lake Beach, or Lake Wood are all great places to swim on a hot day. Along with tent and primitive sites, lean-tos, and RV sites, the park has five campsites. One is only for people with horses. You have to make reservations ahead of time. Would you rather stay in a hotel? Three miles separate the park from Bar Harbor, one of seven “hidden gem” towns close by.

6: Shenandoah National Park in Virginia

A quick trip for the weekend from the nation’s capital

This peaceful park is only 75 miles from Washington, D.C. It has beautiful views, hiking and driving trails, and waterfalls that fall into pools. People who like to watch wildlife might see deer, black bears, and different kinds of birds. The Appalachian Trail goes through Shenandoah, so hiking a part of the AT is a great way to check something off your list.

Plan to spend one day driving Skyline Drive if you’re going to be there on the weekend. This 105-mile scenic byway goes along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and has many pullouts with beautiful views, hiking trails, and more. You can stop and have a lunch right next to the Byrd Visitor’s Center, which is on Skyline Drive. The hike to Dark Hollow Falls is easy and has beautiful views. It is close to the Byrd Visitor’s Center. There are also a number of tracks in Shenandoah National Park that are good for dogs.

Sunrise and sunset are the best times to see wildlife on Skyline Drive. There are many places to stay in the park for people who want to stay there. Skyline and Big Meadows Lodge have a range of rooms, from motel-style rooms to houses that are separate from the lodge. The Lewis Mountain Cabins are more out in the country. People who want to camp can choose from a number of spots, RV sites with hookups, and camping in the woods.

5. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina and Even though this park is in two states, you can still visit it on the weekend.

This national park covers 522,000 acres, which is almost evenly split between North Carolina and Tennessee. Depending on where you start, you can choose where to enter the park. Even more people visit this park than the Grand Canyon, which is a center of southern Appalachian mountain culture. A lot of people like to camp, hike, take beautiful drives, and watch animals in the park.

There are black bears in the park, so be aware of them and know what to do if you come across one. Also, know how to be respectful of wildlife when you’re in a national park.

Make plans to visit Cades Cove over the weekend. It’s a green valley where early European residents lived. Take three to four hours to look at the old buildings and keep an eye out for animals like foxes, turkeys, black bears, and white-tailed deer. You can also start walks from Cades Cove, like the 5-mile round-trip to Abrams Falls.

You can either get a trail map from the park’s tourist center or talk to a ranger about what kind of hike would be best for you. Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the park, so don’t miss the hike up it. You’ll gain most of your height on the road that leads to the parking lot. After that, it’s a steep walk up a concrete path.

The park’s parking lot isn’t very big, but Clingmans Dome is one of the busiest spots. If the parking lot is full, plan to do something else in case this one gets done early in the day.

There are both rough backcountry places and well-kept campgrounds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, which are close by, offer a range of places to stay.

4Arches National Park in Utah

Just a short drive from a small city with lots of stores, Utah’s red rock desert is full of magic.
Utah has five national parks. Arches National Park is one of them. Its name comes from the amazing rock shapes that can be found there. In the park, there are more than 2,000 arches. It’s not always easy to find them because some are big and easy to see. A lot of people like to hike, bike, take beautiful drives, and look at the stars in the park. Sign up for a ranger-led Fiery Furnace Hike if you want to really push yourself. You can only hike this trail with a guide or an individual permit.

Delicate Arch is another popular walk. It’s a 3-mile hike that goes up and around one of the park’s most famous rock formations. Utah even put it on their license plate because it’s so well-known. To stay cool on hot, full days in the park, switch between walks and scenic drives. Also, Utah’s rare Double Arch is beautiful and has a trail that people in wheelchairs can use.

Arches only has camping in the back country. If you want something a little less rustic, Moab is not far away and has a lot to offer. The Moab Resort, WorldMark Associate is only a 5-minute drive from the park’s gate. It also has a hiking concierge who can help you plan your 1- and 2-day trips in the park.

Arches National Park needs to be reserved ahead of time for a specific time. Don’t skip this step if you don’t want to be let down.

3Ariz.’s Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park is split into two sides and is 15 miles from Tucson. It is home to the country’s biggest cacti. One is west of Tucson and the other is east of it. Both parks are popular spots for walkers and bikers, but some people just drive through them. Because it gets so hot in the summer, this desert spot is best visited in the winter. It’s a great place for people going south to get away from the cold and snow.

The Signal Hill petroglyphs, the Cactus Forest Drive, and the Desert Ecology Trail are some of the must-see things in the park. There is also the easy 1-mile Freeman Homestead Trail for people who want to go on a short, kid-friendly walk. When you go to Saguaro National Park, make sure you see the sunset. The Tanque Verde Ridge Trail and Gates Pass are the best places to watch the sunset.

At one of the park’s six spots, you can camp in a simple way by hiking in. Otherwise, Tucson is close by and has many places to eat, stay, and other things to do.

2. Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky

There are lots of fun things to do above ground in this peaceful park. It has the world’s largest cave system.

Mammoth Cave National Park is only a short 41-mile drive from Bowling Green. At first glance, it might seem like a secret gem, but when I went there in 2022, I was shocked to learn that people came from all over the world to see the famous cave system. It was busy at the park when I went in the summer, so cave tour groups were crowded and it was nice to do things on the ground.

A cave walk is the best thing to do in Mammoth Cave National Park. There are 14 tours right now, but not all of them may be available every day. Check the schedule to see what tours are offered and when they happen. The tours range from being easy for people in wheelchairs to being very hard.

For activities on land, the Green and Nolin rivers run through the park. There are several outfitters in the area that rent out canoes and kayaks so that visitors can get on the water at any of the park’s four access places. You can also go on nature walks or hear talks about the park’s history lead by park rangers. There is a good mix between cave tours and activities on the surface, so people who are there for the weekend can spend their time doing both, if they want to.

There are different types of country rooms at the Lodge at Mammoth Cave, such as motel-style rooms and cabins. At the cabin, you can also rent bikes. Inside the park, there are many flat, shady places to ride your bike. There are three sites in the front country, and you can also camp in the back country. Bowling Green is close—less than an hour’s drive—for tourists who want to stay in a hotel and drive to the park every day.

Book your cave tour as early as you can, because they fill up fast, especially in the summer.

1In Ohio, Cuyahoga National Valley Park is where

For excitement all year, Ohio’s only National Park has something new to offer in every season.

The only national park in Ohio is Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but there are seven other NPS-run places in the state that you can visit. In just 35 miles, you can get to this park from either Cleveland or Akron. It’s a great place to spend the weekend from either city. Follow the old path of the Ohio and Erie Canals on foot or by bike along the Towpath Trail. You can enjoy the winding Cuyahoga River that flows through woods and over hills.

You can hike, ride a bike, and watch birds. You can spend the whole day going on the Brandywine Gorge Loop, the Blue Hen Falls Trail, and the Ledges Trail. It takes about two hours to finish each trail. The Brandywine Gorge Loop has beautiful views of waterfalls.

People who come with their own boats or kayaks can use the Cuyahoga River’s water trails. The best trip to Cuyahoga Falls National Park will have one day of activities and one day of resting while riding the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad to see more of the park.

There are two types of housing inside the park: Stanford House and The Inn at Brandywine Falls. Both are bed-and-breakfast settings. While camping is not allowed in the park itself, the park does keep track of sites nearby. Both Akron and Cleveland have a lot of places to stay.