Everglades National Park

Fun fact: a national parks trip can be incredibly cost effective, but can also be mind blowingly expensive. I’ll always tell you that national parks are one of the cheapest vacations you can take, but….I might be a little bit wrong sometimes. There, I said it. With a little research, a national parks visit can be affordable. There are so many different options for lodging, camping, backpacking, staying in or outside of the park boundaries...you can make a national park whatever price point you want it to be. But we’re here to talk budget-friendly national parks, so let’s be real, just how expensive is a national parks trip?!

This is a fluid post that I will continually update! Each time I visit a new park I’ll add it here, or update parks that I return to. It’s kind of a fusion highlight reel and future bucket list.

We’re going to take a quick break from national park trip reports, since we’ve hit a milestone—Congaree National Park, which I talked in detail about two weeks ago, was my tenth national park! I thought it would be fun to do a quick overview of my first ten national park visits in chronological order all in one place. It’s been an interesting journey thus far, and I’m hoping you lovely readers might enjoy an honest recap.

I rolled over in my warm cocoon. The stars were still bright over the towering canopy of pines, uninhibited by the thriving city lights somewhere north of me. Even though the sky hadn’t yet begun to lighten, it was time to begin my day. With one of America’s largest national parks to explore and only half a day to do it, I packed up my campsite and hit the road.

So, I took my own advice. If you follow me on Instagram, you are well aware by now that I am officially working overnights, and getting used to the new schedule has been nothing short of a struggle. Realizing that I was really craving some sunlight, I planned a semi-last-minute trip to the place known for the one thing I needed: the Sunshine State