New Year, New Travel! Tips and Info for National Park Adventures in 2025
As we close out 2024 and dive into 2025, we're already setting our sights on new art projects, design inspiration, product ideas, creative ventures, and, of course, travel plans.
Team ADG had some of our best travel moments yet in 2024. See below for a snippet of Molly Mann's trip to Washington State's Olympic National Park! You can read the full story of her adventure, plus learn important travel tips about Washington's three national parks, here.
Since the winter months afford the best opportunities for cozy afternoons spent making travel plans and researching 2025's destinations, we thought this would be the perfect time to discuss national park travel in 2025.
2025's Free Entry Days
Whether it’s Great Smoky Mountains for the synchronous fireflies, Grand Canyon for the panoramic vistas, Joshua Tree for the desert ecosystems, or Yosemite for the stunning monolith that is Half Dome, the national parks present a world of wonder that awaits exploration in 2025.
Recently, the National Park Service (NPS) published its list for this year's free entrance days.
The 2025 free entrance days are:
- January 20 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- April 19 – First Day of National Park Week
- June 19 – Juneteenth National Independence Day
- August 4 – Great American Outdoors Act Signing Day
- September 27 – National Public Lands Day
- November 11 – Veterans Day
You're probably thinking, "Yeah, but won't the national parks be super congested on the free entry days?" You're right about the 63 flagship parks typically referred to under the "National Park" moniker. But the National Park Service protects over 400 park sites across the U.S., and each one offers free entry on the above days! Check out the full list here.
How to Plan a National Park Trip
When you're planning that big 2025 adventure, start with these six basic questions:
Where do I go? The NPS does not just conserve natural lands and wilderness areas. A big part of the NPS mandate is to protect and preserve historical and cultural sites as well as national monuments, battlefields, ocean preserves, coastlines, and critical ecosystems. Even some urban parklands and buildings are protected as NPS sites. The best way to pick the location you want to visit is to start with the National Park Service's Find a Park tool.
When do I go? Another big question. If you're not visiting the park on one of the free entry days mentioned earlier, pick a time of year when the weather will be pleasant. Double-check that your park will be open when you plan to travel there. (Most, but not all, parks are open year-round).
How do I get there? Plane, train, automobile, boat, or bicycle. Factor in how you will arrive at your chosen park. Just as important, factor in how you will move about the park once you're there. Some parks, like Zion National Park, close sections of the park to automobiles during the busy season and require you to travel by bicycle (you can bring your own) or shuttle bus.
What activities do I want to do? Every park offers various activities within its boundaries, and those activities differ from one park to the next. Review the activities available at the park you plan to visit and decide which ones are most interesting to you. Don't forget to consider your experience and skill level when picking an activity.
What gear do I need to bring? More on gear in the next section, but determining what to bring with you depends significantly on which park you're traveling to. A trip to an Alaskan park will require a very different packing list than a trip to the Florida Everglades!
How can I prepare for the unexpected? Travel plans change, the weather shifts, and unforeseen events occur. Prepare for the unexpected by always packing the ten essentials. They are:
Navigation: A map, compass, GPS, or other navigation tool
Sun protection: Sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat
Insulation: A jacket, hat, gloves, rain shell, and thermal underwear
Illumination: A flashlight, headlamp, or lantern
First aid: A first aid kit, foot care, and insect repellent
Fire: Matches, a lighter, tinder, or a stove
Shelter: A lightweight emergency bivvy or other shelter
Extra food: More food than you expect to need
Extra water: More water than you expect to need, or the means to purify water
Extra clothes: Enough clothes to survive an emergency overnight
Once you've accomplished the above, you're almost fully prepared to go on your trip! But as an added layer of safety and proper planning, it's a good idea to plan activities like a park ranger would.
7 Tips for Planning Like a Park Ranger
A voyage into the national parks is no ordinary vacation. The more remote, undeveloped parks require careful planning to enjoy them safely, and even the smaller, more frequently traveled NPS sites require thoughtful preparation.
Here's what park rangers do to ensure their safety in the parks:
Don't miss out on the best aspects of the parks. Maybe you want to avoid the most congested areas and go "off the beaten path," but the most congested areas are congested for a reason. These spots are typically where the best park experiences are to be had! The rim of the Grand Canyon, Angel's Landing in Zion, Delicate Arch in Arches, yes, these places have crowds, but visiting them is still a once-in-a-lifetime experience (and if you visit early in the day, you may just beat the crowds!)
Make a backup plan. Every park ranger is so prepared when they go out into a park, especially the backcountry, that they have a plan AND a backup plan. You should have a backup plan if a change in the weather, an injury, an equipment failure, or another event throws a wrench into your original plan.
Yes, there's an app for that. Even the Park Service has its own app! Download it before you go on your adventure so you can use it offline while in the park.
Make reservations when necessary. Part of planning ahead means checking the park you plan to visit (and the locations within the park you plan to go to). Do any require reservations? Are some of them only offering access based on a lottery system? This information and other access-related questions will be answered on the NPS's website for that park. (The NPS has a dedicated website for all 400+ of the sites they manage. Just do a Google search for the site you plan to visit, and click the NPS link to that site when it pops up).
Safety comes first, always. Remote parks add complications to search and rescue. NPS park rangers ask that you not be that guy who tries to cuddle a bison in Yellowstone or catwalk the rim of the Grand Canyon. Never feed wildlife, always maintain a safe distances from animals, stay within designated trails, and follow posted warning signage; these are some of the best strategies for staying safe in the parks this year.
Learn about the rules governing pets in the park. Every park in the NPS roster has rules governing pets. Some parks are very lenient, some have designated pet areas, and some don't allow pets. Rest assured that all decisions made by the NPS regarding pets are made with the health of the park's ecosystems as the priority. Read the pet regulations posted by the parks you plan to visit in 2025 before you arrive. (If you are traveling to a park that allows dogs and you plan to take your pup, consider making them a BARK Ranger!)
Leave only footprints. The most important thing you can do for the parks is leave them as good or better than you found them. The national parks were born from an idea in the late 1800s that all Americans, for all generations into the future, should have access to these magnificent sites. When you recreate responsibly, you're doing your part to ensure the parks are here for future generations to enjoy.
If You Need Inspiration, We Have It!
In 2024, ADG published Wilderness & Wonder: An Illustrated Guide to the National Parks. With this book, you can enjoy a captivating journey to America’s most beloved natural lands, the best coffee table book for seeking inspiration and national park trip planning information. (The above link will take you to the hardcover version. Click here for the softcover version).
Wilderness & Wonder’s art of the national parks is depicted in Kenneth Crane's loose, hand-rendered dry-brush composition style and is supported by dozens of on-site photographs and hundreds of Ren Brabenec's travel tips, inspiring park descriptions, historical information, and educational facts about the geology, biology, human history, and wildlife of the parks.
Directed, organized, and compiled by Joel Anderson, the book is not only visually beautiful, it is also easy to read (ideal for younger readers) and educational, too! Bonus material includes: An Illustrated History of the National Parks, A National Park Map of the USA, How the Art is Made, and a handy glossary.
Here's to a Year of New Experiences and Joy in America's National Parks
We hope you have all the best adventures you can imagine in the parks this year. We visited more parks in 2024 than any year prior, so the bar is high if we want to beat that record! We're setting our sights on new adventures for 2025, and who knows, maybe we'll see you on the trail.
Cheers to enjoying the beauty of our natural world!
- Ren Brabenec
Anderson Design Group Staff Writer
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