National Parks

annieoldfield

Just in the looking at options stage for our honeymoon.

And was wondering what some nice parks are anywhere in the US. Somewhere that has things to do there, and that you can camp in tent or that has cabins to rent. 

Preferably ones that arent too far distance from an airport or the main city. 

TIA!

Smooch711

FI and I love the parks! Before answering your question, I have some for you.
1. When are you going?
2. How long do you have for the HM?
3. Do you definitely want to fly to one? Or could you do a road trip to one and be happy?
4. How far is too far from an airport?
5. East Coast? West Coast?

I have no experience about cabin rentals in parks, or even camping, but I've been to a lot of parks. If you're going in a month I'd suggest the Great Smokey Mountains at that time of the year. Or Shenandoah NP in Virginia. You would fly into DC, and could drive down Skyline Drive.

Otherwise, maybe Denver and Rocky Mountain NP? We did Mount Rainier from Seattle a few summers ago. It's about 1.5-2 hours drive from Seattle. Olympic is on the other side of Seattle (not sure of the distance). You could fly into Vegas and then go to the Grand Canyon. . . just not sure of the timing. I loved Crater Lake in Oregon. But I think that's a hike from Portland.

Good luck. Hopefully some of this is helpful!

annieoldfield

1. When are you going? Probably July/August
2. How long do you have for the HM? Thinking a week
3. Do you definitely want to fly to one? Or could you do a road trip to one and be happy? Would drive only to somewhere in Florida
4. How far is too far from an airport? Id say not more than 2 hours away
5. East Coast? West Coast? Either!

Thanks for the suggestions girls, ill check them out!!

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Yellowstone is gorgeous.

California has a ton if you'd be willing to roadtrip. You can get a Nat. Parks season's pass. Mojave, Kings Canyon/Sequoia, Yosemite.

cnf2013

FI and I are NP junkies, we've been to so many of them. We have the NP passport to collect all the cancellation stamps in (nerd alert).

Anyways, since you saind you'd want to drive from Florida, You may find that serverly limits your options. I'd say Everglades. Otherwise I don't think ther are many that are only a few hours drive from you. 

J&K10910

No--she said they'd ONLY drive to places in Florida.  Which means they'd fly to anywhere else.

My H and I just got back from Yellowstone.  It was awesome, but I wished we had spent some more time in Grand Teton National Park.

For our HM, we flew to Seattle, spent a couple days there, drove down and hiked at Mt Rainier, then headed to Olympic National Forest, then down to Oregon and hiked in Willamette National Park, and then went to Crater Lake, then down to San Francisco, where we spent a few days exploring the city, then hiked at Mt Tamalpais/Muir Woods.  July and August would be a fantastic time for any of those places (we went in late June and there was still considerable snow).

If you want more info on any of those places, let me know!

cnf2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_national-parks-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:3cee7106-f54f-4a9c-bb78-438be6a082a5Post:4477f967-1c2f-4257-a72c-5fe76c73f74d">Re: National Parks</a>:
[QUOTE]No--she said they'd ONLY drive to places in Florida.  Which means they'd fly to anywhere else. My H and I just got back from Yellowstone.  It was awesome, but I wished we had spent some more time in Grand Teton National Park. For our HM, we flew to Seattle, spent a couple days there, drove down and hiked at Mt Rainier, then headed to Olympic National Forest, then down to Oregon and hiked in Willamette National Park, and then went to Crater Lake, then down to San Francisco, where we spent a few days exploring the city, then hiked at Mt Tamalpais/Muir Woods.  July and August would be a fantastic time for any of those places (we went in late June and there was still considerable snow). If you want more info on any of those places, let me know!
Posted by J&K10910[/QUOTE]

<div>How'd you like Mt. Rainier? I've been there a few times and loved it. Olympic is next my Washington parks list. FI and I are planning a similar trip for our Honeymoon. </div><div>
</div><div>Sorry I misread her statement about driving versus flying. That would definitely alter my answer. I'd highly suggest Great Sand Dunes NP in southern CO. One of the most fun day trip parks. Then from there you could rent a car drive out to Utah and see all the parks out that way, like Bryce and Arches. That's on our tentative December 2013 trip anyways. </div>

J&K10910

Well, the weather was dismal (cold, rainy, and foggy), and most of the trails we wanted to hike were closed due to snow, but we did enjoy what we were able to see.  I'd like to go back later in the summer at some point.