Choosing when to take your family to a national park is easier than you'd think: There's really no perfect age for a trip to a national park. That's one of the beauties of our national park system, young and old alike can enjoy and learn from our parks, side by side.
Choosing where to stay, then, may be the biggest hurdle. To make the most of the system, it's best to match your family's preferences -- sleeping bags or goose feather duvets? gourmet meals or wieners on the fire? long hikes or contemplative strolls? -- with what the parks have to offer. This mix of campgrounds, cabins, lodges and hotels will make that pairing job easier.
The Best Campgrounds
Rising Sun
Glacier National Park
Though Glacier has 13 campgrounds to choose from, this one struck me as one of the best places to spend a night or two or three under the stars. Why? The individual sites are well-spaced, there are plenty of trees for shade, and the Rising Sun Lodge is nearby in case you feel the urge for a hot shower or for someone else to do the cooking. Plus, you've got St. Mary Lake right across the road for boating or swimming (if it's a really hot day), and the east side of Glacier is just as interesting, and less crowded, than the west side.
Jenny Lake
Grand Teton National Park
This campground just might be the most picturesque campground that has a paved road leading to it that you'll ever find. The 49 sites are carefully sprinkled amid evergreens and boulders left behind by retreating glaciers and the crags we call the Tetons tower overhead. And there's even a lake.
Nickerson State Park (tel. 508/896-3491; www.mass.gov)
Cape Cod National Seashore
True, this state park isn't inside the national seashore's borders, but let's not split hairs. It's a great place to call home during your visit. At 1,900 acres, this is the largest state park on the cape and the nicest one because of the many "ponds" (I call them small lakes) scattered within its borders. The park's 420 campsites are nestled among towering white pines and clumped in seven groups scattered about the ponds, so you don't get claustrophobic. Not only can you swim and sail in the ponds, but the Cape Cod Rail Trail runs through the park, and so you can peddle from the state park to the national seashore.
Ozette Lake
Olympic National Park
This is a great campground for families with teens who like to backpack, or who want an introduction to backpacking. You can opt for one of the 15 drive-up campsites on the lake, or reserve one of the backcountry campsites and hike in. Located in the northwest corner of the Olympic peninsula, away from the bulk of the national park, this location takes a little extra driving, but the solitude is worth it.
Slough Creek
Yellowstone National Park
Like Ozette Lake, this campground is removed from the heart of the park. Located in the northeastern corner of Yellowstone, just off the Lamar Valley Road, Slough Creek is the park's smallest campground with just 29 sites. And there are no flush toilets or showers. Its beauty, though, is its location in one of the busiest wildlife corridors in the park. If luck strikes, you'll find yourself falling to sleep to a wolf serenade.
Cape Point
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
The best Cape Hatteras National Seashore camping experience comes from a stay at this campground. Located on a large sprawl of grass, the campground is the park's closest to a beach with lifeguards. And from the campground, it's just a 1.5-mile walk to the end of the point itself. True, the showers spew only cold water, but on a hot, muggy beach day, that's a treat.
The Best Hotel Bets
Colter Bay Village (tel. 800/628-9988; www.gtlc.com)
Grand Teton National Park
What makes Colter Bay tops in Grand Teton when it comes to families? It's reasonably priced for family vacations, it's surrounded by a small village with restaurants, showers, laundry facilities, camp stores, and activities, and it's charming, as well. Some of my best boyhood vacation memories flow from the cabins we stayed in, no matter how rustic they were. Kids, I think, just seem to have an affinity for wood and rock. And these cabins, while appearing rustic, are very comfortable.
Wuksachi Lodge (tel. 888/252-5757; www.visitsequoia.com)
Key to finding lodging in a national park is finding lodging that's ideally located, and the Wuksachi Lodge is that. This lodge with its glorious setting, comfortable rooms, and nice dining room is not far from the park's Giant Forest with its towering trees, not far from hiking trails, and not far from the entrance to Kings Canyon National Park.
Old Faithful Inn (tel. 307/344-7311; www.travelyellowstone.com)
Yellowstone National Park
There's something about sleeping in what just very may well be the largest log cabin on earth that makes this place very, very special. Of course, having the Old Faithful Geyser spouting off every 90 minutes or so right outside the front door says something, too. But when you walk through the front doors, and your head drops back as you measure the height of the fireplace's chimney, or when you run your hands along the log banisters that have been worn smooth over the past century by who knows how many other hands, or when you sit on one of the upper balconies with a favorite book or while playing checkers or cards with your children, you cache away memories you'll hold for the rest of your life.
Many Glacier Hotel (tel. 406/756-2444; www.glacierparkinc.com)
Glacier National Park
From a setting I truly believe is one of the most awe-inspiring in the national park system, to the abundant activities for those who enjoy boating, hiking, horseback riding, or simply staring at glacially sculpted peaks, this lodge has few counterparts that can measure up. True, the rooms aren't the best you'll find in the park system. But you're here for the scenery, right?
Kalaloch Lodge (tel. 866/525-2562; www.visitkalaloch.com)
Olympic National Park
My youngest son loved the time we spent in one of Kalaloch's seaside cabins. True, the wood-burning stove was a draw. But so, too, was the ocean just a few short steps away from our front door. And falling asleep at night to the crash of the surf is something neither of us will ever forget. With the kitchen in the cabin, and the restaurant in the main lodge building, we had the best of both worlds when it came to meal time.
Grand Canyon Lodge (tel. 303/297-2757)
Grand Canyon National Park
Far from the at-times-maddening-crush of the South Rim, this lodge on the canyon's North Rim reflects one of the classic styles of park architecture. And the setting can't be beat, either. Plus, what kid doesn't like to spend a night or two in a log cabin? It's all right here on the North Rim, surrounded by virtual wilderness, hiking, and stellar views into one of the grandest canyons on earth.
LeConte Lodge (tel. 865/429-5704; www.lecontelodge.com)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Okay, I cheated with this choice, since it's the only lodge inside the park's boundaries. It's a throwback, at that, a lodge you have to hike, not drive, up to for a room. The setting is breathtaking, you get exercise coming and going, and you and your family have an opportunity to make new friends in a setting you all value.
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