Maybe you are planning your first national park trip or your 100th, but whichever is the case for you, it is an exciting endeavor. I love opening up the guidebooks and reading blog posts from other authors to get inspiration for planning my next big trip.
National Parks come in all shapes and sizes, so a natural question to ask when planning your trip is,
how many days should you spend at a national park?
The number of days that you should spend at a national park depends on which park you are visiting. Some parks require at least a week or more to see all of the sights, while other parks can be mostly seen in just one day.
Of course the number of days you choose to spend at a national park really depend on the activities you plan on doing. Of course if you want to do a 5 day backcountry camping trip in any of these national parks, your stay will be at least 5 days (even if my list notes it as a park that you usually spend 2 to 4 days). Also with each of the parks listed, the days listed include the time at the park, but not the associated travel time to get to or from the park. For some national parks in remote areas, the travel time can be extensive, so it is definitely something to take into consideration when planning your trip.
Parks You Can Visit in 1 Day
Parks you can visit in 1 day are mostly parks that are smaller, have less developed trails, or have one main focal point of the park. Just because they typically only take 1 day to visit, doesn’t mean that they are not worth visiting or that you can’t spend more than 1 day. Some of the parks listed here in parks that you can visit in one day have some amazing and iconic sites to see. With many of the parks you can visit in 1 day, they are close to other larger national parks and you can incorporate them into a trip visiting multiple national parks.
See my blog post: 10 National Park Itineraries for the Best Road Trip Ever
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Congaree National Park
Gateway Arch National Park
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Hot Springs national Park
Indiana Dunes National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park
Petrified Forest National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Pinnacles National Park
White Sands National Park
Parks You Can Visit in 1 to 2 Days
There are many parks that you can visit in 1 to 2 days. Most of the parks in this category have longer hikes and excursions that can make your stay with the national park longer. 1 to 2 days is designated to see the main highlight items of the park that the majority of people go to visit. For example, Sequoia National Park has many different things to see, but the main highlights of the park, such as General Sherman Tree and Giant Forest Grove can be seen in a 1 to 2 days, but there are ton of hikes that could extend your trip to being over a week long! This is just one example, but most parks have options just as this.
Arches National Park
Biscayne National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Channel Islands National Park
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park
Everglades National Park
Great Basin National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Kenai Fjords National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
New River Gorge National Park
Saguaro National Park
Sequoia National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Virgin Islands National Park
Voyageurs National Park
Parks You Can Visit in 2 to 4 Days
Parks that can be visited in 2 to 4 days include some of the bigger parks and more well known parks that tend to be more popular, as well as some lesser visited parks because they are more difficult to get to. With up to 4 days, you can fit in a lot of different things to your trip. 4 days will give you enough time to see different things, maybe take a long hike, and also have some time to relax if you want.
Acadia National Park
Denali National Park
Glacier Bay National Park
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Haleakala National Park
Isle Royale National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Zion National Park
Parks You Can Visit in 5+ Days
Parks that require 5+ days are the biggest or most remote parks. The parks in this category are all parks that you could spend weeks in and still not have seen it all. Many of the parks that require more than 5 days to visit are huge remote national parks in Alaska. These parks are difficult to access and have wilderness that most people do not get to experience.
American Samoa National Park
Gates of the Arctic National Park
Glacier National Park
Kobuk Valley National Park
Lake Clark National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park
Days to Spend at Each National Park (Alphabetical Order)
Acadia National Park: 2 to 4 days
American Samoa National Park: 5+ days
Arches National Park: 1 to 2 days
Badlands National Park: 1 to 2 days
Big Bend National Park: 2 to 4 days
Biscayne National Park: 1 to 2 days
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park: 1 day
Bryce Canyon National Park: 1 to 2 days
Canyonlands National Park: 1 to 2 days
Capitol Reef National Park: 1 to 2 days
Carlsbad Caverns National Park: 1 day
Channel Islands National Park: 1 to 2 days
Congaree National Park: 1 day
Crater Lake National Park: 1 to 2 days
Cuyahoga Valley National Park: 1 to 2 days
Death Valley National Park: 1 to 2 days
Denali National Park: 2 to 4 days
Dry Tortugas National Park: 1 to 2 days
Everglades National Park: 1 to 2 days
Gates of the Arctic National Park: 5+ days
Gateway Arch National Park: 1 day
Glacier National Park: 5+ days
Glacier Bay National Park: 2 to 4 days
Grand Canyon National Park: 2 to 4 days
Grand Teton National Park: 2 to 4 days
Great Basin National Park: 1 to 2 days
Great Sand Dunes National Park: 1 day
Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 2 to 4 days
Guadalupe Mountains National Park: 1 to 2 days
Haleakala National Park: 2 to 4 days
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park: 1 to 2 days
Hot Springs National Park: 1 day
Indiana Dunes National Park: 1 day
Isle Royale National Park: 2 to 4 days
Joshua Tree National Park: 1 day
Katmai National Park: 2 to 4 days
Kenai Fjords National Park: 1 to 2 days
Kings Canyon National Park: 1 to 2 days
Kobuk Valley National Park: 5+ days
Lake Clark National Park: 5+ days
Lassen Volcanic National Park: 2 to 4 days
Mammoth Cave National Park: 1 day
Mesa Verde National Park: 1 day
Mount Rainier National Park: 2 to 4 days
New River Gorge National Park: 1 to 2 days
North Cascades National Park: 2 to 4 days
Olympic National Park: 2 to 4 days
Petrified Forest National Park: 1 day
Pinnacles National Park: 1 day
Redwood National Park: 2 to 4 days
Rocky Mountain National Park: 2 to 4 days
Saguaro National Park: 1 to 2 days
Sequoia National Park: 1 to 2 days
Shenandoah National Park: 1 to 2 days
Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 1 to 2 days
Virgin Islands National Park: 1 to 2 days
Voyageurs National Park: 1 to 2 days
White Sands National Park: 1 day
Wind Cave National Park: 1 day
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park: 2 to 4 days
Yellowstone National Park: 5+ days
Yosemite National Park: 5+ days
Zion National Park: 2 to 4 days
Have you visited any of these national parks before? How many days did you send on your national parks trip? I would love to hear your stories in the comments below!
If you are planning a national park trip, or dreaming of one, check out my other blog posts about planning a national park trip!
10 National Park Itineraries for the Best Road Trip Ever
The 5 Best National Parks for First Time Park Visitors
5 Ways to Stay Overnight in National Parks
How to Pick the Right National Park to Visit
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