To find out more about this particular itinerary and Olson’s research, visit his website.

Channel Islands National Park, California.

Lassen Volcanic National Park, California.

Redwood National and State Parks, California.

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington In this post, we share our itinerary for a week-long road trip from Las Vegas to National Parks that will leave you fulfilled and ready to plan your road.

North Cascades National Park, Washington.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.

New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas.

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.

Note that you can start the trip at any stop in the loop. Here’s a list of all the national parks included in this new itinerary. Here’s Matador Network’s new ultimate national park road trip map: After all, there’s a national park that’s a good fit for just about every type of traveler.

Just make sure you have the proper entry permits for the type of activities you want to do no matter which park you go to. If you want to just find the closest national park regardless of where you are, there’s a map for that, too, that covers all 423 sites. There’s a national park ( or national monument, or national forest) nearby just about everywhere there’s people in the US - as well as many places where there aren’t a whole lot of people. This, of course, isn’t an exhaustive list of the national park system.

This ultimate national park road trip covers 16,847 miles and it would take you about two months to complete the loop if you’re going “at a breakneck speed.” In other words, you’d better take a few months off work before getting on the road.

National parks road trip planner