Units of the National Park System are really closer than you think. Some are quite literally in your backyard. Today we're pointing out those that are within an hour's drive of an airport with commercial service. (We'll return with the auto accessible version.)
Why look at those reached by airplanes? Well, airfares are like yo-hos. They keep going up and down. If you're free and flexible, or saddled with more frequent flier miles than you know what to do with, here are 10 national park units that are within your reach.
10. Acadia National Park. Book a flight to Bangor International Airport (most likely through Boston) in Bangor, Maine, and you're just a an hour's drive from Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island.
9. Zion National Park. You won't get lost in the City of St. George Airport, but when you exit the terminal you will find yourself 46 miles from Zion.
8. Great Smoky Mountains National Park. McGhee-Tyson Airport is just 45 miles west of the park, and if you know the route by heart and don't hit any stoplights before Gatlinburg, Tennessee, you should make it under an hour.
7. Shenandoah National Park. You'd probably be pushing it flying into Washington Dulles International, which is 56 miles from Front Royal, Virginia, but if you hopped a commuter to Shenandoah Valley Regional you'd be just 27 miles from the park's Swift Run Gap Entrance.
6. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Fly into Hilo International Airport and you're but 30 miles from the park.
5. Glacier National Park. Take a flight to Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, Montana, and you're but 25 miles from West Glacier.
4. Congaree National Park. The swamps of Congaree National Park and your search for an ivory-billed woodpecker is just 24 miles from the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
3. Everglades National Park/Biscayne National Park. A rare two-fer. Fly into Homestead (Fla.) General Airport and you're adjacent to Everglades and just 25 minutes from Biscayne.
2. Elton John scored big with Philadelphia Freedom, and for good reason. Philly saw the birth of our nation, right there in Independence Hall. Roughly 60 percent of our national parks were established to preserve our country's history, and you can't move past square one without Independence Hall. Among other things, a visit here allows you to see Thomas Jefferson's quill pen with which he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Fly into Philadelphia International and you're just a cab ride away.
1. Grand Teton National Park. Fly into Jackson Hole Airport and you'll be in the park before you unsnap your seat belt.
Comments
sure you can fly into any one of these secondary airports, but what is the cost... Typically these airports are way more expensive than a "hub" airport and only serviced by smaller commuter jets. With today's economy, saving money is a major factor in vacation travel. Also the service is not as convenient so 1 must be really flexible in his/her itinerary. But thanx for pointing out these options.
I live just behind McGhee-Tyson Airport, and we can be at the Townsend entrance to the park in under a half-hour, and in the Cove in 45minutes. It's great!
Is it true, Anon2, that Townsend anchors "The Quiet Side of the Smokies"? On a scale of one to ten, where Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge and Cherokee represent a ten, how would you rate Townsend on the scale of Gateway Clamor and Visual Noise?
A few more to add to that list:
Arches National Park's entrance is about 15 miles or so from the Moab/Canyonlands airport, which features direct non-stop commercial flights to and from Denver on Great Lakes Airlines. Add another 20 miles or so, and you'll be at Canyonlands National Park's Island in the Sky District.
Colorado National Monument is about 10 miles or so from the Grand Junction Regional Airport, which features direct flights to all the major hubs in the region from all of the major airlines.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is less than 20 miles of the Montrose Regional Airport, which primarily serves Telluride skiers more than an hour away. Several major airlines fly to Montrose from regional hubs.
Saguaro National Park borders Tucson's suburbs, and isn't far from that city's airport.
Finally, Rocky Mountain National Park is within view of Denver International Airport, but it'll take you nearly two hours and more than 80 miles to get there by car. Nonetheless, we on Colorado's Front Range consider ROMO to be in our backyard and an easy day trip from town.
Don't forget the San Bernardino Natl. Forest that is within an hour's drive from Ontario, CA and the Ontario Intl. Airport.
[Ed: The San Bernardino National Forest may be well worth visiting, but alas, the recommendation is not applicable here because the San Bernardino NF is not a unit of the National Park System. This national forest is administered by the U.S. Forest Service.]
The Grant Grove Section of King's Canyon National Park is almost a perfect 1 hour's drive from Fresno-Yosemite International Airport in Fresno California. (Assuming you don't get behind a motor home driver who doesn't believe in using turn-outs!) Yosemite used to be an hour from the same airport, but with higher traffic levels it now takes a little longer.
One can fly from Seattle to Kalispell but why not take the train. Less expensive, good views, and helps support the train system. I'm going to Glacier for the first time this summer and I plan to take the train from Minneapolis. My thoughts on the Amtrak system, not all of which are good, could fill a page and this isn't the right forum so I'll just say "good traveling"
Fly into Cleveland OH and you are 16 miles from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park's Canal Visitor Center. Not the best National Park, possibly the worst, but close to the airport.