During our travels this summer, my husband and I stayed at various national parks throughout the U.S. We have also stayed at many national parks in Canada over the past couple of years. We have found that you don’t have to spend a lot of money while staying within these parks. Here are a few ways we have saved money:
1. Some national parks provide free shuttle bus service. We took advantage of this service whenever possible. It was much easier to see what the park had to offer without having to drive around in our car, and it was cheaper because we didn’t have to pay for the gas.
2. If you are able to time it right, you can sometimes get into national parks for free. During our most recent vacation, one of the parks we stayed at was promoting their park by allowing free entrance for one weekend. We just happened to be there at the right time. If you are thinking of taking a vacation at a nearby national park, check out the park website to see if any free entrance weekends are being offered and book your vacation around that time. The neat thing is that entrance fees are usually very reasonable and are often valid for 7 days. In all the U.S. national parks we visited the entrance fee was just $25.