Eight National Parks in Eight Days

On a vacation road trip from Wisconsin, Jeff Holmquist and wife visited 8 national parks in 8 days. Jeff write this article about the trip. Below are excerpts.

Parks visited
- Great Sand Dunes National Park
- Mesa Verde National Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Zion National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Capitol Reef National Park
- Arches National Park
- Canyonlands National Park

A check of a new Rand McNally Atlas proved helpful. It appeared we could visit a large number of parks in a short period of time if we headed to Colorado, Arizona and Utah.

By keeping an eye on the online reservation system, we were able to book accommodations at all of those locations within two weeks of our travel date.

Next stop was Zion National Park in southern Utah, a good five hours away from the south rim. The east entrance into this park is perhaps one of the most dramatic sights you’ll encounter.

A variety of rock formations give way to a one-mile long tunnel. When you exit the other side, you’re surrounded by incredible beauty. This was clearly one of the highlights of the trip.

Bryce is a compact and impressive sight. Colorful spires reach skyward and the view goes on for miles.

Later that evening, a storm in the distance offered up a spectacular rainbow that crowned Bryce’s glorious spires for well over an hour. The camera, however, failed to capture the moment.

Don’t miss some of the extra side trips along the way. We stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam and swam in Lake Powell on our way to Zion. It was a nice change of pace.

Also, the Four Corners monument (where you can stand in four states at once) was under construction when we drove by. We stopped anyway and found out that a huge flea market of authentic Native American arts and crafts operates daily at that location. The prices were more reasonable than items sold in the gift shops at the national parks.