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What’s the Best route to National Parks and historical sites using Wyndham

1Melanie

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We love visiting National Parks. Of the 222 NP and monuments we’ve only been to a handful. NPs are a bucket list item for me. I want to see them while I can still walk and do light hiking easily enough. At 67, “things” are starting to degenerate. We initially planned to get an RV to do that combined with TS stays, however, stuff happens and the RV got put on the back burner. So far we’ve been to the resorts closest to and easiest to access NPs, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Grand Canyon, Kilauea, Saguaro, Smokies, Everglades, and of course the ones nearest us in Washington State.
Spent quite a bit of time in the SE learning about the Civil and the Revolutionary wars, visiting battlefields and museums. Also a lover of art and geology, we were able to visit the Dali museum in St Pete’s and the museums in DC which was heavenly for me with everything rolled into one place! BUT I want to see MORE!
Any suggestions folks can share on places and how to get there and where to stay would be greatly appreciated. I am partial to staying at Wyndham resorts but can combine them with Wyndham hotels and dare I say it, doing an RCI exchange if need be.
TUGGERS? Please send your suggestions my way. Any and all input is welcome.
 

DaveNV

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Fly to Las Vegas, rent a car and head north on I-15. If you plan it right, you can have a wonderful time driving a big circle to see many National Parks in this area.

Without a lot of issue you can easily see Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, a number of state parks in the area, and the North Rim of Grand Canyon NP, before returning to Las Vegas. If you have more time, extending things further, you can continue from Bryce to hop over to the east side of Utah, to see Capitol Reef NP, Arches NP, and Canyonlands NP. Driving south from Moab, it's an easy hop and back into Colorado to see Mesa Verde NP, then continue south in Utah to Monument Valley. Heading back westward, you can see Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell, then drive through the South Rim side of Grand Canyon NP. Continue further west, then back into Las Vegas. You can decide which Wyndhams fit a major trip like this. But if the goal is to visit the Parks, then accommodations would be a secondary part of the decision.

Google Maps wouldn't let me add the last leg of this circle from the Grand Canyon's South Rim back to Las Vegas, but it's a very easy drive. This map gives you the idea of what I'm talking about. You can do as much or all, as you please. Incredible scenery, and it could be an unforgettable bucket list trip. Roads are good, and you can do as much or as little as you feel like.

Screenshot 2023-03-12 at 11.39.58 AM.png


Hope this helps,
Dave
 
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I suggest staying a week in Flagstaff Arizona like we did several years ago. We had previously bought a National Park Pass so none of these places cost us anything to visit. In alphabetical order we went to Grand Canyon, Montezuma, Petrified Forest, Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, & Wupatki. All of them were less than 2 hours away except for Petrified Forest which was about 2 1/2 hours away. We also visited Sedona. At the time, you could get a Sedona area pass since we had a National Park Pass. It was a great time!!
 
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Fly to Las Vegas, rent a car and head north on I-15. If you plan it right, you can have a wonderful time driving a big circle to see many National Parks in this area.

Without a lot of issue you can easily see Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, a number of state parks in the area, and the North Rim of Grand Canyon NP, before returning to Las Vegas. If you have more time, extending things further, you can continue from Bryce to hop over to the east side of Utah, to see Capitol Reef NP, Arches NP, and Canyonlands NP. Driving south from Moab, it's an easy hop and back into Colorado to see Mesa Verde NP, then continue south in Utah to Monument Valley. Heading back westward, you can see Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell, then drive through the South Rim side of Grand Canyon NP. Continue further west, then back into Las Vegas. You can decide which Wyndhams fit a major trip like this. But if the goal is to visit the Parks, then accommodations would be a secondary part of the decision.

Google Maps wouldn't let me add the last leg of this circle from the Grand Canyon's South Rim back to Las Vegas, but it's a very easy drive. This map gives you the idea of what I'm talking about. You can do as much or all, as you please. Incredible scenery, and it could be an unforgettable bucket list trip. Roads are good, and you can do as much or as little as you feel like.

View attachment 74206

Hope this helps,
Dave
If you do this trip above, be sure to visit the beautiful Valley of Fire State Park. It is about 1 1/4 hours northeast of Las Vegas, not far off of I-15.
 

DaveNV

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If you do this trip above, be sure to visit the beautiful Valley of Fire State Park. It is about 1 1/4 hours northeast of Las Vegas, not far off of I-15.

Exit 75 off of I-15 North, and not even 30 minutes north of town. Or you can approach from the Las Vegas end of the highway, (starting by Lake Las Vegas, then going up Hwy 167), ending up on I-15. Beautiful place!

Dave
 

sue1947

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There are a lot more sites than indicated in Dave's map above. He's got the big ones, but there are smaller, lesser known sites as well. Some are a short break on a longer drive (Pipe Spring on the drive from St George to the north rim) or a half day (El Moro in N Mex which turned out to be one of my favorites) or worth going way out of your way to see (Chaco Canyon in NM). The popular ones have the crowds, but the smaller ones provide the opportunity for nice conversations with rangers/volunteers (I still remember the chats at Canyon of the Ancients and Hovenweep).

The best way to see what is out there is to go to the nps.gov website and search by state. They list everything with a short description. Plan a timeshare via Wyndham or an exchange at Tucson, Flagstaff, St George, Santa Fe or Palm Springs etc for the SW ones and plot out your trip.
Here's the list for Arizona: AZ nps

Sometimes, staying in the park is worth it for the location, but the quality of lodging in most NP is pretty minimal. It depends on if they have been updated in the recent past, or at all. Most of the time, I prefer the better night's sleep staying outside the park, but if you want the sunrise over Bryce, you gotta be in a cabin on the rim.

In addition to National Parks/Monuments/Historical sites, look at State Parks. Custer SP in S Dakota feels very much like a national park. There are other places where locations were considered for a national park but didn't make it and are now a collection of state parks (S Oregon coast is an example).
 

jwalk03

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There are currently 424 National Park Sites. This includes the 63 National Parks, plus all the monuments, memorials, historic parks, preserves, battlefields, rivers, lakeshores, seashores, etc.

My goal is to visit them all! So far I have visited 154/424. 36.3% done.

If you want a good resource check out the National Park Travelers Club- parkstamps.org is the website.

Wyndham Old Town Alexandria is great for visiting the units in the National Capital Region plus a few of the ones in Maryland and Northern Virginia are a short drive as well.

The Williamsburg area timeshares get within a close drive of a handful of units- Colonial, Fort Monroe, GW Birthplace, Richmond, etc.

Edisto Island is a reasonable drive to Charleston for Fort Sumtner & Charles Pinkney

Daytona is an hourish from the two parks near St. Augustine and about an hour the other direction for Port Canaveral National Seashore.

Fairfield Glade puts you close enough to visit Big South Fork and the Obed River in Central Tenn, and the Wyndham Nashville is not too far from Stones River and Natchez Trace.

Branson is a good spot for doing a loop to George Washington Carver, Pea Ridge & Wilson's Creek

The new Wyndham Atlanta would be a great spot for visits to MLK, Chattahoochee, and Kennesaw Mountain.

Canterbury in San Fransisco and Midtown in NY for the multiple unis in each of those cities.

Palm Springs for a visit to Joshua Tree.

No Wyndhams but plenty of RCI exchanges for the Outer Banks region to visit Cape Hatteras, Fort Raleigh, and the Wright Brothers Memorial.

Those are all the ones I can think of off hand, but im sure there are several others that put you in close prximity to other units. Some units are a lot harder logistically than others to be sure!! I have been to few parks in the absolute middle of no man's land and wasn't sure I would ever be seen again! lol
 

1Melanie

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Fly to Las Vegas, rent a car and head north on I-15. If you plan it right, you can have a wonderful time driving a big circle to see many National Parks in this area.

Without a lot of issue you can easily see Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, a number of state parks in the area, and the North Rim of Grand Canyon NP, before returning to Las Vegas. If you have more time, extending things further, you can continue from Bryce to hop over to the east side of Utah, to see Capitol Reef NP, Arches NP, and Canyonlands NP. Driving south from Moab, it's an easy hop and back into Colorado to see Mesa Verde NP, then continue south in Utah to Monument Valley. Heading back westward, you can see Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell, then drive through the South Rim side of Grand Canyon NP. Continue further west, then back into Las Vegas. You can decide which Wyndhams fit a major trip like this. But if the goal is to visit the Parks, then accommodations would be a secondary part of the decision.

Google Maps wouldn't let me add the last leg of this circle from the Grand Canyon's South Rim back to Las Vegas, but it's a very easy drive. This map gives you the idea of what I'm talking about. You can do as much or all, as you please. Incredible scenery, and it could be an unforgettable bucket list trip. Roads are good, and you can do as much or as little as you feel like.

View attachment 74206

Hope this helps,
Dave
Thank you!
 

1Melanie

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Thanks to everyone who responded!
 

Jan M.

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Grandview Las Vegas and Discovery Beach Resort - Both in RCI Points
Woodstone and Summit at Massanutten - Both in RCI weeks used as Wyndham PICs
It's not a national park but we really enjoyed Calaveras Big Trees State Park when we stayed at Angel's Camp resort in northern California. The hike through the sequoias was a fantastic experience.

Another state park DH highly recommends is Chimney Rock when you stay at Fairfield Mountains resort in Lake Lure, NC. While you're at that resort it's not that far to Cowpens Battlefield National Park.

If you stay at the Williamsburg resorts there's the Jamestown National Park and the Yorktown Battlefield National Park. It's about a 30-40 minute drive to Newport News to visit the Mariners Museum. Admission is $1 and it's DH top pick of all the things he did in that area. From Newport News it's about another 15-20 minutes to Fort Monroe National Park and Casemate Museum.
 
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MaryBella7

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Steamboat Springs, CO: Rocky Mountain NP
Drive from Colorado to Wisconsin Dells through South Dakota and hit Mt Rushmore, Badlands, Wind Cave.
Sevierville, TN: Smoky Mountain National Park
Lake Lure, NC: Chimney Rock State Park.
Branson, Mo isn’t right near but you can drive to another place and hit Gateway Arch.
 

jhoug

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If you do the Utah National Parks and have Club Pass with Wyndham (to trade into Worldmark) or Worldmark points, there are resorts in St. George and Moab (just opened in the last year) that are very popular. Would have to plan way ahead to exchange into them.
Also Worldmark Estes Park and Worldmark Granby (but the latter is the area that got evacuated by the HUGE wildfires in Oct 2020--we just barely missed it by a day or 2 each way) is near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Some of the Oregon ones are near Crater Lake NP
 
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