Spring is almost here and I cannot wait to start heading north and checking out more of our beautiful country. There are so many great places to be during the spring months that we often have a hard time picking destinations. Some of the best options? Our national parks, of course!
We’ve spent a good amount of time in national parks over the years, and I definitely have opinions when it comes to what time of year to visit each one. Below are the best national parks to visit in spring (in my humble opinion, of course).
Grand Canyon National Park
Oh, Grand Canyon National Park. This place is absolutely magical, and to be honest, it’s magical all year long (I even enjoyed it during our winter visit, which is saying something). That said, the place is especially beautiful during the spring season when the whole canyon comes to life and the weather warms up enough to be enjoyable, but not so much that it’s hot.
We love to walk the rim of the canyon, and the ranger talks we’ve attended in the park have always been excellent. We’ve also really enjoyed the visitor center on the south rim. We found the films very informative and the exhibits were very well put together.
I will warn you to avoid visiting during the month of March, as this is when spring break is for most of the country and the park is absolutely packed.
Where to Stay
We have stayed at Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park in Williams, Arizona and really enjoyed it. It’s a pretty enough park, and is clean and well maintained and offers all sorts of amenities, as well as easy access to a super cool train ride into the national park.
Our friends have stayed in the Trailer Village RV Park on the South Rim and really liked having easy access to the in-park bus system.
All that said, we will likely choose to boondock during our next visit to the Grand Canyon. There are plenty of options around and we’d save a good chunk of change by going this route.
Arches National Park
We’ve visited Arches National Park twice and I’d gladly visit again and again. The rock formations in the park are just incredible, and because visitors are allowed to climb on the formations, kids have a great time exploring this place. Unfortunately, summer is way too hot in the park and winter is pretty darn cold. Spring is easily the best time to be in the area.
In addition to the national park, we also really love the little town of Moab that is just outside of the park gates. We had an excellent time walking the adorable downtown, listening to free concerts in town, and playing at the aquatic center.
Another major perk of visiting Arches? Canyonlands National Park is just down the road. This means you can explore two amazing parks and a super cute town, all in one fantastic trip.
Where to Stay
We always end up boondocking when visiting Moab. There are dozens of great boondocking spots just outside of town, and most are free or super inexpensive. Additionally, because this is a popular place for RVers, we tend to end up parked near like-minded individuals, meaning we become a part of a little pop-up community each time we stay.
All that said, there are also tons of great RV parks in town. One favorite is Sun Outdoors Moab Downtown, which includes all the usual RV park amenities and easy access to everything in town.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
We absolutely love Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and while summer in the park is lovely, I have to say that spring is my favorite time to visit. There’s just something so exhilarating about watching the park wake up from winter and witnessing flowers peek up out of the ground and waterfalls start to flow strong.
Hiking is easily the best thing to do in the park, and there are trails for all skill levels. A favorite of my family is the super easy Fighting Creek Nature Trail to Cataract Falls, which takes you by an old cabin, across a creek, and to an amazing waterfall. That said, there are tons of other trails that are just as wonderful, including many that offer a bit of a challenge.
Other great things to do in the park include checking out the many great visitor centers, attending ranger talks, driving through Cades Cove, keeping an eye out for bears, and checking out historical buildings. If you visit in late spring, you may also have a chance to swim. We really enjoyed swimming at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area.
Where to Stay
We have stayed at the Douglas Dam Tailwater Campground every time we have visited this area, and will likely do the same next time. It isn’t super close to the park but is a pretty easy drive, and the fact that the sites include water and electricity at an affordable price is awesome.
Another thing we might try to do sometime is stay at one of the Smoky Mountains in-park campgrounds. None of the NPS campgrounds offer hookups of any kind, but being surrounded by the beauty of the park would definitely be worth the effort required to dry camp.
Capitol Reef National Park
I’ll be honest, I truly didn’t expect to love Capitol Reef National Park as much as I did. I put off visiting this park for years because it is so far out of the way, and I just didn’t think it was going to be worth the drive. Boy, was I wrong. I’d actually put this park in my top 10 national parks out of the 43 we have visited!
We absolutely adored the Sulphur Creek Waterfall Hike, which took us through a creek and to a super cool waterfall with a tiny swimming hole at the bottom. We also enjoyed several other trails and looking at the petroglyphs. The history of the park is fascinating, and it’s well worthwhile to head into the visitor center to learn a bit about it.
This park gets pretty hot during the summer (though not as hot as Moab) and it does actually see cold temperatures during winter. That said, spring is absolutely beautiful in the park, making it the ideal time to visit.
Where to Stay
We boondocked during our time in Capitol Reef. There is an NPS “overflow” area right outside of the park gate where we were able to snag a spot. This was ideal because we were only a few minutes outside of a tiny town—and where we found a killer espresso stand!—and we were incredibly close to everything the park itself had to offer.
Of course, there is also the option of camping at the in-park Fruita Campground. We drove through this campground in order to dump tanks and refill water, and it really was beautiful. There were a huge number of animals wandering through the campground at the time and every site was well shaded.
Congaree National Park
Another lesser-known national park that we ended up loving, Congaree National Park should also be on your list of places to visit during the spring. We loved our springtime visit because the weather was perfect and there were flowers around every corner.
Unfortunately, we only had one day to explore this lovely park, but we made the most of it by wandering the Boardwalk Loop, reading about the local plants and animals, and enjoying a picnic on a bench. I do hope to go back someday to see more of the park and maybe do a canoe tour.
Where to Stay
Because we were just passing through the area, we actually stayed pretty far away from the national park at Thousand Trails Oaks at Point South. Our day trip to the park was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I don’t actually recommend staying at the Thousand Trails to visit this park because it is so far away. Instead, I recommend finding something closer.
There are two campgrounds within the national park, but neither one allows RVs. Sweetwater Lake Campground is located not too far away though and offers large RV sites with hookups
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Finally, I must mention Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This is an odd park because it’s just outside of the city but feels far away from pretty much everything. We visited in August and had a wonderful time, but it was HOT and humid. Instead, I highly recommend visiting a bit earlier in the year. April or May would likely be perfect.
My favorite thing in this park was the Ledges Trail, which took us through a forested area full of enormous, moss-covered rock formations that the kids adored climbing on and under. We found small caves and tunnels in various places throughout the park, and sliding down the rocks was fun for everyone in our group.
My kids also appreciated swimming in the river, but it is important to note that the current is strong in some places, so be careful if you choose to do this!
Where to Stay
Thousand Trails Kenisee Lake was our home base for this adventure. It’s about an hour outside of the national park, but since we were able to stay for free with our Thousand Trails membership and wanted to be in the area for a while, we chose to deal with the drive to save some money.
Of course, you could also save yourself some time by staying somewhere closer. Silver Springs Campground is in a nearby city park. It offers 20-amp electric hookups at each site, a dump station, and potable water, all at a really great price. We might stay here if we visited the national park again.
Obviously, these are far from the only excellent national parks to visit in spring. (We also enjoyed New River Gorge, Shenandoah, and many others during the spring.) That said, in my opinion these are the best national parks to visit in spring, and each one deserves a place on your springtime bucket list.
