The other day on Twitter I saw a few tweets that read ‘If I win a trip to Vegas, the first thing I’ll do when I arrive is (insert Vegas activity or something about some Hyatt or MGM property)’. Of course most of the people who fly to Las Vegas do just that – arrive, enjoy the Vegas activities and atmosphere and leave. Which is all fine and good, but in Las Vegas you’re in a sea of nice fake stuff built just for show, and just a couple hours drive from some of the most spectacular natural beauty in the United States. After awesome trips to national parks in Alaska and Wyoming this year, I wanted to put together a resource on getting to these treasures using miles and points. I’ve assumed that 2 hours from the airport to the park is an easy drive and about 4 hours is about as far as most people would be willing to drive after flying in. Oh yeah, and my tweet that didn’t win:
But maybe it will still win as the promotion might not be over yet.
Most Americans have one or more national parks within an easy road trip’s distance. But not all. From San Antonio our nearest national parks are 7+ hours away. And if you have miles, why not get out and see more of them even if you don’t have time or patience to drive 20 hours each way?
Arches National Park, Utah. I wish these were my pictures…
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Everglades National Park, Florida
Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Katmai National Park, Alaska
What I haven’t done is differentiate between National Parks. After all, if you live in Arizona the Everglades National Park might be the perfect place to go. And from Northern California you have access to National Parks within a day trip distance. Variety is good, I’m trying to find ways to see the parts of America the Beautiful that are beyond the scope of a practical road trip for your family. I have sorted the destinations based on my highly non-scientific assessment of how difficult it is to get a family to the airport in summer 2015 on miles and points.
It would be nice if there was a nice concise way to put all the info here on flying to get to U.S. (and a few Canadian) National Parks, but it’s kind of a challenge since what actually works for you will depend so much on your origin as well as your preferences for driving and other factors. I couldn’t decide on a table or a series of maps so you get both. Click on any of the park names to go directly to the park webpage for info.
STATE PARK NEARBY AIRPORTS OTHER AIRPORTS AIRLINES
Alaska Denali FAI ANC AA, AS, DL, F9, UA
Alaska Gates of the Arctic (no road access) BRW, FAI AS, DL, F9, UA
Alaska Glacier Bay GST, JNU AS, DL
Alaska Katmai AKN AS
Alaska Kenai Fjords ANC AA, AS, DL, F9, UA
Alaska Wrangell-St. Elias ANC AA, AS, DL, F9. UA
Alberta Banff (Canada) YYC AA, AC, DL, US, UA
Arizona Grand Canyon FLG PHX, LAS All airlines
Arizona Petrified Forest FLG ABQ, PHX All airlines
Arkansas Hot Springs LIT All airlines
California Channel Islands BUR, LAX, LGB, SNA All airlines
California Death Valley LAS All airlines
California Joshua Tree ONT BUR, LAX, PHX, SNA All airlines
California Lassen Volcanic RDD RNO, SMF All airlines
California Pinnacles SJC SFO, OAK All airlines
California Redwood CEC MFR, RDD AS, UA
California Yosemite FAT SMF, RNO All airlines
Colorado Black Canyon of the Gunnison GUC, GJT ASE DL, UA
Colorado Mesa Verde DRO ABQ, GJT All airlines
Colorado Rocky Mountain DEN All airlines
Florida Biscayne FLL, MIA, PBI All airlines
Florida Dry Tortugas EYW AA, DL, UA, US
Florida Everglades FLL, MIA, RSW All airlines
Hawaii Haleakala OGG AA, AS, HA, UA
Hawaii Hawii Volcanoes ITO, KOA AA, AS, HA, UA
Kentucky Mammoth Cave SDF, BNA CVG All airlines
Maine Acadia BHB PWM All airlines
Minnesota Voyageurs INL MSP All airlines
Montana Glacier FCA AS
New Mexico Carlsbad Caverns ELP All airlines
Newfoundland Gros Morne (Canada) YDF AC
North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt MOT DL, F9, UA
Oregon Crater Lake MFR PDX AS, DL, UA
South Dakota Badlands RAP AA, DL, UA
Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains TYS ATL, BNA, CLT All airlines
Texas Guadalupe Mountains ELP All airlines
Texas Big Bend ELP, MAF All airlines
Utah Arches CNY, DRO, GJT SLC All airlines
Utah Bryce Canyon SGU LAS, GJT, SLC All airlines
Utah Canyonlands CNY, DRO, GJT SLC All airlines
Utah Capitol Reef GJT, SLC All airlines
Utah Zion LAS, SGU All airlines
Washington Mount Ranier SEA PDX, YKM All airlines
Washington North Cascades SEA, BLI All airlines
Washington Olympic SEA All airlines
West Virginia Shenandoah BWI, CHO, DCA, IAD All airlines
Wyoming Grand Teton Mountains JAC COD, WYS AA, DL, F9, UA
Wyoming Yellowstone BZN, COD, WYS JAC AA, DL, F9, UA
Airports in Blue have generally good award availability on at least one program, Red are more difficult, and Black often require more miles or multiple awards.
What makes an airport easy to get to? It’s a hub, or has service on several major airlines or Southwest. For instance, Denver is about as easy as it gets for airport access. At less than 2 hours drive from Denver to Rocky Mountain National park, from the Central time zone you can make that a leave-home-after-5-and-be-home-the-next-night trip. We did just that in June 2013 and it was great! If a quick search for summer 2015 travel as of September 2014 finds little or no coach saver availability and Southwest doesn’t serve the airport, it’s not likely to be an ‘easy’ airport to get to using miles.
Easy airport, easy drive:
Some of the airports with good access and within 2 hours drive of National Parks.
Burbank BUR or other Los Angeles area airports – Channel Islands National Park
Denver DEN – Rocky Mountain National Park
Durango DRO – Mesa Verde National Park
El Paso ELP – Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Cavern National Parks
Fresno FAT – Yosemite National Park
Las Vegas LAS – Death Valley National Park (This might be better during a season other than summer. Or not.)
Little Rock LIT – Hot Springs National Park
Louisville SDF or Nashville BNA – Mammoth Cave National Park
Miami MIA or Ft Lauderdale FLL or Ft Myers RSW – Biscayne and Everglades National Parks
Minot MOT – Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Ontario ONT – Joshua Tree National Park (the other L.A. area airports are all more than 2 hours away but also possibilities)
San Jose SJC – Pinnacles National Park
Seattle SEA – Mt Ranier, Olympic, and North Cascades National Parks
Washington BWI or IAD or DCA – Shenandoah National Park
Easy airport, longer drive:
The drive is worth it! All maps courtesy of Great Circle Mapper.
Atlanta ATL or Charlotte CLT or Nashville BNA – Great Smoky Mountains National Park
El Paso ELP – Big Bend National Park
Las Vegas LAS – Zion or Grand Canyon National Parks
Minneapolis MSP – Voyageurs National Park
Phoenix PHX – Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Petrified Forest National Parks
Portland, ME PWM – Acadia National Park
Sacramento SMF or Reno RNO – Lassen Volcanic National Park
Salt Lake City SLC – Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef National Parks
More difficult airport access:
These airports may not be as easy to get to, but worth the extra work or miles.
Anchorage ANC – Kenai Fjords and Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks Best access on Frontier and Alaska.
Calgary YYC – Banff National Park (Canada) Some access on UA and AA, good access on US business class.
Deer Lake YDF – Gros Morne National Park (Canada) Air Canada only using partner miles, via United or AC to Toronto.
Fairbanks FAI – Denali National Park Best access on Frontier and Alaska.
Gunnison GUC – Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Some access on UA.
Gustavus GST or Juneau JNU – Glacier Bay National Park (no road access, take a boat from Juneau) Access from Seattle on Alaska Airlines.
Kahului (Maui) OGG – Haleakala National Park Good access, may require multiple awards and use of West Coast Sweet Spot, Hawaii rates.
Kalispell FCA – Glacier National Park Good access but only from Seattle on Alaska Airlines.
Key West EYW – Dry Tortugas National Park Some access on AA, DL, UA and US.
King Salmon AKN – Katmai National Park Good access from ANC on Alaska Airlines.
Kona KOA or Hilo ITO – Hawaii Volcano National Park Good access, may require multiple awards and use of West Coast Sweet Spot, Hawaii rates.
Jackson Hole JAC – Grand Teton Mountains National Park Access on AA, UA and Frontier.
Medford MFR – Crater Lake and Redwood National Parks Good access on Alaska Airlines.
Rapid City RAP – Badlands National Park Some access on UA.
West Yellowstone WYS or Bozemon BZN – Yellowstone National Park Best access is on Frontier. Some access to BZN on UA.
Good Luck NOT – Gates of the Arctic National Park Actually you can theoretically get there from Fairbanks or Barrow, long drives to get there and no roads within the park. Buy Rent a plane. Or a dogsled. Probably not a doable family trip for most of us.
A few Frontier routes worth looking at.
I wrote about the possibility of using Frontier Airlines to get to Alaska, but they may also be the best option for travel to these other Western National park areas via Denver. If you can get there on another program, great. If not, check out Frontier. Before Frontier began their push to serve the East coast, there were a lot more routes out here.
Since 2012 we have visited Big Bend, Grand Teton Mountains, Kenai Fjords, Rocky Mountains and Yellowstone National Parks. By all means take full advantage of the opportunities miles and points give you to travel around the world, but don’t forget the awesome sights that aren’t so far away. Is there a park or area that belongs on here or that I overlooked? Please let me know!
– Kenny
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