Haven’t been on vacation for a while? Want to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life? Looking for an epic road trip? If so, you’re in luck. You don’t have to break the bank to do it either.
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Fewer miles = Less money
Randy Olson, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Pennsylvania, has made himself a hobby of optimizing road trips around the United States. He’s computed the optimal route to drive through all 48 continental states, another to stop in all popular U.S. cities, and a third to hit all the major landmarks in the U.S. Because August 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, Olson decided to put his optimization skills to the test once again to figure out the cheapest and most effective way to visit all 47 National Parks in the continental United States.
The main goal of this road trip is to minimize the time spent driving and maximize the time spent enjoying the scenic beauty of each park. Olson designed this route to form a loop around the U.S. so travelers can begin at any point along the way and choose which direction they want to proceed. It spans for 14,489 miles (23,333 km) and Olson believes this trip will take approximately two months to complete (and enjoy), depending on how quickly travelers move from one park to the next.
Here is a list of the National Parks included on the trip:
- Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
- Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
- Saguaro National Park, Arizona
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
- Big Bend National Park, Texas
- Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
- Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
- Everglades National Park, Florida
- Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
- Biscayne National Park, Florida
- Congaree National Park, South Carolina
- Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
- Acadia National Park, Maine
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
- Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
- Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
- Badlands National Park, South Dakota
- Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
- Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
- Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
- Canyonlands National Park, Utah
- Arches National Park, Utah
- Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
- Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
- Zion National Park, Utah
- Great Basin National Park, Nevada
- Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
- Glacier National Park, Montana
- North Cascades National Park, Washington
- Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
- Olympic National Park, Washington
- Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
- Redwood National and State Parks, California
- Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
- Yosemite National Park, California
- Kings Canyon National Park, California
- Sequoia National Park, California
- Pinnacles National Park, California
- Channel Islands National Park, California
- Joshua Tree National Park, California
- Death Valley National Park, California
