How We Visited 17 National Parks in 2025 While Working Full-Time Jobs
Visiting 17 national parks in a single year might sound impossible while working full-time jobs, but we made it happen in 2025—and you can too! This was our second year in a row of visiting more than 15 national parks in 1 year. With careful planning, strategic use of paid time off (PTO), and grouping parks near each other, we turned weekends and holidays into epic adventures. Here’s a breakdown of our year and tips to help you maximize your travel time.
Trip 1: Long Layover (1 Afternoon, February)
Parks Visited: Indiana Sand Dune
Our year kicked off with a 12+ hour layover in Chicago on our way to New Zealand. We decided instead of sitting in the airport for all of those hours, we would rent the cheapest car we could get and drive 1 hour southeast to explore Indiana Sand Dunes National Park.
Key Takeaways: Utilize long layovers to go explore somewhere you’ve never seen before.
PTO Used: 0 days
Trip 2: Ohio (3 Days, May)
Parks Visited: Cuyahoga Valley
Over Memorial Day weekend, we made a road trip to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Along the way we stopped to visit several areas in West Virginia that we wanted to explore again. On this trip we broke-in our new 4Runner and decided to camp. This was our first time camping together on a road trip and the weather was absolutely perfect.
Key Takeaways: Don’t underestimate quick trips to single parks for a refreshing nature fix. Pair it with a holiday weekend and you don’t need to use any PTO.
PTO Used: 0 days
Trip 3: Southern Colorado (4 Days, June)
Park Visited: Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes
A quick 4-day escape back to Colorado brought us ancient dwellings, marbled canyon walls, and towering sand dunes. This trip proved that even a single-park adventure can feel fulfilling.
Key Takeaways: Fly-and-drive trips allow you to reach parks farther from home without taking too much time off work especially if paired with a weekend.
PTO Used: 2 days
Trip 4: The Mountain West Adventure (10 Days, July)
Parks Visited: Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands, Wind Cave, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier
This epic journey covered six national parks across North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana, offering everything from grasslands, towering mountain vistas, caves stunning hot springs and volcanic activity, as well as lots of wildlife. Road trips like this allow you to hit multiple parks in one loop, saving time and PTO.
Key Takeaways: Road trips are your best friend for visiting multiple parks in one vacation. Plan routes that flow naturally from one destination to the next.
PTO Used: 5 days
Trip 5: The PNW (9 Days, August)
Park Visited: Crater Lake, Olympic, Mount Rainier, North Cascades
One of the most diverse road trips we took this year. This stunning adventure offered up some of the most stunning views we have ever seen. The lakes were breath taking and the glacial mountains were larger than our eyes could believe. We experience, alpine mountains, rain forests, and ocean wild life all in one park.
Key Takeaways: Red eye flights are the secret to gaining an extra day of exploration.
PTO Used: 5 days
Trip 6: Fall Vibes (2 Days, October)
Parks Visited: Shenandoah, New River Gorge
We love spending Autumn in the mountains. We made to weekend trips in October to view fall foliage. Our first weekend we visited Shenandoah National Park in our home state of Virginia. Our second weekend we made a visited New River Gorge National Park to hike along some the trails we didn’t get to experience the first time we visited.
Key Takeaways: Short trips close to home are perfect for weekend adventures without requiring PTO.
PTO Used: 0 days
How We Did It with Only 12 Days of PTO
Leverage Weekends and Holidays - We used weekends to minimize PTO usage and planned trips around holidays for extra days off.
Group Nearby Parks Together - By visiting clusters of parks, we reduced travel time and packed more experiences into each trip.
Efficient Planning - We mapped routes, booked accommodations early, and prioritized highlights to make the most of our days.
Stay Flexible - Weather and unexpected changes can happen, so we always had backup plans to keep our trips on track.
Final Thoughts
Exploring 17 national parks in one year while working full-time is absolutely achievable with careful planning and a sense of adventure. Whether you’re dreaming of epic road trips or quick weekend getaways, let our journey inspire your next adventure. Start planning now, and who knows how many parks you can check off your list this year!
