Geysers, waterfalls, bears, bald eagles, sand dunes, giant boulders--who needs a theme park when the nation's national parks and recreation areas have more than enough to entertain and even wow the kids?
There's probably no cheaper place to take them, especially if you like to camp out or stay in cozy cabins. The attractions are free, and $50 buys you an annual pass good for all 385 designated areas in the national park system. Invite the grandparents: Those 62 and older get a lifetime pass for $10, entitling them to bring a carload of relatives with them. (To link to individual parks and see what programs they offer, or to make reservations through the National Park Service, visit www.nps.gov.)
My family has been to more than 20 of the best-known national parks and more than 50 of the others, and we have good memories of every one.
Everywhere we've been, friendly, knowledgeable rangers offered tips, whether it was making suggestions for good family hikes or providing information about hands-on junior ranger programs that, unlike many hotel programs, were free.
A big bonus: There are plenty of kids everywhere and room for them to run and jump.
One possible drawback, depending on where you plan to go: More than half of the national parks' estimated 64 million annual visitors head to the same 10 parks, laments National Park Service spokesman Gerry Gaumer.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina, the most frequently visited, gets more than 10 million visitors a year. The Grand Canyon gets nearly 4.5 million. There are numerous traffic jams at Yellowstone, and it can feel like rush hour along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
It's possible to get away from the crowds; these parks are huge, after all. But most families don't stick around long enough to try.
"You'd be surprised at how many visitors don't even get out of their cars," Gaumer said. "I wish more people would go to one park and stay a few days rather than rush from place to place."
Perhaps your family would like to stay in one of the grand, old-fashioned lodges that were built by railway barons at the turn of the 20th century to encourage train travel. A new PBS series on these lodges will be broadcast on Wednesdays in July. Visit www.greatlodges.com, or check out "The Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges," by David L. Scott, which describes more than 100 lodging facilities in parks (Globe-Pequot Press, $17.95).
