Travel Tips

National Parks: How Do You Get There?

There is a reason visitors flock to America’s National Parks every year. Unprecedented beauty, untrammeled wilderness and an experience of a lifetime are all reasons that most major National Parks float to the top of every persons bucket list. But in order to experience the majesty of these parks, you first have to get there. The following is a guide to the five biggest International airports nearest to some of America’s most popular National Parks.

American West Arches National Park Glacier National Park Grand Teton National Park Northeast Oregon Pacific Northwest Road Trip Rocky Mountains Southwest Utah West Coast Wyoming Yellowstone National Park

Prepared By:

James Wynn

Adventurer & Photographer

Mesa Verde National Park is in southwest Colorado. It’s known for its Puebloan cliff dwellings

Denver International Airport

Denver currently has non-stop service to 205 destinations throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. It is the fourth airport in the United States to reach the 200 marker. It also has the largest domestic network of any airport in the country with flights to around 185 U.S. destinations. As of 2017, DIA was the 20th busiest airport in the world and the fifth busiest in the United States by passenger traffic handling 61,379,396 passengers.

PYellowstone National Park
500 miles – 8 hr drive
PRocky Mountain National Park
78 miles – 1.5 hr drive
PMesa Verde National Park
361 miles – 6 hr, 38 min driv
PGrand Teton National Park
518 miles – 8.5 hr drive
PBlack Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
287 miles – 5 hrs, 22 min drive

Arches National Park lies north of Moab in the state of Utah. Bordered by the Colorado River in the southeast, it’s known as the site of more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, such as the massive, red-hued Delicate Arch.

Salt Lake City Airport

In 2017, 24,198,697 passengers flew through Salt Lake City. It is the 25th busiest in North America and 85th worldwide with regards to passenger numbers. There were 327,292 aircraft operations (takeoffs and landings) in 2017, about 900 per day. On an average day at SLC, there are over 343 scheduled nonstop airline departures per day to 93 cities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Salt Lake City International Airport continues to rank high for on-time departures/arrivals and fewest flight cancellations among major US airports. The airport ranked first for on time departures and arrivals.

PYellowstone National Park
468 miles – 7 hr, 45 min drive
PCanyonlands National Park
243 miles – 4 hr drive
PCapital Reef National Park
223 miles – 3 hr, 40 min driv
PGrand Teton National Park
300 miles – 5 hr drive
PArches National Park
236 miles – 4 hr drive
PBryce Canyon National Park
275 miles – 4 hr, 15 min drive

Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area in southern California. It’s characterized by rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

In 2017, PHX served 43,921,670 passengers, making it the forty-first busiest airport in the world. It handles nearly 1,200 aircraft operations a day and 120,000 passengers. The airport serves as the sixth-largest hub for American Airlines with over 300 daily departures to 95 destinations in 4 countries. American carries nearly 46% of all PHX passengers as of December 2017. The airport also serves as one of the largest operating bases for Southwest Airlines with 188 daily departures to 53 cities across the United States.

PGrand Teton National Park
234 miles – 3 hr, 40 min drive
PPetrified National Park
206 miles – 3.5 hr drive
PSaguro National Park
130 miles – 2 hr drive
PJoshua Tree National Park
280 miles – 4.5 hr drive

Yosemite National Park is in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. It’s famed for its giant, ancient sequoia trees, and for Tunnel View, the iconic vista of towering Bridalveil Fall and the granite cliffs of El Capitan and Half Dome.Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area in southern California. It’s characterized by rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes.

San Francisco International Airport

SFO is the largest airport in Northern California and the second-busiest in California and on the Western Coast of North America, after Los Angeles International Airport. In 2017, it was the seventh-busiest airport in the United States and the 24th-busiest in the world by passenger count. It is the fifth-largest hub for United Airlines and functions as United’s primary transpacific gateway. It also serves as a secondary hub for Alaska Airlines. It is a major maintenance hub for United Airlines, and houses the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum and Library. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe and Asia.

PYosemite National Park
187 miles – 4 hr drive
PKings Canyon National Park
265 miles – 4.5 hr drive
PSequoia National Park
268 miles – 5 hr drive
PLassen Volcanic National Park
247 miles – 4.5 hr drive
PRedwood National Park
324 miles – 6 hr drive
PPinnacles National Park
115 miles – 2 hr drive

North Cascades National Park is in northern Washington State. It’s a vast wilderness of conifer-clad mountains, glaciers and lakes. The North Cascades Highway passes leads to trails such as the steep Thunder Creek Trail.

Portland International Airport

Portland International Airport is within Portland’s city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah County, 12 miles by highway northeast of downtown Portland. Portland International Airport is often referred to by its IATA airport code, PDX. The airport covers 3,000 acres of land. Portland International Airport has direct flights and connections to most major airports throughout the United States, and non-stop international flights to Canada, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In 2013, a Travel + Leisure magazine readers’ poll named PDX as the best US airport, based on its on-time record, dining, shopping, and mass transportation into the main parts of the city.

PCrater Lake National Park
263 miles – 5 hr drive
PMount Rainier National Park
155 miles – 3 hr drive
POlympic National Park
230 miles – 4 hr drive
PNorth Cascades National Park
319 miles – 5 hr drive
PGlacier National Park
667 miles – 12 hr drive
PPinnacles National Park
115 miles – 2 hr drive

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas, east of El Paso. The mountain range includes Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet, and El Capitan which was used as a landmark by travelers along the route later followed by the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line.

Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport

With nearly 900 daily flights, American Airlines at DFW is the second largest airline hub in the world and the United States, behind Delta’s Atlanta hub. At 17,207 acres, DFW is larger than the island of Manhattan, and is the second largest airport by land area in the United States, after Denver International Airport. It has its own post office and United States Postal Service city designation (“DFW Airport, TX”), as well as its own police, fire protection and emergency medical services. As of December 2018, DFW Airport has service to 244 destinations, including 62 international and 182 domestic destinations within the U.S. In surpassing 200 destinations, DFW joined a small group of airports worldwide with that distinction.

PBig Bend National Park
495 miles – 7.5 hr drive
PGuadalupe Mountain National Park
155 miles – 3 hr drive
PCarlsbad Caverns National Park
493 miles – 7.5 hr drive
PHot Springs National Park
308 miles – 5 hr drive

Shanendoah National Park is mostly forested. The park features wetlands, waterfalls and rocky peaks like Hawksbill and Old Rag mountains.

Charlotte Douglass International Airport

The airport gained its current name in 1982 and, as of September 2017, it is the second largest hub for American Airlines after Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, with service to 161 domestic and international destinations. As of 2016 it was the 11th busiest airport in the United States, ranked by passenger traffic and 6th by aircraft movements. It was also the 7th busiest airport in the world ranked by aircraft movements.