If your heart is set on a national park vacation this summer, now -- not June -- is the time to nail down plans.
Majestic Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, for example, reports that its lodging is more than half booked for this summer. California's iconic Yosemite National Park reports heavy bookings, as well. It's not uncommon for people to make reservations a year in advance at the most popular parks.
Though the National Park Service projects that visits will be down slightly from 2009, these national treasures will still attract a whopping 282 million American and foreign visitors, in part spurred by Ken Burns' 2009 documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea."
To start your search for general information and park fees, and to find lodging and make reservations, go to nps.gov or the park's website. Lodging facilities are run by concessionaires contracted by the Park Service.
A caveat: If you Google "national park lodging," you'll find an official-looking site called "national park reservations," but it's a Montana-based reservation service that wisely states it is "not an authorized concessionaire of any national park nor affiliated with the National Park Service." It charges a 10 percent nonrefundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of reservations made.
That's reason enough to work through nps.gov, which links you to lodging at every national park. Click on "Find a Park." You can search by name, location, activity or topic and then click your way to lodging options.
A peek at some popular parks
Here's a sampling of accommodations in or near some of the most-visited parks. Rates are based on double occupancy and don't include taxes.
