It was once the most American of vacations.
You didn’t need a booking window or a credit card or a six-month plan.
You just went. Pitched a tent. Made sandwiches. Drove slow. Let the country unfold in front of you.
That idea is vanishing.
Today, the average American family can no longer afford to visit their national parks.
A weeklong trip to Yellowstone, Yosemite, or Glacier now easily runs north of $6,000 for a family of four. That’s more than a month’s take-home pay for most U.S. households, and that’s assuming you drive, not fly. Sleep in a roadside motel, not a lodge. Pack food in a cooler, not eat out. Win the permit lottery. Don’t miss the booking window.
Once you're inside, it doesn’t get easier:
In-park lodging at Glacier runs $766 a night.
Campground reservations are layered with “processing fees” that don’t go to the parks. They go to Booz Allen Hamilton.
Popular trail access now requires a paid lottery just to enter.
What was built as a public good now functions like a luxury resort.
