Active travel provider Backroads has reported continued growth in travel to US national parks.
Since 1979, Backroads has been connecting travellers with the wild places at the heart of the country’s outdoor heritage. The company’s first trip took guests through Death Valley by bike, and today Backroads operates biking, hiking, walking and multi-adventure trips in more than 20 US national parks, from Acadia to Zion. Backroads has increased its 2026 national park trip departures by 12% over 2025 and introduced new itineraries, including glamping trips in Maine and Yellowstone, as well as a Moab Multi-Adventure Tour.
As family travel continues to grow, US national parks hold special appeal, especially for parents who experienced places like Yellowstone—the nation’s first national park—or Alaska’s Kenai Fjords in their own childhoods. Backroads said it is seeing many travellers return on multigenerational trips, where parents, grandparents and kids of all ages explore these landscapes together while biking, hiking, kayaking and engaging in cultural exploration.
Backroads is seeing strong growth in departures for summer 2026 compared to 2025 in Crater Lake National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Acadia National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park.
“I led guests on Backroads’ very first trip in Death Valley, so the national parks have always meant a lot to me personally,” said Tom Hale, Backroads founder, president and CEO.
“There’s nothing better than connecting our guests to these incredible places in the ways we love to experience them—like hiking alongside the hoodoos in Bryce or biking the legendary Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier. Those are the moments that make the parks unforgettable.”
While National Park Week in 2026 will be celebrated April 18–26, coinciding with Earth Day on April 22, Backroads offers national park trips year-round, including Yellowstone Snow Adventures and trips in Arches, Saguaro and Death Valley, among others.
