Best East Coast National Parks: 7 Trips Across the Eastern US
The classics
The Great Smoky Mountains straddle Tennessee and North Carolina and are the most-visited US national park. Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge are the common Tennessee-side bases; Cherokee or Bryson City on the North Carolina side. A Smokies week runs $900 to $2,200 per person including gateway lodging and a rental car. Fall color peaks mid-to-late October. Acadia National Park in Maine delivers coastal scenery, carriage-road trails, and quintessential New England towns at $1,400 to $3,500 per person for a week.
The subtropical picks
Everglades National Park and the Keys deliver subtropical ecosystems unique in the US. A combined Everglades plus Key West trip runs $1,800 to $4,000 per person for a week. Peak season is December through April; summer is hot and buggy.
The driving scenery parks
Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway through North Carolina deliver the single-best road trips in the eastern US. A Blue Ridge Parkway five-to-seven day trip runs $900 to $2,200 per person including rental car, mid-tier lodges, and food. Fall color through this corridor runs mid-October through early November and is one of the most reliable foliage windows in North America.
The Canadian add-ons
A Canada-New England cruise delivers fall foliage from the sea with stops at Bar Harbor (near Acadia), Halifax, and Quebec City. A late September or early October cruise runs $1,200 to $4,500 per person for a week.
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