National Parks for Spring break

[Anonymous]

My family was planning to book a trip for spring break to a National Park mid April, looking at some potential locations in the Southwest. Between flights/FAA staffing uncertainties and the NPS cuts, would you take the risk to fly and go to a National Park or two for a few days, or better to just plan a regional roadtrip? This is not a political post, but simply a "how to best secure a last minute family spring break trip" question.

[Anonymous]

Don’t commit any money to a national park.

But flying to the area and having a plan B I think is reasonable. State parks are excellent. And trails in national parks will be open.

But the trash cans might be overflowing

[Anonymous]

Of course! Go and enjoy. They are still hiring all of their seasonal employees. Flights will be fine too.

I will warn you in general that outdoor stuff in AZ is popular at spring break. We did it last year and overall had a good time, but the busses to to trails in Sedona and GCNP had long waits - often 45m to an hour. And it's the only way to access them because the trailhead lots are closed or full.

[Anonymous]

Where do you get your inform from? Dumpster has frozen hiring for all seasonal federal park jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do you get your inform from? Dumpster has frozen hiring for all seasonal federal park jobs.

You could easily google this. They quickly exempted seasonal staff from the freeze.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/02/update-one-thousand-national-park-service-staff-fired-seasonal-hiring-resuming

[Anonymous]

ZionCanyonlands, Escalante, Bryce, Grand Canyon

[Anonymous]

We LOVED our trip to Moab for spring break. Highly recommend. Paddleboarding, hiking, UTVs, trip to Canyonlands, mountain biking, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course! Go and enjoy. They are still hiring all of their seasonal employees. Flights will be fine too.

I will warn you in general that outdoor stuff in AZ is popular at spring break. We did it last year and overall had a good time, but the busses to to trails in Sedona and GCNP had long waits - often 45m to an hour. And it's the only way to access them because the trailhead lots are closed or full.

No... they aren't....

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind there will likely be a gov shutdown starting march 14 and who knows how long that will last. So research alternatives to national parks in the area you are going.