The North American National Parks are the envy of the world, and while millions of travelers make their way to and through the parks every year, the threat of rising airfare and expensive gas might prompt some to pause their plans.
You don't need to do that.
If you know which parks to target and you know how to look for cheap airfare, you can still book an affordable parks trip this year without the back-breaking road trip that many of these remote destinations require.
I'm a Parks obsessive, so I spend much of my time as a flight deal analyst hunting cheap airfare to these majestic destinations and sending it to our Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alert subscribers. And sometimes … I get high on my own supply and book these trips for myself.
Here are the strategies I'm using and the destinations I'm targeting for a National Parks trip that doesn't break the bank for summer 2026.
Tips to Save on Flights
There are three main strategies I would employ to get the best airfare possible when searching for cheap flights to the National Parks: avoiding peak days and times, being open to different airports, and using Google Flights Explore.
Avoid Peak Times & Days
This strategy is crucial and under-appreciated.
If you want to fly to Yellowstone for Fourth of July week, you're going to pay the highest possible airfare. If you want to fly home on a Sunday afternoon, you're going to be met with a similar rude-awakening. Plain and simple, if you want the best deal, you need to avoid the peak times.
Here's where to look for the best prices:
- August (avoid those peak June/July months)
- Avoid holidays (Fourth of July and Labor Day will have higher fares)
- Mid-week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays will almost always have the lowest fares)
- NOT Sundays (more importantly, avoid Sundays which are almost always the most expensive)
Here's a great example. If you want to fly to Yellowstone from Detroit (DTW), you can find roundtrip flights for just $279 on Delta! But look at this pricing calendar. Notice where the cheapest dates (in green) are easiest to find?
That's right. Mid-week flights are easiest to find in both months, but you can even get weekend flights if you wait until August to book.
Be Open-Minded About Airports (Departing and Arriving)
When prices look high, consider other airports. The savings can be enormous.
Many of the country's top parks are in relatively remote locations, which means the airports near the parks likely have limited service. But because they are so remote, getting to the parks often requires a drive anyway. So sometimes targeting an airport slightly further away can drastically improve your chances of booking a cheaper flight (and getting cheaper rental cars, too).
For example, a flight from Seattle (SEA) to West Yellowstone (WYS) – the closest airport to the park's west entrance, will cost you $524 roundtrip for a week in mid-July when I just searched. But if you search for flights to Bozeman (BZN) which is less than 90 minutes from the north entrance, you'll find flights for just $317 roundtrip. For Billings (BIL) near the park's east entrance, flights are just $287. Idaho Falls (IDA) is another alternative just a few hours from the park entrance, which you can get for $297 roundtrip on the same date, too.
Don't close your laptop just because fares are high to the closest airport. Take a look around to find the lowest rate. And the best way to look around, is using Google Flights Explore.
Google Flights Explore
This is the most powerful tool in airfare and not enough people use it. Google Flights Explore will show you, on a map, all of the cheapest fares that you can tailor to your exact trip.
You specify the dates, the airlines you prefer, the kind of fare, how many bags you want to bring, and even the times of day for the flights and Google Flights shows you the rest.
Here's how to do it:
- Open Google Flights, type in your home airport or city, your desired dates, and most importantly, leave the “Where to?” box empty. Then, press search.
- From here, a map of the U.S. will show up with tons of airfares in white boxes. Click any city (it doesn't matter which) and when those search results pop up, start setting the filters you want (i.e. airlines, layovers, connection times, bags, etc.) Then, go into the “Where to?” box, delete the random city you put in there, and type in “Anywhere.” Then hit “Enter.”
- You'll get a new map that includes all of your filters, so you can scroll around the country (and around the world) to look for the cheapest fares on the exact dates you want.
- Pick your National Park based on the lowest price!
Here's an example I pulled up from Phoenix (PHX). I filtered for a maximum of one connection, of 6 hours or less, and a carry-on bag for a long weekend in August. Here's what I got.
From this map, I'm seeing sufficiently cheap flights to Billings (BIL) and Bozeman (BZN) for a Yellowstone trip, a good fare to Reno (RNO) for a Yosemite trip, and good value to Seattle (SEA) to visit any three of their National Parks, too.
If you don't know where to start, it's with Google Flights Explore.
Where to Find Cheap Flights to the Parks
If you want some ideas on where to go, here are the National Parks where our team of a dozen Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal analysts have been seeing the best value so far in 2026.
Acadia National Park – Maine
Airports to Target: Portland (PWM), Bangor (BGR)
The Trip: Fly into either Portland (for the city experience) or into Bangor (which is a little closer) and rent a car. From Portland (where you're most likely to find the cheapest flights), take the scenic route up the Maine coast, stopping to devour as many lobster rolls as you can before spending a few days at the park.
Shell out for a night's stay at Under Canvas Acadia (bookable with World of Hyatt points) – a glamping campsite getting rave reviews that's right on the ocean.
Luckily, we've found cheap flights to Portland – especially in August – from tons of U.S. cities. Here's an example of a flight deal alert our members got a few weeks ago.
Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, & Great Sand Dunes National Parks – Colorado
Nearest Airports: Denver (DEN), Colorado Springs (COS), Montrose (MTJ)
The Trip: Colorado's three major National Parks can and should be done in one epic road trip. Fly to any of those three airports, rent a car, and head out for the parks.
Rocky Mountain is closest to Denver in the northern part of the state, Sand Dunes is in the southeast (nearest Colorado Springs), and Grand Canyon of the Gunnison is in the western part of the state closest to Montrose. Any one would be an ideal trip, but hitting all three in one swing is one for the books!
Denver will be your best bet for affordable airfare. We send Denver deals all the time, including our latest flight deal that included this sizzling fare from San Diego (SAN).
Yosemite National Park – California
Nearest Airports: Reno (RNO), San Franciso (SFO), Sacramento (SMF), San Jose (SJC), Oakland (OAK), Bishop (BIH)
The Trip: A flight to any one of these places puts you within about three hours of a park entrance. Bishop (BIH) is closest and by far the hardest to find a cheap flight to. Meanwhile, the Bay Area airports all have good service – but you'll have to deal with major airports and cities before you get into nature.
The sweet spot here is Reno (RNO). It puts you within two-and-a-half hours of the eastern entrance to the park, within an hour of Lake Tahoe if you wanted to combine the trip with something else, and allows you to drive down the impossibly pretty Highway 395 in California which is dotted with natural hot springs along the way.
Plus, finding a cheap flight to Reno (RNO) isn't hard thanks to robust service from Southwest Airlines, which always keeps fares low and forces the other airlines to compete.
Here's a list of cities where we found roundtrip flights to Reno (RNO) for this summer under $250 roundtrip!
Denali, Kenai Fjords, Lake Clark, Katmai National Parks – Alaska
Nearest Airports: Anchorage (ANC), Fairbanks (FAI)
The Trip: Fly to Anchorage or Fairbanks, rent a car, and pick a comfy one, because you'll do some driving (and more) going park-to-park in the massive expanse of Alaska. If that worries you, let me tell you, it's so worth it!
Start in Denali – a vast, sprawling park with daily bus tours (a must) that take you to the end of the road and back where you'll truly feel like you're at the ends of the earth.
Then head down south through Anchorage where you can book day tours to Katmai – famous for the National Parks Fat Bear competition and the waterfall with all the bears catching salmon you've certainly seen photos of on the internet. Or head to Lake Clark – which is so remote you might need to book a float plane ride in and out like I did a few summers ago.
Then go to Seward – the coastal town and former starting point for the Iditarod where you can boat or kayak into Kenai Fjords National Park, too.
Luckily, summer air service into Anchorage or Fairbanks has grown and grown over the years – meaning there's more competition and lower airfare. Fairbanks was often an afterthought compared to its big brother in Anchorage, but we found low fares to Fairbanks thanks to a big sale from Alaska Airlines from more than two dozen U.S. cities. The lowest fare belonged to Seattle (SEA).
Jasper & Banff National Parks – Canada
Nearest Airports: Calgary (YYC) and Edmonton (YEG)
The Trip: I'll be honest … this is the trip you should take. I'm obsessed with the Canadian Rockies, it's a known bias of mine that I've beaten to death on the Thrifty Traveler Podcast. Even though these aren't U.S. National Parks, Banff and Jasper National Parks are two of the best on earth.
Best of all, while flight prices are on the rise within the U.S., flights to Canada are inexpensive right now, and when you get to Canada, your dollar goes further!
A roundtrip flight to Calgary (YYC) will be slightly easier to find than one to Edmonton (YEG), thanks to YYC's surprisingly large network of flights to the U.S. In fact, we've found roundtrip flights to both destinations in the $300s from more than 40 U.S. and Canadian cities over the past few months for trips this summer. Here's a look at flights you can book to Calgary (YYC), for instance.
But if you live somewhere where you can fly to either Edmonton or Calgary … I have the perfect summer trip planned for you. And it starts with a flight like this:
Here's the itinerary: Fly to Edmonton, rent a car, drive four hours to Jasper National Park, spend a few days there. Then, road trip the gorgeous Icefields Parkway down through Lake Louise and into Banff, where you'll spend a few days before flying home from Calgary (YYC).
Bottom Line
Airfare and gas prices are on the rise, but that doesn't mean you have to put your National Parks trip on hold this summer.
If you employ our three main airfare-saving strategies and look at some of the National Parks where airfare is cheapest right now, you can still book an affordable trip to your favorite Park in 2026.
