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Women Who Travel Podcast: How to Choose a National Park
There are over 60 national parks in the United States—and they're never more popular than at the peak of summer. This year, however, might look a little bit different as a result of sweeping budget cuts that impact everything from how the trails are maintained to the park rangers who guide you. To help us understand what to expect—and plan our next trip—associate articles director and podcast regular, Megan Spurrell, joins host Lale Arikoglu to parse the nuances of the national parks, like which ones are lesser-trafficked and why, to how to be a thoughtful visitor, and shares the best things to do at some of her favorites.
Lale Arikoglu: Hi there. I'm Lale Arikoglu, and with me in the Women Who Travel studio today is Traveler's associate articles director, Megan Spurrell.
Megan Spurrell: Hi.
LA: My travel partner, my hiking partner. My surfing partner.
MS: It's true.
LA: Oh, and desk partner, I'm going to say.
MS: We sit a foot away from each other every day.
LA: We never part, we never part.
Megan, we kicked off the year talking about our best places to go in 2025. I know listeners loved it. And this time we're focusing on all things summer, more specifically how to get the most out of US national parks this summer and how to choose them and where to go. Planning a parks trip, as we know, can be overwhelming at the best of times, thanks to so many choices, but this year is unique due to the funding cuts that have resulted in staff reductions that are impacting everyone from workers at visitor centers to those who are maintaining the trails and even the park rangers.
You've been overseeing a ton of our national parks coverage and you also cover so much of the outdoors for us. But before we talk about this summer and why it's different, I want to know what your top three national parks are and whether you can choose.
MS: There's over 60 national parks, which I'm not sure the average American even knows, but top would be Arches in Utah, just the crazy red rock formations, big red sandstone arches, that very iconic, dramatic Utah scenery.
LA: I'd kind of argue what, at least for me as a foreigner who moved to America, kind of what I thought of as the national parks, that's what I envisioned was going to a national park, was going to those landscapes.
MS: Yes, very traditional, driving through sort of desert lands, big blue, open sky, and just these crazy rock formations that almost look like petrified waves. So that's Arches. And then, okay, so I love Acadia. I know we both love Acadia National Park.
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