5 Hacks to Pull Off an Affordable Family Adventure

Campgrounds at Yosemite and other popular national parks can book up months in advance. Thankfully, there are several online platforms that make finding alternatives easy. Hipcamp has tent sites at farms, ranches, and private camps, plus spots on public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies. It also has listings with stepped-up stays, like an A-frame cabin in Oregon with a swimming hole and a creekside farm in Mississippi where guests can collect eggs for breakfast. Pitchup.com catalogues roughly 100 campgrounds in the U.S., including West Beach Resort, on Orcas Island, Washington, which offers safari-style tents and whale-watching. France-based Huttopia has a handful of glamping locations in Canada and the U.S. that have sturdy wood-and-canvas tents and plentiful amenities. Huttopia Southern Maine, for example, about a half-hour’s drive from Kennebunkport, has a cafe, camp store, swimming pond, and hammocks slung between the pines.

Check out newcomers.

Several new hotel brands are targeting nature lovers with locations close to national and state parks. Many also have gear to rent, including bikes and child-carrier backpacks. Loge has 17 locations open or in development, including one near Montana’s Glacier National Park, which puts guests within striking distance of 700 miles of hiking trails. Field Station now has two locations, one in Moab, Utah and another in California, near Joshua Tree National Park; each has a selection of quad rooms, a gear shop, and a swimming pool. Trailborn Rocky Mountains is close to Rocky Mountain National Park; a sibling property is slated to open in Highlands, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this summer.

D.I.Y. your hotel.

Recreational vehicles are another option to consider — even if you’ve never driven one before. Most of the rental RVs listed on Outdoorsy can be delivered by the owner to a campground or driveway of your choosing, and many of those who list on RVshare will do the same. If you’re open to driving yourself, one of the best ways to find high-quality parking spots is through Harvest Hosts, which tracks u-pick farms, breweries, drive-ins, and other businesses that welcome overnighters.

Step up your search terms.

Use filters to find some of the most interesting options on Airbnb. Click on “Domes” to narrow the choices to geodesic homes, including one overlooking the Potomac River in the mountains of West Virginia. “Play” turns up a Colorado cabin with an indoor climbing wall and an outdoor kids’ fort. “Treehouses” pulls up an off-grid dwelling on a wooded farm in rural Ohio.

Reconsider the extended-stay hotel.

Often thought of as no-frills, these properties can be surprisingly well appointed, with family-friendly amenities including en suite kitchens, playgrounds, and pools. Atwell Suites, for example, is an IHG Hotels & Resorts brand with locations in Austin, Denver, and Miami that serves free breakfast — including churro doughnuts — and has games and puzzles in the lobby; more than 40 locations are in the works. Choice Hotels has launched the pet-friendly Everhome Suites, with eight locations scheduled to open in 2024, including one in Bozeman, Montana.

A version of this story first appeared in the July 2024 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “How to Pull Off an Affordable Summer Getaway.”