There’s no better way to Make 2020 Your Year of Experiences than by booking your next trip on a day dedicated to vacation planning. National Plan for Vacation Day on Tuesday, January 28 is a day to encourage Americans to plan their vacation at the start of the year — and inspire them to use those days to experience the USA.
Together with the U.S. Travel Association, we want to help you make the most of your vacation. Did you know that last year a total of 768 million vacation days went unused! Despite earning MORE TIME OFF, Americans actually had LESS TIME USED than the past 2 years.
What’s the best way to prevent that this year? Planning a
trip in advance!
Research shows that people who plan are likely to use more of their hard-earned vacation days and report greater levels of happiness at work and at home. Taking time off and getting outdoors also directly contribute to strengthening personal relationships, enhancing professional performance, and improving overall mental health and well-being.
Opportunity doesn't wait, and neither should you. Spring break is right around the corner and there’s less than six months until summer vacation. Campgrounds, tours, and permits for popular experiences across the country are booking up as well, so now is the perfect time to plan your vacation. Whether it's hiking your local trail, a camping trip with the kids, cross-country road trip with friends, stepping outside your comfort zone, or finally taking that dream vacation, Recreation.gov can help make the most of your time off this year.
Share this with your friends and family, check out Recreation.gov for travel inspiration and trip recommendations, and take back your vacation days!
Did you catch our series of posts for National Trivia Day on the Recreation.gov Facebook Page? No worries if you didn’t, we’ll share one of the top fun facts with you now. Acadia National Park in Maine is the oldest park east of the Mississippi River, and was the first time in history where land was donated to the federal government for the public to enjoy!
Looking to try something new, live on the wild side, or take a truly memorable trip as part of your Year of Experiences? Join us in the remote and rugged mountains of central Idaho for a wild ride down the scenic Middle Fork of the Salmon in Salmon-Challis National Forest. These class III and IV+ rapids offer an exciting experience for everyone from families to seasoned whitewater
adventurers.
The Middle Fork originates 20 miles northwest of Stanley, Idaho at the intersection of Bear Valley and Marsh Creeks, and is known world-wide for extraordinary whitewater rafting trips. The multitude of rapid classes offer boating excitement on multi-day trips floating through the scenic beauty of the forest, including alpine forests, glimpses of prehistoric paintings, dazzling night skies, and a sheer rock-walled canyon that is the third deepest in North America! Every year, more than 10,000 people are awarded river access permits to take on the mighty Middle Fork.
The Middle Fork employs a permit system to protect the river and wilderness resources, limit our footprint on the area, and enhance the visitor experience. You can enter for a chance to plan your own rafting adventure with a river access permit for The Middle Fork or nine other incredible rivers through the new "Lotteries" section in the Recreation.gov app or the lotteries page on the website. River lotteries close at the end of the month though, so float, paddle, or row on over to Recreation.gov and enter while there’s still time!
If you’ve recently taken a trip that you reserved on Recreation.gov, you can now share comments about your experience at that location with us and other visitors!
In November, we launched a new ratings and reviews feature on the website. Visitors are able to rate their overall experience using a standard star system and share comments about their trip publicly on the website as well as privately with the Local Manager and our team. These comments provide travel planning details and recommendations to help other visitors and send information to our team that lets us know what’s working and identify areas for improvement.
You can submit your own ratings and reviews by logging in to your Recreation.gov account, selecting "My Reservations", and choosing "Review Your Experience" for any past reservations. Past camping, ticket, or permit reservations can be rated and reviewed for up to 6 months after the end date of the experience. You can also update any of your comments for up to 30 days after it was submitted by choosing "Edit Your Review" next to the
reservation under your account.
Head over to Recreation.gov and rate your recent trips today!
