Frequently Asked Questions

For decades the primary safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people have been bars and nightclubs, which while being critical aspects of community-building and gay culture, can lead to unhealthy habits in excess, and are simply not everyone’s ideal settings for meeting people. Additionally, LGBTQ+ people tend to report more loneliness than their heterosexual counterparts, and the rise of dating apps often lead to frustration and even fewer in-person interactions. Gays of National Parks started as a simple instagram page where LGBTQ+ people could share stories of how the national parks and nature more broadly has impacted their lives. It has since grown into a community where in addition to sharing stores online, we also plan and coordinate outdoor adventure trips, including hiking, camping, backpacking, canoeing, and whitewater rafting! Each trip is led by one or more LGBTQ+ trip leads who will coordinate hikes and other activities, as well as facilitate discussions on the ecology, geology, history, astronomy, and other topics as they relate to the national parks!

Most of our travelers come solo and leave with a new crew of adventure buddies and thereafter often visit each other across the country/world! Everyone is in the same fabulous boat and is there for the mostly the same reasons: to build LGBTQ+ community through the exploration of nature. People are eager to make friends, and this is about as welcoming a community as you could possibly find.

Our trips have a variety of difficulty levels, and some trips will have in-trip options that can let you decide between a more relaxed or more intense experience; there’s something for just about everyone! View our trips for details about each. 

If you’ve never been camping before, you’re in the right place! Our guides are camping experts, and you can learn from them instead of trial-by-error. Before each trip you will be given an excruciatingly detailed packing list which we will review in a video meeting beforehand so that you have all of the knowledge you need to thrive! Many previous travelers have come on our trips without camping experience and were surprised at how easy it was with a bit of guidance. Also, not every trip involves camping, for some trips the lodging is Airbnbs and hotels! See the individual brochures linked in the flyer above for details.

We totally get it, and we are doing everything we can to make these trips as affordable and sustainable as possible!

• Each trip has a different price point, so if one trip isn’t affordable, check out the other options.
• The first few spots in all of our trips have Early-Bird Pricing; sign up as soon as you can, and you can always cancel for a full refund within the listed timeframe (see cancellation policy on a trips’ respective WeTravel page for details). 
• Each of our trips offers payment plans, which gives you flexibility for breaking up the payments.
• We occasionally have one-day, flash sales, so follow our Instagram page to stay posted on this or contact us and ask when the next one might be!
• And if money is the only barrier, fear not! Apply for the Anita Vacation Memorial Grant (may she rest in peace 👼), through which you may receive some financial support! 
• Half-trips are also a possibility, depending on the trip, which would be at a pro-rated cost. Email marko@gaysofnationalparks.com for more information.
• We know some tricks of the trade regarding flights that we’re happy to share with you to make them more affordable. Email marko@gaysofnationalparks.com for details.

NO! The Gays of National Parks administrative staff is half POC, 3/4 of us learned English as a second language, spanning four continents of ethnicity! All LGBTQ+ adults, of all races, gender identities, body types, etc. are welcome on our trips!

Potentially yes! Please email marko@gaysofnationalparks.com. Whatever your scheduling needs are, we can try and make it work, depending on how much space there is on the trip.

After some experimenting with group size and asking for lots of feedback, we’ve found that about 12 travelers is the perfect size for a weeklong trip, which is small enough to be an intimate experience where people can develop meaningful connections and commune with nature (and not have the logistical difficulties of very large groups, where one bathroom break takes an hour), but large enough that everyone can find people that they connect with and continue to get to know people throughout the week. Some trips do have two groups happening simultaneously with opportunities for inter-group mingling.

OMG, so glad you asked! 

1. Community. Probably the biggest highlight for past travelers has been the bonds they form and connections they make with people who started out as strangers and became fast friends. The inside jokes, the memes, the music videos, the stories, the questionable wig choices… all of it makes for a totally unforgettable experience that will leave you with withdrawal symptoms! Additionally, being on long hikes or around a campfire without cell reception provides an ideal setting to have deep conversations that go beyond the typical superficiality and mundanity of day-to-day life. It’s an opportunity to really get to know people in a deep and meaningful way. 
2. Guides. Our guides (all LGBT+ of course) are all top notch and this is what we DO, honey! Each trip is a balance between the must-see, iconic sights that you’ve seen all over your social media, as well as off-the-beaten-path hikes that you almost certainly wouldn’t be able to find on your own, where we’ll be unbothered by the straights. We’re not just taking you on the first 10 trails on AllTrails and calling it a day, no ma’am!
3. Talks. Our guides also give talks and facilitate discussions about history, astronomy, geology, ecology, mythology, conservation, arts, and more, as it relates to the parks! Besides just seeing these parks, you’ll learn how the geologic features formed, be able to identify some of our good Judies in the plant and animal kingdoms, and learn a few new constellations. Our evening talks are often another highlight for past travelers based on traveler surveys!
4. Logistics. Planning a trip of this scale is a LOT of work on your own, particularly if it’s in an area you’re not familiar with. Not only do you have to figure out WHAT to do, you also have to figure out the food, lodging, car rentals… what a pain in the butt (and not in a good way)! Leave those logistics to us, so that you can more or less just show up and be amazed!