re: National Parks are too crowded

July is peak season in most parks. We did Rocky Mountain, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Canyon (North Rim) in late June/Early July. Rocky was crowded, but not terrible on week days. Capitol Reef was great. No crowds at all. Bryce was disgusting. Bused in people from Vegas overran the place. North Rim was fairly quiet. It only gets 10% of GC traffic.

The best time to hit parks is late spring before many northern schools dismiss, or fall after kids are back in school. I've had traditionally crowded sites literally to myself on fall visits.