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If you can afford the gas…

It’s a qualifier for everyone going on vacation by car truck or recreational vehicle.  We are seeing a slight drop in cost at the pumps in Idaho and it may encourage you to be bold.

Only in Your State is offering a recommendation on a visit to Heyburn State Park.  It’s a drive from southern Idaho, but we live in a part of the country where distance is simply a cultural fact.  After looking at a video posted by park management, a visit is on my bucket list.

I buy the yearly park pass when I register my car.  It’s a bargain.  If you visit a lot of parks, the savings in admission fees will make up for your fuel costs!

Heyburn State Park is jaw-dropping.  The video portrays an almost pristine wilderness.  Birds on the water, leafy trees, and great fishing.

If you plan on camping, you probably should consider summer 2023.  It’s not easy to get a camping reservation at any state park in Idaho.  Demand surged after the so-called pandemic.  People wanted a change from the four walls of their homes.

I monitored one park for months before I came across a cancellation and quickly booked a cabin.

Heyburn State Park, near Plummer, appears to have everything you could desire.  Swimming, hiking, biking, fishing, camping, horseback riding, and ogling the scenery.

Cabin rentals are available year-round so let me share my experience.  Cabins in most parks can accommodate up to five people and the price beats most motels and hotels.  If nothing else, grab a book and put your feet on a cabin porch and forget your job for a few days.

RANKED: Here are the most popular national parks

To determine the most popular national parks in the United States, Stacker compiled data from the National Park Service on the number of recreational visits each site had in 2020. Keep reading to discover the 50 most popular national parks in the United States, in reverse order from #50 to #1. And be sure to check with individuals parks before you visit to find out about ongoing, pandemic-related safety precautions at www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

LOOK: Here are the best lake towns to live in

Many of the included towns jump out at the casual observer as popular summer-rental spots--the Ozarks' Branson, Missouri, or Arizona's Lake Havasu--it might surprise you to dive deeper into some quality-of-life offerings beyond the beach and vacation homes. You'll likely pick up some knowledge from a wide range of Americana: one of the last remaining 1950s-style drive-ins in the Midwest; a Florida town that started as a Civil War veteran retirement area; an island boasting some of the country's top public schools and wealth-earners right in the middle of a lake between Seattle and Bellevue; and even a California town containing much more than Johnny Cash's prison blues.

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