Park Week is an independent editorial site about taking a US national park trip that fits in a real calendar: three to seven days, one lodging problem, two paid activities, and a clear no on treating travel insurance as park entry.
The publisher is Gary Thomas. He is responsible for what this site says, including the decision not to invent trip reports. If a hub names a trail, a shuttle, or a lottery, it is because those things exist in public park documents — not because a first-person anecdote was required to make the page feel authentic.
What “publisher” means here
It means editorial liability. It does not mean a 63-park completion badge. National parks are full of people who have walked farther than we have. They are also full of itineraries that cannot be executed by a family with a 2 p.m. checkout. Park Week is for the second group, written with enough respect for the first group not to fake their voice.
How to read a hub
Start with length and the honest limit. If you want the thing we skipped (The Subway, the Highline as identity, a Las Vegas day trip), you want a different trip, not a more aggressive version of ours. Then book the stay. Then the two activities. Then decide whether optional insurance is worth the prepaid pieces. Methodology is the longer version of that paragraph.
Money
Park Week expects to earn affiliate commissions from Priceline and Hotels.com (lodging), Viator (activities), and Allianz Travel US (optional travel insurance) through Commission Junction. Those relationships are disclosed in the header on every page. They do not decide which gateway town is primary. FTC disclosure.
What we need from readers
Corrections with sources. If Hurricane Ridge’s operating pattern changes, or the Smokies parking tag rules move, tell us with a link. Do not send a secret swimming hole. Contact.