National Park lodging can start to sell out up to a year in advance.

It might seem too early to be thinking about next summer, but that hasn’t stopped us from peeking at potential lodging for a road trip in the works. At many of the busiest national parks, it’s a good idea to book your stay up to a year in advance. It sounds crazy, but a lot of rooms in the lodges of Yellowstone and Glacier parks are filling up, especially the more reasonably priced ones. For dates in June through August, those parks’ busiest months, we found some of the cheaper rooms to be sold out already, and limited availability even on pricier options. It’s important to note that because most of the lodges accept cancellations with only a few days notice without penalty, you can always book now and change your mind later. So if you have your eye on a 2013 national park vacation, it can’t hurt to start looking now.

There are two major vendors (along with many independent establishments) that provide lodging options within the National Park Service. They are Xanterra and Forever Resorts, check out their websites for locations.