Need Some Advice on landscape shooting

Hello everyone... My family is planning a cross country trip from Alabama to the west coast. We plan to stop at many different sights... Mount Rushmore, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone National, some falls in Oregon, the pacific ocean, and the Redwood National Forest, among others. I plan to do some serious shooting while we are out... much to my family's dismay. HA! But I have to do a gallery in my last semester of school and I want to be able to use some of these shots in my gallery. My questions are...
1.) Are there particular filters that will make all of the colors really pop without giving color casts to the entire photo? I know that there are polarizing filters and neutral density filters, but I am not real schooled on filters yet so not sure which would be better. Any advice concerning filters would be GREAT!

2.) Any advice on taking great landscape shots would be great. I do know to use slower shutter speeds to get milky water on waterfalls, but that's about all of the tricks in my bag.

3.) Does anyone know if you have to have special permits or anything to photograph National parks, etc? I did see on 1 website that 1 place specifically requires you to have a permit, but will ALL places require this or does it just depend on the place?

And lastly, if anyone has any photos to share of these places, I would love to see them. I've never been out west before so this is going to be a real adventure and I'm excited. If you DO post a shot, and you are willing to share your secrets for capturing that particular shot, please do so.
THANKS ALL!

I use a ND-2 and ND-4 along with 2 polarizers and can mix and match for different degrees of intencity typically I use one ND-4 in a shaded location with a stream gives me about 1'3 sec. exposure at f-22 or there abouts gives me somthing like this image here > https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=459368

1. use a polarizer on sunny days.

2. find the most interesting foregrounds and backgrounds, line them up and take the shot.

3. don't bring relatives unless you want to use them as props.

Here's a link to the National Park information about permits. I am not aware of any of the parks that require a permit for personal photography, but I have not been to every park.

The scenery out west is BIG. It is easy to get caught up in the breathtaking wide open huge expanses of gorgeous views and miss the really nice shots in front of you. Don't always think big and forget your creativity. It sounds like you'll have quite an adventure. Have a safe trip.

I've shot hundreds of photos in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and it is my understanding that you don't need a permit unless you're specifically doing a photo shoot for commercial purposes.

Best time to for landscape is 30 minutes before and after sunrise and 30 minutes before and after sunset.
Try to avoid bright sunlight because it will wash out all the colors
Use small F stops like 28 or 32 for sharp results
Carry a tripod at all time! Our guys carry 80+ pounds of equipment everyday over there in Iraq, a little tripod being heavy is no excuse!
Try to use mirror lockup

garibaldi wrote in post #4995917
1. use a polarizer on sunny days.

2. find the most interesting foregrounds and backgrounds, line them up and take the shot.

3. don't bring relatives unless you want to use them as props.

+1.

look on my flickr, THAT is polarization.

vinunleaded wrote in post #5017866
Best time to for landscape is 30 minutes before and after sunrise and 30 minutes before and after sunset.
Try to avoid bright sunlight because it will wash out all the colors
Use small F stops like 28 or 32 for sharp results
Carry a tripod at all time! Our guys carry 80+ pounds of equipment everyday over there in Iraq, a little tripod being heavy is no excuse!
Try to use mirror lockup

Oh, and although this is true, i have some nice shots taken at like 2pm (sun is still high in the sky, just not center); you can still make colors pop even if its not sunset.

[QUOTE=Jbs;5018029]+1.

look on my flickr, THAT is polarization.



did you use polarizer filter for your West Wood and Old Pier shot? Although I own a pol filter but Ive never gotten the chance to use it. From what I understand, pol filter takes away light reflections but your Old Pier shot has light relection of the buildings on the water. Just curious.