To Top It All Off
Back in 2014, I started researching and memorizing the names of all the National Parks, never imagining that one day I’d be telling the story of how I’ve hiked, kayaked, and photographed most of them. Yet, in less than 350 days, I managed to visit 62 out of the 63 congressionally designated National Parks! Looking back, it was a whirlwind year, and while I plan to revisit many parks, some will forever live in my memories, photos, and stories shared on this blog. My go-to resource for planning was the National Park Service website, and below is a handy alphabetical list of all 63 parks, with links to nps.gov.
My journey exploring the National Parks began in 1997, but it wasn’t until 2013, while planning a “Mighty 5 of Utah” trip, that I truly fell in love with the National Park System. Over the next seven years, I used every available vacation day to explore as many parks as I could, balancing my passion with a demanding job and an aging parent. Living in Florida with a large dog, my trips were limited to driving, which made cross-country park visits a challenge. I managed to check-off 15 parks in those seven years, but at that pace, I realized I wouldn’t hit my goal of seeing all the U.S. National Parks before my 50th birthday. At 49, I made a made a decision, I left my second career for the pursuit of the next.
Alphabetical List of USA National Parks
- Acadia National Park
- Arches National Park
- Badlands National Park
- Big Bend National Park
- Biscayne National Park
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Capitol Reef National Park
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- Channel Islands National Park
- Congaree National Park
- Crater Lake National Park
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Denali National Park & Preserve
- Dry Tortugas National Park
- Everglades National Park
- Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve
- Gateway Arch National Park
- Glacier National Park
- Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve
- Grand Canyon National Park (✅ North Rim ✅ South Rim Rim to Rim)
- Grand Tetons National Park
- Great Basin National Park
- Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- Haleakalā National Park
- Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
- Hot Springs National Park
- Indiana Dunes National Park
- Isle Royale National Park
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Katmai National Park & Preserve
- Kenai Fjords National Park
- Kings Canyon National Park (SEKI app)
- Kobuk Valley National Park
- Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Mammoth Cave National Park
- Mesa Verde National Park
- Mount Rainier National Park
- National Park of American Samoa
- New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
- North Cascades National Park
- Olympic National Park
- Petrified Forest National Park
- Pinnacles National Park
- Redwood National and State Parks
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Saguaro National Park (✅ East (Rincon) ✅ West Tucson Mountains)
- Sequoia National Park (SEKI app)
- Shenandoah National Park
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- Virgin Islands National Park
- Voyageurs National Park
- White Sands National Park
- Wind Cave National Park
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve
- Yellowstone National Park
- Yosemite National Park
- Zion National Park
One Shy in the Southern Hemisphere
In 2021, I set out to complete the entire National Park list of 63 within 12 months. I succeeded at checking off 62/63 of the national parks and have delayed going to National Park of American Samoa for several reasons. Since 2020, American Samoa has a strict policy on visitation which involves limiting tourism, much of it in the wake of The Pandemic. In summary, tourism was not allowed in American Samoa and travel directly from mainland USA was prohibited during my travel interval. Suffice to say, I visited all the National Parks of the United States of the Northern Hemisphere within 350 days.
Recreation
The national parks feature recreation activities from swimming to snowshoeing. Solo hikers can also find a wide range of activities such as backpacking, kayaking and spelunking. For families who love the outdoors or who are just getting “out there” for the first time, I recommend canoeing, camping or cycling. Niche activities for thrill seekers find canyoneering and mountaineering especially rewarding. Finally, for winter sporting enthusiasts, a tapestry of skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling trails are waiting to be explored.
In each of the 62 National Parks I visited during my 49th year, I was sure to collect a cancellation stamp, a photo of the National Park sign and a purchased souvenir. I took the adventure beyond passing-through status by including some means of recreation in each park. The national parks boast excellent recreation. If a park fails to offer recreation in the form of hiking, cycling, canoeing or similar, I am compelled to ask: “Should the site have a national park designation?”
