I, like most Americans, love our National Parks. Having grown up in an outdoorsy family, I always wanted to be a National Park ranger and when I was in college, I applied for a seasonal job with the Park Service. I didn't get the job so I "settled" for being a BLM ranger in the Colorado Rockies, instead. Actually as things turned out, I'm really glad I became a BLM ranger instead of working for the National Park Service because I had more freedom and independence, and yet I worked in an area, the San Juan Mountains, that was more beautiful than any National Park in the country, in my opinion. I spent six seasons (summers and falls) as a BLM ranger and loved it.
Nevertheless, I've always been fond of National Parks and during my lifetime, I've visited about half of the 411 National Park units in the country (National Parks, National Monuments, National Historic Sites, etc.). Yep, I've been to about 200 of them. Whenever I take a road trip, if there's a National Park unit nearby, I usually make a detour to check it out, especially if I've never been there.
I'll be visiting a lot of National Park sites on my road trip this year, the 100-year anniversary of the National Park Service, and will post a short story and a few photos of each one on this webpage. For now though, I'll just make a list of the parks I've visited so far.
Red text indicates my first visit to the park:
Washington
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Park: News: April 3, 2016
- Olympic National Park: News: April 29, 2016
California
- Redwood National Park: News: May 14, 2016
- Death Valley National Park: News: May 18, 2016
- Joshua Tree National Park: News: May 23
Arizona
- Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument: News: May 24, 2016
- Chiricahua National Monument: News: May 25, 2016
- Fort Bowie National Historic Site: News: May 25, 2016
Texas
- Big Bend National Park: News: May 26, 2016
- Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park: News: May 27, 2016
Oklahoma
- Washita Battlefield National Historic Site: News: June 8, 2016
New Mexico
- Capulin Volcano National Monument: News: June 9, 2016
Colorado
- Great Sand Dunes National Park: News: June 10, 2016
- Curecanti National Recreation Area: News: August 25, 2016
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park: News: August 25, 2016
- Mesa Verde National Park: News: August 30, 2016
Utah
- Arches National Park: News: September 1, 2016
- Canyonlands National Park: News: September 4, 2016
Wyoming
- Grand Teton National Park: News: September 4, 2016
- Yellowstone National Park: News: September 8, 2016
- Devil's Tower National Monument: News: September 11, 2016
South Dakota
- Badlands National Park: News: September 11, 2016
Minnesota
- Voyageur's National Park: News: September 16, 2016
New York
- Saratoga National Historic Park: News: September 27, 2016
Maine
- St. Croix Island International Historic Site: News: September 29, 2016
- Acadia National Park: News: October 1, 2016
Maryland
- Antietam National Battlefield: News: October 24, 2016
Virginia
- Prince William Forest Park: News: October 25, 2016
- Petersburg National Battlefield: News: October 25, 2016
North Carolina
- The Blue Ridge Parkway: News: October 27, 2016
- Kings Mountains National Military Park: News: October 31, 2016
South Carolina
- Cowpens National Battlefield: News: October 30, 2016
Georgia
- Andersonville National Historic Site: News: November 1, 2016
- Jimmy Carter National Historic Site: News: November 1, 2016
Florida
- Dry Tortugas National Park: News: November 17, 2016
- Everglades National Park: News: November 27, 2016