An exploration of all US National Parks and the Northwest
We're up to 59 parks out of 63!
Come join us on our adventures.
We're up to 59 parks out of 63!
Come join us on our adventures.
Many people ask Tom and me, “How did you come up with your goal to visit all 58 (now 63) National Parks?” Before I answer that question I am compelled to answer the next two questions which are, “Does this include monuments and seashores?” and “Do you have any rules?”
Janice and Tom with Puget Sound and Olympic National Park in the distance.
The goal only includes the 58 (now 63) National Parks. The National Park Service manages 425 sites – too many for us to visit. The rules are simple. To count a park, we must spend time in and enjoy the park together - no drive in and out. Tom and I got together as older adults and have both visited parks on our own. So, if we haven’t been to the park together, it does not count. One of us must go again.
Now back to the original question, “How did we come up with this goal?”. We were both intrigued by The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, a Ken Burns Documentary about the National Parks formation.
It’s incredible to me how our land has changed so much in the last 150 years due to settlement and industrialization. Some special visionaries had the foresight, long before environmentalism, to save the most unique natural, geological and cultural wonders for all of us to continue to enjoy.
We both love the outdoors and nature, so we found ourselves especially drawn to these cherished and preserved wonders!
In addition, Mt Rainer National Park is our “home park”. We get to enjoy this spectacular place often for hiking, wildflowers and cycling. Knowing that there are 57 (now 62) comparable places out there, we just had to go and see them. We began with Yosemite National Park, one of the most historic. We made our goal official during that trip in 2010.
Infamous Yosemite National Park!
As of October 2024, we have visited 59 parks with four to go! I hope that our visits to all 63 National Parks will inspire and assist you on your National Park travels.
Alaska has eight national parks - we’ve been to four. The four remaining parks in Alaska are TBD since we aren’t backcountry or bush plane folks! Stay tuned.
Click on the National Parks visits below to join us on our adventure:
Park 58 Visiting American Samoa National Park
Parks 55-57 Denali, Kenai Fjords and Wrangell St Elias National Parks
Park 54 White Sands National Park - the Perfect Day!
Park 53 US Virgin Islands National Park, St John, and Coral Reef National Monument – the Perfect Week!
Parks 51-52 Gateway Arch and Indianna Dunes National Parks - The New Ones
Parks 48-50 Wind Cave, Badlands and Theordore Roosevlt National Parks - Exploring the Dakotas
Parks 44-47 Arches, Capitol Reef and Grand Canyon National Parks - an Adventure!
Park 43 Shenandoah National Park via our Nation’s Capital!
Parks 40-42 Parks Voyaguers, Isle Royale and Cuyahoga Valley National Parks - the Great Lakes and the Great North Woods!
Park 39 Acadia National Park - the Other Coast
Parks 36-38 Biscayne, Everglades and Dry Tortugas Naitonal Parks - the Water Parks of Florida
Park 35 Petrified Forest National Park - What Makes it Petrified?
Parks 28-30 Bryce, Zion and Great Basin National Parks - a Road Trip Home
Parks 26-27 Haleakala and Volcanoes National Parks - the Hawaiin Parks
Parks 16 & 23-25 Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes and Rocky Mountain National Parks - Our Tour de Colorado
Park 22 Pinnacles National Park - the New One
Park 3 Glacier Bay National Park and the Inside Passage via Ferry - Skip the Cruise Ship
Park 21 Waterton - Glacier National Peace Park - In and Around the Four Historic Lodges
Park 20 Saguaro National Park for the New Year!
Parks 17-19 Big Bend, Quadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks
Park 13-15 Channel Islands, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
Park 12 North Cascades National Park, North America’s Alps
Parks 1 & 10 Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks Valley
Park 11 Olympic National Park - a Clockwise Tour
Parks 8 & 9 Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks via Bozeman, MT and Wallace, ID
Parks 4-7 Redwoods, Yosemite, Mt Lassen and Crater Lake National Park - Our First Four
Park 2 Mt Rainer National Park
We like to give back to the National Parks through the National Park Foundation.