Who here is a fan of America's National Parks? :cool:
Which parks have you visited? Which ones do you want to visit? Have any good photos to share? Natural (Grand Canyon, etc.) and historical (Gettysburg, etc.) are both permitted for this thread. :nod:
I have no idea as to a listing of which ones I've visited, but here's a picture from Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. An iceberg had just calved from the glacier:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2F0821e23e.jpg&hash=7841db8514fefd4e6d80185577665940effb8147)
Managed to get this fellow staring right at me in Sitka National Park, also in Alaska:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2Fcd55f689.jpg&hash=e2fcb6766ae2d2fd1b292494ba4e2ad43846dfa0)
Very well-known view of Cape Breton Highlands National Park (and the Cabot Trail) looking south to Cheticamp:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2Fa8c94b07.jpg&hash=e99c714558d2d0823f5e45ef6ce742d73b937c3b)
I am definitely a fan of the national parks. Partial list of the ones I've visited ("full" national parks only--national monuments, etc. not included): Yosemite, Yellowstone, Great Basin, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Olympic, Mt. Rainier, North Cascades, Crater Lake, Glacier, Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands, Wind Cave, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
I'm from the east, so my experiences in the natural national parks are few. I've been to Hawaii Volcanoes and Badlands in the West and Shenandoah, Everglades and Acadia in the East.
My favorite national park, however, is Independence NHP in Philadelphia. What a thrill it was to visit Independence Hall and stand in the chamber where the founders signed the Declaration of Independence and later wrote the Constitution. As an American, I found it a very moving experience.
Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and Olympic National Parks are the only ones I can think of, but are we counting things like Ellis Island or San Marco National Monuments, they're pretty large parks?
Quote from: formulanone on July 20, 2011, 11:56:35 AM
Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and Olympic National Parks are the only ones I can think of, but are we counting things like Ellis Island or San Marco National Monuments, they're pretty large parks?
Yes. All parks, natural or historical, count as long as they are operated by the National Park Service.
Our goal is to visit them all, but there's a long way to go. Sometimes the opportunity arises off-season; e.g. for Lassen NP in November, the roads were closed at the visitor center, and the rest of our visit was on foot.
One. Great Smoky Mountains.
are there any national parks to which you don't have to pay admission? I could've sworn I've gone to several, casually noticed a sign, and not been stopped at a tollbooth.
I have been charged $25 toll just because I needed to cross the sierras and CA-120 was the most expedient through route ... but I've also avoided paying at the Grand Canyon by arriving at 2am and leaving at 5.30.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 20, 2011, 12:37:45 PM
are there any national parks to which you don't have to pay admission? I could've sworn I've gone to several, casually noticed a sign, and not been stopped at a tollbooth.
Great Smoky Mountains doesn't have any admissions. I suspect that may be one reason why it's the most visted national park in the country (among only the National Parks themselves.)
this does explain why I don't seem to remember going to particular parks. I definitely have crossed the Smokies on US-441, and noticed the Clarendon signage, but didn't think twice because there wasn't a tollbooth.
This thread got me interested in thinking about the parks, so while I was eating lunch I pulled up a list of National Park Service facilities on Wikipedia and I came up with the following ones that I can remember having visited. If I've given just a name (such as "Acadia"), then it's designated simply as "[Name] National Park" (such as "Acadia National Park"), with the exception of a few in the DC area that don't have any designation of "park" or the like.
Acadia (Maine)
Antietam National Battlefield (Maryland)
Arlington House (Virginia)
Assateague Island National Seashore (Virginia)
Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia)
Boston National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
C&O Canal National Historical Park (Maryland and DC)
Cape Cod National Seashore (Massachusetts)
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (North Carolina)
Catoctin Mountain Park (Maryland)
Colonial National Historical Park (Virginia)
Constitution Gardens (DC)
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Pennsylvania)
Eisenhower National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)
Everglades (Florida)
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site (DC)
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (Maryland)
Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial (DC)
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (Virginia)
Gateway National Recreation Area (New York)
George Washington Memorial Parkway (Virginia)
Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania)
Glacier Bay (Alaska)
Great Smoky Mountains (North Carolina)
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (DC)
Independence National Historical Park (Pennsylvania)
Isle Royale (Michigan)
Jefferson Memorial (DC)
Lincoln Memorial (DC)
Manassas National Battlefield Park (Virginia)
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site (Georgia)
National Mall (DC)
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site (DC)
Prince William Forest Park (Virginia)
Rock Creek Park (DC)
Theodore Roosevelt Island (DC)
Shenandoah (Virginia)
Sitka National Historical Park (Alaska)
Statue of Liberty National Monument (New York)
Valley Forge National Historical Park (Pennsylvania)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (DC)
Washington Monument (DC)
The White House (DC)
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (Virginia)–it was called Wolf Trap Farm Park when I used to go there as a kid
Wright Brothers National Memorial (North Carolina)
Misty Fiords National Monument in Alaska doesn't qualify under the rules the OP specified because it's administered by the Forest Service rather than the National Park Service. Otherwise I would have included it on this list because it's similar to a national park. But I suppose then I'd have to add national forests and I would list the Chugach, Tongass, White Mountain, Nantahala, Green Mountain, and George Washington.
Canadian national parks:
Bruce Peninsula (Ontario)
Cape Breton Highlands (Nova Scotia)
Fundy (New Brunswick)
Georgian Bay Islands (Ontario)
Gros Morne (Newfoundland)
Prince Edward Island (PEI, obviously)
There are so many national historic sites in Canada that I haven't tried to figure out all of those. Just a glance at the list of them in Nova Scotia told me that it would take too long to figure it out.
Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Mount Rainier, Glacier, Arches, Redwood, Sequoia, Wind River, Mammoth Cave, Great Smoky Mountains, Everglades, Cuyahoga Valley, and Acadia.
Also driven quite a bit of the Nachez Trace (great road). Then some of the Monuments: Craters of the Moon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Jewel Cave, and probably more.
Sykotyk
Independence Park, Valley Forge; Canaveral and Gulf Breeze National Seashores.
Yellowstone, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Great Smoky Mts, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Cape Hatteras SS, Cape Lookout SS, Golden Gate NRA, Lake Mead NRA, Great Sand Dunes.
I like Jefferson National Expansion Memorial because it's right next to a bunch of Interstates. There's a reason nobody visits Yellowstone.
The only full NP I can think of that I've been to is Wind Cave NP in SD, and of course Mt Rushmore National Monument, as well as a bunch of monuments in DC, and Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
Oklahoma doesn't have anything titled National Park. The area around Lake Arbuckle was once Platt National Park, but it was retitled to Chickasaw National Recreation Area for some reason. I have been there as well.
NPS facilities I've been to (in no particular order):
Isle Royale NP
Mesa Verde NP
Apostle Islands NLS
Pictured Rocks NLS
Theodore Roosevelt NP
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP (was still NRA at the time)
Lake Mead NRA
Badlands NP
Jewel Cave NM
Mt. Rushmore NM
Golden Gate NRA
Ross Lake NRA
St. Croix NSR
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Pkwy
Ice Age Trail
Lewis and Clark Trail
North Country Trail
Arches NP
Grand Teton NP
Yellowstone NP
Olympic NP
Devils Tower NM
List of NPS facilities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_in_the_United_States_National_Park_System (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_in_the_United_States_National_Park_System)
Constitution Gardens (DC)
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site (DC)
George Washington Memorial Parkway (DC)
Lincoln Memorial (DC)
National Mall (DC)
United States Navy Memorial (DC)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (DC)
Washington Monument (DC)
White House (DC)
World War II Memorial (DC)
Baltimore-Washington Parkway (DC/MD)
Oklahoma City National Memorial (OK)
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (PA)
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (PA)
Flight 93 National Memorial (PA)
Eisenhower National Historic Site (PA)
Gettysburg National Cemetery (PA)
Gettysburg National Military Park (PA)
Independence National Historical Park (PA)
Johnstown Flood National Memorial (PA)
Valley Forge National Historical Park (PA)
Arlington National Cemetery (VA)
I've only done the Grand Canyon NP in the US, but have done all but 5 UK NPs (not done Northumberland and Yorkshire Dales, but have clipped them on my travels, not been anywhere near the Cairngorms, Pembrokeshire Coast or the Broads).
I've holidayed in the Brecon Beacons, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Snowdonia, Dartmoor and Exmoor NPs, holidayed to the Lake District (stayed outside it, but went into the park most days), weekended in the New Forest, Peak District and North York Moors and simply visited the South Downs (though it was only a proposed park back then in 2009).
When I lived in Southampton I was within about 5 miles of both the New Forest and proposed South Downs NPs. I visited the New Forest often, including cycling there from my house several times. The South Downs NP only had it's borders finalised in 2009, and made officially an NP last year, after I had moved away. However I cycled there perhaps twice, and (unwittingly - it's only now I see the boundary on a map and think about it) walked through the NP twice on my way to Winchester (obviously the purpose of going to Winchester was the scenic walk, not the city, or we'd have gone by train or car).
The proximity to, and frequency of visits to, the New Forest NP has made it my favourite NP, despite the fact it's there's nothing special about the landscape other than being protected as hunting land, with common grazing, for the past 1900 odd years.
Next month going to: El Malpais NM, Petrified Forest NP, Grand Canyon NP, Zion NP, Cedar Breaks NM, Bryce Canyon NP, Escalante Staircase NM, Capitol Reef NP, Arches NP, Canyonland NP, Mesa Verde NP, Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, all in one trip. As far as NPs, have also been to Glacier, Yellowstone, Denali, Badlands, Wind Cave, Yellowstone (lived there), Grand Tetons, Roosevelt, Guadlupe Mtns, Big Bend, Carlsbad Caverns, and I know I have to be missing some.
Quote from: NE2 on July 20, 2011, 07:06:44 PM
I like Jefferson National Expansion Memorial because it's right next to a bunch of Interstates. There's a reason nobody visits Yellowstone.
Hmm Yellowstone's gift shop was sure busy when I worked there
Forgot Rocky Mountain NP. If I was to add NMs, NRAs, etc, I'd be up all night typing
Been to many, mostly in the West. My favorites-close between Yellowstone and Yosemite. One thing I'd like to do that I haven't done yet is a tour of all of the Utah National Parks in one trip(I've done Zion, but that's the only one of those I have been to).
Quote from: texaskdog on July 20, 2011, 11:32:18 PM
Quote from: NE2 on July 20, 2011, 07:06:44 PM
I like Jefferson National Expansion Memorial because it's right next to a bunch of Interstates. There's a reason nobody visits Yellowstone.
Hmm Yellowstone's gift shop was sure busy when I worked there
I suspect that was a joke, coming from a couple recent suggestions of building an interstate through Yellowstone.
I have been to too many National Park units to list. I build trips around visiting them. Most of them are interesting and well-interpreted.
About the only parts of the country I've never been to the park units in are the southeast and Hawaii, where I've never been. Then are a scattering in states I've visited that I missed, like Nicodemus in KS, a few in IN, OH, VA, KY, TN, and the off-the-road-network parks in Alaska. Interestingly, I've never technically been to North Cascades NP or Lake Chelan NRA even though I've lived only a couple hundred miles from them my entire life, but I'm planning to take care of that next month.
Sounds a little obsessive, but I've met people who collect NPS Passport stamps, and they put me to shame. They can tell you exactly what visitor center in Mesa Verde to visit to get the stamp for Yucca House NM, a very old site with no facilities protecting an unexcavated pueblo. One told me exactly where to get the stamp for Rosie the Riveter in CA (Richmond City Hall, of all places, but you have to ask the receptionist to get the stamp pad for you -- that was several years ago, so it may be different now).
Hmm, no one been to Big Bend?! I mean it isn't like Yosemite or Yellowstone, but it's a big surprise sense people (stupidly) think Texas is completely flat, desert, and we all ride horses.. <-- That's a different story though....
I've only been to;
Big Bend National Park
Guadelupe Mountains National Park
Amistad National Recreation Area
Davy Crockett National Forest
Angelina National Forest
Padre Island Nation Seashore*
Fort Concho National Hist. Landmark*
*not sure if they count or not.
BigMatt
I've been to Big Bend. was there just this January! :sombrero:
I tend not to think a spot of land is any more magical because it is designated a "national" anything, or "state" anything, which is why I don't keep track.
Yeah, because having a little spot left that doesn't have strip malls, billboards, and ESPN/CNN/Fox News, and a neighborhood of cramped identical homes isn't important at all. I can't wait for the entire planet to look like Coruscan or Trantor 200 years from now!
Seriously, at the end of my days, a bunch of preserved metal road signs have nothing on preserving a few places that are hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years old.
Quote from: papaT10932 on July 20, 2011, 09:04:20 AM
Who here is a fan of America's National Parks? :cool:
Which parks have you visited? Which ones do you want to visit? Have any good photos to share? Natural (Grand Canyon, etc.) and historical (Gettysburg, etc.) are both permitted for this thread. :nod:
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Keweenaw NHP
Hawai'i Volcanoes NP
Haleakala NP
USS Arizona Memorial
Yellowstone NP
Grand Canyon NP
Bryce Canyon NP
Arches NP
Grand Teton NP
Mesa Verde NP
Gettysburg National Military Park
Antietam National Battlefield
Mackinac Island (America's 2nd NP - turned over to Michigan in 1895)
Jefferson Nat'l Expansion Memorial
Rocky Mtn NP
Lincoln Memorial
Great Sand Dunes NP
Shenandoah NP
Dinosaur NM
Chicago Portage National Historic Site
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
George Washington Memorial Parkway
John D Rockefeller Memorial Parkway
Quote from: formulanone on July 21, 2011, 07:56:13 PM
Yeah, because having a little spot left that doesn't have strip malls, billboards, and ESPN/CNN/Fox News, and a neighborhood of cramped identical homes isn't important at all. I can't wait for the entire planet to look like Coruscan or Trantor 200 years from now!
Seriously, at the end of my days, a bunch of preserved metal road signs have nothing on preserving a few places that are hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years old.
oh, I agree with you completely on this. I hate development for the sake of development too... but, really, attempting to fence in the salesmen is treating the symptoms, not the cause. the solution to this problem is to kill all the buyers.
but anyway, from the perspective of choosing which places to visit, I will go just as often for the "unsigned national parks" (see, Antelope Canyon for example) just as often as the signed ones.
I'm a huge fan of the national parks -- Ken Burns' documentary "America's Greatest Idea" was a little bit sappy, but the title and general premise really got me to thinking about how lucky we are to be in this country with such an incredible amount of preserved space. Europe only realized what they lost when it was too late, everything was developed. Not only that, but most of what does remain is still in private hands - and usually guarded. Sad.
I've enjoyed most of them from afar, but I've visited Acadia NP (3 times), Yosemite NP, Olympic NP, and Grand Canyon NP.
All staggeringly beautiful.
I have been to two National Parks: Acadia and Rocky Mountain.
As for National Historic Sites, that I can't generate a full list of offhand since I'm not necessarily familiar with what is or isn't a NHS. But let me see if I can figure:
- Ellis Island (New York)
- Liberty Bell and Independence Hall (Philadelphia)
- Fort McHenry (Baltimore)
- Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown, Virginia
- various memorials in DC
- is anything on the freedom trail in Boston NPS maintained?
I'm probably missing something.
Grand Canyon National Park
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
C & O Canal National Historical Park
Boston National Historical Park
Cape Cod National Seashore
Pipestone National Monument
Natchez Trace Parkway
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Statue of Liberty National Monument
Blue Ridge Parkway
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
Wright Brothers National Memorial
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Gettysburg National Military Park
Independence National Historical Park
San Juan National Historic Site
Cowpens National Battlefield
Fort Sumter National Monument
Badlands National Park
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
Arlington House
Colonial National Historical Park
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Shenandoah National Park
Mount Rainier National Park
Constitution Gardens
Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial
Korean War Veterans Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
National Capital Parks
National Mall
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial
Bluestone National Scenic River
Gauley River National Recreation Area
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
New River Gorge National River
Grand Teton National Park
John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway
Yellowstone National Park
My non-comprehensive list (especially for the historic sites, and the National Park Service-run parks in the Washington D.C. area), excluding also national monuments like Mt. Rushmore:
Haleakala
Hawaii Volcanoes
Kalaupapa NHP
Puuhonua o Honaunau NHP
Puukohola Heiau NHS
Aleutian World War II NHA
Denali
Glacier Bay
Kenai Fjords
Sitka NHP
Wrangell-St. Elias (added July 2012)
Mount Rainier
Olympic
San Juan Island NHP
Crater Lake (added October 2011)
Lassen
Redwood
Yosemite
Death Valley
Great Basin
Yellowstone
Bryce Canyon
Zion
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Arches
Grand Canyon (both north and south rims)
Petrified Forest
Glacier
Mesa Verde
Great Sand Dunes
Rocky Mountain
Guadalupe Mountains
Carlsbad Caverns
Big Bend (added March 2014)
Badlands
Theodore Roosevelt
Hot Springs
Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home NHS
Shenadoah
Valley Forge NHP
Independence NHP
Everglades
Andersonville NHS
Jimmy Carter NHS
Acadia
Joshua Tree (added February 2016)
Sequoia (added February 2016)
Kings Canyon (added February 2016)
Great Smoky Mountains
Biscayne (added April 2018)
Wind Cave (added August 2018; drove through without stopping)
Pinnacles (added October 2018; drove major roads in both western and eastern parts of park)
Catoctin Mountain (added March 2019)
Petersburg National Battlefield (VA) (added July 2019; drove main park road)
White Sands (became NP in 2019; drove through without stopping while it was a national monument)
Wright Bros. National Memorial (Kill Devil Hills NC) (added April 2022)
Mammoth Cave (added March 2023; drove through without stopping)
In Canada:
Prince Edward Island (PEI)
Prince Albert (SK)
Riding Mountain (MB)
Mt. Revelstoke (BC)
Jasper (AB)
Banff (AB)
Glacier (BC)
Yoho (BC)
Gros Morne (NL)
Terra Nova (NL)
L'Anse aux Meadows NHS (NL)
Cape Breton Highlands (NS)
Wood Buffalo (AB/NT)
Grand Pre NHS (NS)
Waterton Lakes (AB) (added July 2016)
Big Bend doesn't seem to me like it would be a National Park, though I'm glad it is. Going back again when they reopen Boquillas next year.
Quote from: texaskdog on July 28, 2011, 02:20:22 PM
Big Bend doesn't seem to me like it would be a National Park, though I'm glad it is. Going back again when they reopen Boquillas next year.
I've been there twice, and I think it's a great national park. The canyons of the Rio Grande and the Chisos Mtns. are spectacular landscapes, and the desert scenery has its own sublime appeal. The Basin is one of the best campgrounds with a view I've ever set up my tent in. It's a great park for both roadside sight-seeing and hiking, mixing natural and historic sites for a superb overall experience.
The Texas park I thought wasn't a big deal was Guadalupe Mountains NP, until my last visit where I got away from the car and did some serious hiking. The four trails I took -- McKittrick Canyon, Guadalupe Peak, Devil's Hall, and Smith Spring -- led to very picturesque sites. I would eagerly visit again just to repeat those hikes.
I've discovered every park has its charms, even those viewed as unpopular in some circles. Steamtown NHP, for example, is widely panned for being too insignificant a site and "pork barrel" park, bu I enjoyed my visit there quite a bit and thought it did a great job interpreting the history of trains. Granted, I'd rather visit someplace where something significant actually happened, like Golden Spike NHS in Utah, but Steamtown was still worth a visit, as nearly every unit of the Park Service I've visited has been.
But doesn't the Rio Grande have a large wall running alongside it?
Quote from: Master son on July 28, 2011, 08:16:09 PM
But doesn't the Rio Grande have a large wall running alongside it?
nope, not even close - there's always Mexicans crossing the river on horseback to try to unload their trinkets to US customers.
Acadia NP (twice)
Grand Portage NM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 28, 2011, 09:53:16 PM
Quote from: Master son on July 28, 2011, 08:16:09 PM
But doesn't the Rio Grande have a large wall running alongside it?
nope, not even close - there's always Mexicans crossing the river on horseback to try to unload their trinkets to US customers.
Yeah so much for border security. There are 3 canyons there though with 800 feet high walls but there are places with no canyons. They are opening Boquillas in April with a small crossing, which should actually improve security. I wish they'd include 170 out to Presidio in the park, very nice area too.
Quote from: texaskdog on July 30, 2011, 09:59:41 AM
I wish they'd include 170 out to Presidio in the park, very nice area too.
Most of 170 runs through the Big Bend Ranch State Park, so there is some recognition for the scenery along the highway. But I agree, that is a great drive and could certainly be part of the national park.
No good pics to post, but I've visited:
Arches (Utah)
Badlands (S Dakota)
Everglades (Florida)
Grand Canyon (Arizona)
Great Smoky Mountains (N Carolina/Tennessee)
Hot Springs (Arkansas)
Mammoth Cave (Kentucky)
Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
Saguaro (Arizona)
Yellowstone (Idaho/Montana/Wyoming)
I've traveled across the state when I was a child and had been to or through Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, and the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona a few years ago. I like to take my family (two sons and wife) to the nearby Joshua Tree NP, formerly a National Monument one of these days not in the summer, but up there the summers in elevations at 3,000-5,000 feet are 20 degrees cooler than in the desert floor.
Why is Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio a Natl. Park? It seems like a political move that cheapens the entire system.
Quote from: Landshark on August 23, 2011, 07:57:33 PM
Why is Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio a Natl. Park? It seems like a political move that cheapens the entire system.
Because it used be called a National Recreation Area.
2 more days on our trip. Decided to skip Royal Gorge and go to Great Sand Dunes NP instead (10 NPs & 3 NMs in 18 days). In Gunnison, CO right now.
The new National Park quarter honoring Vicksburg's park is to be unveiled today at a public ceremony (http://www.sunherald.com/2011/08/29/3383247/united-states-mint-to-launch-vicksburg.html) in the USS Cairo Museum, on the park grounds.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv226%2Fberberry%2FVNMPQuarter.jpg&hash=5a50bffb41385a2a62a9852b749ff1dba250d76c)
Since I went to 10 National Parks & 3 Monuments in August, decided to rate my fave NPs
1: Yellowstone (Wy). Just so much to do there.
2: Bryce Canyon (Ut). Great hiking and beautiful canyons
3: Arches (Ut).
4: Glacier (Mt)
5: Rocky Moutain (Co)
6: Grand Canyon (Az). I don't rate it as high as most people but still in my top 10
7: Big Bend (Tx)
8: Badlands (SD)
9: Zion (Ut)
10: Carlsbad Caverns (NM)
Quote from: relaxok on July 24, 2011, 06:09:36 PM
I'm a huge fan of the national parks -- Ken Burns' documentary "America's Greatest Idea" was a little bit sappy, but the title and general premise really got me to thinking about how lucky we are to be in this country with such an incredible amount of preserved space. Europe only realized what they lost when it was too late, everything was developed. Not only that, but most of what does remain is still in private hands - and usually guarded. Sad.
I've enjoyed most of them from afar, but I've visited Acadia NP (3 times), Yosemite NP, Olympic NP, and Grand Canyon NP.
All staggeringly beautiful.
Reading further in this thread made me remember I've been to Joshua Tree NP as well! So, adding that to be completely and accurate.
I am really jealous of the people that have a complete national park set of stamps.. maybe i'll do that when i'm retired..
Quote from: xonhulu on July 21, 2011, 02:21:07 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on July 20, 2011, 11:32:18 PM
Quote from: NE2 on July 20, 2011, 07:06:44 PM
I like Jefferson National Expansion Memorial because it's right next to a bunch of Interstates. There's a reason nobody visits Yellowstone.
Hmm Yellowstone's gift shop was sure busy when I worked there
I suspect that was a joke, coming from a couple recent suggestions of building an interstate through Yellowstone.
I have been to too many National Park units to list. I build trips around visiting them. Most of them are interesting and well-interpreted.
About the only parts of the country I've never been to the park units in are the southeast and Hawaii, where I've never been. Then are a scattering in states I've visited that I missed, like Nicodemus in KS, a few in IN, OH, VA, KY, TN, and the off-the-road-network parks in Alaska. Interestingly, I've never technically been to North Cascades NP or Lake Chelan NRA even though I've lived only a couple hundred miles from them my entire life, but I'm planning to take care of that next month.
Sounds a little obsessive, but I've met people who collect NPS Passport stamps, and they put me to shame. They can tell you exactly what visitor center in Mesa Verde to visit to get the stamp for Yucca House NM, a very old site with no facilities protecting an unexcavated pueblo. One told me exactly where to get the stamp for Rosie the Riveter in CA (Richmond City Hall, of all places, but you have to ask the receptionist to get the stamp pad for you -- that was several years ago, so it may be different now).
There are two things that I have begun to do vs. getting the passport stamps because I usually forget to get the stamp or forget to bring the passport. I buy a pin from each park - at least the park gets something back out of it. And I also have slowly built a collection of replica WPA posters for various parks I have visited. The site is: http://rangerdoug.com/store/posters/index.html
He has reproduction of all of the original WPA and have made 'new' posters for a number of different parks like Mesa Verde that never had one made.
I have a total of five (Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Blue Ridge Parkway, Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos), and Great Smoky). I still need to purchase Shenandoah. I currently have Mesa Verde and Petrified Forest framed and they look great in the open entrance hall of our home. I recently purchased the latter three last year and just have to get those framed.
As an aside, over the years I have made the National Park System, State Parks, and other attractions (like the Biltmore Estate, hockey and other sporting venues, things like that) as a reason for roadtrips vs. just pure roadgeeking purposes. The roadgeeking is an added bonus!
This summer my wife and I are going to take a weeklong vacation visiting the Smokies, driving the entire BRP and Skyline Drive, visiting some battlefields and some Shenandoah Valley backroads, before finishing up at a family Reunion in Central PA. I've never driven the Blue Ridge Parkway in its entirety so I am looking forward to that!
I haven't been to too many NPs/NMs.
Badlands NP - South Dakota
Mt Rushmore - South Dakota
Mammoth Cave NP - Kentucky
Dinosaur NP - Colorado
Flaming Gorge NP (partly) - Wyoming
Three favorites, generally not crowded:
Va.: Prince William Forest Park
Calif.: Joshua Tree NP
Md.: Catoctin Mountain Park
Others, no special order:
Fort Washington Park
Fort McHenry NM
C&O Canal NHP
Antietam National Battlefield
Rock Creek Park
Gettysburg National Military Park
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Shenandoah NP
Blue Ridge Parkway
Colonial Parkway
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Baltimore-Washington Parkway
Suitland Parkway
Great Smoky Mountains NP
Acadia NP
Muir Woods National Monument
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 20, 2011, 12:37:45 PM
are there any national parks to which you don't have to pay admission? I could've sworn I've gone to several, casually noticed a sign, and not been stopped at a tollbooth.
I have been charged $25 toll just because I needed to cross the sierras and CA-120 was the most expedient through route ... but I've also avoided paying at the Grand Canyon by arriving at 2am and leaving at 5.30.
The park is not intended as a through route. Sonora Pass, CA-108, should be as fast considering the roads through the park are pretty slow. Also no commercial vehicles in the park, and the Tioga Pass road closes at the first heavy snow.
You can pass through the Eastside Road of Mt. Rainier National Park without paying the admission charge -- WA-410 and WA-123. But the most interesting and most visited areas of the park are not along that road.
Quote from: kkt on February 26, 2012, 12:09:35 AM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 20, 2011, 12:37:45 PM
are there any national parks to which you don't have to pay admission? I could've sworn I've gone to several, casually noticed a sign, and not been stopped at a tollbooth.
I have been charged $25 toll just because I needed to cross the sierras and CA-120 was the most expedient through route ... but I've also avoided paying at the Grand Canyon by arriving at 2am and leaving at 5.30.
The park is not intended as a through route. Sonora Pass, CA-108, should be as fast considering the roads through the park are pretty slow. Also no commercial vehicles in the park, and the Tioga Pass road closes at the first heavy snow.
You can pass through the Eastside Road of Mt. Rainier National Park without paying the admission charge -- WA-410 and WA-123. But the most interesting and most visited areas of the park are not along that road.
There are plenty of national parks with no admission fee or only fees to visit certain parts. I think Great Smoky Mountains NP has no fee. I know for sure North Cascades and Redwood don't.
Others, like Mt Rainier will let you use the part that's a through route for free but charge to get into the core part of the park. Cars using OR 62 through Crater Lake NP aren't charged, but right when you turn off that highway to head towards the rim you encounter the fee station. The same is true in Grand Teton NP -- no fee for using US 26 crossing the east side, but you have to pay to go north of Moran Jct or take the park loop road on the west side.
Basically, I think if a major through route crosses part of the park, they'll let traffic use it for free, but that isn't true for routes that mostly access the scenic areas.
My list, in comparison is rather small:
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Keweenaw National Historic Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
And if you're going to count former NPs, I've been to the former Mackinac National Park, now Mackinac Island State Park.
For a near miss, I drove by the River Raisin National Battlefield Park.
Going on a great trip in August. Durango/Silverton train, west side of San Juan Skyway, Arches & Canyonlands, Glenwood Canyon, Eisenhower Tunnel, Loveland Pass, Rocky Mountain NP, Mt Evans, Pikes Peak.
we did 10 parks & 3 monuments last August. The $80 annual pass paid for itself by the 4th park, and we can use it thru our trip this august. It was an awesome value!
Quote from: texaskdog on February 27, 2012, 02:10:04 PM
we did 10 parks & 3 monuments last August. The $80 annual pass paid for itself by the 4th park, and we can use it thru our trip this august. It was an awesome value!
I've never failed to make that pass pay for itself. I agree, great value.
Ranger Doug recently released designs for Badlands:
http://www.rangerdoug.com/badlands-national-park
And Big Bend:
http://www.rangerdoug.com/big-bend-national-park
It appears that they are working on these for future releases:
Statue of Liberty (for the fall reopening), Death Valley, Dinosaur, Joshua Tree, and Mt. Rushmore. It's also been mentioned that they are working on Gettysburg (I'm guessing in honor of the 150th anniversary of the battle.)
From the trip to Acadia in May - that will be the fifth in my collection. Great Smoky and Shenandoah are the two I hope to visit (our earlier vacation plans have changed) within the next year or two.
Quote from: xonhulu on February 27, 2012, 05:59:14 PM
I've never failed to make that pass pay for itself. I agree, great value.
...and even if you can't make enough park visits for the pass to "pay for itself", your money is used to support an extrememly worthy cause.
I "lost money" on an annual park pass once and I didn't feel like I short-changed myself one bit. I don't have any extra money to just throw around, mind you, but I'd be willing to pay a lot more to visit our national parks. I'm sure most of us agree that the national parks are among the greatest gifts our predecessors left us. I'll never take them for granted and I'm trying to instill that same attitude in my teenage son.
Just visited my 252nd NPS site -- Obed NSWR in Tennessee.
Quote from: texaskdog on February 27, 2012, 02:10:04 PM
we did 10 parks & 3 monuments last August. The $80 annual pass paid for itself by the 4th park, and we can use it thru our trip this august. It was an awesome value!
If you're going to the southwest, the pass can literally pay for itself in three days. Less if you're near Flagstaff.
I went to Yellowstone, Arches, Mount Rushmore, the Williamsburg/Jamestown ones in Virginia, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, Mount Washington, the one on Petersburg, Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains.
I've been to several NPs... in Spain obviously :sombrero:, and one in France located right across the border. These are:
Ordesa and Monte Perdido NP (The "lost mountain", along with many other mountains in the Aragonese Pyrenees, has recently been "Denali-ized", i.e. renamed back to its traditional name of "Treserols", although "Monte Perdido" remains official as it has been stuck for ages)
Garajonay NP (In the Canaries, but I don't remember it as I was a little child when I visited. I'm not sure if I have been to the Cañadas del Teide NP, also in the Canaries)
Picos de Europa NP (the only one spanning more than one region)
Tablas de Daimiel NP
The French one: Pyrenees NP (Which borders Ordesa and Monte Perdido, above)
I've visited the Grand Canyon and Kings Canyon National Park, both were amazing experiences. I hope I can go to Yosemite one day.
I've been to 46 National Parks and only have Acadia to go to finish the circuit in the Lower 48 States. On the trip I'm presently in I went to Isle Royale and Voyageurs for the first time.
Here's my list...
Nevada
Lake Mead
Washington
Olympic
Mt. Rainier
Oregon
Crater Lake
California
Redwood
Golden Gate NRA
Lassen Volcanic
Montana
Glacier
Utah
Golden Spike NHS
Arches
Bryce Canyon
Cedar Breaks NM
Zion
Glen Canyon NRA
Arizona
Grand Canyon
Wupatki NM
Sunset Crater NM
Walnut Canyon NM
Tonto NM
Organ Pipe Cactus NM
Saguaro
Casa Grande Ruins NM
Hohokam Pima NM (Technically. It's not open to the public)
Petrified Forest
Canyon De Chelly NM
Wyoming
Yellowstone
John D Rockefeller Jr NPkwy
Grand Teton
Devil's Tower NM
Colorado
Colorado NM
Rocky Mountain
Florissant Fossil Beds NM
Great Sand Dunes NM (It was a NM when I visited. It's a NP now)
Dinosaur NM
Mesa Verde
New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns
South Dakota
Wind Cave
Jewel Cave NM
Mt. Rushmore NMem
Badlands NM (It was a NM when I visited. It's a NP now)
Arkansas
Hot Springs
Illinois
Pullman NM
Lincoln Home NHS
Kentucky
Mammoth Cave
Lincoln's Birthplace NHS
Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains
Cumberland Gap NHP
Alabama
Gulf Islands NS
Indiana
Indiana Dunes National PARK
Michigan
Sleeping Bear Dunes NL
Pictured Rocks NL
Florida
Everglades
North Carolina
Cape Hatteras NS
Blue Ridge NPkway
Wright Brothers NMem
Ohio
Cuyahoga Valley
Maryland
Greenbelt Park
Catocin Park
Baltimore Washington Pkwy
Washington DC
White House - when I was there the park service ran the tours. - not sure who does now.
Washington Monument
Jefferson Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
New Jersey
Delaware Water Gap NRA
Statue of Liberty NM
Ellis Island NM
Gateway NRA
Massachusetts
Cape Cod NS
Maine
Acadia
Pennsylvania
Independence NHP
Gettysburg NMP
Missouri
Gateway Arch NP
Forest Service Areas
Mt. St. Helens NM - (USFS)
Just hit Stonewall NM for my 253rd National Park Service site.
Here's my lack-lustre US list.
Grand Canyon NP
Canaveral NS
Golden Gate NRA
Lake Mead NRA
Santa Monica Mountains NRA
San Francisco Maritime NHP
I've now crossed the boundary into every English NP, though Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland are dubiously (like I'm on a road and it dips inside the boundary for a short distance) and 'while still in the car'. Pembrokeshire and Cairngorms are the only British ones I've not been anywhere near.
I've done the following World Heritage Sites:
France
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims
Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars
Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes
Malta
City of Valletta
Megalithic Temples of Malta
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum
Spain
Works of Antoni GaudÃ
UK
Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Ironbridge Gorge
Liverpool — Maritime Mercantile City
Maritime Greenwich
Dorset and East Devon Coast
Tower of London
The English Lake District
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret's Church
USA
Grand Canyon
I've been to all of Connecticut's NPS sites. :bigass:
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on August 31, 2017, 07:48:45 AM
I've been to all of Connecticut's NPS sites. :bigass:
Not too long ago, Illinois had only one National Park site, and Delaware had none. Now it's Illinois 2, Delaware one. The NPS needs to make Cahokia Mounds in Cahokia, IL a National Monument soon. It's been talked about for some time, and given how it probably was the largest native settlement ever in North America, it should have been done years ago.
Also worth noting is that there's a strong push to upgrade Indiana Dunes to a full fledged National Park, from its National Lakeshore status.
Quote from: inkyatari on August 31, 2017, 10:27:35 AM
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on August 31, 2017, 07:48:45 AM
I've been to all of Connecticut's NPS sites. :bigass:
Not too long ago, Illinois had only one National Park site, and Delaware had none. Now it's Illinois 2, Delaware one. The NPS needs to make Cahokia Mounds in Cahokia, IL a National Monument soon. It's been talked about for some time, and given how it probably was the largest native settlement ever in North America, it should have been done years ago.
Also worth noting is that there's a strong push to upgrade Indiana Dunes to a full fledged National Park, from its National Lakeshore status.
Out of curiosity do you have any articles or things written on the topic? I would probably say not only the Indiana Dunes but the Sleeping Bear Dunes would be worthy of an upgrade.
I don't think "upgrades" mean that much when it comes to preservation. If anything, it means more visitation and more stress on the features meant to be protected.
And, just because I can, the 253 NPS sites I have visited:
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
Acadia National Park
Adams National Historical Park
African Burial Ground National Monument
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Antietam National Battlefield
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
Arches National Park
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Assateague Island National Seashore
Badlands National Park
Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Big Bend National Park
Big Cypress National Preserve
Biscayne National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
Blue Ridge Parkway
Bluestone National Scenic River
Booker T. Washington National Monument
Boston African American National Historic Site
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Boston National Historical Park
Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canaveral National Seashore
Canyonlands National Park
Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Capitol Reef National Park
Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Castle Clinton National Monument
Catoctin Mountain Park
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
Chamizal National Memorial
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
City of Rocks National Reserve
Clara Barton National Historic Site
Colonial National Historical Park
Colorado National Monument
Constitution Gardens
Crater Lake National Park
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Craters of the Moon National Preserve
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Curecanti National Recreation Area
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
De Soto National Memorial
Death Valley National Park
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Devils Postpile National Monument
Devils Tower National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Dry Tortugas National Park
Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
Eisenhower National Historic Site
El Malpais National Monument
El Morro National Monument
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Everglades National Park
Federal Hall National Memorial
Fire Island National Seashore
First Ladies National Historic Site
First State National Monument
Flight 93 National Memorial
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
Fort Caroline National Memorial
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Fort Frederica National Monument
Fort Larned National Historic Site
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Fort McHenry NM and Historic Shrine
Fort Monroe National Monument
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Fort Pulaski National Monument
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Stanwix National Monument
Fort Sumter National Monument
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Washington Park
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial
Friendship Hill National Historic Site
Gateway National Recreation Area
Gauley River National Recreation Area
General Grant National Memorial
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Gettysburg National Military Park
Glacier National Park
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Governors Island National Monument
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Great Basin National Park
Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Greenbelt Park
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Haleakalā National Park
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
Hampton National Historic Site
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Harriett Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument
Harry S Truman National Historic Site
Hawai"˜i Volcanoes National Park
Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Hot Springs National Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Independence National Historical Park
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
James A. Garfield National Historic Site
Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Jewel Cave National Monument
John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site
Johnstown Flood National Memorial
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Korean War Veterans National Memorial
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Lewis & Clark National Historical Park
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Little River Canyon National Preserve
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Longfellow National Historic Site
Lowell National Historical Park
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac National Memorial
Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
Mammoth Cave National Park
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Manzanar National Historic Site
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site
Mesa Verde National Park
Middle Delaware National Scenic River
Minidoka National Historic Site
Minute Man National Historical Park
Mississippi National River and Recreation Areas
Mojave National Preserve
Monocacy National Battlefield
Moores Creek National Battlefield
Morristown National Historical Park
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Muir Woods National Monument
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
Natchez Trace Parkway
National Capital Parks
National Mall
Natural Bridges National Monument
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
New River Gorge National River
North Cascades National Park
Obed Wild and Scenic River
Olympic National Park
Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Preserve (one unit)
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
Petersburg National Battlefield
Petrified Forest National Park
Petroglyph National Monument
Pipe Spring National Monument
Piscataway Park
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail
Poverty Point National Monument
Prince William Forest Park
Redwood National Park
Richmond National Battlefield Park
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
River Raisin National Battlefield Park
Rock Creek Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Roger Williams National Memorial
Russell Cave National Monument
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
San Juan Island National Historical Park
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Saratoga National Historical Park
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site
Sequoia National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Statue of Liberty National Monument
Steamtown National Historic Site
Stonewall National Monument
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Thomas Stone National Historic Site
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
Timucuan Ecological and Historic National Preserve
Tupelo National Battlefield
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreation River
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
Vicksburg National Military Park
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington Monument
Weir Farm National Historic Site
White House (President's Park)
William Howard Taft National Historic Site
Wind Cave National Park
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Women's Rights National Historical Park
World War II Memorial
World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
Wright Brothers National Memorial
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yucca House National Monument
Zion National Park
Quote from: Rothman on August 31, 2017, 05:42:17 PM
I don't think "upgrades" mean that much when it comes to preservation. If anything, it means more visitation and more stress on the features meant to be protected.
Really there are some lower tier units in the Park System that probably meet the criteria of being significant enough to be visited on the level of a National Park. The way I see it, a National Park should be the "best of the best" so to speak. To me stuff like the Sleeping Bear Dunes, White Sands, or even a Canyon de Chelley are on the level of what you would experience at a National Park but lack the facilities of one. On the flip side some National Parks probably shouldn't be in that "top tier" so to speak. Places like Congaree and Biscayne National Parks come to mind as units that ought to be National Monuments at best.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 31, 2017, 11:33:38 PM
Quote from: Rothman on August 31, 2017, 05:42:17 PM
I don't think "upgrades" mean that much when it comes to preservation. If anything, it means more visitation and more stress on the features meant to be protected.
Really there are some lower tier units in the Park System that probably meet the criteria of being significant enough to be visited on the level of a National Park. The way I see it, a National Park should be the "best of the best" so to speak. To me stuff like the Sleeping Bear Dunes, White Sands, or even a Canyon de Chelley are on the level of what you would experience at a National Park but lack the facilities of one. On the flip side some National Parks probably shouldn't be in that "top tier" so to speak. Places like Congaree and Biscayne National Parks come to mind as units that ought to be National Monuments at best.
However, there's a difference between national parks and monuments, albeit just really a technical one. National parks are created by congress. National monuments, by presidential decree. That's really all the difference there is, for the most part.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 31, 2017, 12:06:27 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on August 31, 2017, 10:27:35 AM
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on August 31, 2017, 07:48:45 AM
I've been to all of Connecticut's NPS sites. :bigass:
Not too long ago, Illinois had only one National Park site, and Delaware had none. Now it's Illinois 2, Delaware one. The NPS needs to make Cahokia Mounds in Cahokia, IL a National Monument soon. It's been talked about for some time, and given how it probably was the largest native settlement ever in North America, it should have been done years ago.
Also worth noting is that there's a strong push to upgrade Indiana Dunes to a full fledged National Park, from its National Lakeshore status.
Out of curiosity do you have any articles or things written on the topic? I would probably say not only the Indiana Dunes but the Sleeping Bear Dunes would be worthy of an upgrade.
Here you go...
http://www.wndu.com/content/news/Indiana-Dunes-would-become-states-first-National-Park-under-new-legislation-415798673.html
Quote from: inkyatari on September 01, 2017, 10:15:14 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 31, 2017, 11:33:38 PM
Quote from: Rothman on August 31, 2017, 05:42:17 PM
I don't think "upgrades" mean that much when it comes to preservation. If anything, it means more visitation and more stress on the features meant to be protected.
Really there are some lower tier units in the Park System that probably meet the criteria of being significant enough to be visited on the level of a National Park. The way I see it, a National Park should be the "best of the best" so to speak. To me stuff like the Sleeping Bear Dunes, White Sands, or even a Canyon de Chelley are on the level of what you would experience at a National Park but lack the facilities of one. On the flip side some National Parks probably shouldn't be in that "top tier" so to speak. Places like Congaree and Biscayne National Parks come to mind as units that ought to be National Monuments at best.
However, there's a difference between national parks and monuments, albeit just really a technical one. National parks are created by congress. National monuments, by presidential decree. That's really all the difference there is, for the most part.
True, but there used to be a natural heirarchy to the whole thing that has gotten watered down over time. Really National Monuments used to carry a lot more weight before every President from Clinton onwards just started creating a bunch of new ones that are BLM managed. There is no way something like the Ironwood Forest or Sonoran Desert National Monuments ought to carry any other designation than wildlife refuge.
Quote from: Rothman on August 31, 2017, 05:42:17 PM
I don't think "upgrades" mean that much when it comes to preservation. If anything, it means more visitation and more stress on the features meant to be protected.
Given the financial state of Illinois, transferring Cahokia to the NPS could probably mean better preservation.
Quote from: inkyatari on September 01, 2017, 10:17:32 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 31, 2017, 12:06:27 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on August 31, 2017, 10:27:35 AM
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on August 31, 2017, 07:48:45 AM
I've been to all of Connecticut's NPS sites. :bigass:
Not too long ago, Illinois had only one National Park site, and Delaware had none. Now it's Illinois 2, Delaware one. The NPS needs to make Cahokia Mounds in Cahokia, IL a National Monument soon. It's been talked about for some time, and given how it probably was the largest native settlement ever in North America, it should have been done years ago.
Also worth noting is that there's a strong push to upgrade Indiana Dunes to a full fledged National Park, from its National Lakeshore status.
Out of curiosity do you have any articles or things written on the topic? I would probably say not only the Indiana Dunes but the Sleeping Bear Dunes would be worthy of an upgrade.
Here you go...
http://www.wndu.com/content/news/Indiana-Dunes-would-become-states-first-National-Park-under-new-legislation-415798673.html
Interesting, I'm glad that I stopped in last week and did some hiking along with fresh pictures then. Now I really regret not stopping in at the visitor center and picking up a park map, I collect them for the National Parks and Monuments. Any updates on where the legislation went? I seem to recall bumping up Pinnacles to a National Park from Monument status wasn't exactly straight forward since it extended the boundary to include the Pinnacles Wilderness.
My top 10: 1-Yellowstone (so many different things to do), 2-Bryce Canyon. 3-Arches; 4-Glacier; 5-Rocky Mountain; 6-Zion; 7-Canyonlands; 8-Grand Canyon; 9-Big Bend; 10-Badlands. Finally going to Crater Lake and Redwoods next week so my list may change.
I surprised i did not see any mention of Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia.
LGMS428
Yellowstone
Grand Canyon
Zion (twice)
Bryce Canyon
Rocky Mt (twice)
Great Smoky Mts
Yosemite
Sequoia/Kings Canyon
Apostle Islands NL
White Sands NM
Saguaro
Hatteras NS
Lake Mead NRA
Muir Woods NM
Point Reyes NS
Glacier
Mt Rushmore-or-less
Devils Tower
That big lawn in the middle of DC.
Quote from: texaskdog on September 01, 2017, 11:20:25 PM
My top 10: 1-Yellowstone (so many different things to do), 2-Bryce Canyon. 3-Arches; 4-Glacier; 5-Rocky Mountain; 6-Zion; 7-Canyonlands; 8-Grand Canyon; 9-Big Bend; 10-Badlands. Finally going to Crater Lake and Redwoods next week so my list may change.
Personal Top 10 for me based off the 46 National Parks I've been to:
1. Yosemite
2. Grand Canyon
3. Yellowstone
Those are the big three in my book, I can't see any of the other national parks being anything more than second tier. But with that in mind some of my other favorite include:
4. Crater Lake
5. Sequoia (Kings Canyon I consider separate and Sequoia has way easily accessed trails and has Mineral King)
6. Bryce Canyon
7. Arches
8. Canyonlands
9. Death Valley
10. Carlsbad Caverns
I'm a huge sucker for mountains, scenic views, and good trails to run/hike on hence why I have so many top heavy Western parks. Really my bottom five would be:
46: Biscayne
45. Congaree
44. Shenandoah
43. Saguaro (too used to the desert having lived in Phoenix)
42. Joshua Tree
But that isn't to say that I've encounter any "bad" National Parks because they all have something I enjoyed. Personally I'd say the most overrated park I've been to is Zion. Really Zion is beautiful but I still think it's way behind the Grand Canyon and in my opinion even Bryce Camyon. Really what hurts Zion for me is the crowds and having to compete to get in the park, I much rather go to Bryce and have a chill time or the other three National Parks in Utah.
I'll come up with a more comprehensive list for National Monuments maybe tonight? Out of where I've been Canyon de Chelley, White Sands, Colorado, the Vermillion Cliffs, and Cedar Breaks stand out to me more than the others.
Congaree
Denali
Grand Canyon
Kenai Fjords
Shenandoah
Virgin Island
Currently have plans to visit Smoky Mountains and Everglades.
Thought that I would give this an update for National Monuments. These are all the Monuments I've been too regardless of if they are NPS managed or not:
Agua Fria
Bears Ear
Berryessa-Snow Mountain
Cabrillo
California Coastal
Canyon de Chelley
Carrizo Plain
Casa Grande
Cascade-Siskiyou
Castillo de San Marcos
Castle Mountains
Cedar Breaks
Cesar Chavez
Chimney Rock
Chiricahua
Colorado
Devil's Tower
Devil's Postpile
Dinosaur
Florisant Fossil Beds
Fort Frederica
Fort Matanzas
Fort McHenry
Fort Ord
Fort Sumter
Giant Sequioa
Grand Canyon-Parashant
Grand Escalante
Jewel Cave
Lava Beds
Little Bighorn
Mojave Trails
Montezuma Castle
Mount St. Helens
Muir Woods
Natural Bridges
Navajo
Ocmulgee
Organ Pipe Cactus
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks
Russel Cave
San Gabriel Mountains
Sand to Snow
Santa Rosa and San Jacinito Mountains
Sonoran Desert
Statue of Liberty
Sunset Volcanic Crater
Tonto
Tuzigoot
Vermilion Cliffs
Walnut Canyon
White Sands
Wupatki
Funny thing is that a lot of places I've been weren't National Monuments at the time. I used to be able to keep a running tally in my head of what I had been to, but the National Monument designation has greatly expanded in the last quarter century. I've driven within sight of Snake Town in Arizona several times but I don't count that given you'd have to be a Gila Tribe member to actually visit, shame since I would have the entire circuit of Arizona otherwise.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 04, 2017, 12:18:58 AM
Funny thing is that a lot of places I've been weren't National Monuments at the time. I used to be able to keep a running tally in my head of what I had been to, but the National Monument designation has greatly expanded in the last quarter century. I've driven within sight of Snake Town in Arizona several times but I don't count that given you'd have to be a Gila Tribe member to actually visit, shame since I would have the entire circuit of Arizona otherwise.
Snake Town / Hohokam Pima National Monument actually encompasses a small section of I-10 south of Phoenix, like they were intending an interchange to be built there, so I count it.
https://www.nps.gov/maps/tools/park-tiles/#12/33.1873/-111.8741
Quote from: inkyatari on September 05, 2017, 12:22:32 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 04, 2017, 12:18:58 AM
Funny thing is that a lot of places I've been weren't National Monuments at the time. I used to be able to keep a running tally in my head of what I had been to, but the National Monument designation has greatly expanded in the last quarter century. I've driven within sight of Snake Town in Arizona several times but I don't count that given you'd have to be a Gila Tribe member to actually visit, shame since I would have the entire circuit of Arizona otherwise.
Snake Town / Hohokam Pima National Monument actually encompasses a small section of I-10 south of Phoenix, like they were intending an interchange to be built there, so I count it.
https://www.nps.gov/maps/tools/park-tiles/#12/33.1873/-111.8741
Yeah, I know that's the case but it just doesn't feel legit to me to count it even though I have been over that stretch of I-10 hundreds of times. It's like with the Jewel Cave, I didn't go in the cave but I did hike the canyons around it which makes it more legit of a claim to count it in my mind. But really there is zero chance of ever seeing anything of substance at Snake Town given the tribal stance on monument visitation. I'll have to match up some of my abandoned AZ 93 pics to see if they fit the map for a more legit claim
Keep in mind as well that the archaeological site was re-buried as well. There is a local museum for those interested in Snaketown, though.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 05, 2017, 02:34:51 PM
Yeah, I know that's the case but it just doesn't feel legit to me to count it even though I have been over that stretch of I-10 hundreds of times. It's like with the Jewel Cave, I didn't go in the cave but I did hike the canyons around it which makes it more legit of a claim to count it in my mind. But really there is zero chance of ever seeing anything of substance at Snake Town given the tribal stance on monument visitation. I'll have to match up some of my abandoned AZ 93 pics to see if they fit the map for a more legit claim
They do have artifacts on display at Casa Grande Ruins from Snaketown, and we did go to Casa Grande as well, so what the heck. I count it.
Quote from: inkyatari on September 05, 2017, 04:21:22 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 05, 2017, 02:34:51 PM
Yeah, I know that's the case but it just doesn't feel legit to me to count it even though I have been over that stretch of I-10 hundreds of times. It's like with the Jewel Cave, I didn't go in the cave but I did hike the canyons around it which makes it more legit of a claim to count it in my mind. But really there is zero chance of ever seeing anything of substance at Snake Town given the tribal stance on monument visitation. I'll have to match up some of my abandoned AZ 93 pics to see if they fit the map for a more legit claim
They do have artifacts on display at Casa Grande Ruins from Snaketown, and we did go to Casa Grande as well, so what the heck. I count it.
I suppose that's true, I do remember the Snake Town display at Casa Grande. Either way I think that I've explored Snake Town to the fullest extent possible that can be done. Either way kind of interesting to consider Arizona has 18 National Monuments (off the top of my head I write this), I want New Mexico had the next highest count? A good deal in both states had some basis in preservation of tribal culture.
So a question came to mind today that I thought would be interesting for this thread, what existing non-National Park status NPS units would you deem worthy of consideration to be elevated to top status? Obviously the Indiana Dunes has already come up in discussion so I'll throw out some of mine that I thought were among the top-tier locales managed by the NPS:
- Canyon de Chelley National Monument
- Mojave National Preserve
- California Coastal National Monument
- Giant Sequoia National Monument; maybe an extension of Sequoia National Park or greater consolidation along with Kings Canyon?
- Point Reyes National Seashore
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore
- White Sands National Monument
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Some other National Monuments managed by the BLM I thought were really top-tier would be:
- Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
- Grand Escalate National Monument
Granted those are just some of them off the top of my head and I'm just spit balling largely west coast stuff or places I've been fairly recently.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 06, 2017, 06:54:23 PM
So a question came to mind today that I thought would be interesting for this thread, what existing non-National Park status NPS units would you deem worthy of consideration to be elevated to top status? Obviously the Indiana Dunes has already come up in discussion so I'll throw out some of mine that I thought were among the top-tier locales managed by the NPS:
- Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Some other National Monuments managed by the BLM I thought were really top-tier would be:
- Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
- Grand Escalate National Monument
Granted those are just some of them off the top of my head and I'm just spit balling largely west coast stuff or places I've been fairly recently.
Mt. St. Helens is administered by the Forest service. That, and Vermillion Cliffs and Grand Staircase / Escalante would need to be transfered to the NPS to be made a full National Park.
I've had an idea about transferring Goose Lake Prairie, Morris Wetlands, Wm. G. Stratton, Gebhard Woods, I&M Canal State Trail, Illini, Starved Rock, Buffalo Rock, and Pecumsaugan Creek-Blackball Mines from the state of Illinois and hand them over to the NPS to create Illinois River Valley National Recreation Area.
I'd also hand over Des Plaines Conservation area from IL to the Forest Service, to add to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, as well as various parks in southern IL to the NFS for inclusion into the Shawnee National Forest.
I ran into a document from the early 80's that talked about the creation of Shawnee Hills National Recreation Area. Interesting read. I'll see if I can't find it again.
Ahh, here it is...
https://books.google.com/books/about/Shawnee_Hills_National_Recreation_Area_N.html?id=Bqg2AQAAMAAJ
Illinois and Delaware really got ripped off when it comes to National Park areas.
^^^
Does anyone actually know if it is a "requirement" that a National Park be administered by the National Park Service? I would venture the answer would be a "yes" given that something even as far flung as Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve technically has NPS staffing/administration. With the National Monuments it seems that a lot of the new ones are so remote or so lightly visited that they were staying administered by whatever Federal management body they had prior.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 01, 2017, 12:43:52 PM
Any updates on where the legislation went?
I haven't heard anything. Time to search Thomas
https://www.congress.gov/search?q={%22congress%22:%22115%22,%22source%22:%22legislation%22,%22search%22:%22indiana%20dunes%22}&searchResultViewType=expanded
Apparently it's only been introduced. No further action has been recorded as of yet.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 06, 2017, 06:54:23 PMSo a question came to mind today that I thought would be interesting for this thread, what existing non-National Park status NPS units would you deem worthy of consideration to be elevated to top status?
This is a question of what is a National Park, and what are other things that ought to be protected, but in different ways.
So, for instance, does a National Park need to be protected to a IUCN Category II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUCN_protected_area_categories) level - is a Cat I going to have issues with the lack of human activity desired, is a Cat V (where UK National Parks tend to be) not protected enough?
Is 'promoting understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the national park by the public.' important? - as apparently that's one reason why Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty exist in the UK - that these areas don't have enough going on for visitors (though the lack of planning authority is perhaps one of the key issues - North Pennines AONB seems to only be an AONB due to crossing several administrative boundaries and making the politics of governance of an National Park tricky).
Does size matter - does it have to be bigger than a certain area?
Is it all about natural beauty, or do cultural issues, and unique but not pretty, natural things matter as well?
Is being away from human development important - is http://www.nationalparkcity.london/ totally insane (though it's not about making a National Park, but centralising and cementing in a conservate (even anti-) development philosophy into the Greater London Authority that would be hard to overcome politically in perpetuity, as well as improving the amount of green space, use of it, etc)?
My list is pretty short. I've never been to a current National Park, although I have been to Mackinac Island State Park, which was Mackinac National Park. As for the rest of the list of NPS units:
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Muir Woods National Monument
Point Reyes National Seashore
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Keweenaw National Historical Park
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
National Mall
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial
I saw several other DC-area units, but did not enter them, like the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, or Ford's Theatre.
Looking at US NPS sites in DC, the following London places I've been to are equivalent.
Royal Parks: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park, St James's Park, Regent's Park, Greenwich Park (inc Royal Observatory), Grosvenor Square
Royal Palaces: Tower of London, Kew Palace, Hampton Court Palace
Department of Culture, Media and Sport Executive Department run museums (cf Smithsonian, which is basically NPS units): Science Museum, Natural History Museum, British Museum, Imperial War Museum (and it's HMS Belfast subunit), National Maritime Museum (and it's Liverpool branch), Tate Modern, National Gallery
If the UK became part of the US, I'd imagine that the list of National Historic Sites, National Memorials, etc would be bigger than just this, with the UK's National Trust and English Heritage both partially taken by the feds. That said, I'd imagine that at least 10 of the 13 National Parks wouldn't be accepted by the US as National Parks.
My visited parks...
National Parks:
1. Shenandoah (VA)
2. Mt. Rainier (WA)
3. Cuyahoga Valley (OH)
National Monuments:
1. Castillo de San Marcos (FL)
2. Statue of Liberty (NJ/NY)
National Historic Sites:
1. Allegheny Portage Railroad (PA)
2. Pennsylvania Avenue (DC)
National Military Parks:
1. Gettysburg (PA)
National Battlefields:
1. Fort Necessity (PA)
National Memorials:
1. Flight 93 (PA)
2. Fort Caroline (FL)
3. Johnstown Flood (PA)
4. Lincoln Memorial (DC)
5. Jefferson Memorial (DC)
6. Washington Monument (DC)
National Seashores:
1. Assateague Island (MD)
2. Cumberland Island (GA)
National Rivers:
1. New River Gorge (WV)
Here's my list for national parks:
-Arches (UT)
-Bryce Canyon (UT)
-Canyonlands (UT)
-Capitol Reef (UT)
-Gateway Arch (MO) – though it wasn't a National Park when I was there
-Glacier (MT)
-Grand Canyon (AZ)
-Grand Teton (WY)
-Mesa Verde (CO)
-Yellowstone (WY)
-Zion (UT)
Although the closest NP to me is Pinnacles, I've only actually been there once (from the east/CA 25 side); a bum knee keeps me from long hikes these days. Technically, the park I've been to most is Redwood NP between Eureka and Crescent City -- only because US 101 runs right through it, and that's along my favorite drive of all time (US 101 between Ukiah, CA and Astoria, OR). Have a soft spot for Lassen as well; one of the prettiest through-park drives of any of them.
Up to 255 out of 417 (made it out to Dry Tortugas to boot):
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
Acadia National Park
Adams National Historical Park
African Burial Ground National Monument
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Antietam National Battlefield
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
Arches National Park
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Assateague Island National Seashore
Badlands National Park
Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Big Bend National Park
Big Cypress National Preserve
Biscayne National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
Blue Ridge Parkway
Bluestone National Scenic River
Booker T. Washington National Monument
Boston African American National Historic Site
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Boston National Historical Park
Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canaveral National Seashore
Canyonlands National Park
Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Capitol Reef National Park
Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Castle Clinton National Monument
Catoctin Mountain Park
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
Chamizal National Memorial
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
City of Rocks National Reserve
Clara Barton National Historic Site
Colonial National Historical Park
Colorado National Monument
Constitution Gardens
Crater Lake National Park
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Craters of the Moon National Preserve
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Curecanti National Recreation Area
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
De Soto National Memorial
Death Valley National Park
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Devils Postpile National Monument
Devils Tower National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Dry Tortugas National Park
Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
Eisenhower National Historic Site
El Malpais National Monument
El Morro National Monument
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Everglades National Park
Federal Hall National Memorial
Fire Island National Seashore
First Ladies National Historic Site
First State National Monument
Flight 93 National Memorial
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
Fort Caroline National Memorial
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Fort Frederica National Monument
Fort Larned National Historic Site
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Fort McHenry NM and Historic Shrine
Fort Monroe National Monument
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Fort Pulaski National Monument
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Stanwix National Monument
Fort Sumter National Monument
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Washington Park
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial
Friendship Hill National Historic Site
Gateway National Recreation Area
Gauley River National Recreation Area
General Grant National Memorial
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Gettysburg National Military Park
Glacier National Park
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Governors Island National Monument
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Great Basin National Park
Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Greenbelt Park
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Haleakalā National Park
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
Hampton National Historic Site
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Harriet Tubman National Historical Park
Harriett Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument
Harry S Truman National Historic Site
Hawai"˜i Volcanoes National Park
Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Hot Springs National Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Independence National Historical Park
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
James A. Garfield National Historic Site
Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Jewel Cave National Monument
John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site
Johnstown Flood National Memorial
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Korean War Veterans National Memorial
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Lewis & Clark National Historical Park
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Little River Canyon National Preserve
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Longfellow National Historic Site
Lowell National Historical Park
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac National Memorial
Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
Mammoth Cave National Park
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Manzanar National Historic Site
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site
Mesa Verde National Park
Middle Delaware National Scenic River
Minidoka National Historic Site
Minute Man National Historical Park
Mississippi National River and Recreation Areas
Mojave National Preserve
Monocacy National Battlefield
Moores Creek National Battlefield
Morristown National Historical Park
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Muir Woods National Monument
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
Natchez Trace Parkway
National Capital Parks
National Mall
Natural Bridges National Monument
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
New River Gorge National River
North Cascades National Park
Obed Wild and Scenic River
Olympic National Park
Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Preserve (one unit)
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
Petersburg National Battlefield
Petrified Forest National Park
Petroglyph National Monument
Pipe Spring National Monument
Piscataway Park
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail
Poverty Point National Monument
Prince William Forest Park
Redwood National Park
Richmond National Battlefield Park
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
River Raisin National Battlefield Park
Rock Creek Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Roger Williams National Memorial
Russell Cave National Monument
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
San Juan Island National Historical Park
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Saratoga National Historical Park
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site
Sequoia National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Statue of Liberty National Monument
Steamtown National Historic Site
Stones River National Battlefield
Stonewall National Monument
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Thomas Stone National Historic Site
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
Timucuan Ecological and Historic National Preserve
Tupelo National Battlefield
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreation River
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
Vicksburg National Military Park
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington Monument
Weir Farm National Historic Site
White House (President's Park)
William Howard Taft National Historic Site
Wind Cave National Park
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Women's Rights National Historical Park
World War II Memorial
World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
Wright Brothers National Memorial
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yucca House National Monument
Zion National Park
Quote from: sparker on September 06, 2018, 05:25:01 AM
Although the closest NP to me is Pinnacles, I've only actually been there once (from the east/CA 25 side); a bum knee keeps me from long hikes these days. Technically, the park I've been to most is Redwood NP between Eureka and Crescent City -- only because US 101 runs right through it, and that's along my favorite drive of all time (US 101 between Ukiah, CA and Astoria, OR). Have a soft spot for Lassen as well; one of the prettiest through-park drives of any of them.
I've been trying to convince my fiancé to go Lassen this whole summer. I've been there twice but it's one of four National Parks in California she hasn't been to. Lassen also has the advantage of probably being the most quiet National Park in California which is a nice change of pace from Yosemite.
Incidentally I believe that I've now hiked every trail in Pinnacles now. There isn't a ton of Vista level scenery but that sure is a nice place to get a really long moderate difficulty hike in.
Quote from: inkyatari on September 07, 2017, 08:56:03 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 01, 2017, 12:43:52 PM
Any updates on where the legislation went?
I haven't heard anything. Time to search Thomas
https://www.congress.gov/search?q={%22congress%22:%22115%22,%22source%22:%22legislation%22,%22search%22:%22indiana%20dunes%22}&searchResultViewType=expanded
Apparently it's only been introduced. No further action has been recorded as of yet.
UPDATE: Apparently it's passed one of the houses of congress. It's just waiting on the other (Senate, I think.)
My list, roughly in chronological order:
Everglades
Mammoth Cave
Great Smoky Mountains
Rocky Mountain
Hot Springs
And for fun, here's a list of National Forests I've hiked in:
Arapaho, CO
Chattahoochee, GA
Chequamegon-Nicolet, WI
Hoosier, IN
Nantahala, NC
Ouachita, AR
Pisgah, NC
Roosevelt, CO
San Juan, CO
Shawnee, IL
Will be adding Green Mountain, VT to that list shortly
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 06, 2018, 08:57:38 AM
Quote from: sparker on September 06, 2018, 05:25:01 AM
Although the closest NP to me is Pinnacles, I've only actually been there once (from the east/CA 25 side); a bum knee keeps me from long hikes these days. Technically, the park I've been to most is Redwood NP between Eureka and Crescent City -- only because US 101 runs right through it, and that's along my favorite drive of all time (US 101 between Ukiah, CA and Astoria, OR). Have a soft spot for Lassen as well; one of the prettiest through-park drives of any of them.
I've been trying to convince my fiancé to go Lassen this whole summer. I've been there twice but it's one of four National Parks in California she hasn't been to. Lassen also has the advantage of probably being the most quiet National Park in California which is a nice change of pace from Yosemite.
Incidentally I believe that I've now hiked every trail in Pinnacles now. There isn't a ton of Vista level scenery but that sure is a nice place to get a really long moderate difficulty hike in.
That's one of the great salient points about Lassen -- it's far enough away from populated areas to be able to avoid the commercialization that permeates the parks farther south in the Sierras. Although my GF definitely isn't the camping type (a motel with a fridge is her idea of "roughing it" -- she was born & raised in the CT 'burbs between New Haven and Hartford), she did like our one daytime picnic in the meadows at Lassen several years back as a side-trip from a Portland jaunt. I had to convince her
not to try to jump across one of the creeks in the meadow -- they're in volcanic crevasses that can be up to 12 feet deep and V-shaped! Nevertheless, the best description of Lassen would be "bucolic" -- and definitely a nice escape from civilization!
Quote from: sparker on September 06, 2018, 03:51:14 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 06, 2018, 08:57:38 AM
Quote from: sparker on September 06, 2018, 05:25:01 AM
Although the closest NP to me is Pinnacles, I've only actually been there once (from the east/CA 25 side); a bum knee keeps me from long hikes these days. Technically, the park I've been to most is Redwood NP between Eureka and Crescent City -- only because US 101 runs right through it, and that's along my favorite drive of all time (US 101 between Ukiah, CA and Astoria, OR). Have a soft spot for Lassen as well; one of the prettiest through-park drives of any of them.
I've been trying to convince my fiancé to go Lassen this whole summer. I've been there twice but it's one of four National Parks in California she hasn't been to. Lassen also has the advantage of probably being the most quiet National Park in California which is a nice change of pace from Yosemite.
Incidentally I believe that I've now hiked every trail in Pinnacles now. There isn't a ton of Vista level scenery but that sure is a nice place to get a really long moderate difficulty hike in.
That's one of the great salient points about Lassen -- it's far enough away from populated areas to be able to avoid the commercialization that permeates the parks farther south in the Sierras. Although my GF definitely isn't the camping type (a motel with a fridge is her idea of "roughing it" -- she was born & raised in the CT 'burbs between New Haven and Hartford), she did like our one daytime picnic in the meadows at Lassen several years back as a side-trip from a Portland jaunt. I had to convince her not to try to jump across one of the creeks in the meadow -- they're in volcanic crevasses that can be up to 12 feet deep and V-shaped! Nevertheless, the best description of Lassen would be "bucolic" -- and definitely a nice escape from civilization!
The first time I was there in 2014 I didn't notice any signs for sulfur vents on one of the trails (to my defense it was partially blocked by overgrowth). I ended hearing water roaring under my feet and saw steam up ahead which clued me in to where I was. I was able to back out without causing a cave in but it was probably the closest to ever getting seriously injured in 46 National Parks.
Quote from: csw on September 06, 2018, 03:23:00 PM
Shawnee, IL
The Shawnees are amazing. Really the only part of Illinois worth visiting, IMHO (remember I live in the SW Chicago burbs)
Lassen is amazing. We hiked up Lassen Peak last October--one of the top 3 most difficult hikes for two out-of-shape Midwesterners for sure. But you get to climb to the top of a snow-capped volcano! How cool is that? And Bumpass Hell features some of the gaseous, colorful, bubbling geologic oddities reminiscent of Yellowstone. Want to see some of the volcanic stuff without the crowds of Yellowstone? Lassen NP will hook you up. The best part is that it's over an hour from the nearest city with an Interstate running through it, so it isn't overly commercialized for once, as others stated above.
Shawnee National Forest is surprisingly delightful. Ask the locals where the good swimming holes and natural features are at. It'll make your trip more enjoyable. My gf and I went there last July. The Garden of the Gods is the best thing in all of Illinois, imo. Also check out Pomona Natural Bridge, Cave-in-Rock, Jackson Falls, and Giant City. (The only 2 natural areas other than this in IL worth visiting are the driftless area in the NW corner and the Mathiessen/Starved Rock area.)
I collect the brochures they hand you for free at the National Parks and other National "units." I love starting collections of "free" things you get as souvenirs (why waste time in a gift shop?). My gf and I now share 12 park visits with each other.
Quote from: paulthemapguy on September 08, 2018, 01:26:07 PM
Shawnee National Forest is surprisingly delightful. Ask the locals where the good swimming holes and natural features are at. It'll make your trip more enjoyable. My gf and I went there last July. The Garden of the Gods is the best thing in all of Illinois, imo. Also check out Pomona Natural Bridge, Cave-in-Rock, Jackson Falls, and Giant City. (The only 2 natural areas other than this in IL worth visiting are the driftless area in the NW corner and the Mathiessen/Starved Rock area.)
I live 30 minutes from Starved Rock, and the people from Chicago have ruined the place. Last summer some asshole spray painted all over the council overhang area, and it cost the state several hundred thousand dollars to get rid of the grafitti.
As for the Shawnees, Rim Rock trail is amazing, and not as crowded as the Garden of the Gods. A couple years ago I hiked a few of the Garden of the Gods wilderness area trails, and it is so very worth getting off the beaten path for. The Pomona Natural Bridge is pretty amazing. I'm hoping they repair the La-Rue / Pine Hills road, as that's an amazing drive. Really, in southern Illinois you can make a random turn and find something amazing.
I forgot about the driftless area. Galena, Savanna.. Beautiful area. Mississippi Palisades State Park is awesome, the drive up Blackjack Road from Hanford to Galena is very scenic. The Chestnut Mountain Ski Resort just off of Blackjack has an alpine slide in the summer.. There's really no place in the area that doesn't have amazing views.
Just got back from Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Saw tons of bison (literally) including a couple traffic jams (the saying goes, it's their park, we're just visiting, so be patient); pronghorn, moose, and a beautiful 10-point elk.
Quote from: inkyatari on September 06, 2018, 08:58:06 AM
Quote from: inkyatari on September 07, 2017, 08:56:03 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 01, 2017, 12:43:52 PM
Any updates on where the legislation went?
I haven't heard anything. Time to search Thomas
https://www.congress.gov/search?q={%22congress%22:%22115%22,%22source%22:%22legislation%22,%22search%22:%22indiana%20dunes%22}&searchResultViewType=expanded
Apparently it's only been introduced. No further action has been recorded as of yet.
UPDATE: Apparently it's passed one of the houses of congress. It's just waiting on the other (Senate, I think.)
If Cuyahoga Valley can be a national park, so can Indiana Dunes. Not a slur on Cuyahoga Valley, which is wonderful in its own right.
Now for my list of National Parks in the United States:
Acadia NP
Arches NP
Badlands NP
Bryce Canyon NP
Canyonlands NP
Capitol Reef NP
Cuyahoga Valley NP
Death Valley NP
Denali NP
Glacier NP
Grand Teton NP
Great Basin NP
Great Sand Dunes NP
Jefferson NP (though not since its redesignation)
Joshua Tree NP
Kenai Fjords NP
Ranier NP
Rocky Mountain NP
Saguaro NP
Wind Cave NP
Yellowstone NP
Zion NP
22 National Parks:
Acadia
Bryce Canyon
Congaree
Crater Lake
Cuyahoga Valley
Everglades
Gateway Arch
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Smoky Mountains
Haleakalā
Hawai"˜i Volcanoes
Kings Canyon
Mount Rainier
Olympic
Redwood
Rocky Mountain,
Sequoia
Shenandoah
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion
Quote from: cabiness42 on August 02, 2011, 08:59:13 AM
No good pics to post, but I've visited:
Arches (Utah)
Badlands (S Dakota)
Everglades (Florida)
Grand Canyon (Arizona)
Great Smoky Mountains (N Carolina/Tennessee)
Hot Springs (Arkansas)
Mammoth Cave (Kentucky)
Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
Saguaro (Arizona)
Yellowstone (Idaho/Montana/Wyoming)
Add one to my list: Indiana Dunes National Park
Quote from: cabiness42 on February 20, 2019, 08:14:21 AM
Quote from: cabiness42 on August 02, 2011, 08:59:13 AM
No good pics to post, but I've visited:
Arches (Utah)
Badlands (S Dakota)
Everglades (Florida)
Grand Canyon (Arizona)
Great Smoky Mountains (N Carolina/Tennessee)
Hot Springs (Arkansas)
Mammoth Cave (Kentucky)
Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
Saguaro (Arizona)
Yellowstone (Idaho/Montana/Wyoming)
Add one to my list: Indiana Dunes National Park
Saw that the other day, glad I stopped by in 2017 for some new hiking photos.
I did not realize this, but the Gateway National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, MO, was renamed Gateway Arch National Park sometime last year.
Quote from: inkyatari on February 21, 2019, 09:10:59 AM
I did not realize this, but the Gateway National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, MO, was renamed Gateway Arch National Park sometime last year.
Yes, the crappy part for me is that was something I lost in hard drive crash. I've been trying to convince my wife to revisit the Gateway Arch and Indiana Dunes this summer because they were bumped to National Parks.
I'm still confused as to why they made the Gateway Arch a national park. I get wanting to have one in the Midwest, but it's just a waterfront park with a man-made structure. If anything they should've made it a National Historical Park. I'm hoping this trend doesn't continue. I normally don't like this argument as justification for keeping things the same but the value of National Parks will be degraded if they keep adding things like the Gateway Arch.
That is certainly opening the door to different possibilities. Why can't the Golden Gate National Recreational Area be a national park? It has a famous bridge and some nice scenery. How about the Statue of Liberty, Liberty National Park?
And while as a Hoosier I'm happy for Indiana Dunes to become a national park, I think Sleeping Bear Dunes and Painted Rocks National Lakeshores in Michigan should be upgraded as well. Both parks are absolutely beautiful and honestly more impressive than the Indiana Dunes are.
Quote from: tdindy88 on February 21, 2019, 09:55:37 AM
That is certainly opening the door to different possibilities. Why can't the Golden Gate National Recreational Area be a national park? It has a famous bridge and some nice scenery. How about the Statue of Liberty, Liberty National Park?
And while as a Hoosier I'm happy for Indiana Dunes to become a national park, I think Sleeping Bear Dunes and Painted Rocks National Lakeshores in Michigan should be upgraded as well. Both parks are absolutely beautiful and honestly more impressive than the Indiana Dunes are.
But the door essentially has been there all the way back National Parks like Hot Springs and Mesa Verde. Granted Hot Springs has a natural feature but it's the historic district of bathhouses which is what people see. Mesa Verde's primary feature is structures left behind by Native Tribes which is usually is National Monument fare.
And yes, there is no real reason Sleeping Bear Dunes shouldn't be a full fledged National Park. Those dunes are absolutely massive and seen endless on a day hike.
There was some talk about condensing the designation of parks down to several different types.
Right now we have
National Parks
National Monuments
National Memorials
National Recreation Areas
National Historic Parks
National Preserves
National Historic Sites
National Rivers
National Wild and Scenic Rivers
National Trails
National Parkways
National Heritage Areas
National Lakeshore
National Seashore
National Cemetery
National Battlefield
National Battlefield park
National reserve
Here's how I would change the designations...
Keep Parks, Monuments, Memorials and Recreation Areas. These would not change.
National Historic Parks - would be National Memorials
National Preserves - Folded into National Parks
National Historic Sites - Folded into National Memorials
National Rivers - National Parks or Recreation Areas
National Wild and Scenic Rivers - National Parks or Recreation Areas
National Trails - National Recreation Areas
National Parkways - National Parks or Recreation Areas
National Heritage Areas - These are almost all affiliated areas that get no federal funding. Not sure what I'd do with these, as the feds generally don't own anything in these areas
National Lakeshore - National Parks or Recreation Areas
National Seashore - National Parks or Recreation Areas
National Cemetery - National Memorial
National Battlefield - National Memorial
National Battlefield park - National Memorial
National reserve - Again, there's little federal area in any of these. Not sure how I'd handle these.
I agree with simplifying the NPS designation system, but converting National Historical Parks, Battlefields, etc. to National Memorials wouldn't make any sense. National Memorials are traditionally just that – memorials built after an event or a person, often not even having a physical relationship to the event or person. They memorialize historical events and people, but they are not themselves historic things (when built). National Historical Parks, on the other hand, generally preserve specific historical buildings and landscapes – they are distinguished from National Historic Sites, generally, by being larger than a single "site." In fact, if we were going to change to a single term, it would be much better to use National Historical Park for all historic-related NPS units.
National preserves cannot be conflated with national parks, because there is a key legal difference – by law, subsistence and sport hunting is permitted within areas designated as national preserves.
Likewise, terming the national trail system trails as "Recreation Areas" is needless and confusing because the vast majority of them are not physical "trails"; rather, the rough routes of those trails are marked on modern highways as "Tour Routes" allowing tourists to follow the general path of the trail, with certain sites along each trail preserved or commemorated.
Oh, and NPS/FS units visited:
NP
Arches
Badlands
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Channel Islands
Cuyahoga Valley
Crater Lake
Death Valley
Denali
Gateway Arch
Glacier
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Great Smoky Mountains
Joshua Tree
Kings Canyon
Lassen Volcanic
Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainier
Pinnacles
Redwood
Rocky Mountain
Sequoia
Wind Cave
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion
NM
Aztec Ruins
Bandelier
Cabrillo
Capulin Volcano
Castle Clinton
Cedar Breaks
Colorado
Craters of the Moon
Devils Postpile
Dinosaur
Fort Union
Fossil Butte
Hovenweep
John Day Fossil Beds
Lava Beds
Muir Woods
Natural Bridges
Oregon Caves
Petroglyph
Pipe Spring
Statue of Liberty
Sunset Crater Volcano
Timpanogos Cave
Wupatki
Yucca House
NPres
Craters of the Moon
Denali
Great Sand Dunes
Mojave
Tallgrass Prairie
Valles Caldera
NHP
Boston
Chaco Culture
Colonial
George Rogers Clark
Grant-Kohrs Ranch
Independence
Klondike Gold Rush
Lowell
Nez Perce
Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front
San Francisco Maritime
Sitka
Thomas Edison
NHS
Chicago Portage
Eugene O'Neill
Ford's Theatre
Fort Larned
Fort Point
Fort Vancouver
Golden Spike
John Muir
Manzanar
Minuteman Missile
Nicodemus
Pennsylvania Avenue
Sagamore Hill
Sand Creek Massacre
Ulysses S. Grant
NMP
Gettysburg
NB
Big Hole
NMem
Federal Hall
Flight 93
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Korean War Veterans
Lincoln Boyhood
Lincoln Memorial
LBJ Memorial Grove
MLK Jr. Memorial
Mount Rushmore
Port Chicago Naval Magazine
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial
NRA
Delaware Water Gap
Gateway
Glen Canyon
Golden Gate
Lake Mead
Santa Monica Mountains
Whiskeytown
NS
Cape Cod
Point Reyes
NRiver
Mississippi
New River Gorge
NPkwy
Baltimore-Washington
Rockefeller
NSR
Saint Croix
NF
R1
Beaverhead-Deerlodge
Flathead
Idaho Panhandle
Kootenai
Lolo
Nez Perce-Clearwater
R2
Arapaho-Roosevelt
Black Hills
Buffalo Gap
Cimarron
Comanche
Grand Mesa-Uncompaghre-Gunnison
Medicine Bow-Routt
Nebraska
Oglala
Pike-San Isabel
Rio Grande
San Juan
White River
R3
Carson
Cibola
Coconino
Kaibab
Kiowa
Santa Fe
R4
Ashley
Boise
Bridger-Teton
Caribou-Targhee
Dixie
Humboldt-Toiyabe
Manti-La Sal
Payette
Salmon-Challis
Sawtooth
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache
R5
Angeles
Cleveland
Eldorado
Inyo
Klamath
Lake Tahoe Basin
Lassen
Los Padres
Mendocino
Modoc
Plumas
San Bernardino
Sequoia
Shasta-Trinity
Sierra
Six Rivers
Stanislaus
Tahoe
R6
Colville
Deschutes
Fremont-Winema
Gifford Pinchot
Malheur
Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie
Ochoco
Okanogan-Wenatchee
Rogue River-Siskiyou
Umatilla
Wallowa-Whitman (work for)
R9
Hoosier
R10
Chugach
Tongass (worked for)
USFS special designations:
Admiralty Island NM
Columbia River Gorge NSA
Giant Sequoia NM
Hells Canyon NRA
Misty Fiords NM
Mono Basin NSA
Mount Saint Helens NVM
Newberry NVM
Shasta-Trinity NRA
Counting only parks I've been to as an adult and not ones I've been taken to:
Mt. Rainier
Olympic
Crater Lake
National Mall
I've also been to Banff, and Yosemite, and I want to go back to Yellowstone.
I've really only been to Rainier twice by myself and only once with a digital camera (when I can photograph wildlife without distraction). I stumbled upon this bear cub in a meadow near Sunrise, and hoped his mom was not behind me.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7917/32246085167_788dedf964_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/R8tBFD)Bear cub in Mt. Rainier National Park (https://flic.kr/p/R8tBFD) by Arthur Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/116988743@N07/), on Flickr
On the trip with just a film camera I got a deer staring at me, and a mamma frog in a snowy pond, guarding her eggs.
Strangely as many parks I've been to and as much hiking I've done I have yet to encounter a bear in a National Park. The only bear run-ins I've had were in Florida State Parks in the central part of the state.
I love that picture of the bear so much. I always want to see bears...from a distance. The one time I saw a bear in a National Park was driving along the road through the Grand Tetons. A smaller black bear was galloping south, parallel to our southerly motion, about 500 feet from the roadway. It's still one of my favorite wildlife sightings.
[update]
26 National Parks:
Acadia
Bryce Canyon
Congaree
Crater Lake
Cuyahoga Valley
Denali
Everglades
Gateway Arch
Glacier Bay
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Smoky Mountains
Haleakalā
Hawai"˜i Volcanoes
Kenai Fjords
Kings Canyon
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Olympic
Redwood
Rocky Mountain
Sequoia
Shenandoah
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion
Speaking of National Parks, it has been a oddly light year so far for visitation since I've only been to; Indiana Dunes, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. I'm headed up to Yosemite tomorrow to track down segments of the Old Tioga Pass Road and Old Coulterville Road amid a couple other hikes. My wife has express interest (finally) in seeing Lassen Volcanic National Park and Crater Lake. Later this year we have plans for; Great Basin, Bryce Canyon, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, maybe Saguaro and Joshua Tree. Channel Islands (specifically Anapaca Island) is on our radar for a weekend trip to Ventura.
National Parks and Monuments I've been to. This list is sad compared to others and I do support the NPS.
Lewis and Clark
Fort Vancouver
Olympic
Mt. Rainier
San Juan Island (bot British and American camp)
Glacier
SM-J737T
White Sands National Monument got the bump to National Park status. About the only thing I could say in somewhat objection is that it closes pretty frequently for missile tests:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-sands-monument-designated-us-173917354.html
Quote from: SSOWorld on September 03, 2017, 08:06:21 PM
Yellowstone (twice)
Grand Canyon
Zion (twice)
Bryce Canyon
Rocky Mt (twice)
Great Smoky Mts
Yosemite
Sequoia/Kings Canyon
Apostle Islands NL
White Sands NM
Saguaro
Hatteras NS
Lake Mead NRA
Muir Woods NM
Point Reyes NS
Glacier
Mt Rushmore-or-less
Devils Tower
That big lawn in the middle of DC.
Roosevelt South
Olympic
Mt. St Helens
Grand Teton
Updated to now
Just got back from a road trip to Texas. Visited Hot Springs on the way back, plus knocked a couple areas out on the trip as well.
Quote from: inkyatari on August 30, 2017, 11:03:50 PM
Here's my list...
Nevada
Lake Mead
Washington
Olympic
Mt. Rainier
Oregon
Crater Lake
California
Redwood
Golden Gate NRA
Lassen Volcanic
Montana
Glacier
Utah
Golden Spike NHS
Arches
Bryce Canyon
Cedar Breaks NM
Zion
Glen Canyon NRA
Arizona
Grand Canyon
Wupatki NM
Sunset Crater NM
Walnut Canyon NM
Tonto NM
Organ Pipe Cactus NM
Saguaro
Casa Grande Ruins NM
Hohokam Pima NM (Technically. It's not open to the public)
Petrified Forest
Canyon De Chelly NM
Wyoming
Yellowstone
John D Rockefeller Jr NPkwy
Grand Teton
Devil's Tower NM
Colorado
Colorado NM
Rocky Mountain
Florissant Fossil Beds NM
Great Sand Dunes NM (It was a NM when I visited. It's a NP now)
Dinosaur NM
Mesa Verde
New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns
South Dakota
Wind Cave
Jewel Cave NM
Mt. Rushmore NMem
Badlands NM (It was a NM when I visited. It's a NP now)
Arkansas
Hot Springs
Illinois
Pullman NM
Lincoln Home NHS
Kentucky
Mammoth Cave
Lincoln's Birthplace NHS
Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains
Cumberland Gap NHP
Alabama
Gulf Islands NS
Indiana
Indiana Dunes National PARK
Michigan
Sleeping Bear Dunes NL
Pictured Rocks NL
Florida
Everglades
North Carolina
Cape Hatteras NS
Blue Ridge NPkway
Wright Brothers NMem
Ohio
Cuyahoga Valley
Maryland
Greenbelt Park
Catocin Park
Baltimore Washington Pkwy
Washington DC
White House - when I was there the park service ran the tours. - not sure who does now.
Washington Monument
Jefferson Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
New Jersey
Delaware Water Gap NRA
Statue of Liberty NM
Ellis Island NM
Gateway NRA
Massachusetts
Cape Cod NS
Maine
Acadia
Pennsylvania
Independence NHP
Gettysburg NMP
Missouri
Gateway Arch NP
Oklahoma
Chickasaw National Recreation Area (Platt National Park)
Forest Service Areas
Washington
Mt. St. Helens NM - (USFS)
Oklahoma
Winding Stair National Recreation Area
I'll try to come up with all the ones I've been to, thought I will probably exit this post as I will forget some:
In no particular order:
Zion NP (UT)
Grand Escalante (UT)
Grant N. Historical Site (MO)
Gateway Arch (MO)
Wilson's Creek Nat'l Battlefield (MO)
Buffalo Nat'l River (AR)
Hot Springs NP (AR)
Klondike Gold Rush NP (WA)
Mt. Rainier NP (WA)
Olympic NP (WA)
Yosemite NP (CA)
Tall Grass Nat'l Grassland (KS)
Badlands NP (SD)
Mount Rushmore Nat'l Monument (SD)
Minuteman Missile Nat'l Historic Site (SD)
The National Mall and various other monuments in DC
Quote from: inkyatari on December 23, 2019, 07:04:38 PM
Just got back from a road trip to Texas. Visited Hot Springs on the way back, plus knocked a couple areas out on the trip as well.
Quote from: inkyatari on August 30, 2017, 11:03:50 PM
Here's my list...
Nevada
Lake Mead
Washington
Olympic
Mt. Rainier
Oregon
Crater Lake
California
Redwood
Golden Gate NRA
Lassen Volcanic
Montana
Glacier
Utah
Golden Spike NHS
Arches
Bryce Canyon
Cedar Breaks NM
Zion
Glen Canyon NRA
Arizona
Grand Canyon
Wupatki NM
Sunset Crater NM
Walnut Canyon NM
Tonto NM
Organ Pipe Cactus NM
Saguaro
Casa Grande Ruins NM
Hohokam Pima NM (Technically. It's not open to the public)
Petrified Forest
Canyon De Chelly NM
Wyoming
Yellowstone
John D Rockefeller Jr NPkwy
Grand Teton
Devil's Tower NM
Colorado
Colorado NM
Rocky Mountain
Florissant Fossil Beds NM
Great Sand Dunes NM (It was a NM when I visited. It's a NP now)
Dinosaur NM
Mesa Verde
New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns
South Dakota
Wind Cave
Jewel Cave NM
Mt. Rushmore NMem
Badlands NM (It was a NM when I visited. It's a NP now)
Arkansas
Hot Springs
Illinois
Pullman NM
Lincoln Home NHS
Kentucky
Mammoth Cave
Lincoln's Birthplace NHS
Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains
Cumberland Gap NHP
Alabama
Gulf Islands NS
Indiana
Indiana Dunes National PARK
Michigan
Sleeping Bear Dunes NL
Pictured Rocks NL
Florida
Everglades
North Carolina
Cape Hatteras NS
Blue Ridge NPkway
Wright Brothers NMem
Ohio
Cuyahoga Valley
Maryland
Greenbelt Park
Catocin Park
Baltimore Washington Pkwy
Washington DC
White House - when I was there the park service ran the tours. - not sure who does now.
Washington Monument
Jefferson Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
New Jersey
Delaware Water Gap NRA
Statue of Liberty NM
Ellis Island NM
Gateway NRA
Massachusetts
Cape Cod NS
Maine
Acadia
Pennsylvania
Independence NHP
Gettysburg NMP
Missouri
Gateway Arch NP
Oklahoma
Chickasaw National Recreation Area (Platt National Park)
Forest Service Areas
Washington
Mt. St. Helens NM - (USFS)
Oklahoma
Winding Stair National Recreation Area
Just got back from a trip to Texas, visited no parks in Texas
The ones I've been to:
Canada:
Banff (AB)
Bruce Peninsula (ON)
Cape Breton Highlands (NS)
Fathom Five (ON)
Fundy (NB)
Kootenay (BC)
Prince Edward Island (PEI)
Riding Mountain (MB)
Iceland:
Þingvellir
Latvia:
Ķemeri
United States:
Arches (UT)
Badlands (SD)
Canyonlands (UT)
Gateway Arch (MO)
Grand Teton (WY)
Mammoth Cave (KY)
Yellowstone (WY)
Quote from: texaskdog on December 23, 2019, 08:14:35 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on December 23, 2019, 07:04:38 PM
Just got back from a road trip to Texas. Visited Hot Springs on the way back, plus knocked a couple areas out on the trip as well.
Just got back from a trip to Texas, visited no parks in Texas
I was nowhere near any national parks in Texas. I was only there for 3 days.
I did visit Dinosaur Valley State Park, however.
Quote from: inkyatari on December 23, 2019, 10:22:00 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on December 23, 2019, 08:14:35 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on December 23, 2019, 07:04:38 PM
Just got back from a road trip to Texas. Visited Hot Springs on the way back, plus knocked a couple areas out on the trip as well.
Just got back from a trip to Texas, visited no parks in Texas
I was nowhere near any national parks in Texas. I was only there for 3 days.
I did visit Dinosaur Valley State Park, however.
Big Bend, you missed out on something special
Quote from: texaskdog on December 23, 2019, 10:39:56 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on December 23, 2019, 10:22:00 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on December 23, 2019, 08:14:35 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on December 23, 2019, 07:04:38 PM
Just got back from a road trip to Texas. Visited Hot Springs on the way back, plus knocked a couple areas out on the trip as well.
Just got back from a trip to Texas, visited no parks in Texas
I was nowhere near any national parks in Texas. I was only there for 3 days.
I did visit Dinosaur Valley State Park, however.
Big Bend, you missed out on something special
Fixed the quote string for posterity.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/new-river-gorge-west-virginia-meet-americas-newest-national-park
The New River Gorge in West Virginia becomes America's newest national park.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 16, 2021, 08:53:26 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/new-river-gorge-west-virginia-meet-americas-newest-national-park
The New River Gorge in West Virginia becomes America's newest national park.
Definitely worthy! I wished I had more time to spend there, and hope to make it back someday. We just did a short hike and took some pictures of the bridge.
Quote from: webny99 on May 16, 2021, 09:59:36 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 16, 2021, 08:53:26 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/new-river-gorge-west-virginia-meet-americas-newest-national-park
The New River Gorge in West Virginia becomes America's newest national park.
Definitely worthy! I wished I had more time to spend there, and hope to make it back someday. We just did a short hike and took some pictures of the bridge.
https://www.dominionpost.com/2021/01/13/while-some-oppose-the-new-river-gorge-national-park-and-preserve-designation-state-leaders-believe-compromise-will-be-beneficial-for-tourism-sportsmen-and-women/
There is some opposition, mostly from hunters.
I hit the Gorge back in August of 2019 on the way to/from the Pittsburgh Road Meet. Definitely worth the stop.
I wish that more of the natural beauty in the Northeast was a national park.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 16, 2021, 10:02:12 PM
Quote from: webny99 on May 16, 2021, 09:59:36 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 16, 2021, 08:53:26 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/new-river-gorge-west-virginia-meet-americas-newest-national-park
The New River Gorge in West Virginia becomes America's newest national park.
Definitely worthy! I wished I had more time to spend there, and hope to make it back someday. We just did a short hike and took some pictures of the bridge.
https://www.dominionpost.com/2021/01/13/while-some-oppose-the-new-river-gorge-national-park-and-preserve-designation-state-leaders-believe-compromise-will-be-beneficial-for-tourism-sportsmen-and-women/
There is some opposition, mostly from hunters.
FWIW places like National Forests are more true wilderness experiences than National Parks. National Parks cater to tourism and have way more restrictions than National Forests do. There is some good and bad to the aspects of both. As of late I'm tending to favor National Forests (even before COVID) because I like to hike alone and take my mountain bike on trails. National Forests for sure are way easier to camp at provided you can actually get to the designated sites.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 17, 2021, 08:10:15 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 16, 2021, 10:02:12 PM
Quote from: webny99 on May 16, 2021, 09:59:36 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 16, 2021, 08:53:26 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/new-river-gorge-west-virginia-meet-americas-newest-national-park
The New River Gorge in West Virginia becomes America's newest national park.
Definitely worthy! I wished I had more time to spend there, and hope to make it back someday. We just did a short hike and took some pictures of the bridge.
https://www.dominionpost.com/2021/01/13/while-some-oppose-the-new-river-gorge-national-park-and-preserve-designation-state-leaders-believe-compromise-will-be-beneficial-for-tourism-sportsmen-and-women/
There is some opposition, mostly from hunters.
FWIW places like National Forests are more true wilderness experiences than National Parks. National Parks cater to tourism and have way more restrictions than National Forests do. There is some good and bad to the aspects of both. As of late I'm tending to favor National Forests (even before COVID) because I like to hike alone and take my mountain bike on trails. National Forests for sure are way easier to camp at provided you can actually get to the designated sites.
I got lost in the Manistee National Forest one time actually it was kind of fun.
Keep in mind National Forests are about managing the forests -- they are not preservation sites. This is why they fall under the Department of Agriculture. They simply manage the lumbering and other uses of the forest. So, that wilderness feeling may be temporary depending on where they allow operations.
National Parks do have a lot of rules. Can you fish in a national park?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 17, 2021, 08:50:14 AM
National Parks do have a lot of rules. Can you fish in a national park?
Depends on the park. Especially newer sites are being set up with rules more tailored to appease sportspeople.
Quote from: Rothman on May 17, 2021, 08:31:07 AM
Keep in mind National Forests are about managing the forests -- they are not preservation sites. This is why they fall under the Department of Agriculture. They simply manage the lumbering and other uses of the forest. So, that wilderness feeling may be temporary depending on where they allow operations.
At least locally in Sierra and Sequoia National Forests a lot of the roadways were built for the purpose of logging. It isn't an uncommon sight to be traveling down a barely graded dirt Forest Service Road and encounter a convoy or logging trucks. Considering the number of fires that happened locally the last half decade the number of trucks is only likely to increase.
Badlands (South Dakota)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado)
Bryce Canyon (Utah)
Everglades (Florida)
Gateway Arch (Missouri)
Glacier (Montana)
Grand Canyon (Arizona)
Great Sand Dunes (Colorado)
Mesa Verde (Colorado)
Petrified Forest (Arizona)
Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
Saguaro (Arizona)
Theodore Roosevelt (North Dakota)
White Sands (New Mexico)
Zion (Utah)
Only 15 of the 63. I will be snagging two more on upcoming planned trips (Grand Teton, Denali).
Chris
I've only been to three National Parks, or four if you count New River Gorge retroactively.
Great Smokies, Shenandoah, and Badlands are the other three I've been to.
I've been to tons of natural attractions but very few national parks because most of the stuff up here isn't a national park.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 17, 2021, 08:50:14 AM
National Parks do have a lot of rules. Can you fish in a national park?
Usually yes, there are waters where people can fish. Live bait is almost universally disallowed. Waters tend to be mostly catch & release and they often have regulations to make anglers use barbless hooks for easier release. Some parks also disallow leaded fishing tackle.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on May 17, 2021, 06:20:33 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 17, 2021, 08:50:14 AM
National Parks do have a lot of rules. Can you fish in a national park?
Usually yes, there are waters where people can fish. Live bait is almost universally disallowed. Waters tend to be mostly catch & release and they often have regulations to make anglers use barbless hooks for easier release. Some parks also disallow leaded fishing tackle.
I guess catch and release doesn't kill any fish.
My visited NPS sites:
PA:
Fort Necessity Nat'l Battlefield
Friendship Hill NHS
Flight 93 Nat'l Memorial
Johnstown Flood Nat'l Memorial
Gettysburg NMP
Potomac Heritage Nat'l Scenic Trail
NY/NJ:
Statue of Liberty Nat'l Monument
OH:
Cuyahoga Valley Nat'l Park
WV:
New River Gorge Nat'l Park (Nat'l River at the time)
Harper's Ferry NHP
VA:
Shenandoah NP
MD:
Assateague Island Nat'l Seashore
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP
DC:
Lincoln Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
Washington Monument
GA:
Cumberland Island Nat'l Seashore
FL:
Castillo de San Marcos Nat'l Monument
Fort Caroline Nat'l Memorial
Timucuan Ecologic and Historic Preserve
WA:
Mount Rainier Nat'l Park
I've made it to 12 of the 63 national parks: Acadia, Badlands, Cuyahoga Valley, Grand Canyon, Haleakala, Indiana Dunes, Joshua Tree, Mammoth Cave, Rocky Mountain, Shenandoah, Wind Cave, and Zion. Wikipedia also lists eight former national parks, and I've oddly been to five of them- Abe Lincoln's birthplace, Fort McHenry, Hawaii (through Haleakala), Rock Creek Park, and and Mackinac Island.
Heh. Forgot to update this a couple of years ago. Up to 257. Hoping to pick up some more this year.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
Acadia National Park
Adams National Historical Park
African Burial Ground National Monument
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Antietam National Battlefield
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
Arches National Park
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Assateague Island National Seashore
Badlands National Park
Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Big Bend National Park
Big Cypress National Preserve
Biscayne National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
Blue Ridge Parkway
Bluestone National Scenic River
Booker T. Washington National Monument
Boston African American National Historic Site
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Boston National Historical Park
Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canaveral National Seashore
Canyonlands National Park
Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Capitol Reef National Park
Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Castle Clinton National Monument
Catoctin Mountain Park
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
Chamizal National Memorial
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
City of Rocks National Reserve
Clara Barton National Historic Site
Colonial National Historical Park
Colorado National Monument
Constitution Gardens
Crater Lake National Park
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Craters of the Moon National Preserve
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Curecanti National Recreation Area
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
De Soto National Memorial
Death Valley National Park
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Devils Postpile National Monument
Devils Tower National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Dry Tortugas National Park
Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
Eisenhower National Historic Site
El Malpais National Monument
El Morro National Monument
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Everglades National Park
Federal Hall National Memorial
Fire Island National Seashore
First Ladies National Historic Site
First State National Monument
Flight 93 National Memorial
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
Fort Caroline National Memorial
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Fort Frederica National Monument
Fort Larned National Historic Site
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Fort McHenry NM and Historic Shrine
Fort Monroe National Monument
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Fort Pulaski National Monument
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Stanwix National Monument
Fort Sumter National Monument
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Washington Park
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial
Friendship Hill National Historic Site
Gateway National Recreation Area
Gauley River National Recreation Area
General Grant National Memorial
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Gettysburg National Military Park
Glacier National Park
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Governors Island National Monument
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Great Basin National Park
Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Greenbelt Park
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Haleakalā National Park
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
Hampton National Historic Site
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Harriet Tubman National Historical Park
Harriett Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument
Harry S Truman National Historic Site
Hawai"˜i Volcanoes National Park
Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Hot Springs National Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Independence National Historical Park
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
James A. Garfield National Historic Site
Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Jewel Cave National Monument
John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site
Johnstown Flood National Memorial
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Korean War Veterans National Memorial
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Lewis & Clark National Historical Park
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Little River Canyon National Preserve
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Longfellow National Historic Site
Lowell National Historical Park
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac National Memorial
Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
Mammoth Cave National Park
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Manzanar National Historic Site
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site
Mesa Verde National Park
Middle Delaware National Scenic River
Minidoka National Historic Site
Minute Man National Historical Park
Mississippi National River and Recreation Areas
Mojave National Preserve
Monocacy National Battlefield
Moores Creek National Battlefield
Morristown National Historical Park
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Muir Woods National Monument
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
Natchez Trace Parkway
National Capital Parks
National Mall
Natural Bridges National Monument
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
New River Gorge National River
North Cascades National Park
Obed Wild and Scenic River
Olympic National Park
Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Preserve (one unit)
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
Petersburg National Battlefield
Petrified Forest National Park
Petroglyph National Monument
Pipe Spring National Monument
Piscataway Park
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail
Poverty Point National Monument
Prince William Forest Park
Redwood National Park
Richmond National Battlefield Park
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
River Raisin National Battlefield Park
Rock Creek Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Roger Williams National Memorial
Russell Cave National Monument
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
Saint Croix Island International Historic Site
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
San Juan Island National Historical Park
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Saratoga National Historical Park
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site
Sequoia National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Statue of Liberty National Monument
Steamtown National Historic Site
Stones River National Battlefield
Stonewall National Monument
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Thomas Stone National Historic Site
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
Timucuan Ecological and Historic National Preserve
Tupelo National Battlefield
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreation River
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
Vicksburg National Military Park
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington Monument
Weir Farm National Historic Site
White House (President's Park)
William Howard Taft National Historic Site
Wind Cave National Park
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Women's Rights National Historical Park
World War II Memorial
World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
Wright Brothers National Memorial
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yucca House National Monument
Zion National Park
Now that travel plans are looking a tad brighter than they have for the last 18 or so months, we're thinking of a nice trip north this fall to visit friends in WA -- both in the North Sound area (Anacortes) and the eastern part of the state (she has a close friend who owns a farm outside Davenport). We were thinking of a totally coastal trip north, but hitting several NP's on the return leg -- including North Cascades, which would make an eastern jaunt on WA 20 possible (one more clinch for me!). Also on the agenda: Rainier and Crater Lake, which we've never done together, and the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. And, if we have time, another run through Lassen -- although I wouldn't mind a trip through the Lava Beds NM off CA 139 -- snagging a decent-sized piece of obsidian for a colleague in Japan who wants to try making phono cartridges out of the material! Figure about a 3 week trip just to shake off the sequestration cobwebs!
Quote from: sparker on May 18, 2021, 05:26:53 AM
Now that travel plans are looking a tad brighter than they have for the last 18 or so months, we're thinking of a nice trip north this fall to visit friends in WA -- both in the North Sound area (Anacortes) and the eastern part of the state (she has a close friend who owns a farm outside Davenport). We were thinking of a totally coastal trip north, but hitting several NP's on the return leg -- including North Cascades, which would make an eastern jaunt on WA 20 possible (one more clinch for me!). Also on the agenda: Rainier and Crater Lake, which we've never done together, and the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. And, if we have time, another run through Lassen -- although I wouldn't mind a trip through the Lava Beds NM off CA 139 -- snagging a decent-sized piece of obsidian for a colleague in Japan who wants to try making phono cartridges out of the material! Figure about a 3 week trip just to shake off the sequestration cobwebs!
Be sure it is legal to take the obsidian. In a lot of parks, it is a crime to rockhound.
Quote from: Rothman on May 18, 2021, 10:31:26 AM
Quote from: sparker on May 18, 2021, 05:26:53 AM
Now that travel plans are looking a tad brighter than they have for the last 18 or so months, we're thinking of a nice trip north this fall to visit friends in WA -- both in the North Sound area (Anacortes) and the eastern part of the state (she has a close friend who owns a farm outside Davenport). We were thinking of a totally coastal trip north, but hitting several NP's on the return leg -- including North Cascades, which would make an eastern jaunt on WA 20 possible (one more clinch for me!). Also on the agenda: Rainier and Crater Lake, which we've never done together, and the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. And, if we have time, another run through Lassen -- although I wouldn't mind a trip through the Lava Beds NM off CA 139 -- snagging a decent-sized piece of obsidian for a colleague in Japan who wants to try making phono cartridges out of the material! Figure about a 3 week trip just to shake off the sequestration cobwebs!
Be sure it is legal to take the obsidian. In a lot of parks, it is a crime to rockhound.
Also be sure you have a diamond pickaxe.
Fire Island National Seashore (NY)
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (NY)
Ocala National Forest (FL)
Osceola National Forest (FL) whenever I've been on I-10.
(None of which are technically National Parks, BTW)
And as far as I know, that's pretty much it.
Quote from: 1 on May 18, 2021, 12:51:27 PM
Quote from: Rothman on May 18, 2021, 10:31:26 AM
Quote from: sparker on May 18, 2021, 05:26:53 AM
Now that travel plans are looking a tad brighter than they have for the last 18 or so months, we're thinking of a nice trip north this fall to visit friends in WA -- both in the North Sound area (Anacortes) and the eastern part of the state (she has a close friend who owns a farm outside Davenport). We were thinking of a totally coastal trip north, but hitting several NP's on the return leg -- including North Cascades, which would make an eastern jaunt on WA 20 possible (one more clinch for me!). Also on the agenda: Rainier and Crater Lake, which we've never done together, and the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. And, if we have time, another run through Lassen -- although I wouldn't mind a trip through the Lava Beds NM off CA 139 -- snagging a decent-sized piece of obsidian for a colleague in Japan who wants to try making phono cartridges out of the material! Figure about a 3 week trip just to shake off the sequestration cobwebs!
Be sure it is legal to take the obsidian. In a lot of parks, it is a crime to rockhound.
Also be sure you have a diamond pickaxe.
Obsidian is quite brittle and fractures fairly easily. That's why humans have been using it to make spear points and arrow heads for thousands of years.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on May 18, 2021, 02:11:48 PM
Quote from: 1 on May 18, 2021, 12:51:27 PM
Quote from: Rothman on May 18, 2021, 10:31:26 AM
Quote from: sparker on May 18, 2021, 05:26:53 AM
Now that travel plans are looking a tad brighter than they have for the last 18 or so months, we're thinking of a nice trip north this fall to visit friends in WA -- both in the North Sound area (Anacortes) and the eastern part of the state (she has a close friend who owns a farm outside Davenport). We were thinking of a totally coastal trip north, but hitting several NP's on the return leg -- including North Cascades, which would make an eastern jaunt on WA 20 possible (one more clinch for me!). Also on the agenda: Rainier and Crater Lake, which we've never done together, and the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. And, if we have time, another run through Lassen -- although I wouldn't mind a trip through the Lava Beds NM off CA 139 -- snagging a decent-sized piece of obsidian for a colleague in Japan who wants to try making phono cartridges out of the material! Figure about a 3 week trip just to shake off the sequestration cobwebs!
Be sure it is legal to take the obsidian. In a lot of parks, it is a crime to rockhound.
Also be sure you have a diamond pickaxe.
Obsidian is quite brittle and fractures fairly easily. That's why humans have been using it to make spear points and arrow heads for thousands of years.
That was a Minecraft reference.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on May 18, 2021, 02:11:48 PM
Quote from: 1 on May 18, 2021, 12:51:27 PM
Quote from: Rothman on May 18, 2021, 10:31:26 AM
Quote from: sparker on May 18, 2021, 05:26:53 AM
Now that travel plans are looking a tad brighter than they have for the last 18 or so months, we're thinking of a nice trip north this fall to visit friends in WA -- both in the North Sound area (Anacortes) and the eastern part of the state (she has a close friend who owns a farm outside Davenport). We were thinking of a totally coastal trip north, but hitting several NP's on the return leg -- including North Cascades, which would make an eastern jaunt on WA 20 possible (one more clinch for me!). Also on the agenda: Rainier and Crater Lake, which we've never done together, and the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. And, if we have time, another run through Lassen -- although I wouldn't mind a trip through the Lava Beds NM off CA 139 -- snagging a decent-sized piece of obsidian for a colleague in Japan who wants to try making phono cartridges out of the material! Figure about a 3 week trip just to shake off the sequestration cobwebs!
Be sure it is legal to take the obsidian. In a lot of parks, it is a crime to rockhound.
Also be sure you have a diamond pickaxe.
Obsidian is quite brittle and fractures fairly easily. That's why humans have been using it to make spear points and arrow heads for thousands of years.
Apparently with a bit of care and mindful of the grain direction obsidian can be lapped, even into a shape with a pocket to house a cartridge mechanism. It's also non-resonant in the audio range, which is why the Japanese gentleman wants to see if it will work in that application (he has a couple of small shards that he's tested to determine the mechanical characteristics of the material). He used to work as a designer for a company called Namiki, which produced OEM cartridges for various known distributors (Monster Cable, Audioquest, etc.); now he's doing independent contract work. But he's also interested in extremely dense woods for the same purpose -- so if I can pick up some unfinished myrtlewood while on the Oregon coast it'll be sent overseas as well. My reward -- I get the first successful cartridge off the assembly line!
Quote from: US 89 on May 18, 2021, 02:35:12 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on May 18, 2021, 02:11:48 PM
Quote from: 1 on May 18, 2021, 12:51:27 PM
Quote from: Rothman on May 18, 2021, 10:31:26 AM
Be sure it is legal to take the obsidian. In a lot of parks, it is a crime to rockhound.
Also be sure you have a diamond pickaxe.
Obsidian is quite brittle and fractures fairly easily. That's why humans have been using it to make spear points and arrow heads for thousands of years.
That was a Minecraft reference.
(https://i.gifer.com/BkE.gif)
Compiling all of the ones I've visited, mostly from memory. Dates listed are most recent visit.
National parks (US)
Bryce Canyon (2022)
Crater Lake (2022)
Death Valley (2022) - Drove through
Grand Teton (2022)
Lassen Volcanic (2022)
Mount Rainier (2023)
North Cascades (2022)
Olympic (2022)
Redwood (2022)
Yellowstone (2022)
National monuments (US)
Cascade—Siskiyou (2022)
Hanford Reach (2021)
John Day Fossil Beds (2022)
Mount St. Helens Volcanic (2022)
Newberry Volcanic (2022)
San Juan Islands (2020)
National memorials (US)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2009)
Korean War Veterans (2009)
Lincoln (2009)
Pearl Harbor (2003)
Thomas Jefferson (2009)
Vietnam Veterans (2009)
Washington Monument (2009)
World War II (2009)
National recreation areas (US)
Lake Chelan (2022)
Lake Mead (2022)
Lake Roosevelt (2022)
Mount Baker (2023)
Mount Hood (2022)
Oregon Dunes (2022)
Ross Lake (2022)
National parks (Canada)
Banff (2023)
Elk Island (2016)
Kootenay (2023)
Yoho (2023) - Drove through
Quote from: hobsini2 on January 20, 2012, 05:23:10 PM
I haven't been to too many NPs/NMs.
Badlands NP - South Dakota
Mt Rushmore - South Dakota
Mammoth Cave NP - Kentucky
Dinosaur NP - Colorado
Flaming Gorge NP (partly) - Wyoming
Been ages since I updated this. Updates are in Italics as of June 2023:
Acadia NP - MaineArches NP - UtahBadlands NP - South Dakota
Bryce Canyon NP - UtahCanyonlands NP - UtahCapitol Reef NP - UtahCuyahoga Valley NP (partly) - OhioDevils Tower NM - WyomingDinosaur NM - Colorado
Flaming Gorge NP (partly) - Wyoming
Gateway Arch NP - MissouriGrand Canyon NP - ArizonaIndiana Dunes NP - Indiana (now that the Dunes has been designated a NP)
Montezuma Castle NM - ArizonaMt Rushmore - South Dakota
Mammoth Cave NP - Kentucky
Natchez Trace N Pkwy - Tennessee, Alabama, MississippiPullman NHP - Illinois Shenandoah NP - Virginia
Arches (Utah)
Badlands (S Dakota)
Everglades (Florida)
Indiana Dunes National Park
Grand Canyon (Arizona)
Great Smoky Mountains (N Carolina/Tennessee)
Hot Springs (Arkansas)
Mammoth Cave (Kentucky)
Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
Saguaro (Arizona)
Yellowstone (Idaho/Montana/Wyoming)
I'd forgotten about Gateway Arch (Missouri)
NPS units I have been to:
Shenandoah National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Assateague Island National Seashore
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park
Statue of Liberty National Monument
Washington Monument
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Steamtown National Historic Site
I've been to or on a total of... 5.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Gateway Arch National Park
Natchez Trace Parkway
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Ice Age National Scenic Trail
Does this count?
(https://i.imgur.com/QI6cl6z.png)
It was annoying, but prices were generally low.
Updating my very old list. I'm up to 272, now:
| Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park |
| Acadia National Park |
| Adams National Historical Park |
| African Burial Ground National Monument |
| Agate Fossil Beds National Monument |
| Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site |
| Andrew Johnson National Historic Site |
| Antietam National Battlefield |
| Apostle Islands National Lakeshore |
| Appalachian National Scenic Trail |
| Appomattox Court House National Historical Park |
| Arches National Park |
| Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial |
| Assateague Island National Seashore |
| Badlands National Park |
| Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument |
| Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site |
| Big Bend National Park |
| Big Cypress National Preserve |
| Biscayne National Park |
| Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park |
| Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park |
| Blue Ridge Parkway |
| Bluestone National Scenic River |
| Booker T. Washington National Monument |
| Boston African American National Historic Site |
| Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area |
| Boston National Historical Park |
| Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site |
| Bryce Canyon National Park |
| Canaveral National Seashore |
| Canyonlands National Park |
| Cape Cod National Seashore |
| Cape Hatteras National Seashore |
| Cape Lookout National Seashore |
| Capitol Reef National Park |
| Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site |
| Castillo de San Marcos National Monument |
| Castle Clinton National Monument |
| Catoctin Mountain Park |
| Cedar Breaks National Monument |
| Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park |
| Chamizal National Memorial |
| Charles Pinckney National Historic Site |
| Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument |
| Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park |
| Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park |
| City of Rocks National Reserve |
| Clara Barton National Historic Site |
| Colonial National Historical Park |
| Colorado National Monument |
| Congaree National Park |
| Constitution Gardens |
| Crater Lake National Park |
| Craters of the Moon National Monument |
| Craters of the Moon National Preserve |
| Cumberland Gap National Historical Park |
| Curecanti National Recreation Area |
| Cuyahoga Valley National Park |
| Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park |
| De Soto National Memorial |
| Death Valley National Park |
| Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area |
| Devils Postpile National Monument |
| Devils Tower National Monument |
| Dinosaur National Monument |
| Dry Tortugas National Park |
| Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve |
| Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site |
| Eisenhower National Historic Site |
| El Malpais National Monument |
| El Morro National Monument |
| Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site |
| Everglades National Park |
| Federal Hall National Memorial |
| Fire Island National Seashore |
| First Ladies National Historic Site |
| First State National Historical Park |
| Flight 93 National Memorial |
| Ford's Theatre National Historic Site |
| Fort Caroline National Memorial |
| Fort Davis National Historic Site |
| Fort Frederica National Monument |
| Fort Laramie National Historic Site |
| Fort Larned National Historic Site |
| Fort Matanzas National Monument |
| Fort McHenry NM and Historic Shrine |
| Fort Monroe National Monument |
| Fort Necessity National Battlefield |
| Fort Pulaski National Monument |
| Fort Raleigh National Historic Site |
| Fort Scott National Historic Site |
| Fort Stanwix National Monument |
| Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park |
| Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site |
| Fort Vancouver National Historic Site |
| Fort Washington Park |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial |
| Frederick Douglass National Historic Site |
| Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site |
| Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial |
| Friendship Hill National Historic Site |
| Gateway Arch National Park |
| Gateway National Recreation Area |
| Gauley River National Recreation Area |
| General Grant National Memorial |
| George Rogers Clark National Historical Park |
| George Washington Birthplace National Monument |
| George Washington Memorial Parkway |
| Gettysburg National Military Park |
| Glacier Bay National Park |
| Glacier National Park |
| Glen Canyon National Recreation Area |
| Golden Gate National Recreation Area |
| Golden Spike National Historical Park |
| Governors Island National Monument |
| Grand Canyon National Park |
| Grand Teton National Park |
| Great Basin National Park |
| Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
| Greenbelt Park |
| Guilford Courthouse National Military Park |
| Gulf Islands National Seashore |
| Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument |
| Haleakalā National Park |
| Hamilton Grange National Memorial |
| Hampton National Historic Site |
| Harpers Ferry National Historical Park |
| Harriet Tubman National Historical Park |
| Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park |
| Harry S Truman National Historic Site |
| Hawai"˜i Volcanoes National Park |
| Herbert Hoover National Historic Site |
| Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site |
| Homestead National Historical Park |
| Hopewell Culture National Historical Park |
| Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site |
| Hot Springs National Park |
| Hovenweep National Monument |
| Independence National Historical Park |
| Indiana Dunes National Park |
| James A. Garfield National Historic Site |
| Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve |
| Jewel Cave National Monument |
| John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway |
| John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site |
| Johnstown Flood National Memorial |
| Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument |
| Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park |
| Korean War Veterans Memorial |
| Lake Chelan National Recreation Area |
| Lake Mead National Recreation Area |
| Lewis & Clark National Historical Park |
| Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial |
| Lincoln Memorial |
| Little River Canyon National Preserve |
| Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site |
| Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site |
| Lowell National Historical Park |
| Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac |
| Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site |
| Mammoth Cave National Park |
| Manassas National Battlefield Park |
| Manhattan Project National Historical Park |
| Manzanar National Historic Site |
| Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park |
| Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial |
| Martin Van Buren National Historic Site |
| Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site |
| Mesa Verde National Park |
| Middle Delaware National Scenic River |
| Minidoka National Historic Site |
| Minute Man National Historical Park |
| Mississippi National River and Recreation Area |
| Missouri National Recreational River |
| Mojave National Preserve |
| Monocacy National Battlefield |
| Moores Creek National Battlefield |
| Morristown National Historical Park |
| Mount Rainier National Park |
| Mount Rushmore National Memorial |
| Muir Woods National Monument |
| Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail |
| Natchez Trace Parkway |
| National Capital Parks |
| National Mall |
| Natural Bridges National Monument |
| New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park |
| New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park |
| New River Gorge National Park and Reserve |
| Niobrara National Scenic River |
| North Cascades National Park |
| Obed Wild and Scenic River |
| Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park |
| Olympic National Park |
| Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve |
| Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Preserve (one unit) |
| Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park |
| Pearl Harbor National Memorial |
| Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site |
| Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial |
| Petersburg National Battlefield |
| Petrified Forest National Park |
| Petroglyph National Monument |
| Pipe Spring National Monument |
| Piscataway Park |
| Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail |
| Poverty Point National Monument |
| Prince William Forest Park |
| Pullman National Historical Park |
| Redwood National Park |
| Richmond National Battlefield Park |
| Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River |
| River Raisin National Battlefield Park |
| Rock Creek Park |
| Rocky Mountain National Park |
| Roger Williams National Memorial |
| Russell Cave National Monument |
| Sagamore Hill National Historic Site |
| Saint Croix Island International Historic Site |
| Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway |
| Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site |
| Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park |
| Salem Maritime National Historic Site |
| San Antonio Missions National Historical Park |
| San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park |
| San Juan Island National Historical Park |
| Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area |
| Saratoga National Historical Park |
| Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site |
| Scotts Bluff National Monument |
| Sequoia National Park |
| Shenandoah National Park |
| Sitka National Historical Park |
| Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore |
| Springfield Armory National Historic Site |
| Statue of Liberty National Monument |
| Steamtown National Historic Site |
| Stones River National Battlefield |
| Stonewall National Monument |
| Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial |
| Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site |
| Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site |
| Theodore Roosevelt Island |
| Theodore Roosevelt National Park |
| Thomas Edison National Historical Park |
| Thomas Jefferson Memorial |
| Thomas Stone National Historic Site |
| Timpanogos Cave National Monument |
| Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve |
| Tupelo National Battlefield |
| Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site |
| Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River |
| Valley Forge National Historical Park |
| Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site |
| Vicksburg National Military Park |
| Vietnam Veterans Memorial |
| Washington Monument |
| Weir Farm National Historical Park |
| White House (President's Park) |
| William Howard Taft National Historic Site |
| Wind Cave National Park |
| Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts |
| Women's Rights National Historical Park |
| World War II Memorial |
| Wright Brothers National Memorial |
| Yellowstone National Park |
| Yosemite National Park |
| Yucca House National Monument |
| Zion National Park |
Quote from: paulthemapguy on September 08, 2018, 01:26:07 PM
^click to view old post
An update nearly 5 years later: My "gf" is now my wife, and we've now been to 21 of the 63 parks, an even third!
I also have pictures and written reflections on our visits posted online at www.paulacrossamerica.com/National-Parks.html