“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul” – John Muir
Throwback Archive: Looking back at our National Parks progress on the centennial anniversary!
Why We Love America’s Greatest Idea
This past week, America’s “Greatest Idea,” the National Parks, turned ! Isn’t that amazing? We are celebrating years of preservation, conservation, protected lands, heritages, and cultures! Wahoo!
If I sound oddly excited about this, it is because I am. The National Parks have always held a special piece of our hearts. To us, these parks are a staggering symbol of what the world could be.
They are safe, open spaces where couples, families, and strangers can gather. Together, we can breathe out a collective, astounded “wow” as we look upon the beauty of the natural world. It is simply nature as it is—naturally.
It has been our forever dream to visit every single one of the National Parks. We have been actively working on this goal!
There are currently sites that include “National Park” in their proper name. That is not even counting the numerous National Historic Landmarks or National Seashores! So far, we have only made it to of them. That leaves still to go! Whew. (Update: There are officially 63 designated National Parks today!)
If that remaining number seems like a lot and you are wondering, “What the hell?” well, you are not wrong. It is a lot! But if you have ever been to a National Park, you will understand.
These are not places you go to for a day, say, “Hey, gee that’s neat,” and move on. No, you go, you stay, you explore, and you discover. These parks deserve our time and attention. For most visits, four or more days is the magic number for an epic trip.
You also get incredible budget benefits by visiting these amazing places! If you are a little strapped for cash, you can easily save money. Aside from travel expenses, your costs will be very affordable. Think about tent camping for lodging and cooking your own food over an open fire!
So, do you love to talk about how you cannot afford to travel? Pack your bags and head into the wild!
Where We’ve Been So Far
- Acadia National Park
- Arches National Park
- Biscayne National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Conagree National Park
- Dry Tortugas National Park
- Everglades National Park
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Mammoth Cave National Park
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Shenandoah National Park
- Yellowstone National Park
Our Top 5 Favorite Parks (And Why You Should Go!)
A quick list of the top 5 parks we’ve been to, and why YOU should start planning a trip to one of the now- seriously RIGHT NOW!
The first reason you should go to Acadia is because it is in Maine, and Maine is awesome. The second reason you should visit America’s oldest East Coast National Park is its incredible setup! It is a veritable playground for grown-ups and kids alike. With hundreds of miles of hiking and biking trails, each boasts incredible views of the Northern Atlantic. You are guaranteed to fall in love with this magical place too!
Hey Boo-boo, when you go to Yellowstone, be sure to bring a picnic basket! With miles and miles of stunning mountain views and abounding wildlife, you will be glad you brought snacks.
Our last visit to Yellowstone brought us there in the depths of winter! The park is nearly abandoned in the cold months. However, the advantage of a wintertime visit is a private adventurer’s heaven. There are no crowds or photobombing tourists. It is just you and the wild!
Travelers beware, if you do choose to visit in winter, cars cannot access large portions of the park roads. You can still access them on foot! Bring lots of warm clothes and register any backcountry travel plans with the park rangers. We loved Yellowstone in winter but are already aching to go back in warmer weather!
If you are a fan of crystal clear blue waters, coral reefs, and historic forts, you will love the Dry Tortugas. This remote island is located miles west of Key West. It is actually closer to Cuba than it is to the United States!
A boat or seaplane provides the only access to this incredible island. It offers up just six campsites. At the end of the day, all the other visitors go home. Then, it is just you, a sky full of stars, and the sounds of the sea lapping upon the shore.
Camping at the Dry Tortugas is an adventure like no other. Preparation is key, as there is no fresh water on the whole island. Campers must bring everything they will need with them for the duration of their stay!
“It’s A Colorado Rocky Mountain High…” Yes, it is, and it is phenomenal. You will see snow-capped peaks and hundreds of elk grazing in low alpine meadows!
We won the life lottery and are lucky enough to have family who live within an hour’s drive of this incredible park. Because of that, we get to visit often! Every single time we do, we discover something new to love about this wild wonder.
Camp, hike, bike, climb, or drive—take your pick! Whatever you choose, be sure to bring a camera. You will definitely snap a thousand shots.
Travelers Tip: If you are short on time, do not miss out on a drive on Trail Ridge Road. This is an epic drive throughout the park and gives you a perfect sampling of the park in a single day!
Bring bug spray and a camera because the Everglades are amazing! The glades are truly a waterman’s paradise, but they are not a place for the faint of heart.
Camping in the Everglades can be a challenge even in the cold months. Biting insects and a plethora of mosquitoes will test you! But make it through the nights and the daylight hours will greatly reward you. Days in the Everglades are beautiful and filled with waterway adventures. You are bound to run into amazing critters on the trails, including the American Alligator and the endangered Florida Panther!
The Top 5 Parks on Our Bucket List
Obviously we’d love to visit each and every one of the remaining 46 on our list, but there are a few that are really screaming to be seen. Here are our the top 5 and why-
This one probably seems like a no-brainer. Who wouldn’t want to go to Yosemite? It is, after all, the father of all parks. We would be pining after this epic park if for no other reason than this was where the idea of parks all started!
But for us, Yosemite is so much more. If you have ever spent time with a rock climber, you will understand. To a climber, Yosemite is Mecca. A pilgrimage here is a necessary need and calling of the soul, even if it’s only once! We will go, it’s just a matter of when.
t is no mystery that when we talk about parks, people bombard us with the word “conservation.” That is their purpose, after all: conservation through recreation.
The idea of conservation is what makes Glacier National Park so special! The glaciers that give this mammoth park its namesake are receding every year. One day, not so far away, they will be gone completely. So, go see this beautiful place! Commend it to memory so that someday you will have that memory to share with future generations.
It took one picture to convince me I had to go. The very moment my eyes gazed upon a photo of one of Zion’s most popular hikes, The Narrows, there was no going back. I immediately added a new hike to the bucket list!
The Narrows is the lowest section of Zion Canyon. When within the gorge, thousand-foot-tall walls dwarf you. All the while, you are wading through the Virgin River and pinching between gaps as small as feet in some areas. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
Dark green foliage, cliffs overhanging the pounding sea, foggy days, and critters galore make up this stunning landscape! Olympic National Park is the place camping dreams are made of.
Imagine the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and then concentrate it into one contiguous, preserved piece of wilderness. That is Olympic National Park, and that is exactly why we want to go!
Gates Of The Arctic National Park
If you are cocking your head to the side and wondering if this place is even a park, don’t feel bad. Most people have never heard of it! There are no roads and there are no trails.
Visitors to Gates of the Arctic National Park get to see one of the most rare spectacles on this earth: ecosystems in an entirely untouched state. Just getting to this park is its own great adventure! You can only access the park by flying or hiking into it. Someday, we will go, and I cannot wait to share that adventure with you!
We want to know! Been to a National Park? Loved it? What are we missing? Fill us in on your adventures in the comments section below!