I have been visiting national parks since I was a small child. Back in the 1960s, our family camped in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I remember sitting with my dad, looking over the park maps, helping pick out good campsites for the trailer, and searching for easy little hiking trails that anyone in the family could enjoy.
Not everyone in our family was interested in hiking, of course, but I was fascinated by everything available within those parks. Even then, the maps made the parks seem full of possibilities—campgrounds, trails, streams, overlooks, wildlife, and places waiting to be explored.
The Eight-Week Trip That Changed Everything
Glacier, Yellowstone, the Tetons, and a first glimpse of the West
It was not until 1981, when Marty and I got married, that we decided to take an eight-week trip out west and see the national parks we had only heard about before. We loaded her old Toyota with camping gear, sleeping bags, a tent, and a cooler, and simply headed west.
We first drove across Canada and eventually came down into Glacier National Park. Glacier completely blew me away. Hiking into Avalanche Lake was beyond anything I had imagined. It was September and already getting cold, so we gradually worked our way south toward Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
Yellowstone was filled with wild animals, geysers, mud pots, and incredible scenery in every direction. Then there were the Tetons—those enormous mountains rising so sharply above the valley. I had never seen anything remotely like them. This was before I became seriously involved in hiking and backpacking, so the whole experience was almost overwhelming.
One More Trip Before Starting a Career
A three-month journey that became the beginning, not the end
When that 1981 trip ended, I realized we had stayed only a day or two in most parks. We had barely tasted what each place had to offer, and I knew there was much more waiting to be discovered.
That realization stayed with me. In 1987, I had recently finished my undergraduate degree and was close to accepting a permanent, full-time position in my field. I figured I would soon be working for the rest of my life, so I wanted to take one more long trip out west, focused almost entirely on visiting national parks.
Of course, the three months I spent out there in 1987 turned out to be only the beginning. I returned for five months in 1990, traveled west with Ricky in 1992, went back for another four months in 1994, and made many more trips over the years.
Returning to Utah Again and Again
Zion, Arches, desert trails, and all-day exploring
I have probably visited Utah’s parks eight or nine times, often returning with different friends and partners over the years. I still love Zion, Arches, and the other incredible landscapes of southern Utah.
One of the great things about those parks is how easy it can be to spend the whole day hiking. You can hike a different trail in the morning, return to camp for lunch and a nap during the hottest part of the day, and then head back out and hike until dark. In some places, you can begin exploring almost directly from the campsite.
The larger western parks offered a different kind of experience: severe backpacking, long-distance routes, high mountains, and journeys that required more planning and commitment. I loved both kinds of parks—the accessible places where you could explore casually and the wild places that demanded everything you had.
Planning With a Road Atlas
Twelve thousand miles, fourteen thousand miles, and every park along the way
At one point I counted close to fifty different national parks and national monuments that I had visited. On the long summer drives, often totaling twelve thousand or fourteen thousand miles, I would go out of my way to stop at every park I reasonably could.
I also made several other cross-country trips, including trips connected with moving furniture for Jody and for my dad. Even when the main reason for a trip was practical, I would unfold the road atlas, highlight places I wanted to see, and loosely plan the route only a few days at a time. I never liked passing near a national park without stopping and spending at least some time there.
That loose style of travel suited me. It left enough room for weather, curiosity, unexpected recommendations, and the simple discovery that a place deserved more time than I had originally planned.
The Wild Cave Tour at Mammoth Cave
Crawling, mud, headlamps, and an introduction to caving
One especially memorable stop was Mammoth Cave. I believe I was there with Jody when we learned about the Wild Cave Tour. It cost only about fifteen dollars, but before they let anyone sign up, you had to prove you could fit through a very small opening.
They stacked two cinder blocks side by side and balanced a third over the top. You had to crawl through without bumping the upper block onto your back. That was their way of showing you how tight some of the passages would be.
The tour required old clothes, boots, gloves, and a headlamp, and by the end everyone was completely muddy. I loved it. That experience became my introduction to caving, and I went on to explore many more caves afterward. National parks and monuments were always full of experiences like that—activities I might never have discovered anywhere else.
Returning to the Everglades
Camping, paddling, wildlife, rivers, and tropical hammocks
Because I grew up near the Everglades and later returned to live in Florida, Everglades National Park became one of the parks I could visit repeatedly. I still try to get out there at least once or twice each winter for camping and exploring.
It is difficult to explain how mind-blowing the Everglades can be. The rivers, hammocks, wildlife, vast open wetlands, and long-distance paddling routes create an experience unlike anywhere else. Traveling through it by kayak gives you an especially intimate view of the landscape because you move slowly, quietly, and close to the water.
I am grateful that I have had the health, time, transportation, and curiosity to explore so many of these places. Every park has its own personality, and the Everglades remains one of the most unusual and powerful of them all.
Still More Parks Waiting
Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains, and plenty of reasons to keep traveling
I still keep a mental list of national parks I have not visited. Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains in Texas have long been on that list. They were always marked on my road maps, but somehow the routes never quite worked out.
There are many parks I would love to see for the first time, and just as many I would return to in a heartbeat. The senior park pass is one of the best bargains available, and even the regular annual pass is an extraordinary value for anyone who plans to visit several federal recreation areas.
Of course, everyone enjoys different things. Some people prefer Disney World, Busch Gardens, rides, roller coasters, or other kinds of vacations. There is nothing wrong with that. I went to Walt Disney World once in my twenties and quickly realized it was not really for me. National parks are simply where I feel most alive.
For me, the national parks are among America’s greatest assets. So many people have never visited one, and I have a feeling that many of them would be amazed by what they found. A first visit might not change everyone’s life, but it certainly changed mine.
Photo Gallery
A temporary framework for the full National Parks collection
Add the final photographs to a lowercase nationalparks folder using filenames nationalparks-01.jpg through nationalparks-10.jpg. The first five will automatically rotate through the hero. Each gallery image will open its full-resolution original.
The national parks have accompanied me from childhood family camping through marriage, long road trips, backpacking years, caving, paddling, and retirement. They helped teach me that a map is not merely a way to get somewhere—it is an invitation to imagine what might be waiting beyond the next bend.
I remain deeply grateful for every chance I have had to visit these places. There is still plenty left to see, and many familiar parks I hope to experience again.