National Parks

I am a passionate believer in the American National Park System - truly they are “America’s best idea.” The American Park System contains some of the most diversified eco-systems on the planet. Around the world, our example for creating National Parks to educate and inspire visitors through environmental and historical conservation has been copied to preserve heritage sites. The National Parks System far reaching mission protects everything from the oceans to the mountain, all for the benefit of present and future generations.

"There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children's children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred." - President Theodore Roosevelt

Places

Below is a list of park units I have been fortunate enough to visit. Some I have only been to once, while others I have been to so often that I know them as well as I know my own home. Each one leaves me with a yearning to come back. Whether it be beautiful scenery, or learning about the history of our great county, there is always reason to go back. It never gets boring.

The list is in no particular order, it's just divided up by region according to Eastern National's Passport To Your National Parks program. Myself, and my family are avid collectors of the cancelation stamps as a great way to record and remember when we visited each park.

North Atlantic

Minute Man
National Historical Park
Springfield Armory
National Historic Site
Lowell
National Historical Park
New Bedford Whaling
National Historical Park
Salem Maritime
National Historic Site
Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters
National Historic Site
Vanderbilt Mansion
National Historic Site
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Historic Site
Eleanor Roosevelt
National Historic Site
General Grant
National Memorial
Fort Stanwix
National Monument
Women's Rights
National Historical Park
Saratoga National
Historical Park
Martin Van Buren
National Historic Site
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
National Monument
Acadia
National Park
Weir Farm
National Historic
Cape Cod
National Seashore

National Capital

Lincoln Memorial
Korean War Veterans Memorial
World War II Memorial
Ford's Theatre
Vietnam Veterans

Western

Grand Canyon
National Park
Death Valley
National Park

Rocky Mountain

Yellowstone
National Park
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Memorial Parkway
Devils Tower
National Monument
Badlands
National Park
Mount Rushmore
National Memorial
Cedar Breaks
National Monument
Zion
National Park
Bryce Canyon
National Park
Pecos
National Historical Park
Minuteman Missile
National Historic Site

Mid-Atlantic

Harpers Ferry
National Historical Park
Antietam
National Battlefield
Steamtown
National Historic Site
Delaware Water Gap
National Recreation Area
Independence
National Historical Park
Valley Forge
National Historical Park
Hopewell Furnace
National Historic Site
Upper Delaware
Scenic & Recreational River
Morristown
National Historical Park
Gettysburg
National Military Park
Paterson Great Falls
National Historical Park
Thomas Edison
National Historical Park

Southeast

Great Smokey Mountains
National Park

Southwest

Jean Lafitte
National Historical Park and Preserve

“Without love of the land, conservation lacks meaning or purpose, for only in a deep and inherent feeling for the land can there be dedication in preserving it.” - Sigurd F. Olson

Stewardship

If you want to support our National Parks and it's truly noble mission, then donate to National Park Foundation, or the National Parks Conservation Association, or Eastern National. Alternatively if you have a park that you particularly want to support, check with a NPS ranger in that park to see if they have a 'friends of' organization associated with the park that you can donate to.

Firsts...

Not that it started out as a goal, but my family now knows that when we travel, I will make a concerted effort to make it to that respective country’s first national park. Below is my list of first national parks I have been to. The two parks I would love to get back to… Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe for it’s wildlife and Þingvellir National Park in Iceland for the geology and history. Þingvellir just felt magical to me. That said, all these parks are amazing and I'm glad the areas are now protected in perpatuity.

Hwange National Park

Zimbabwe

Killarney National Park

Ireland

Yellowstone National Park

United Sates of America

Þingvellir National Park

Iceland

Eryri National Park (Snowdonia)

Wales

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