National Parks -- How Many Have You Visited?
 

The Ken Burns' special on PBS prompted me to figure out how many of our 58 national parks I'd actually been to. My total was 19: Acadia, Badlands, Bryce Canyon, Channel Islands, Death Valley, Everglades, Glacier Bay, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree, Lassen, Mt. Rainier, N. Cascades, Olympic, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion.

Has anyone "collected" all 58?

Hmmm...fun question. Are we counting National Forests, and Monuments, or just parks? I don't think I have as many as you:

Acadia, Saguaro, Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite, Mt Ranier, Olympic, Shenendoah, Hawaii Volcanoes, Haleakala

Just 10 for me. It would go up a LOT if we included National monuments and historical parks.

Off the top of my head: Rocky Mountain (20+ times), Grand Canyon (5), Mesa Verde (2), Sand Dunes, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Arches (3), Canyonlands (3), Death Valley (2), Joshua Tree, Acadia, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Grand Teton (2), Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef... that makes 18! It certainly helps to live in the west - some of the best ones are only within a day's drive of where I live!

Oh, I am so enjoying the Ken Burns' series. It will make my next visit to Rocky in 10 days a little more meaningful.

I've been to Arches, Badlands, Black Canyon (last weekend), Bryce, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Great Sand Dunes, Guadalupe Mountains, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Rocky Mountain, Saguaro, Shenandoah, Wind Cave, Yellowstone and Zion brings me to 18 as well.

If we count everything in the National Park System...www.nps.gov...(monuments, memorials, battlefields, military parks, recreational areas, etc) I'm up to 103. We are driving cross country in a couple weeks and plan to see every park that we can. I haven't totaled them, but I should have around 125 by the end of the trip. I love ALL the National Parks!!!

The PBS special has been wonderful. Incredible footage of the parks! I've been to quite a few - Yellowstone, Yosemite, Mt Rainier, Mesa Verde, Glacier, Rocky Mtn, Acadia, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Grand Teton, Carlsbad Caverns, Great Smoky, Shenandoah, Olympic, Everglades, Virgin Islands, Petrified Forest, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Badlands, Death Valley, Saguaro, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Great Sand Dunes. That's 26. And I still have a long way to go!
Those of you who love the canyons and wildlands of the desert Southwest, I hope you will ask your reps in the US House and Senate to sign on as co-sponsors to America's Red Rock Wilderness Act (HR#1925) (S#799) which is being heard before the House's Subcommitte on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands today at 10am! It is so important that our reps know how important these scenic and cultural resources are to the people of this country. The bill will protect 9 million acres around Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands from development threats and other damage. For more info go to the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance website.

The Everglades. Obviously I am sorely lacking. If you want everything in the NPS, I have a lot more.

Well, can we include some National Monuments and seashores, which if you've been watching Ken Burns mostly should be NP's but are easier for a President to make. We use our geezer pass so I might not remember all of them, but: Acadia, Acztec Ruins, Arches, Assateague,Badlands, Bandelier, Mount Rushmore, Bryce, Cape Cod, Cape Hatteras, Casa Grande, Canyon de Chelley, Canaveral, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Carlsbad Caverns, Chaco Culture, Death Valley, Delaware Water Gap, el Morro, Everglades, Gila Cliff Dwellings, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Sand Dunes, Hawaii Volcanoes, Lowell, Mammoth Cave, Mesa Verde, Muir Woods, New Bedford, Petrified Forest, Point Reyes, Rocky Mountian, Saguaro, Sequoia, Shenandoah, Walnut Canyon, White Sands, Wupatki, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion. I guess that more than 20 are actual NP's and if you want to include the national battlefields and all the NM's the list would go on and on. Love the to see our country and appreciate the opportunities the park service provides us.

Since you asked: 37 national parks administerd by the US NPS.

Acadia
Arches
Badlands
Big Bend
Biscayne
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Carlsbad Caverns
Channel Islands
Crater Lake
Denali
Everglades
Glacier
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Smokies
Haleakala
Hawaii Volcanoes
Hot Springs
Isle Royal
Kenai Fjords
Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainer
Olympic
Petrified Forest
Redwoods
Rocky Mountain
Saguaro
Sequoia/Kings Canyon
Shenandoah
Theodore Roosevelt
Voyageurs
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion

Over 200 sites administered by the NPS.

Fourteen national parks in Canada

Banff
Cape Breton Highlands
Forillon
Fundy
Gaspesie
Glacier
Gros Morne
Jasper
Kouchibouguac
Mount Revelstoke
Point Pelee
Prince Edward Island
Terra Nova
Yoho

Hi guys !
I've been to Saguaro, White sands, Antelope island, Grand teton, Yellowstone, Waterton glacier, Yosemite, King's canyon,
Sequoia, Death valley, Red rock canyon, Valley of fire, Zion, Bryce, Capitol reef, Escalante, Kodachrome basin, Goblins, Lake Mead, Montezuma casle, Statue of liberty and Ellis island, Dead horse point, Arches, Canyonlands, Glen canyon, Goosenecks, Grand canyon, Slide rock, Coral pink sand dunes, Monument valley, Antelope canyon, Lake Powell, Mesa verde, Acadia, Cape Cod national seashore, Mount Washington and Everglades....that's 37 ( without Disneyland ).
Very proud of it !!!
22 trips all over the US, 30 000 miles with my rental cars.
Coming from France.
See you next year ( Lassen, Mt Shasta, Redwoods and Napa valley ). Can't wait !!!

With a couple of exceptions (Bryce and Death Valley), I've been to nearly every National Park in the Western US, including one no one has mentioned so far:

http://www.nps.gov/klse/index.htm

Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, in Seattle

There is much more under the wing of the NPS than just National Parks. Some of the smaller more unknows have a lot to offer in the way of history. Anyone ever visited Horseshoe Bend, Ninety Six or Arkansas Post to name a few...

Had forgotten that Cape Cod National Seashore is a National Park...Make that 2.

Well, I left out Redwoods, which has the curious designation of "State and National Park", so that brings my total to 20.

I looked at the complete listing of sites administered by the NPS, but including all the National Historic Parks and National Recreation Areas gets too complicated. I did a quick count of National Monuments: Cabrillo, Castle Clinton, Cedar Breaks, Craters of the Moon, Devils Postpile, Devils Tower, Montezumas Castle, Mount Rushmore, Muir Woods, Oregon Caves, Statue of Liberty, Wupatki, and The USS Arizona WWII Memorial would make that list, along with a couple of National Seashores: Cape Cod and Point Reyes.

I don't know what criteria are used to decide what differentiates a National Monument from a National Historic Park or a National Recreation area...can anyone enlighten me?

Since we live in fly-over country we don't have as many opportunities to visit the national Parks that are on the coasts. That being said, we've been to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Carlsbad Caverns, Great Smokies, Grand Canyon, and Haleakala. I'm hoping to see more as the PBS series certainly has sparked more interest than going to the same old place all the time on vacation. If I didn't have to be at work everyday (to help pay for the vacation), I'd leave today and visit them all.

I think 23 (some before they were National Parks) and I'm not going there with the National Monuments Seashores and etc. or I'm sure it would be over 100.
Arches, Biscayne, Bryce, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Carlsbad Caverns, Crater Lake, Channel Islands, Death Valley, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, G. Tetons, G. Smokies, Hawaii Volcanoes, Joshua Tree, Olympic, Redwoods, Shenandoah, Sequoia /Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion.

I am not sure if they all are National, or some are State...

Grand Canyon
Monument Valley
Bryce
Zion
Channel Islands (Catalina - it is part of them, right?)
Yosemite
Sequoia
Kings Canyon (next to Sequoia - is it State or National?)
Mt Rainier
Trail of Tears
Valley of Fire
Muir Woods

From Paul's list -
Acadia
Arches
Carlsbad Caverns
Crater Lake
Denali - flew over in Feb, so I guess that doesn't count
Everglades
Glacier
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Smokies
Hawaii Volcanoes
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainer
Olympic
Petrified Forest
Rocky Mountain
Saguaro
Shenandoah
Yellowstone
Yosemite

But, what about... Great Sands? It's a NP
White Sands NM
National Seashores - Cumberland Island, Cape Cod, Padre Island, Cape Canaveral
Muir Woods

from this list of National Monuments- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._United_States
Buck Island Reef
Canyon de Chelly
Capulin Volcano
Castillo de San Marcos
Castle Clinton
Fort Frederica
Fort Pulaski
Fort Sumter
Montezuma Castle
Mount St. Helens
Ocmulgee
Sonoran Desert
Statue of Liberty
Sunset Crater

For me, it's 23 US National Parks, 4 Canadian National Parks, and countless National Monuments and National Wildlife Refuges.

I can see there's a lot of confusion over what constitutes a "national park."

National forests and national grasslands are administered by the National Forest Service (NFS) of the Department of Agriculture. Some of them have spectacular views and wonderful nature, but they have nothing to do with national parks.

National wildlife refuges are administered by the Fish and Wildlife Administration. Again, they have no connection with the National Parks Service (NPS).

Some of the places noted by people are state parks, not national parks. Great places nevertheless.

National wilderness areas are simply federal areas in which no permanent human structures are permitted. They can be part of the NPS, NFS, or Bureau of Land Management.

National reserves and national preserves permit hunting and mining IF such activity does not disturb the natural beauty of the place. Thus, they are not (legally) national parks, where such activity is strictly prohibited.

National recreational areas, national lakeshores, and national seashores are administered by the NPS, but the emphasis on all three is recreation, not preservation.

National monuments are set by presidential proclomation, national parks by an act of Congress. Both are administered by the NPS, but they are different entities. Many national parks were national monuments before Congress took action -- Grand Canyon amongst them.

http://www.nationalatlas.gov/article...parks.html#two

gives the official definitions for the numerous entities administered by the NPS.

BTW, I wrote out my list in haste, and now realize that two sites I visited when they were national monuments are now national parks: Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Great Sand Dunes. Do they count, or will I have to re-visit them?

There is a wonderful picture of me at age eight, standing in front of the welcome sign for Badlands National Monument. I made a very deliberate effort to stand at that exact site, 25 years later, at the entrance to Badlands National Park.

Thanks for that link, PaulRabe...I'd always wondered about the various designations assigned to NPS properties.

I counted it up last night while watching the program ;-). If we are just talking about the 58 national parks then I've been to 8. If the other parks under the NPS umbrella are added, I've been to many more (e.g. the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, San Juan Island National Historic Park and the Cape Code National Seashore, to name just a few).

Acadia, Arches, Badlands, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce Canyon, Denali, Everglades, Glacier, Glacier Bay, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Hawaii Volcanoes,
Mammoth Cave, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest,
Rocky Mountain, Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion; 22 parks. I feel very blessed and am thoroughly enjoying the program.

Just returned from a trip that included Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce,Zion Escalante and Cap Reef.

Boy was I blown away by the hike down into Bryce Canyon. I think that NP is underrated....

Wonderful way to spend a vacation!

Oh, and also Niagara Falls... if this counts ;)

>>Boy was I blown away by the hike down into Bryce Canyon. I think that NP is underrated....<<

Shhhh, don't tell anyone! :-)

Let's see...Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Arches, Mesa Verde, Bryce Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Crater Lake, Mt. Lassen, Petrified Forest, and Rocky Mountain. We hope to make it to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in the next couple of years.

Lee Ann

What a fun question! I love it and am going to steal it for my blog :)

In any case, I've been to 23 official National Parks, using the NP designation that's in the official Fodors guide sitting at my desk. I didn't count monuments and the like.

Acadia, Shenandoah, Everglades, Hot Springs, Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Carlsbad Caverns, Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Zion, Great Sand Dunes, Rocky Mountains, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Death Valley, Redwood, Sequoia, Yosemite and Hawaii volcanos.

Wow. Just reading the list makes me want to go back!

Chris

Have been to nine US National Parks so far: Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Acadia, Arches, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and (just barely over the border as a float-in on a Colorado River boat trip) Canyonlands.

Found this alphabetical list of the 58 national parks:

Acadia
American Samoa
Arches
Badlands
Big Bend
Biscayne
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Carlsbad Caverns
Channel Islands
Congaree
Crater Lake
Cuyahoga Valley
Death Valley
Denali
Dry Tortugas
Everglades
Gates of the Arctic
Glacier
Glacier Bay
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Great Smoky Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Haleakalā
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
Hot Springs
Isle Royale
Joshua Tree
Katmai
Kenai Fjords
Kings Canyon
Kobuk Valley
Lake Clark
Lassen Volcanic
Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Olympic
Petrified Forest
Redwood
Rocky Mountain
Saguaro
Sequoia
Shenandoah
Theodore Roosevelt
Virgin Islands
Voyageurs
Wind Cave
Wrangell-St. Elias
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion

Thanks, NWW; that's the list I was using.

Nothing like bringing up an old post.
The ones with * I have been to.
I am finished with traveling for this year. Next year I hope to see Olypmic with my wife, Shenandoah with my wife and daughter, drive, hike to Leconte Lodge and then camp at Elkmont at Smoky Mountains with my nephew. I have my lodging all lined up for these.
And then I am debating about a trip with my daughter to either Mt. Rainier, North Cascades, Glacier, or Great Basin around the 2nd week of August. That would give me 3 new ones for next year.
I like to stay in each park usually 3 to 4 days each.

I am not sure about King's Canyon. I think I visited it when I was at Sequoia and I have always been a little confused by why they always put those two together anyway. I know they are side by side and jointly operated, but I would like them seperated for naming purposes.
I hope to go back to Kings Canyon soon and hike Rae Lake Loop.

I thought I was up to 30, but see that I'm at 27 or 28(depending on Kings Canyon).
Acadia
American Samoa
*Arches
Badlands
*Big Bend
Biscayne
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
*Bryce Canyon
*Canyonlands 2 times
*Capitol Reef 2 times
*Carlsbad Caverns 3 times
Channel Islands
Congaree
*Crater Lake
Cuyahoga Valley
*Death Valley
Denali
Dry Tortugas
*Everglades
Gates of the Arctic
Glacier
Glacier Bay
*Grand Canyon 3 times
*Grand Teton
Great Basin
*Great Sand Dunes
*Great Smoky Mountains
*Guadalupe Mountains
Haleakalā
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
*Hot Springs many times
Isle Royale
* Joshua Tree was born there(Twenty-Nine Palms)
Katmai
*Kenai Fjords
Kings Canyon
Kobuk Valley
*Lake Clark
*Lassen Volcanic
*Mammoth Cave
*Mesa Verde
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Olympic
*Petrified Forest 3 times
*Redwood 2 times
*Rocky Mountain 2 times
Saguaro
*Sequoia
Shenandoah
Theodore Roosevelt
Virgin Islands
Voyageurs
Wind Cave
Wrangell-St. Elias
*Yellowstone
*Yosemite
*Zion

Acadia
Arches
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Carlsbad Caverns
Crater Lake
(Denali - flyover)
Everglades
Glacier
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Sand Dunes
Great Smoky Mountains
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde
Olympic
Petrified Forest
Redwood
Rocky Mountain
Saguaro
Shenandoah
Virgin Islands
Yellowstone
Yosemite

Update:
Add Cuyahoga Valley NP to my list.

Also, I've been to Joshua Tree, Congaree, and Death Valley when they were national monuments, but they are now national parks.

And, depending on how you want to count it, I've been to both Sequoia and Kings Canyon.

That makes it either 43 or 44 -- or maybe 38 or 39.

I get to add 2 to my list above...
Glacier Bay and Kenai Fjords.

I still have lots to go.

<b>37 National Parks</b>
Acadia National Park
Arches National Park
Badlands National Park
Big Bend National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NM#1 NP#2
Bryce National Park
Canyonlands National Park (Island in the Sky and Needles)
Capitol Reef National Park
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Crater Lake National Park
Death Valley National Park
Denali National Park
Glacier Bay National Park
Glacier National Park
Grand Canyon National Park (North and South Rims)
Grand Tetons National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Joshua Trees National Park
Kenai Fjords National Park
Kings Canyon
Lassen National Park
Lehman Caves Trip#1 (Big Basin National Park Trip#2)
Mammoth Cave National Park, Frozen Niagara Tour
Mesa Verde National Park
Mt. Rainer National Park
North Cascades National Park
Olympic National Park
Petrified Forest National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Sequioa
Smokey Mountain National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park North & South Unit
Voyageurs National Park
Wind Cave National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park
Zion National Park

<b>7 National Recreational Areas, Seashores and Memorials:</b>
Big Horn National Recreational Area
Flaming George National Recreational Area
Glen Canyon National Recreational Area Lake Powell
Lincon Memorial Park
Point Reyes National Seashore
Sawtooth National Recreational Area
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Park


<b>31 National Monuments:</b>
Aztec Ruins National Monument
Bandelier National Monument
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument
Colorado National Monument
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Devils Tower National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
El Morrow National Monument
Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument
Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument
Great Sand Dunes National Monument
Hovenweep National Monument
John Day Fossil Bed National Monument
Lava Beds National Monument
Misty Fjords National Monument
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Montezuma Well
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Natural Bridges National Monument
Navajo National Monument
Petroglyph National Monument
Pipe Springs National Monument
Pompeys Pillar (National Monument 1-2001)
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Tuzigout National Monument
Walnut National Monument
Washington National Monument
White Sands National Monument
Wupatki National Monument

Utahtea

Utahtea, you are my hero.
Always so nice, always so helpful. Thanks for all of your wonderful help to me in planning great vacations in the SW. :-)

Thank you starrs! I will admit I've been doing National Parks for 38 years now so I've had plenty of time to accumulate them! ;)

Utahtea

I have no clue to the Seashores, river, monuments, battlefields, etc that I have been to. And I still count Joshua Tree as a National Park even though it was a Monument when I saw it.

Utahtea, I did the Frozen Niagra Tour in Mammoth as well, did the Wild Cave there as well. I have done all of the cave tours at Carlsbad, including the two Wild Cave Tours that they do there. They only allow 8 people per week on each of those. I usually wind up doing a pretty tough trail at each park-like Lassen Peak or Guadalupe Peak.

It looks like you have most all of them done in the west. Channel Islands and Saquaro to go?

spirolbulldog, Yes, we've done a pretty good job of the National Parks in the west. I guess it helps that we live out here.

Did I mention that we've been to Yosemite 33 times, Zion 30 times, Capitol Reef 14 times, Arches 13 times, Canyonlands Island in the Sky 11 times, Yellowstone, Bryce and Glen Canyon National Park 9 times each...to name a few!

Utahtea

utahtea,
I would say you've experienced those for sure-wow.

Do you have a favorite? I really have several of them that I really love. I think mine is Yosemite. My wife and daughters would be Yellowstone. Although my daughter and I both really like Arches. My least favorite for sure is one that isn't on your list-Hot Springs National Park. And is is the only one close to me(2hrs).
I do love love love Buffalo National River(it was the first NR)and it is also about 2 hours from me. We go there at least 4 or 5 times a year. I like to be in the area after we have had several inches of rain and the waterfalls are some of the best(somewhat like the Columbia River Gorge). They generally are good in the spring. There is one little waterfall called Glory Hole Falls, that is the best small waterfall I've ever seen. It is only 16 foot, but I would still rate it 9 out of 10. There is also one there called Triple Falls that is really awesome.

I always say my favorite national park is the one I'm in...LOL.

As much as I love Utah, Yellowstone is my all time favorite National Park. Then tied for second are Arches, Capitol Reef and Zion. They are listed in alphabetical order because I just can't rank them.

We were suppose to go to Hot Springs NP in 2001, but we were having RV issues that year with our older motor home and we ran out of time after being delayed 10 days. Luckily we made it to our son's house in South Carolina and got to spend those 10 days with him & our DIL.

I do love all the waterfalls in the south! Lush and beautiful areas!

I might make it to all the parks, but you really do more at each one. I just can't do really long hikes so we do miss some things.

Utahtea