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.