National Parks, that is. Because the best way to measure life experience is by collecting points. If I have more than you, I'm a better person. Hey, I kid, I kid!
This weekend I hit the Redwood National and State Parks in the NW corner of the state (pictures to come). Now that I have points for Redwood, I started looking at the list. Rather than post a list bragging about the ones I've been to, here's a list of the ones I haven't been to. I started ranking them but thought I'd leave it up to any readers to weigh in if they've been there. Note that the list neglects all the monuments and scenic rivers and historic sites I haven't yet been to, which would be enormous. In no particular order:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Acadia National Park, Maine
National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa
Big Bend National Park, Texas
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Channel Islands National Park, California
Congaree National Park, South Carolina
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Great Basin National Park, Nevada
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, New Hampshire
Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Any comments on these?
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3 comments:
I've been to these from your list of 24:
Great Basin National Park, Nevada
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
They're all beautiful -- no surprise there. And they're all relatively small (at least compared with a lot of the NPs here in the west), but there's lots to see and photograph in them, so it's worth spending a block of time there.
Great Basin and Isle Royale are fairly far from any population centers (Great Sand Dunes is ~150 miles southwest of Colorado Springs), so take some planning to go to. Isle Royale in particular, since it's an island in the middle of Lake Superior.
In any event, all worth visiting.
Thanks Gene. Great Basin I figure I can hit on a road trip where I'm passing through Nevada as long as I build in time to go out of my way. Isle Royale is one of the ones that most intrigues me since I also have only seen 3 of 5 Great Lakes, and only urban parts of them at that.
That's how I found Great Basin NP. Some years ago I was driving from California to Colorado avoiding interstates, and looked at the map to see what was there and possible places to camp.
When you go, be sure to take the cave tour, and get to the higher altitudes. There are some nice camp sites along the creek, and given the out-of-the-wayness of the park, getting a nice site is easy.
I've got one picture from Great Basin posted in my gallery here.
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