By Michael Lanza
When I think about U.S. national parks, I remember hiking with my family to Yosemite Valley’s waterfalls. Seeing Yellowstone’s geysers both in summer (a great park trip with kids young or older) and cross-country skiing in winter. Sea kayaking in Alaska’s majestic Glacier Bay. Exploring the canyons and gazing in awe at the sculptured rock of southern Utah’s Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands. And numerous, incomparable backpacking trips in Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Yosemite, Mount Rainier, Sequoia, North Cascades, Rocky Mountain (lead photo at top of story), Great Sand Dunes, and, of course, Glacier.
How many national parks have you visited? How many will you visit this year? Looking for some ideas?
Scroll through the All National Parks Trips sub-page on my All Trips page at The Big Outside. There, you’ll find an organized menu of all stories about national parks adventures at my blog. If you’re thinking about getting out to one or more of America’s most cherished landscapes, that’s a good place to start shopping for inspiration and information.
You can also click on the National Parks category in the left sidebar to see a menu of all stories, listed in reverse chronological order from the most-recent posts.
Or dive straight into stories at this blog like “10 Favorite National Park Adventures With Kids,” “Photo Gallery: 10 Amazing National Park Adventures (And How to Pull Them Off)” and “5 Classic (Age-Appropriate) National Park Adventures For Families,” and this gallery of photos from almost every national I’ve visited.
“My Top 10 Adventure Trips,” “My Top 10 Favorite Backpacking Trips,” and “My Top 10 Family Adventures” also include several great national park trips, as does my story “Tent Flap With A View: 25 Favorite Backcountry Campsites.” Or click on the links to any of the parks named in this story’s first paragraph.
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While you’re at it, take a look at my award-winning book Before They’re Gone—A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks, about the year my family spent taking wilderness adventures in 11 parks (and check out this gallery of photos from those trips).
If you’re on a quest to visit America’s national parks, you’ll find a wealth of stories to start your trip planning at The Big Outside.
Now get busy. You have many places to see.
Do you like The Big Outside? I’m Michael Lanza, the creator of The Big Outside, recognized as a top outdoors blog by a USA Today Readers Choice poll and others. Subscribe for updates about new stories and free gear giveaways by entering your email address in the box at the bottom of this story, at the top of the left sidebar, or on my About page, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.
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Hi Michael, thanks for being a great resource – our family is planning a National Park/Forest tour this summer with our little one so your posts are a great read!
Thanks Erin. Have a great summer, that’s exciting. Let me know if I can answer any questions about places you want to visit.