Past National Parks

Our family loves to visit the national parks of the United States.  In fact, we have a goal:  to visit EVERY national park to see firsthand the beauty that this country has to offer.

So far, we’ve visited 17 of the 58 national parks, in addition to several national monuments.  We’ve flown to one of the most remote national parks by seaplane:  Dry Tortugas National Park off the coast of Key West, Florida.  Our favorite:  Zion National Park in Utah.

Each park has a Junior Ranger program that I’d strongly encourage you and your children to participate in.  Pick up information at the park’s visitors center when you arrive; after completion, the kids get sworn in as junior rangers and receive collectible patchs or pins.  I always end up learning as much as the kids!

Boys being sworn in at Grand Canyon NP.

Below we’ve included some suggested itineraries that have been tested by our family.

National Parks of the West:  3-4 Week RV trip

• Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake
• Arches National Park
• Canyonlands National Park
• Natural Bridges National Monument
• Capitol Reef National Park
• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Grand Canyon National Park (North)
• Zion National Park
• Las Vegas
• Death Valley National Park
• Sequoia National Park
• Kings Canyon National Park
• Yosemite National Park
• Lake Tahoe
• Salt Lake City

National Parks of West:  2-Week RV trip 

• Farewell Bend State Park, Oregon
• Bruneau State Park, Idaho
• Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho
• Yellowstone National Park
• Grand Tetons National Park
• Jackson Hole, Wyoming

National Parks of Florida:

• Everglades National Park
• Big Cypress National Preserve
• Biscayne National Park
• Key West
• Dry Tortugas National Park

To view photos from some of our national park visits, simply use the drop down menu under Past National Parks and select a destination.