National Parks Master Thread

[yuneeq]

Not sure this is the right thread but this is a wild trip

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/moshe-segal_and-thats-a-wrap-we-are-moving-back-into-ugcPost-7215721429458112512-v19m

[Spoon]

Not sure this is the right thread but this is a wild trip

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/moshe-segal_and-thats-a-wrap-we-are-moving-back-into-ugcPost-7215721429458112512-v19m

What this guy did in a year,@cgr is doing in 3 weeks

[Dan]

What this guy did in a year,@cgr is doing in 3 weeks

And that is the difference between how long things take with kids and without kids.

[Traveler718]

It's been a few years since my last update here, and I just got back from a July 4 extended weekend that included 3 new NP's, bringing me up to 45. Anyone have more?

My updated list:

Acadia
Arches - loved it!
Badlands
Big Bend
Biscayne
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Bryce - stunning!
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Carlsbad Caverns - amazing!
Congaree - one of my least favorites
Crater Lake - gorgeous!
Cuyahoga Valley
Denali - enjoyed the all-day bus tour so much we did it again the next day
Dry Tortugas - really remote, but really worthwhile!
Everglades
Gateway Arch
Glacier - my favorite!!
Grand Canyon - to the bottom and back up!
Grand Teton
Great Sand Dunes - really cool and not as well-known as it should be
Great Smoky Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Hot Springs - pass
Indiana Dunes
Joshua Tree
Kenai Fjords
Kings Canyon
Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde - lots of fun for kids
Mount Rainier
New River Gorge
North Cascades - another one that deserves more love than it gets
Olympic
Redwood - I really loved it here, had an amazing time tracking down Hyperion, the tallest living thing on Earth, whose location is kept secret, a shame it's so remote
Rocky Mountain
Sequoia
Shenandoah - Old Rag is a great hike - but not in the rain!
Theodore Roosevelt
White Sands
Wind Cave
Wrangell-St. Elias
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion

[jaywhy]

Is it just me or has the overcrowding in popular parks just gotten out of hand since Covid?

[cgr]

1) Rocky Mountain NP
2) Acadia NP
3) Indiana Dunes NP (2X)
4) Congaree NP
5) Shenandoah NP (2X)
6) Cuyahoga Valley NP (2X)
7) Hot Springs NP
8 ) Mammoth Cave NP
9) Gateway Arch NP
10) Great Smoky Mountains NP
11) Hawaii Volcanoes NP
12) Haleakala NP
13) Death Valley NP
14) Everglades NP
15) Yellowstone NP (2X)
16) Grand Teton NP (2X)
17) Isle Royale NP
18) Voyageurs NP
19) Theodore Roosevelt NP
20) Glacier NP
21) North Cascades NP
22) Olympic NP
23) Mt Ranier NP
24) Crater Lake NP
25) Wind Cave NP
26) Badlands NP

[Spoon]

Looking to drive to a NP from NY with kids. Looks like Shenandoah and Acadia are the closest. Is Acadia worth the extra drive over Shenandoah? Any others I'm missing?

[SSLPhD]

Looking to drive to a NP from NY with kids. Looks like Shenandoah and Acadia are the closest. Is Acadia worth the extra drive over Shenandoah? Any others I'm missing?

Cuyahoga Valley is closer than Acadia.  If you want to get to two national parks, you can do Shenandoah and New River Gorge.  Shenandoah is on the way to New River Gorge, but 2-3 hours closer.  Depending on traffic, New River Gorge might be a shorter trip than Acadia.

[yitzgar]

Don't travel exclusively from NY to CVNP or New river gorge just to visit a NP. Shenandoah is worth a drive from NY, especially if you will do more than just stopping at overlooks. But Acadia is definitely worth the extra drive. It isn't even on the same scale. Just be warned that it gets very crowded in the summer.
Smokey mountains are probably similar distance from NY (cmiiw) and while not as varied as Acadia, it's also gorgeous and great for kids.

[Spoon]

Don't travel exclusively from NY to CVNP or New river gorge just to visit a NP. Shenandoah is worth a drive from NY, especially if you will do more than just stopping at overlooks. But Acadia is definitely worth the extra drive. It isn't even on the same scale. Just be warned that it gets very crowded in the summer.
Smokey mountains are probably similar distance from NY (cmiiw) and while not as varied as Acadia, it's also gorgeous and great for kids.

Right I'm not driving special-this would be part of a longer trip. Is Acadia that much nicer? Shenandoah is closer and also not that far from food which is a plus. Are any of them more kid friendly?


SM is 3 hrs more driving than Acadia.

[yitzgar]

Right I'm not driving special-this would be part of a longer trip. Is Acadia that much nicer? Shenandoah is closer and also not that far from food which is a plus. Are any of them more kid friendly?


SM is 3 hrs more driving than Acadia.

So if you are doing other things, I can't really comment not knowing what else you are doing. Acadia and Shenandoah side by side, I don't think they are comparable. (Shenandoah is really nice, don't get me wrong).

[SSLPhD]

While I wouldn't drive to West Virginia just to see NERI, it works well as part of a larger trip that includes SHEN.  I've been to ACAD twice, and was not impressed.  Definitely enjoyed NERI more.  GRSM just feels much further, but also works well with SHEN (via BLRI), plus there's loads for kids to do in Pigeon Forge.

[yitzgar]

While I wouldn't drive to West Virginia just to see NERI, it works well as part of a larger trip that includes SHEN.  I've been to ACAD twice, and was not impressed.  Definitely enjoyed NERI more.  GRSM just feels much further, but also works well with SHEN (via BLRI), plus there's loads for kids to do in Pigeon Forge.

Your acronyms are driving me nuts, lol.
I agree about New river gorge and Shenandoah, but I've been to Acadia twice and it was gorgeous. Were you there in good weather? If it's foggy or rainy there isn't much to see...

[Yaalili]

27 in total.

United States (10/63):

• Biscayne National Park, FL
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park, OH
• Everglades National Park, FL
• Gateway Arch National Park, MO
• Grand Teton National Park, WY
• Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, HI
• Joshua Tree National Park, CA
• Virgin Islands National Park, VI
• Yellowstone National Park, WY
• Yosemite National Park, CA

International (17):

• Iguazú National Park, Argentina
• Iguaçu National Park, Brazil
• Jaú National Park, Brazil
• Beijing Great Wall National Park, China
• Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica
• Morne Diablotin National Park, Dominica
• El Boquerón National Park, El Salvador
• Hlane Royal National Park, Eswatini
• Tikal National Park, Guatemala
• Þingvellir National Park, Iceland
• Arbel National Park and Nature Reserve, Israel
• Beit Guvrin National Park, Israel
• Masada National Park, Israel
• Lake Malawi National Park, Malawi
• Masaya Volcano National Park, Nicaragua
• Table Mountain National Park, South Africa
• Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe