National Parks

In 2006, we sold our house, quit our jobs, bought an RV, and went on the road for 14 months to visit all the national parks in the lower 48. Here they are by listing (with some pictures from our trip mixed in for some fun). My travel memoir, Our Life on the Road, is about this trip. I only missed out on one of the parks--Dry Tortugas--because I was eight months pregnant, and the captain did not think it was a good idea for me to take the choppy ride out to the park.

A—Acadia (Maine); Arches (Utah)

B—Badlands (South Dakota); Big Bend (Texas); Biscayne Bay (Florida); Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado); Bryce Canyon (Utah)

C—Canyonlands (Utah); Capitol Reef (Utah); Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico); Channel Islands (California); Congaree (South Carolina); Crater Lake (Oregon); Cuyahogo (Ohio)

D—Death Valley (California); Dry Tortugas (Florida)


E—Everglades (Florida)

F—(no Fs)

G—Glacier (Montana); Grand Canyon (Arizona); Grand Teton (Wyoming); Great Basin (Nevada); Great Sand Dunes (Colorado); Great Smoky Mountains (North Carolina/Tennessee); Guadalupe Mountains (Texas)

H—Hot Springs (Arkansas)


I—Isle Royale (Michigan)


J—Joshua Tree (California)

K—Kings Canyon (California)


L—Lassen Volcanic (California)


M—Mammoth Cave (Kentucky); Mesa Verde (Colorado); Mount Rainier (Washington);


N—North Cascades (Washington)


O—Olympic (Washington)


P—Petrified Forest (Arizona)


Q—(no Qs)


R—Redwoods (California); Rocky Mountain (Colorado)

S—Saguaro (Arizona); Sequoia (California); Shenandoah (Virginia)


T—Theodore Roosevelt (North Dakota)


U—(no Us)


V—Voyageurs (Minnesota)


W—Wind Cave (South Dakota)


X—(no Xs)


Y—Yellowstone (Wyoming); Yosemite (California)

Z—Zion (Utah)