Mapping the U.S. National Parks

About a decade ago, I thought it would be a fun goal to try to visit all of the national parks in the United States. They are managed by the National Park Service, and currently there are 61 of them. If you also count national monuments, national historic sites, national seashores, and other national park system designations, there are currently a total of 419 units.

Over the years, I've maintained a spreadsheet of the national parks that I've visited. Not only have I periodically documented which one's I've visited, I've also had to make a few recent additions such as Pinnacles NP (established in 2013), Gateway Arch NP (2018), and Indiana Dunes NP (2019). However, a friend suggested that I create a map to visualize my progress, so I created one using Google My Maps:



I plan to update this map over time, but as of today I've visited 31 of 61 U.S. national parks. Not surprisingly, I've been more likely to visit national parks that are closer to home (Los Angeles). In fact, I've visited all of the national parks in California (9), Utah (5), Arizona (3), New Mexico (1), and Oregon (1) which are within striking distance of a 1-week road trip. Since Hawaii is one of our popular vacation destinations, it also made sense to visit its 2 national parks. Because travel logistics to Florida permitted, I've also checked off its 3 national parks.

Visiting the remainder of the U.S. national parks will require some careful planning (and time and money). I'm not only referring to the ones in the continental U.S. Namely, there are some national parks in Alaska that do not have navigable roads (Katmai NP, Lake Clark NP, Kobuk Valley NP, and Gates of the Arctic NP) so will require either chartered flights and/or backpacking trips. Also potentially challenging are American Samoa NP and Virgin Islands NP because of their distance from home, but commercial flights and lodging are available.

It is fitting that I wrote this blog on the 103rd anniversary of the National Park Service which was formed when the Organic Act was signed into law on August 25, 1916.