US National Parks

cschuma2 · November 2012

Which national parks have you been to? Which are your favorites? Are there any on your travel bucket list?

DH and I have typically chosen beach or city options for our vacations in the past. We went to Acadia NP in Maine last summer and we both fell in love with it. I definitely want to see another NP on vacation in 2013. DH and I have never been to Washington and I think spending a 3-4 days in Olympic NP and 3-4 days in Seattle could be really cool. I haven't really looked into anything and am still just in the brainstorming stages.

Hopefully there is a still a little life in this board!

alithebride · November 2012

here's the list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_the_United_States)

I've been to: grand canyon, grand teton, yellowstone, north cascades, olympic, redwood, sequoia, saguaro, virgin islands.

Jells2dot0 · November 2012

I've been to Grand Canyon, Haleakala, Joshua Tree, Saguaro, and Virgin Islands. Not very many, which kind of sucks. I live in the perfect place to go to a lot of them! I was supposed to go to RMNP this fall, but ended up getting altitude sick and didn't want to ascend anymore. I've also driven through Death Valley. Probably doesn't count. My ultimate bucket list park is American Samoa. I also want to go to the Hawaiian Volcanoes and Channel Islands.

JessicaK12 · November 2012

I've been to Biscane, Everglades, Dry Tortugas, Haleakala, Smoky Mountains and for our honeymoon we went to Rocky Mountain NP.

There are DEFIANTLY national parks on our travel bucket list! Here's some of them:

Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Sequoia, Redwood, Olympic and Mount Rainier, Badlands, Arches, and Denali!

Disneygeek77 · November 2012

We have been to Redwood national park. It was amazing. I felt like I was driving through an enchanted fairy tale forest.

Mrs.GinTN · November 2012

I grew up around the Smokies so I'm partial to it. I have been to Dry Tortugas, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Everglades, Biscayne, Stones River NBF, Mammoth Cave, Haleakala, Hawaii Volcanoes, Zion, Bryce, Jazz Park in NOLA, Statue of Liberty, Glacier Bay (personal favorite), Klondike Gold Rush, Death Valley, Shenandoah, and several spots around Boston.

I would like to visit all of them at some point in time. They are so different, but all amazing!

jennbean79 · November 2012

We've been to Arches, Badlands, Bryce Canyon, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Mesa Verde, Yellowstone and Zion. I think my favorite has been Glacier, but they're all amazing. Acadia and Yosemite are high on my bucket list. If you want to add some Canadian national parks to your list, Banff and Jasper are incredible.

brilynn79 · November 2012

Love Glacier! Amazing scenery.

Smooch711 · November 2012

Hi! Very first post on TN!

H and I love the parks! We went to Banff and Jasper in September on our honeymoon! It was awesome. Definitely recommend it to anyone.

I have been to Great Smoky Mountains, Badlands, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Zion, Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountains, Death Valley, Grand Teton and Shenandoah national parks.

Our bucket list: Acadia, Denali, Glacier, Joshua Tree, North Cascades, Olympic, Petrified Forest and Redwood.

hutchsl · November 2012

I went to Olympic NP about 10 years ago. My friend and I planned it within a month of going and went over labor day. One reason we chose it is it is not crowded. I would spend more than 3 - 4 days in the NP. There are 3 different regions of the park - mountains (Hurricane Ridge), rainforest and seashore (Forks area). Seattle is interesting with pikes market, etc. You might want to consider a day trip by ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria on Vancouver Island. We went to Bucchart Gardens and high tea at the Empress hotel.

I have been to a number of NPs. My family went to a number of them when I was growing up. We stayed at park lodges or near the park and spent our days doing day hikes in the mountains.

US Parks I have been to:

Acadia, Big Bend, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce, Carlsbad Caverns, Everglades, Glacier and Waterton Lakes (Canadian side), Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Great Smoky Mountains, Hot Springs, Isle Royale, Mammoth Cave, Mesa Verde, Mt Rainer, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Virgin Islands, Yellowstone and Zion.

As a pp mentioned Canadian NP - I've been to Banff National Park, Jasper and Yoho.

So for you it depends on what your interest are and how much time you have. Some have fewer things to do in the area. There are also nice national forrests in Colorado maountains and we have taken our camper there for remote camping.

We are older and have been to so many NPs that our bucket list is more overseas adventures like Machu Picchu, Galapagos, New Zealand (I've been to Australia but DH has not). We just got back from the British Virgin Islands where we chartered a sailbot for 6 nights.

Domestic Bucket list items: raft the grand canyon, houseboat on lake powell, Hawaii/Guam/Saipan, Alaska cruise.

hayleydeee · November 2012

I've been to: Bryce (Utah), Capitol Reef (Utah), Crater Lake (Oregon), Grand Canyon (arizona), Joshua Tree (CA), Kings Canyon (CA), Redwood (CA), Rocky Mountain (CO), Sequoia (CA), Yosimite (CA), and Zion (Utah). We also frequent state parks. All of the NP are on our bucket list actually! After watching the Ken Burns National Park series we'd like to make a goal of visiting them all. You should watch it before deciding : )

I'd suggest going to a region where you can see a few national parks in the same trip. If you like desert (with a little forest/ rivers and streams) then southern Utah has a lot to offer. All the parks there are amazing. You could even add in a day at the Grand Canyon too (1 day is long enough unless you plan to do big hiking/ rafting trips).

Or if dramatic mountains, rivers and forests are more intriguing then the Sierra Nevadas in CA would be perfect. You could easily see Kings Canyon, Sequoia (Goolge image search a Giant Sequoia, they will blow your mind!) and Yosimite all in the same trip. Yosimite will be crowded in the summer, but it's something I think everyone should see in their lifetime. It's absolutely spectacular. There are state parks all over the area too.

I've driven through over 40 of the US states, and the Sierras are some of the most beautiful mountains I've seen (haven't been to Glacier yet though!).

Olympic looks amazing, but I've heard people complain that lately it's been overrun and crowded since the popularity of the Twilight books. People are saying to wait a little while before visiting until that all dies out.

Have fun!

hayleydeee · November 2012

Jells2dot0:
I've been to Grand Canyon, Haleakala, Joshua Tree, Saguaro, and Virgin Islands. Not very many, which kind of sucks. I live in the perfect place to go to a lot of them! I was supposed to go to RMNP this fall, but ended up getting altitude sick and didn't want to ascend anymore. I've also driven through Death Valley. Probably doesn't count. My ultimate bucket list park is American Samoa. I also want to go to the Hawaiian Volcanoes and Channel Islands.

(Highjacking post)

Jells: just replied to you on my Hawaii post below; I think we share similar travel tastes.

Check out this place to stay in American Samoa. It's rustic but looks so pretty. I've had it bookmarked for years. (Tacky website warning, sorry no clicky on my Mac)

http://www.virgin-cove.ws/index.html

Better Pics on Trip advisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g312867-d580061-Reviews-Virgin_Cove_Resort-Upolu.html

Alas, they don't allow little kids, so it'll be a while for me : (

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