Category: National Parks

Click on a state to see its national parks! If the state is filled in with a picture, it means I’ve visited one or more of the national parks there!

Image Map National Parks of Washington National Parks of Oregon National Parks of California National Parks of Alaska National Parks of Hawai'i National Parks of Arizona National Parks of Nevada National Parks of Utah National Parks of Idaho National Parks of Montana National Parks of Wyoming National Parks of Colorado National Parks of New Mexico National Parks of North Dakota National Parks of South Dakota National Parks of Nebraska National Parks of Kansas National Parks of Oklahoma National Parks of Texas National Parks of Louisiana National Parks of Arkansas National Parks of Missouri National Parks of Iowa National Parks of Minnesota National Parks of Wisconsin National Parks of Illinois National Parks of Mississippi National Parks of Alabama National Parks of Tennessee National Parks of Kentucky National Parks of Indiana National Parks of Michigan National Parks of Ohio National Parks of Maine National Parks of New Hampshire National Parks of Vermont National Parks of New York National Parks of Massachusetts National Parks of Connecticut National Parks of Pennsylvania National Parks of New Jersey National Parks of West Virginia National Parks of Maryland National Parks of Delaware National Parks of Rhode Island National Capital Parks National Parks of Virginia National Parks of North Carolina National Parks of South Carolina National Parks of Georgia National Parks of Florida

 

The idea to create national parks in America was born on the night of September 19, 1870 when a member of the Washarn-Langford-Doane Expedition, out to explore the area now known as Yellowstone, proposed that, instead of laying private claim to the land, they should work to set it aside for everyone to experience such a profoundly beautiful place! Through actual Congressional Cooperation, President Grant signed the National Park Act on March 1, 1872, establishing Yellowstone as the first National Park!

It took 18 more years before Yosemite, General Grant (now King’s Canyon), and Sequoia National Parks joined the ranks, but it wasn’t until 1906 that the national park system really began to take off. The Antiquities Act gave the president power to proclaim an area a park or monument! Initially, management of these parks was chaotic until President Wilson signed a bill on August 25, 1916, creating the National Park Service, which currently monitors the majority of America’s National Parks and Monuments! I hope to see all of these extraordinarily beautiful places, as well as any foreign ones I should encounter, on my travels!