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I've been a big fan of visiting national parks since about 2001 when I drove to a dozen of them during a two-week road trip. Then I did another road trip in 2003 to get to more of the local parks in California and Oregon, although I still didn't get to all of the ones in California.
In 2015 I had a four-week sabbatical and was trying to figure out something big to do. My wife and I decided to see how many national parks we could get to that month and made it to 28 of the 30 national parks in the western states. We spent enough time in each of them for my wife to earn the Junior Ranger badge - except Zion, but she got two badges at Grand Canyon, one south rim and one north rim. The two southern-most national parks were just too far away for the time available. But we made it to those less than a year later.
Whenever we're driving anywhere, we check the maps for nearby national parks and go through them if we can. We have specifically done this for Yosemite, Death Valley, and Joshua Tree multiple times.
We're currently living at a location where we can visit Yosemite as a day trip. It's a very long day, but it takes less than four hours to get there. Some of the Utah national parks are less than four hours from Salt Lake City. You could do it.
It's easier now that I have the National Park Senior Pass, which is good for my lifetime. I was in Death Valley the day before my birthday when I would be officially old enough to buy one. It was less than 12 hours away and the ranger there wouldn't bend the rules even that much to let me get it early. I had to wait until the next trip that sent us through a national park. Back then, the passes were just ten bucks. The price is supposed to go up to $80 sometime soon, but you still only have to buy one once you're old enough. The one-year pass is also $80 for those of you who are younger but will be visiting multiple national parks.
There are a few national parks that don't charge a fee: Redwood, Capitol Reef, and Death Valley (they might want you to pay, but they don't check). I think North Cascades might also be on that list.
So, what is the last national park that you visited?
What will be the next one?
How soon?
For me it was Redwood a few weeks ago and Yosemite will be the next one I visit. We'll probably get to Kings Canyon and Sequoia before the end of the year.
In 2015 I had a four-week sabbatical and was trying to figure out something big to do. My wife and I decided to see how many national parks we could get to that month and made it to 28 of the 30 national parks in the western states. We spent enough time in each of them for my wife to earn the Junior Ranger badge - except Zion, but she got two badges at Grand Canyon, one south rim and one north rim. The two southern-most national parks were just too far away for the time available. But we made it to those less than a year later.
Whenever we're driving anywhere, we check the maps for nearby national parks and go through them if we can. We have specifically done this for Yosemite, Death Valley, and Joshua Tree multiple times.
We're currently living at a location where we can visit Yosemite as a day trip. It's a very long day, but it takes less than four hours to get there. Some of the Utah national parks are less than four hours from Salt Lake City. You could do it.
It's easier now that I have the National Park Senior Pass, which is good for my lifetime. I was in Death Valley the day before my birthday when I would be officially old enough to buy one. It was less than 12 hours away and the ranger there wouldn't bend the rules even that much to let me get it early. I had to wait until the next trip that sent us through a national park. Back then, the passes were just ten bucks. The price is supposed to go up to $80 sometime soon, but you still only have to buy one once you're old enough. The one-year pass is also $80 for those of you who are younger but will be visiting multiple national parks.
There are a few national parks that don't charge a fee: Redwood, Capitol Reef, and Death Valley (they might want you to pay, but they don't check). I think North Cascades might also be on that list.
So, what is the last national park that you visited?
What will be the next one?
How soon?
For me it was Redwood a few weeks ago and Yosemite will be the next one I visit. We'll probably get to Kings Canyon and Sequoia before the end of the year.
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