On our recent trip to New Mexico, we visited several places under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, and those visits made me wonder how many I have visited.
This post is simple. It is a list of the ones I have visited with a short comment about each. Oh yeah, they will also be listed by state.
Alaska
Denali National Park – a beautiful view of Mt. McKinley
Glacier Bay National Park – eagles, bears, whales and calving icebergs.
Arizona
Canyon de Chelly National Monument – an interesting ride into another culture
Grand Canyon National Park – a big hole in the ground
Montezuma Castle National Monument – cliff dwellings by the river
Petrified Forest National Park – trees of stone
Saguaro National Park – the insects make a weird sound, but the cacti are awesome
California
Death Valley National Park – hot does not describe it
Golden Gate National Recreation Area – the bridge is not golden
Redwood National Park – a bunch of big trees
Sequoia National Park – another bunch of big trees
Yosemite National Park – one of the most beautiful places on earth
Colorado
Great Sand Dunes National Monument – it is a heck of a climb to the top
Mesa Verde National Park – unfortunately, I had to correct the park ranger
Georgia
Jimmy Carter National Historic Site – Plains never had it so good
Hawaii
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – we visited before they started erupting
Louisiana
New Orleans Jazz National Historic Site – it is a room behind Cafe Du Monde
Mississippi
Natchez Trace Parkway – it is a cool drive but do not speed
Vicksburg National Military Park – this is what a siege looks like
Missouri
Harry S Truman National Historic Site – my favorite president to visit
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial – otherwise known as the Arch
Montana
Glacier National Park – it is my heading on Twitter
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site – a real ranch is better
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument – my favorite battlefield to visit
Nevada
Lake Mead National Recreation Area – made famous by Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson
New Mexico
Bandelier National Monument – climb the ladders
Carlsbad Caverns National Park – walk in and take the elevator out
Chaco Culture National Historic Park – kivas are everywhere
El Morro National Monument – the most awesome collection of autographs ever
Fort Union National Monument – not much left of the fort
Pecos National Historical Park – exists due to the generosity of Greer Garson
Petroglyph National Monument – a victim of urban sprawl
White Sands National Monument – it is like visiting another planet
New York
Statue of Liberty National Monument – she has big feet
Oregon
Crater Lake National Park – bluest water I have ever seen
Lewis and Clark National Historic Park – this is where they stopped before turning around
Pennsylvania
Independence National Historic Park – they signed some sort of document around here
South Dakota
Badlands National Park – it took some bad people to survive here
Mount Rushmore National Memorial – where are the rest of their bodies
Tennessee
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site – it does not matter that he was impeached
Great Smoky Mountains National Park – it has some great hiking trails
Shiloh National Military Park – the tragedy can be felt in the air
Stones River National Battlefield – it is right down the road
Texas
San Antonio Missions National Historic Park – remember the Alamo
Utah
Bryce Canyon National Park – walk among the hoodoos
Virginia
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial – it looks down on the eternal flame
George Washington Memorial Parkway – we had a nice lunch along this road
Washington
Mount Rainier National Park – you do not want to be around when it erupts
Washington, D.C.
Korean War Veterans Memorial – truly haunting at night
Lincoln Memorial – covered with people
National Mall – it is bigger than you might think
Vietnam Veterans Memorial – touch the wall and feel the loss
Washington Monument – they play softball all around it
White House – it does not look as big as I thought it would
World War II Memorial – try to find Kilroy
Wyoming
Devil’s Tower National Monument – did not see any alien spacecraft
Fort Laramie National Historic Site – several broken treaties signed here
Grand Teton National Park – what does that name mean in French
Yellowstone National Park – the jewel of all national parks
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
I have not visited nearly enough of them.
And they are all different.
I live in a National Historic Corridor. It’s part of the system, but as far as I can tell, all we get out of it are fancy signs on the turnpike exits. I’ve been to five and each has been very different. My favorite remains Great Smoky, though it’s hard not to love the Grand Canyon.
That is a good list Rick. I read once that the Presidents at Mount Rushmoor were originally intended to be a full head and chest bit this proved too ambitious. Is that true?
On my trip my favourite was Zion. Being a western movie fan my favourite place of all was Monument Valley but I don’t think this is officially a National Park?
I wrote a little souvenir book of my National Parks vacation – https://apetcher.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/usa-national-parks-3/
You park ranger 😛
We used to have a children’s magazine called Ranger Rick. I guess that’s me.