I officially LOVE reading lists of travels like the one we’re sharing here! Putting together our National Park trips timeline was therapeutic in a sense. In creating this, I got to see my own growth and development that has been directly shaped by the travel I have completed.
Lists like this are also interesting because you get to see the logistical fit of the sites visited. I will do my best to group itineraries and link to things we may have shared on this site that can help with your own planning.
A couple of other guiding thoughts:
- since we both work full time jobs, we usually have one “major” trip each year and several others on the periphery
- we like to visit as many sites as we can fit into our limited vacation days, so the pace of our trips is often pretty fast
- I’m only including parks that we have visited together
- We often will add other local stops of interest in our itinerary (i.e. I LOVE to explore small towns and we always seek out local, non-chain restaurants and coffee shops) – this certainly adds to the richness of the experience of being in a place
- For parks that we’ve visited more than once, I’m only including the initial visit in the list
Enjoy!
Our National Park Trips Timeline
2020: El Paso Road Trip (parks #83 through #97… and then the pandemic happened…)
We greeted 2020 with a New Year’s day flight to El Paso, Texas. Our first road trip of the year was underway! Our El Paso road trip was one of my favorites, and I hope to return to the Southwest soon. On this trip, we had the opportunity to visit the following parks:
- White Sands National Park (New Mexico)
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Texas)
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park (New Mexico)
- Fort Davis National Historic Site (Texas)
- Big Bend National Park (Texas)
- Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River (Texas)
- Chamizal National Memorial (Texas)
>>We share our itinerary to National Parks near El Paso here<<
Spring Break 2020, we drove down to visit my mom and 99 year old grandmother in Alabama. Although I grew up making frequent trips to Alabama, I never explored the National Parks in the state until I became an adult. Jason and I drove down, visited my grandmother in Birmingham and my mom in Anniston. Here are the sites that we were able to visit.
- Stones River National Battlefield (Tennessee)
- Russell Cave National Monument (Alabama)
- Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument (Alabama)
- Freedom Riders National Monument (Alabama)
- Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site (Alabama)
- Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (Alabama)
- Little River Canyon National Preserve (Alabama)
- Big South Fork National Recreation Area (Kentucky)
>>We write about National Parks in Alabama and where to get stamped here<<
… and counting… I’m not sure what the rest of 2020 has in store. We had to cancel a trip to visit parks 98, 99 and 100 in May due to the global pandemic. Even so, we’re so grateful to be able to continue to explore places closer to our home.
2019: Viva Las Vegas and PA Fun (#66 through #82)
Our first National Park trip in 2019 happened after we got to connect with some of the coolest peeps in the entire state of Minnesota, our friends Annette and Ty from TNA Travels. We crashed their trip to Louisville, KY (they were so gracious in allowing it 🙂 ) and had a blast… when we said farewell, we drove a bit east of Louisville before back heading home.
- Camp Nelson NM (Kentucky)
We had an awesome trip out to Las Vegas in May! This was the farthest out west that we have traveled together. We flew into McCarran Airport, and took an epic road trip over the following week! Although we got a Grand Canyon – Parashant stamp, I’m not counting it because we didn’t set foot in this rugged park.
- Great Basin NP (Nevada)
- Cedar Breaks NM (Utah)
- Bryce Canyon NP (Utah)
- Zion NP (Utah)
- Pipe Spring NM (Arizona)
- Glen Canyon NRA (Arizona)
- Rainbow Bridge NM (Utah)
- Grand Canyon NP (Arizona)
- Lake Mead NRA (via Nevada)
- Tule Springs Fossil Beds NM (Nevada)
- Death Valley NP (via California)
>>Check out our guide that walks through our awesome Las Vegas road trip including all of the parks above<<
We also took a weekend trip away to explore 5 National Parks in Western Pennsylvania. This was a great close to summer.
- Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS (Pennsylvania)
- Johnstown Flood NMem (Pennsylvania)
- Flight 93 NMem (Pennsylvania)
- Fort Necessity NB (Pennsylvania)
- Friendship Hill NHS (Pennsylvania)
>>This post walks through our visit to these 5 Western Pennsylvania National Parks<<
2018: Hot Springs!!! (parks #46 through #65)
Our National Park fire was rekindled after such an awesome trip to South Dakota. During National Park Week in 2018, we were able to drive down to Arkansas through a not-so-straightforward route. We visited several sites on the way down and back as well.
- Shiloh NMP (via Tennessee)
- Brices Cross Roads NBS (Mississippi)
- Natchez NHP (Mississippi)
- Natchez Trace NT and Parkway (via Mississippi, 2 distinct units)
- Tupelo NB (Mississippi)
- Vicksburg NMP (via Mississippi)
- Poverty Point NM (Louisiana)
- Arkansas Post NMem (Arkansas)
- Hot Springs NP (Arkansas)
- President Williams Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home NHS (Arkansas)
- Little Rock Central High School NHS (Arkansas)
We also got to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary while making stops in quick succession through Tennessee and the Carolinas. >>Check out this post for a summary of how we visited these sites<<
- Obed WSR (Tennessee)
- Manhattan Project NHP (via Tennessee)
- Andrew Johnson NHS (Tennessee)
- Kings Mountain NMP (South Carolina)
- Cowpens NB (South Carolina)
- Carl Sandburg Home NHS (North Carolina)
A personal highlight for the year, we got to go with our nephew and see him get his Junior Ranger Badge in Xenia, Ohio!
Finally, we made a day trip from our home up to *that state up north* ssssshhhhhhh ;-). Jason particularly appreciated the connection to the great Chief of the Shawnee, Techumseh, one of his favorite historical figures.
- River Raisin NBP (Michigan)
2017: Black Hills and the Birth of Park Trips and More (parks #40 through #45)
Around Memorial Day in 2017, Jason and I made the longest drive that we had ever taken and drove over 18 hours to the Black Hills of South Dakota! This was a great trip where we learned a lot about each other and about ourselves. From pushing each other to encouraging to enjoying some really awesome places together, this was a trip to remember!
I realized that we were making so many memories that we wanted to be able to document and share. In December 2017, we launched this site (on my birthday so that I wouldn’t forget what day it was LOL)!
- Wind Cave NP (South Dakota)
- Mount Rushmore NMem (South Dakota)
- Jewel Cave NM (South Dakota)
- Devil’s Tower NM (Wyoming)
- Minuteman Missile NHS (South Dakota)
- Badlands NP (South Dakota)
>>You can check out our South Dakota experiences in this comprehensive post<<
2016: A Rough Year (no new parks visited)
2016 was a rough year for Jason and me personally as we lost two very important people in our lives. Our weekends were spent on the road visiting these super-important people. We ended up not taking a National Park trip this year.
2016 was a significant year for the National Park Service as it celebrated it’s “100th birthday” the day after our 3rd wedding anniversary. Well, if you didn’t know, the traditional 3rd anniversary gift is leather. Jason, instead of giving me a gift of leather (taking from the earth), made a donation to the National Park Foundation (gave to the earth)! How sweet!
Gestures like this are why Jason is my park inspiration.
2015: Civil War Trip (parks #29 through #39)
In 2015, we got to take a couple of exciting trips. My mom had recently returned from serving abroad in the Peace Corps and set up shop in Washington D.C. We planned a road trip to get a chance to spend a little time with her and turned it into a trip that included a lot of Civil War history.
- Booker T. Washington NM (Virginia)
- Appomattox Court House NHP (Virginia)
- Shenandoah NP (Virginia)
- Appalachian NST (via Virginia)
- Monocacy NB (Maryland)
- C&O Canal NHP (via Maryland)
- Harpers Ferry NHP (West Virginia)
- Antietam (Maryland)
- Eisenhower NHS (Pennsylvania)
- Gettysburg NMP (Pennsylvania)
We also took a beach vacation to Pensacola Beach which is very close to the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. We got to visit the fort ruins and see the Blue Angels practice in the distance. I simply loved chillaxing by the water!
- Gulf Islands National Seashore (Florida)
2014: Home Sweet Home (parks #24 through #28)
2014 was a pretty stable year. At the tail end of 2013, we bought our first home and coming off of a wedding / honeymoon the year before, we focused on defining our new routine together. We took a road trip around our home state of Ohio, and visited my family in Alabama on our way to some time in Florida.
- First Ladies NHS (Ohio)
- James A. Garfield NHS (Ohio)
- Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial (Ohio)
- Chickamagua and Chattanooga NMP (via Tennessee)
- Horseshoe Bend NMP (Alabama)
As a part of our Ohio trip, we also got to visit some affiliated sites in Ohio including the David Berger National Memorial and Fallen Timbers.
2013: We got Hitched! (parks #14 through #23)
We got married in 2013! As you might imagine, our honeymoon was designed as both a time of relaxation and as a park-hopping extravaganza! This was our big trip as we saved our money and time off of work for the wedding. We drove down the state of Florida to our relaxing Marco Island resort on the Gulf of Mexico, and meandered back home along the east coast of the state.
- Ocmulgee NHP (Georgia)
- Andersonville NHS (Georgia)
- Everglades NP (Florida)
- Big Cypress NPres (Florida)
- Biscayne NP (Florida)
- Fort Matanzas NM (Florida)
- Fort Caroline NMem (Florida)
- Timucuan HPres (Florida)
- Castillo de San Marcos NM (Florida)
- Fort Frederica NM (Georgia)
2012: Gone to Carolina in My Mind (parks #7 through #13)
In 2012, we were lucky to have been invited to vacation with my sister-in-law and her family to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. We ran out of space in the SE region of our original passport books and sprung for the Explorer Edition – BEST DECISION EVER (besides eventually getting married of course lol)! I had to cut out early for a work trip, but was so happy that I got to go down there and be there with the fam!
- Cape Hatteras NS (North Carolina)
- Fort Raleigh NHS (North Carolina)
- Wright Brothers NMem (North Carolina)
We also explored the Lowcountry which is one of my favorite regions! With this trip, we explored up the east coast from Savannah, GA through Hilton Head Island and Charleston, SC.
- Congaree NP (South Carolina)
- Fort Pulaski NM (Georgia)
- Charles Pinckney NHS (South Carolina)
- Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie NHP (South Carolina)
2011: The Year of Discovering the Parks (parks #1 through #6)
In 2011, we fell in love with our National Parks when we visited Great Smoky Mountain National Park together. We also found the National Park Passport program and became addicted to getting stamps (hence, we were nicknamed “stamp cramp”).
- Great Smoky Mountains NP (via Gatlinburg, Tennessee)
We quickly decided we wanted to see as many parks as we could and planned trips to other parks within driving distance. We lived in different cities then (both in Ohio) and were pretty early in our careers (so, not a lot of excess cash or vacation time). That being said, a lot of our planning landed us in places that we could drive to as day trips, sparing the cost of multi-night accommodation while adding to our NP passports.
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHP (Kentucky)
- Mammoth Cave NP (Kentucky)
- William Howard Taft NHS (Ohio)
- Hopewell Culture NHP (Ohio)
- Cuyahoga Valley NP (Ohio)
More National Park Trips Timelines to Love
If you enjoy this list, here are some other National Park Trips and travel timelines that you might want to check out as well. These folks have some great tips to share!
rscottjones.com – one of my favorites, this blogger has been to ALL of the NPS units and has completed quests beyond the 419 to include all of the Treasured Places in the US as well
parkchasers.com– these folks have been at it since 2010 and offer great insights on their park visits
