New River Gorge National Park

New River Gorge National Park

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The newest National Park, New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, was fantastic! I definitely see this park becoming very populated, more than it already is. It’s been an adventure (white water rafting and rock climbing primarily) destination for a long time now, but with it’s upgraded designation from National River to NP, I anticipate that the nearby towns will soon become a bit more touristy and kitschy, like Gatlinburg at the Smoky Mountains.  Mike and I visited this park…

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Dry Tortugas National Park

Dry Tortugas National Park

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Ah, Dry Tortugas National Park. Such a great park to reminisce about, especially as I’m looking at the snow. Dry Tortugas is one of the most remote national parks and the least visited, due to its limited accessibility. It is located 68 miles off of Key West in Florida and consists of seven little islands. It takes about 2.5 hours by ferry to get to the park. During our first round through the south while we were living in the…

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Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs National Park

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Our next park on the trip was Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. It believe it’s one of the most northern parks in the lower 48, and shamefully, it’s one of the least visited. This park is 40% water and comprised of four main lakes; Rainy, Kabetogama, Namakan, and Sand Point. This park shares some of their waters with Canada, and was a prominent international trade route. While there is plenty for everyone at this park, most of this park…

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Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park

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Oh, Indiana Dunes! One of the newest National Parks, but has been a long time National Lakeshore. I had many camping trips here as a child with my family, and I have such fond memories. Fun fact, when I was young, I had forgotten the name of the park and called it Indiana Jones park and my family had a field day with that.  My cousin Lauren and I chased the waves and shrieked with joy when they would “get”…

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Gateway Arch National Park

Gateway Arch National Park

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Mike and I quickly drove through St. Louis to hit up (at the time) the newest National Park; Gateway Arch. To be frank, I was less than enthused. I had been there as a child, and it’s definitely worth a visit. But it is NOT a National Park. It should have remained a National Monument. This is heresy of course, but when I asked why to a Ranger while I was visiting, he said that with the new designation, there…

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Great Basin National Park

Great Basin National Park

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After visiting Death Valley National Park, we did a bit of a 180 in landscape and visited Great Basin National Park in northeast Nevada. While both parks have incredible valleys, peaks, and colors, Great Basin is lush with lakes and caves and some of the oldest trees on our planet!  This park is severely underrated. Before this trip, if I was to name National Parks off the top of my head, Great Basin would have been on the bottom of…

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Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park

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After Petrified Forest, we headed west again to visit Death Valley National Park and enter the park through it’s southeast entrance. Death Valley is well known as the hottest, driest, and lowest National Park. Driving north through the park, on it’s main road; Badwater Road, we drove slowly through the mountains and was in awe of the colors we were passing which is aptly named Amargosa Chaos. We stopped at some of the overlooks and perused the ruins of Ashford…

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Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park

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The day after our visit to Saguaro National Park, we headed just four hours north to Petrified Forest National Park! While the Grand Canyon is by far the most well known National Park in Arizona (and the whole country), this park is severely underrated. While you can’t argue with the breathtaking and inspiring beauty of the vast Grand Canyon, my experience there also made me feel small and question our existence. Petrified Forest, on the other hand, put a spotlight on…

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Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park

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The southwest desert is hot, ya’ll! Especially when you’re silly like us and visit in the hottest time of the year. After visiting Joshua Tree in California, the lovely Saguaro National Park is just a hop skip over the border into Arizona! On the way there, we stopped and visited some friends from the Midwest who happened to be down in Phoenix that weekend! Morgan and Jim, a million thanks for swooping in with the most delightful company (and AC…

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Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

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I’ve said it before, and probably/definitely will say it for every Cali park post…. Californians are SO lucky to have so many amazing places to visit. After we left Channel Islands (and picked up adventure pup from his amazing Rover doggy day care!), we headed over to Joshua Tree National Park – just a mere 3.5 hours away.  We entered through the North West station to grab my booklet, talk to the rangers, and make a game plan. I don’t…

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