One of my personal travel goals is to visit all of the U.S. National Parks.  If you’re looking for somewhere to go within the United States, you really can’t go wrong with a National Park (or more than one)!  

I’ve been blessed to visit 29 of our 61 National Parks already – some during childhood trips with my family, and others more recently while completing another goal of visiting all 50 states.   

Below, I’ve listed the parks in reverse order of my visits (to best of my ability to determine years from family recollection and photos).  I’ve been to almost half the parks, but it still leaves a daunting number of 32 parks unseen (and 7 of those are in Alaska).  Limiting the goal to the “contiguous U.S.” makes it much more attainable, although I’d love to eventually see all of them! 

Excluding American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Alaskan parks other than Denali, and Haleakala in Hawaii, would leave 22 more accessible parks yet to be visited.  Some of them are even within a reasonable driving distance from Kentucky, so it just means finding the right time to go.

I didn’t start thinking about this as a serious goal until the last few years, and I kick myself looking back at some of the parks I’ve been close to but didn’t see.  (Like, why didn’t we go to Wind Cave while we were in South Dakota?!?)  As you can see from the list, the last few years have included some great parks.  If all goes according to plan, I’ll be able to add Pinnacles & Joshua Tree to the list in a few weeks!

2018:  Dry Tortugas (26), Great Sand Dunes (27), Black Canyon of the Gunnison (28), Rocky Mountain (29)

2017:  Olympic (24), Mount Rainier (25)

2016:  Acadia (22), Death Valley (23)

2014: Cuyahoga Valley (16), Zion (17), Bryce Canyon (18), Capitol Reef (19), Arches (20), Mesa Verde (21)

2008:  Badlands (11), Theodore Roosevelt (12), Glacier (13), Grand Tetons (14), Yellowstone (15)

2006:  Yosemite (8), Sequoia (9), Kings Canyon (10)

2002:  Hawaii Volcanoes (7)

1999:  Denali (6)

1994:  Shenandoah (5)

1991:  Mammoth Cave (4)

1990:  Grand Canyon (2), Petrified Forest (3)

1985-ish:  Great Smoky Mountains (1)