National Parks Checklist
Posted this list originally in 2009 here and then updated it later that year here. But this version is better. Several of these parks were visited as part of my 2009 48-state road trip.
Visited: 42 of 58*.
It isn’t really a list on which I need to check off everything. OTOH, it is a list.
Acadia
Visited on the ’09 48-state road trip.
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American Samoa NP
Not visited.
Arches
Visited in ’95, ’96, and ’21 (I swear I have photos somewhere).
Badlands
Visited as part of the April 2017 South Dakota Spring.
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Big Bend
Visited on the ’09 road trip (Big Bend River Zone, Desert Zone) .
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Biscayne
Not visited.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
2016 during the 6-state road trip.
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Bryce Canyon
Thrice: once in ’02, again in ’10, then again in ’19.
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Canyonlands
Visited during Lehi days (’04) and with the ex and others in ’21.
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Capitol Reef
Visited on the road trip in 2009.
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Carlsbad Caverns
Twice. Once on the 48-stater in ’09, again on the nephew trip in ’14.
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Channel Islands
Not visited.
Congaree
Visited on the ’09 48-state trip.
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Crater Lake
Visited on the road trip in ’09.
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Cuyahoga
Visited, technically, on the ’09 road trip.
Death Valley
Visited in ’08.
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Denali
Not visited.
Dry Tortugas
Not visited.
Everglades
Visited in June 2023. Photos forthcoming maybe.
Gates of the Arctic
Not visited.
Glacier
Glacier Bay
Not visited.
Grand Canyon
Twice: once in ’95, once later in ’98.
Grand Teton
Three times (’96, ’09 road trip, ’14). But not a favorite.
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Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Visited on the nephew trip in ’14.
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Great Smoky Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Visited on the road trip in ’09.
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Haleakala
Visited in ’10.
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Hawaii Volcanoes
Not visited.
Hot Springs
Visited on the 2009 road trip; ate lunch.
Isle Royale
Not visited.
Joshua Tree
Twice: once in ’01, again in ’02.
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Katmai
Not visited.
Kenai Fjords
Not visited.
Kings Canyon
Visited in ’09 as road trip preparation.
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Kobuk Valley
Not visited.
Lake Clark
Not visited.
Lassen Volcanic
Visited on the ’09 road trip (Bumpass Hell, Mt. Lassen Summit).
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Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde
Visited twice: once in ’96, once on the move from Oklahoma to NoUT in ’17.
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Mt. Rainier
Most recently visited in ’07, on the road trip in ’09, and in ’10. (Also, apparently, ’73.)
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North Cascades
Visited in ’86.
Olympic
Several times. As an adult and in memory: ’95, ’09 road trip (here and here), ’10, ’16, ’21, and ’22.
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Redwood
Visited in ’09 as part of the road trip cool-down and in ’22 on the way from Seattle back to the UT.
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Rocky Mountain
Visited in ’14.
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Saguaro
Visited Christmas 2016.
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Sequoia
Visited on the ’09 road trip warmup.
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Shenandoah
Visited on the road trip in ’09. Not great.
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Theodore Roosevelt
Visited on the road trip in ’09.
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Virgin Islands NP
Not visited.
Voyageurs
Not visited.
Wind Cave
Visited on the road trip.
Wrangell-St. Elias
Not visited.
Yellowstone
Four times: ’73, [80’s?], the ’09 road trip, and sitting in traffic in ’14. They’re JUST BUFFALO.
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Yosemite
Zion
Five times for some reason: ’05, ’06, the six-state road trip in 2016, and the Narrows in 2017 and 2018.
    
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* = 58 as of 2010. For parks designated after 2010… look, Cuyahoga is already on this list and it’s not exactly Yellowstone. Congaree is nice, but calling it an NP is a stretch. In other words, I don’t think we’re really killing it here in the 21st century. Thus, I feel like I have the right to determine which newly designated parks I personally recognize as Actual National Parks. Pinnacles? Bah.