By traveler 
Those who follow this blog know I have been systematically (or not so systematically) visiting the national parks here in the United States. So far, I’ve now gotten 37 done. They are:
| Acadia – Maine American Samoa – American Samoa Arches (Post) Badlands (Post) Big Bend – Texas Biscayne (Post) Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Post) Bryce Canyon (Post) Canyonlands (Post) Capitol Reef (Post) Carlsbad Caverns – New Mexico Channel Islands – California Congaree (Post) Crater Lake – Oregon Cuyahoga Valley (Post) Death Valley (Post) Denali – Alaska Dry Tortugas (Post) Everglades (Post) Gates of the Arctic – Alaska Gateway Arch (Post) |
Glacier (Post) Glacier Bay – Alaska Grand Canyon (Post) Grand Teton (Post) Great Basin – Nevada Great Sand Dunes (Post) Great Smoky Mountains (Post) Guadalupe Mt. – Texas Haleakalā – Hawaiʻi Hawaiʻi Volcanoes – Hawaiʻi Hot Springs (Post) Indiana Dunes (Post) Isle Royale (Post) Joshua Tree(Post) Katmai – Alaska Kenai Fjords – Alaska Kings Canyon – California Kobuk Valley – Alaska Lake Clark – Alaska Lassen Volcanic – California Mammoth Cave (Post) |
Mesa Verde (Post) Mount Rainier (Post) New River Gorge (Post) North Cascades (Post) Olympic (Post) Petrified Forest – Arizona Pinnacles – California Redwood (Post) Rocky Mountain (Post) Saguaro – Arizona Sequoia – California Shenandoah (Post) Theodore Roosevelt (Post) Virgin Islands – US Virgin Islands Voyageurs (Post) White Sands – New Mexico Wind Cave (Post) Wrangell-St. Elias – Alaska Yellowstone (Post) Yosemite (Post) Zion (Post) |
Trippin’ Plan
The plan I outlined in my post in October suggested a pretty straightforward drive to seven national parks in the Southwestern U.S. That was an ambitious, 6400-mile drive that would take me through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. Since then, however, I realized that the trip could present me with the opportunity to expand my options and only add about 800 miles to my itinerary.
First would be a stop in Nashville since the route to Texas would take me through the Music City again. This time, I want to allow time for a city tour of the musical sites. From there, I could head south to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the world’s longest bridge. This also allows me to cross into Texas via Houston, and its Space Center (I visited Kennedy Space Flight Center in the 1990s), then The Alamo in San Antonio, before beginning the national parks stops with the two parks (Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains) in Texas.
Next are the New Mexico parks (Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands), then Saguaro and Petrified Forest in Arizona. I would likely then make a second stop to the Grand Canyon’s Skywalk, where I hope that they will have someone take a picture since they didn’t allow photography during my first aborted visit. After Great Basin NP, I’d like to slip up to the Bonneville Salt Flats and give the Silver Bullet a try to see how fast we can go (my previous car, the Red Barron, made it to 103 miles per hour before I decided not to push her further when we visited in 2014). I sincerely hope the stop will be less eventful and not require the assistance of the region’s sheriff’s department.
The proposed return would allow me another visit to Zion NP, this time with the assistance of the Shaka Guide in the hope that I will have time to see more of the park than my Momma and I did in 2013. Then I want to add three scenic roads, Monument Valley, Utah, the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, and Oklahoma’s Talimena National Scenic Byway. This would lead to my final stopover in Memphis, where I hope to get in another tour–I did one on a previous trip that featured Elvis Presley’s Graceland–that focuses on the musical scene.
Anyway, the map with the proposed stops is below:
A Question of Timing
Most of what I have in mind can be done any time of year, but I would like to go when the weather is suitable for me and when the crowds are lower. One event I could plan around is the world’s largest balloon event at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, scheduled for October 3-11, 2026. I had a great time at the first balloon show, the National Balloon Classic in Indianola, Iowa, I attended.
This optional timing would also likely mean I would be on the road on my birthday, but that shouldn’t be a problem, plus classes should be in session. It would also be convenient because the proposed route already takes me through Albuquerque. Hmmm….
If I do wait until then, I am sure that shorter trips will be considered just to get me out of town for a while. Acadia NP would be possible, too, and I would have the opportunity to explore the DMV-plus area further. I also heard that the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago is nearing its opening in Spring 2026, so a trip there once the expected crowds thin somewhat would be required.
Let the planning commence!
Update: December 9
Yes, that’s 24 hours after I originally added this blog post, and I’ve already changed plans! This happened after I had Mapquest reorganize the stops to reduce travel time after I noticed how close I would come to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama (the site didn’t open until nearly two years after my visit to Montgomery in 2016). The first obvious difference was the eastern part of the route had changed to an extended drive on I-85, with both Nashville and Memphis added to the return trip.
Then, I saw that the adjusted map would bring me close enough to Rocky Mountain NP to present the opportunity to give it a more extensive tour than Momma and I had when we visited the park in June, 2013 (plus, if I make the trip in October, maybe there’s the chance for a fall view–then again, considering that the picture above was taken in June, it might make no difference). Lastly, while I officially entered Joshua Tree NP, I really didn’t experience the park. It’s closer to add to this trip than to my projected trip of the California NPs that’s on my wishlist for 2029 (right now, two cruises are in the works for 2027 and 2028 (Alaska, at last!). Then, while I got quite a bit from my visit to Death Valley NP, I missed the turn to the site where Star Wars was filmed, so, why not?!?
Other than re-ordering some of the parks on my list–I think I’m going to change the Carlsbad-Guadalupe Mountains-White Sands order back to avoid driving to Juarez–the map looks workable:
The downsides: I’ve now pushed the trip length to over 8,000 miles, crossing 18 states! And, while gas tends to be cheaper in the Southwest, no telling where the economy will stand by then. Well, we’ve got time to tweak things some.
Finally, a little old business. First, related to this proposed trip, I ordered and received a new hat that I’ve had on my bucket list for years since my first visit to Wall Drug in 2017. The Stetson hat looks like the one that drew my attention even back then. I’m looking forward to putting it to good use during this trip.
Secondly, I updated the United States map hanging in my office to include my most recent trip to Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The green pins mark my stops to Staunton, Winston-Salem, Asheville, the Smoky Mountains NP, and Nashville (I couldn’t think of a way to pin the Blue Ridge Parkway, though). The second map is a full view of the map based on my Singin1 travels. Both are in a slideshow below (click to go from one to the other):
Projecting the West Coast National Parks
At present, I am missing seven California and one Oregon national parks. I plotted the map–Yosemite is included because it’s my favorite park, and I’d love to visit it again–just out of curiosity about what would be involved. The cost and additional travel time make adding them to the Southwest trip unlikely at this time.
I’m hoping that I can either fly or take a train west, then use a rental car to make the drive. This would be less expensive and place less wear and tear on me.
Let’s see how feasible that plan becomes over time.
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