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. And Acadia NP would be possible, too.
Let the planning commence!
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