On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law. This protection act made Yellowstone the world’s first national park. Since 1872, 63 parks in all 50 states have been designated as national parks. In total, the National Park Service (NPS) manages 433 individual sites which cover more than 85 million acres of land in the United States.

Arizona

The Petrified Forest (Holbrook) was declared one of the nation’s first national monuments in the U.S. in 1906. It received park status in 1962. The Petrified Forest encompasses 218,533 acres. It is best known for its Triassic fossils and wildlife. The Rainbow Forest is full of colorful petrified wood. It’s home to the Rainbow Forest Museum, with its paleontology exhibits and many trail access points. In the park’s center are the petroglyphs of Newspaper Rock and the ruined village of Puerco Pueblo. To the north, the Painted Desert Inn, a 1930s adobe building, is a museum with Hopi murals. There is a very nice driving loop that allows you to see all of the different geology.

Our Impressions: This was a very unique NP! Everywhere you look, hike and drive there is petrified wood just laying around. If you are looking to bring some home from the NP, DON’T! There are many shops (including at the south entrance) that have legal pieces of petrified wood to bring home!

Florida

Biscayne National Park (Homestead) was authorized as Biscayne National Monument in 1968 (with a boundary change in 1974) and became a national park in 1980. It comprises 172,971 acres in Miami-Dade County in southeast Florida. Ninety-five percent of the park is water. There is an extensive mangrove forest on the shores of the bay.
The offshore portion of Biscayne NP includes the northernmost region of the Florida Reef, one of the largest coral reefs in the world. There are four distinct ecosystems: the mangroves, the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay, the coral limestone keys, and the offshore Florida Reef.

Our Impressions: Biscayne NP and Everglades NP are both at the southern edge of the mainland in Florida, but they are very different parks. Biscayne is mostly covered by water; there really isn’t much to do on the land. The scenery is beautiful, but if you are an active person, go to the Everglades.

Everglades National Park (Homestead) was first protected by Congress in 1934 when it passed the Everglades Act. It became a national park on December 6, 1947.
The Everglades spans across three parks and has a total of 1.5 million acres in southern Florida. Everglades National Park protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. It is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River.

Our Impressions: If you want to experience swamps and wildlife, this is the park to go to. We were able to get very up close and personal with many alligators! And be sure to take an airboat tour. This place is amazing for birding!

Louisiana

Jean Lafitte National Park and Historic Preserve (New Orleans) was named for the French pirate Jean Lafitte and authorized by Congress on November 10, 1978. There are 6 separate sites that encompass the NP. You can visit the downtown location, or you can explore the five other sites including swamps, marshes, bayous, alligators, and birds. In total, there are 25,876 acres of federal land and another 26,000 acres of wetlands to the park and the preserve. This NP protects the natural and cultural resources of Louisiana’s Mississippi River Delta region.

Our Impressions: The visitor’s center is easily accessible to anyone exploring downtown New Orleans. But the visitor’s center will really not help you appreciate the sights and smells of the swamps and bayous! Hearing the alligators jump into the water when you didn’t even know they were near you (!!!) is something to be experienced!

South Dakota

The Badlands (Rapid City) is located in southwestern South Dakota. It was designated as a national monument in 1939 and then redesignated as a national park in 1978. It consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires surrounded by a mixed-grass prairie ecosystem. The park’s name comes from the Lakota words mako sica, which mean “bad lands”. The area is known for its eroded landscape of buttes, gullies, and saw-toothed divides. The Badlands were created by cloudbursts that carved deep gullies into poorly cemented bedrock. There are two entrances to the Badlands, the north and the south entrances. The loop road connects both.

Our Impressions: This is one of those places that is so vast and so amazing that words do not do it justice. I had researched online and asked many people, “When you are driving west from Sioux Falls, SD, how will you know when you are in the Badlands?” Everything I read, and everyone I talked to, said the same thing, “You will know it when you see it.” I just scratched my head. They were right. When we came over a small rise in the road, there it was!!!!!! The topography changed that quickly and that much. Get off the interstate and drive through the Badlands. You won’t be sorry.

Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park (Moose) was originally called the Jackson Hole National Monument. In 1949, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated 35,000 acres to the monument. In 1950 Congress established Grand Teton National Park. It covers 310,044 acres, or 484 square miles. The park is home to a variety of large mammals, including moose, black bears, grizzly bears, pronghorn, elk, gray wolves, coyotes, and bison, and some of the most spectacular scenery in the country.

Our Impressions: This is a very nice park with space to spread out. We almost were silly enough to pass by this NP to be able to spend more time in Yellowstone. It would have been such a mistake!!! They are two entirely different parks. In terms of scenery, Grand Teton NP can’t be rivaled. Seeing the twin mountains reflected on the water is more spectacular in person than any picture could ever portray. We had always thought the T.A. Moulton barn was just a great photo op. But it isn’t until you are there and seeing it in person that you realize the roof of the barn is in perfect symmetry with the mountains behind it. Who knew?

Summary

In all of our travels, we have only visited about one third of the 63 National Parks!! We have many more to go! What have been our favorites? Acadia National Park, Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

If you enjoyed this blog on national parks, please also check out our blog on national monuments, national historic sites and national historic trails!

Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads

It’s a lifestyle

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