My National Parks Checklist

One of my big grand adventure goals is to visit all 62 U.S. National Parks! I plan to use this National Parks Checklist to keep track of all the parks I’ve been to.

Defining My Goal

When I say “visit”, I mean really visit — not just pass through.

There are several parks on this list that I’ve actually “visited” by passing through them or stopping in for a few minutes, but I am not crossing those off the list.

I am only crossing a park off this National Parks Checklist if I feel I have fully experienced the park as best I can.

There are definitely some on this list that I’ve visited quickly in a day or two (back when I was first starting out with this lofty goal and didn’t quite realize how I wanted to experience the parks yet). But even then, I at least tried to experience each major part of the park and do at least one day hike.

On my very first road trip to see my first set of National Parks with my sister back in 2014, we saw almost 10 parks in two weeks. We started in Texas and took an epic road trip up to Montana.

While it was fun, I do not recommend seeing that many parks in such a short amount of time!

How We Experience the National Parks

The National Parks are full of vast wilderness and wonder. You could go back to the same park dozens of times and experience something new!

Everyone will experience a park completely differently and I believe the parks are for people of all walks of life and hobbies. However you choose to enjoy a park, I definitely recommend taking your time and really being present in the moment to fully experience it.

Since I’ve become such an avid backpacker over the years, my personally preferred way to take in the parks is by spending at least 4-5 days or a week hiking a long backcountry trail — so that I can experience the wildest, most untouched parts of each park!

Note: While I don’t count the Gateway Arch, because I will still never fully understand why that is considered a National Park and not a National Monument, you will see it listed here since it’s an official park. Clearly, I haven’t hiked that park, since it isn’t hikable. 😉

My National Parks Checklist

Current Count: 25 National Parks Visited So Far

1. Acadia National Park, Maine
2. Arches National Park, Utah
3. Badlands National Park, South Dakota
4. Big Bend National Park, Texas
5. Biscayne National Park, Florida
6. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
7. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
8. Canyonlands National Park, Utah
9. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
10. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
11. Channel Islands National Park, California
12. Congaree National Park, South Carolina
13. Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
14. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
15. Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada
16. Denali National Park, Alaska
17. Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
18. Everglades National Park, Florida
19. Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska
20. Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri and Illinois
21. Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
22. Glacier National Park, Montana
23. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
24. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
25. Great Basin National Park, Nevada
26. Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
27. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
28. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
29. Haleakalā National Park, Hawaii
30. Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park,
31. Hawaii Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
32. Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana
33. Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
34. Joshua Tree National Park, California
35. Katmai National Park, Alaska
36. Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
37. Kings Canyon National Park, California
38. Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
39. Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
40. Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
41. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
42. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
43. Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
44. National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa
45. North Cascades National Park, Washington
46. Olympic National Park, Washington
47. Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
48. Pinnacles National Park, California
49. Redwood National Park, California
50. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
51. Saguaro National Park, Arizona
52. Sequoia National Park, California
53. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
54. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
55. Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands
56. Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
57. White Sands National Park, New Mexico
58. Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
59. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
60. Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming
61. Yosemite National Park, California
62. Zion National Park, Utah