AMflier

Hence the bump. It's a fun thread. We just got back from Mesa Verde > Lake Powell > Zion. It was a great trip.

Blind and Green

bitterproffit

I am planning a spring break trip to Guadalupe Mountains NP and Carlsbad Caverns NP. Also White Sands National Monument.

Summer plans include Wind Cave and Badlands as well as Mt Rushmore National Memorial

I have been to a few National Parks but need to see a lot more.

I grew up pretty near Everglades NP so we went there a lot as a kid.

My most visited is Joshua Tree. I absolutely love that place and have been several times. It is a magical place.

My most remote National Park visit was Isle Royale NP in Michigan. We took a float plane from Hancock MI to the Island. We stayed in the cabins. It was very interesting. The location isolated at the top of Lake Superior was very unique and there is hardly anyone there. If you ever go, take the sunset cruise. It sounded kind of lame, but turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip watching the sunset over the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park and Thunder Bay ON.

Bike Riding in Cuyahoga Valley NP is fun. You can ride along the old Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath for miles and then take the scenic train back after hitting some of the taverns.

Some of my favorite trips have been to the less popular National Parks. I am always game for a trip to a new one.

Kamalaasaa

AMflier

I couple of quick M.V. tips:
Go to both Mesas if you can. Weatherill Mesa is much lower key but they close it in the winter. Step House is the only site that you can get into without a tour assuming that Spruce House is still closed.

Take the tours. You really can't see much without them.
They overemphasize the exertion required on the tours, but not by much. When they say that you must climb a 32' ladder, you will. My acrophobic son was okay with the climbs.

The Recreation.gov tours are worth the premium paid: Smaller groups, more time at the site, sites that aren't accessible otherwise. We went on the Square Tower tour. They only went out 3 times a week at 9:30am with 12 people. It was really up close and personal.

The Recreation.gov tours sell out quickly. Our party was 4 people, In May I could only get 2 August tickets for the Mug House and 4 tickets for Square Tower. Everything else was sold out. I returned the Mug house tickets a couple of days before the scheduled tour.

The tours sold at the visitor center are also in worthwhile but more assembly line. We did Long House and Balcony House. By the end of the third tour, we could pretty much recite the speech with the rangers.

Finally, Enjoy!

Blind and Green

Thank you for the Mesa Verde tips. I hadn't looked closely at their website. It looks like all the tours will cease by the time we go in December (though the visitor center and museum will be open).

We would adjust the dates, but the focus of the trip is the Durango railroad to cut down a Christmas tree. Perhaps we'll adjust the Mesa Verde portion of the trip until next spring/summer.

CMK10

National Parks:
Bryce Canyon
Capital Reef
Grand Canyon
Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Hawaii Volcanoes
Saguaro
Wind Cave
Zion

National Monuments:
Canyon de Chelly
Casa Grande
Castle Clinton
Fort Pulaski
Organ Pipe
Statue of Liberty
Tonto
Walnut Canyon

Casa Grande NM was really disappointing and can be skipped.

Blind and Green

2018 Roll-up:

This year, we hit Bent's Fort, Rocky Mountain, Gateway Arch, Boston, Weir Farm, Great Sand Dunes, and Aztec Ruins. We were slated to hit five more (the parks/sites along I-40 in AZ and NM, but the shutdown forced us to keep going.

As our kids are getting a little older/better at traveling, we should be able to hit quite a few in 2019!

CMK10

National Parks:
Bryce Canyon
Capital Reef
Grand Canyon
Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Hawaii Volcanoes
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Petrified Forest
Olympic
Saguaro
Wind Cave
Zion

National Monuments:
Canyon de Chelly
Casa Grande
Castle Clinton
Fort Pulaski
Organ Pipe
Statue of Liberty
Tonto
Walnut Canyon

Four new NPs in 2018, we'll see how many I can visit this year.

tmiw

Ones I've visited:

Joshua Tree
Grand Canyon
Yellowstone
Grand Teton
Yosemite

I want to visit Glacier at some point too, but not sure when.

TimDP

National Parks:
Grand Canyon
Death Valley
Joshua Tree
Sequoia
Yosemite
Rocky Mountain
Badlands
Arches
Bryce Canyon
Zion
Capitol Reef
Canyonlands
Grand Teton
Yellowstone

National Monuments:
Montezuma Castle
Vermillion Cliffs
Statue of Liberty
Grand Staircase Escalante

AMflier

Another Bump and another updated list:
National Parks

Acadia
Arches
Big Bend
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Everglades
Gateway Arch
Grand Canyon
Great Smokey Mountains
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainier
Olympic
Redwoods
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion

National Monuments

African Burial Ground
Castle Clinton
Governors Island
Statue of Liberty

National Historical Parks

Boston NHP
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal NHP
Colonial NHP
First State NHP
Harpers Ferry NHP
Independence NHP
San Francisco Maritime NHP
Saratoga NHP
Valley Forge NHP

National Historic Sites

Edgar Allen Poe NHS
Eisenhower NHS
Gloria Dei Church NHS
Hoover Dam NHS
Hopewell Furnace NHS
Jamestown NHS
San Juan NHS
Steamtown NHS

National Military Parks

Gettysburg

National Memorials

Benjamin Franklin NM
General Grant NM
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Johnstown Flood NM
Lincoln Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington Monument
World War I Memorial
World War II Memorial
Wright Brothers NM

National Recreation Areas

Delaware Water Gap NRA
Gateway NRA
Glen Canyon NRA
Golden Gate NRA
Lake Mead NRA
Lake Powell NRA
Santa Monica Mountains NRA

National Seashores

Assateague Island NS
Cape Cod NS
Cape Hatteras
Cape Lookout NS

National Rivers

Great Egg Harbor
Middle Delaware
New River Gorge
Rio Grande
Upper Delaware

Misc.

Appalachian Trail
Baltimore Washington Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway
Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor
Foothills Parkway
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
National Capitol Parks
National Mall
New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail
NJ Pinelands National Reserve
Potomac Heritage Trail
Rock Creek & Potomac Parkway
White House
Wolf Trap

bitterproffit

CMK10

National Parks:
Acadia
Biscayne
Bryce Canyon
Capital Reef
Grand Canyon
Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Hawaii Volcanoes
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Petrified Forest
Olympic
Saguaro
Wind Cave
Zion

National Monuments:
Canyon de Chelly
Casa Grande
Castle Clinton
Fort Pulaski
Organ Pipe
Statue of Liberty
Tonto
Walnut Canyon

I've added a couple NPs this year so far