Alaska
- Not yet: Alagnak Wild River
- Not yet: Aniakchak National Monument
- Not yet: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
- Not yet: Cape Krusenstern National Monument
- Visited: Denali National Park
- Visited: Gates of the Arctic National Park
- Visited: Glacier Bay National Park
- Not yet: Katmai National Park
- Visited: Kenai Fjords National Park
- Visited: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Not yet: Kobuk Valley National Park
- Not yet: Lake Clark National Park
- Not yet: Noatak National Preserve
- Visited: Sitka National Historical Park
- Visited: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
- Not yet: Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
Idaho
- Visited: City of Rocks National Reserve
- Visited: Craters of the Moon National Monument
- Visited: Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
- Visited: Minidoka National Historic Site
- Visited: Nez Perce National Historical Park
Oregon
- Visited: Crater Lake National Park
- Visited: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
- Visited: Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
- Visited: Oregon Caves National Monumen
Washington
- Visited: Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve
- Visited: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
- Visited: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Not yet: Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
- Not yet: Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
- Not yet: Manhattan Project National Historical Park
- Visited: Mount Rainier National Park
- Visited: North Cascades National Park
- Visited: Olympic National Park
- Not yet: Ross Lake National Recreation Area
- Visited: San Juan Island National Historical Park
- Visited: Whitman Mission National Historic Site
Recent Posts
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
While visiting Fairbanks, I received the National Park Passport stamp for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center. I did not travel into the park itself, but the exhibits, photographs and information in Fairbanks introduced me to a place so remote that learning about it became an […]
Nez Perce National Historical Park
For at least 11,000 years, the valleys, prairies, mountains and plateaus of the Inland Northwest have been home to the Nimiipuu, meaning “the people”. Their lives were shaped by the region’s rivers, abundant salmon, mountain forests and open grasslands. They traveled widely along the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia rivers to hunt, fish, gather roots and […]
Minidoka National Historic Site
After touring Manzanar in California in 2012, I visited Minidoka in Idaho in 2014. At that time, Minidoka was not as organized or extensively interpreted as Manzanar. There were fewer restored structures, and much of the former camp had disappeared into the surrounding agricultural landscape. That emptiness, however, was part of the experience. It demonstrated […]
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver was once the administrative headquarters and principal supply depot for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s vast Columbia Department. From this location on the north bank of the Columbia River, the company directed an enormous fur-trading network that stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific and from Russian Alaska south toward California and Hawaii. […]
Whitman Mission National Historic Site
I had known the story of Narcissa Whitman long before I visited this site. I remember reading about her to my daughters when they were growing up—the young missionary who crossed the continent with her husband, Marcus, in 1836 to establish a mission among the Cayuse people in what was the Oregon Country. Visiting Whitman […]
City of Rocks National Reserve
City of Rocks National Reserve in southern Idaho preserves a landscape of enormous granite formations, towering spires, narrow passages, and weathered rock walls that seem to rise unexpectedly from the surrounding countryside. The unusual formations inspired the name “City of Rocks,” because early travelers thought the rocks resembled the ruins of an ancient stone city. […]
Kenai Fjords National Park
Sweeping from a rugged coastline to glacier-crowned mountains, Kenai Fjords National Park encompasses more than 600,000 acres of wilderness on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. During our stay in Seward, we had the opportunity to experience this enormous landscape in two very different ways both from the water and from the land. Our first experience was a […]
Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve
Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve on Whidbey Island preserves a landscape where the history of the Pacific Northwest can still be seen in the land itself. Open fields stretch toward Puget Sound, historic farm buildings remain part of the countryside, and forests and shoreline surround communities whose stories reach back generations. In 1792, Captain George […]
San Juan Island National Historical Park
San Juan Island National Historical Park in Friday Harbor, Washington, preserves one of the most unusual stories in American history. Established as a National Historical Park in 1966, the park commemorates the peaceful resolution of a boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain that became known as the “Pig War.” Reaching San Juan Island […]
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
A few hours before we flew home from teaching in Oregon, we took a road trip to Fort Clatsop, part of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. What began as a simple side trip became one of those memorable moments where history suddenly feels very real. Standing at the place where the Lewis and Clark Expedition […]
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve was part of our 2014 trip to Alaska. We drove into the Wrangell area, and what I most remember is the vast and distant everything felt. This is not an easy part to access. Roads are limited and distances are long. Most of the park is still reached by small […]
North Cascades National Park
North Cascades National Park came into my travels during a visit to Seattle, where Marty was recording techniques classes. With a few hours to myself, I decided to make the drive, about three hours from the city, and what I found felt like stepping into another world They call this region the “North American Alps,” and […]
