Western Region
American Samoa, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, and Nevada.
American Samoa
- Not yet: National Park of American Samoa
Arizona
- Visited: Canyon de Chelly National Monument
- Not yet: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
- Visited: Chiricahua National Monument
- Visited: Coronado National Memorial
- Visited: Fort Bowie National Historic Site
- Not yet: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
- Visited: Grand Canyon National Park
- Not yet: Hohokam Pima National Monument
- Visited: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
- Not yet: Montezuma Castle National Monument
- Visited: Navajo National Monument
- Visited: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
- Not yet: Petrified Forest National Park
- Visited: Pipe Spring National Monument
- Not yet: Saguaro National Park
- Not yet: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
- Visited: Tonto National Monument
- Not yet: Tumacacori National Historical Park
- Visited: Tuzigoot National Monument
- Not yet: Walnut Canyon National Monument
- Not yet: Wupatki National Monument
California
- Not yet: Cabrillo National Monument
- Not yet: Castle Mountains National Monument
- Visited: César E. Chávez National Monument
- Not yet: Channel Islands National Park
- Visited: Death Valley National Park
- Not yet: Devils Postpile National Monument
- Not yet: Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site
- Visited: Fort Point National Historic Site
- Visited: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- Visited: John Muir National Historic Site
- Not yet: Joshua Tree National Park
- Not yet: Kings Canyon National Park
- Not yet: Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Not yet: Lava Beds National Monument
- Visited: Manzanar National Historic Site
- Visited: Mojave National Preserve
- Visited: Muir Woods National Monument
- Visited: Pinnacles National Park
- Visited: Point Reyes National Seashore
- Not yet: Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
- Not yet: Redwood National and State Parks
- Visited: The Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park
- Visited: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
- Visited: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
- Visited: Sequoia National Park
- Visited: Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
- Visited: Yosemite National Park
Guam
- Not yet: War in the Pacific National Historical Park
Hawaii
- Not yet: Haleakalā National Park
- Visited: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
- Not yet: Honouliuli National Historic Site
- Visited: Kalaupapa National Historical Park
- Visited: Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
- Visited: Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park
- Not yet: Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site
- Not yet: World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
- Visited: Pearl Harbor National Memorial
Nevada
- Visited: Great Basin National Park
- Visited: Lake Mead National Recreation Area
- Visited: Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
- Visited: Death Valley National Park
Recent Posts
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
Standing at Pearl Harbor is unlike almost any other historic site in America. The harbor is beautiful but beneath those waters rests on of the defining moments of the twentieth century. I remember how history suddenly feels very personal here. ON the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked the United States Pacific Fleet stationed at Pearl […]
Sequoia National Park
On one of our road trips through California, we stopped at Sequoia National Park to see the General Sherman Tree. Once we discovered the beauty of our national parks, we would seek them out and add these sites to our family travels. They often became the reason we would travel to a particular area, shaping our […]
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is in California, close to one of the largest cities in the country. The landscape is of rolling hills, rugged mountains and open meadows dotted with coast live oaks. It feels remote, and yet just beyond these hills lies Los Angeles. Long before it became protected land, this land was […]
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is one of those places that redefines what we think of as a national park. Set within and around San Francisco, it blends natural beauty, history and iconic landmarks into one expansive experience. The park is woven into the fabric of San Francisco and its recreation area stretches across […]
Coronado National Memorial
Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first major Spanish exploration into what is now the American Southwest, led by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1540. Exploring this area, it is easy to imagine what those early explorers encountered: vast grasslands, rugged mountains and an unfamiliar land stretching far beyond what they knew. Coronado set out in search […]
Fort Point National Historic Site
At the entrance to San Francisco Bay, directly beneath the span of the Golden Gate Bridge, stands the Fort Point National Historic Site, a place where engineering, military history, and geography come together. Built between 1853 and 1861, Fort Point was designed to guard the entrance to the bay, a strategic location that had become increasingly important during the […]
Mojave National Preserve
Traveling through California, we came into the wide openness of the Mojave National Preserve, a landscape that at first feels empty, but slowly reveals its depth. The desert stretches in every direction, dunes rising unexpectedly from the sand, volcanic formations shaped by time, and fields of Joshua trees breaking up the horizon. Here there is space, with land […]
Cesar E. Chavez National Monument
One December, I mapped out a trip to California to travel by myself and visit a number of historic sites, national parks and presidential libraries. It was an ambitious plan, and as it turned out, driving those busy California highways alone took far longer than I expected. One of the stops on that journey was the Cesar […]
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
On our family vacation to Las Vegas, we stepped away from the lights of the Strip and drove north into a very different kind of landscape. The desert opened up and we found ourselves walking through the layered badlands of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. We spent a couple of hours there, slowly wandering the […]
Muir Woods National Monument
I have heard that visiting Muir Woods today is a different experience than it was. Reservations are required and there are timed entries in order to manage the number of people visiting the park each day. The few times I visited Muir Woods National Monument there was more flexibility. My strategy was the same: arrive before […]
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Visiting Canyon de Chelly was a unique experience from the moment we arrived. We stayed in a hotel just outside the canyon, and the environment was a bit different: dogs and even horses were roaming freely. It was clear that the rhythms of life here followed different customs. The canyon lies within the Navajo Nation, the largest Native […]
Pinnacles National Park
On a trip to California to teach, Erin and I carved out time for a hike at Pinnacles National Park. These small windows of exploration enrich our journeys to teach. We didn’t know what to expect. Pinnacles isn’t one of the big-name parks. Pinnacles rise from the rolling hills of central California. The dramatic rock formations […]
