Appalachian National Scenic Trail

Players:  Jenny
Date of Visit:  Several, but most recently in May of 2009 in Great Smoky Mountain National Park
Website:  www.nps.gov/appa
Location:  From Georgia to Maine!  Trail Headquarters is in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia
Entrance Fee:  None for the trail itself, although some access is via state parks, national parks or other lands requiring an entrance fee.
Type of Trip:  Day Trips/Section Hikes
Park Passport Stamps Available:  1
Review:  Stretching 2,175 from North Georgia to the wilds of Maine, the Appalachian Trail works its way up (or down, depending on which direction you want to go) the spine of the Appalachian Mountains; it passes through 14 different states over its length.  The Appalachian Trail (AT) is the granddaddy of the long-distance hiking trails in the United States; it was completed in 1937.  Hundreds of people attempt to hike it from end-to-end during one season, usually taking 3-4 months to complete the hike.  It is a true wilderness trail, marked by white blazes and rarely passing through towns, requiring distance hikers to carry supplies with them or arrange for resupply drops along the way.

Parks Visited as a Child, Part 2

Continuing in this post, I'm going to outline the National Park Service Units I have only visited as a child with my family.  I hope to re-visit most of these sites some day as my memories of many of them are quite hazy.

Glacier National Park
Players:  Jenny, Steve, Carole & Jenny's sisters
Date of visit:  Summer 1994?
Website:  www.nps.gov/glac
Location:  Montana
Entrance Fee:  $25 per car
Type of Trip:  Daytrip as part of Western US Epic Road Trip
Park Passport Stamps Available:  9
Review:  One of the "crown jewels" of the National Park system, Glacier National Park has attracted lots of attention in recent years because of the rapid shrinking of its namesake glaciers.  The thing I remember most about Glacier was driving over Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 50 mile road that is a feat of engineering through some of the most stunning alpine passes to be found on the American continent.  I distinctly remember sitting in the backseat of the car on the passenger side and being able to look out my window straight down the side of the mountain....I didn't like that so much!  I'm glad my dad is a good driver :)  But I do remember the scenery on the drive.  And I think we stopped at a chalet somewhere in the park, and it was snowing lightly -- a novel thing for the middle of summer for an Iowa girl.  Glacier is on my list of parks to go back and hike ASAP.
 
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Players:  Jenny, Jenny's cousin & Jenny's grandma
Date of Visit:  Summer 1996?
Website:  www.nps.gov/grsa
Location:  Colorado
Entrance Fee:  $3 per adult
Type of Trip:  Daytrip while passing through Colorado on way to New Mexico
Park Passport Stamps Available: 1
Review:  Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve has the tallest sand dunes in North America.  It is truly a unique experience to climb up sand dunes and slide down them right here in the United States.  We stopped at this park on a trip to the Southwest with my grandma.  My cousin and I had a great time here.  It was really hot and I remember how hot the sand was on my feet.  And it is much harder to climb up a sand dune than it appears!  I look forward to taking Jackson here someday.

Parks Visited as a Child, Part 1

In this post and the next one, I'm going to outline the National Park Service Units I have only visited as a child with my family.  I hope to re-visit most of these sites some day as my memories of many of them are quite hazy.

Antietam National Battlefield
Players:  Jenny, Steve, Carole & Jenny's sisters
Date of Visit:  Summer 1991?
Website:  www.nps.gov/anti
Location:  Maryland
Entrance Fee:   $4 per person or $6 per family
Type of Trip:  Day trip as part of Eastern US Epic Road Trip
Park Passport Stamps Available:   2
Review:  Antietam is the site of the single bloodiest battle in United States history, with over 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing after the battle on September 17, 1862.  Honestly, I don't remember too much about this park.   My dad, a history teacher for many years, had a great time traipsing around the battlefield and showing us different things.  I must have been about 9 or 10 when we went, and the one thing that stuck out for me was walking the Bloody Lane and thinking about how many soldiers it would take to fill up the sunken road with bodies.  I believe we also did a driving tour of the battlefield, which the website indicates is still available.  I look forward to going back some day to do the walking tours via podcast!

Click to keep reading!

List of National Park Service Units (National Parks in BOLD)

Name	Location
Horseshoe Bend National Military Park	Alabama
Little River Canyon National Preserve	Alabama
Russell Cave National Monument	Alabama
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site	Alabama
Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site	Alabama
Alagnak Wild River	Alaska
Aniakchak National Monument	Alaska
Aniakchak National Preserve	Alaska
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve	Alaska
Cape Krusenstern National Monument	Alaska
Denali National Park	Alaska
Denali National Preserve	Alaska
Gates of the Arctic National Park	Alaska
Gates of the Arctic National Preserve	Alaska
Glacier Bay National Park	Alaska
Glacier Bay National Preserve	Alaska
Katmai National Park	Alaska
Katmai National Preserve	Alaska
Kenai Fjords National Park	Alaska
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park	Alaska, Washington
Kobuk Valley National Park	Alaska
Lake Clark National Park	Alaska
Lake Clark National Preserve	Alaska
Noatak National Preserve	Alaska
Sitka National Historical Park	Alaska
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park	Alaska
Wrangell-St. Elias National Preserve	Alaska
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve	Alaska

Our Mission

Main Characters
Jenny -- writer of blog, lover of outdoors, introduced to the National Parks at a very young age due to multiple epic road trips with her family growing up
Zach -- husband of Jenny, likes nature as long as he doesn't have to carry a heavy backpack, new to many of the parks
Jackson -- son of Jenny, loves dirt, bugs and being outside.  Went camping for the first time at the age of 6 weeks old.  Named after the two towns closest to Yellowstone National Park, so the park stuff is in his blood.  Current participant in the NPS's Junior Ranger/Web Ranger program.
NPS -- The National Park Service.  We will be seeing them quite frequently.

Supporting Characters
Jake -- Jackson's dad who, luckily, is friendly with all main characters
Steve -- Jenny's dad, instigator of epic road trips mentioned above, lover of all things historical
Deb -- Steve's wife, usually along for the ride and a good sport too.
Carole -- Jenny's mom, loves to camp and hang out with her grandson!

The Plot
One of my goals in life is to visit as many (hopefully all) of the units managed by the National Park Service in the United States.  Currently, there are 394 NPS units, including 58 National Parks.  Other NPS units include National Military Parks, National Battlefield Parks, National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Seashores, National Scenic Trails, and so on.  As we visit different sites, I hope to update this blog with pictures, information and our thoughts on the site.  We also love to camp and do different things outdoors, so I might include some state park information as well as general camping/outdoorsy stuff on the blog.