National Park
Road Trip
The road trip Olson designed is 14,498 miles long and it would take you about two months to complete the loop if you’re going “at a breakneck speed.” In other words, you’d better take a few months off work before getting on the road.
Here’s a list of all the national parks Olson included in his itinerary. Note that you can start the trip at any stop in the loop.
Sadly, Alaska is too far out-of-the-way, thereby busting our budget.
By chance, or maybe not, we are beginning our journey at perhaps the single most breathtaking sight in these United States of America, the Grand Canyon. Keep in mind that the first hints of winter are creeping their way into the Northern tier of our country (and our origin is far from the circus that is our nation’s Capital).
So it is: From desert to desert, the American West to East and back again, the unparalleled vision of Theodore Roosevelt unfolds behind every rise, hill and mountain.
Keep in mind that it took passion and foresight for to preserve and protect these wilderness and forested areas, by and through the office of the President. Without such sanctions, this trip may never have left the garage… just one more thing to be thankful for as we approach **Thanksgiving… but that is a story for another day.
So…
- Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
- Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
- Saguaro National Park, Arizona
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
- Big Bend National Park, Texas
- Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
- Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
- Everglades National Park, Florida
- Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
- Biscayne National Park, Florida
- Congaree National Park, South Carolina
- Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
- Acadia National Park, Maine
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
- Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
- Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
- Badlands National Park, South Dakota
- Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
- Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
- Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
- Canyonlands National Park, Utah
- Arches National Park, Utah
- Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
- Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
- Zion National Park, Utah
- Great Basin National Park, Nevada
- Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
- Glacier National Park, Montana
- North Cascades National Park, Washington
- Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
- Olympic National Park, Washington
- Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
- Redwood National and State Parks, California
- Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
- Yosemite National Park, California
- Kings Canyon National Park, California
- Sequoia National Park, California
- Pinnacles National Park, California
- Channel Islands National Park, California
- Joshua Tree National Park, California
- Death Valley National Park, California
“What a place to run out of gas!”
** Special credit is due to the Creator, without which none of this would be possible.