America’s Best Idea
Did you know that this year marks the 100th birthday of what is considered America’s best idea? The National Park Service will turn 100 years young on August 26 and is celebrating this year with programs, special events, and lots of cake.
While many people believe that there are only the 59 “National Parks,” in reality there are many many more UNITS of the system. There are 409 units of the National Park Service from Acadia National Park in Maine, the easternmost park, to War in the Pacific in Guam. That is a distance of almost 8,000 miles!
Here in the Northeast region, there are National Seashores, Battlefields, Historic Sites, Scenic Trails and Rivers, and so much more.
So many beautiful open spaces and history awaits you…why not plan a trip to a National Park near you today?
Don’t know what NPS units are near you? The easiest way to figure this out is to go to the state landing page for your area. If I wanted to see parks in Massachusetts, I would go to http://www.nps.gov/state/ma/index.htm (replace the MA with the two letter abbreviation for your target state or territory) for information on what I can do and see in that state. Did you know that Massachusetts has 16 units of the National Park Service? Or that they contribute $488,500,000 to the economy through tourism?
You can then choose which park you might like to visit. The next ones on my list are actually in Rhode Island: Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence and the Truro Synagog in Newport. At these individual pages, you can learn about hours, admission fees, programs, and special events. Since the Synagog is only open on Sundays in the winter, I won’t be going down until May when it is open on my days off.
What other parks do I have on my bucket list this year? I would love to go to Saratoga National Historical Park, Women’s Rights National Historical Park, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, and Weir Farm National Historic Site.
What parks are you going to visit this year? Don’t forget, August 26th will be NPS’ 100th birthday! Make sure to check with your local park to see what they have planned and celebrate with them!
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Full disclosure: I work as a Ranger for the National Park Service in the Interpretive and Education Department. I mostly enjoy the job for the strange hats that I get to wear on a regular basis. All opinions expressed are my own.
18 thoughts on “America’s Best Idea”
I didn’t know it was the 100th birthday. There are a lot of places I would like to visit and revisit. I will have to check this out a bit further.
You totally should! Best way to see America on the cheap:)
Yay! Happy Birthday NPS! I really need to visit more of them. I’ve been focusing a lot on international travel, but I forget how much there is to see right here in the USA
Agreed! I love Europe, but there are some amazing things in this country too. I definitely want to go to more units this year myself.
I love US National Parks! I went through all these national parks to check what they have interesting to offer, and the more I was learning the more I was falling in love with them! They are all so interesting and beautiful. Now it would be a good idea to find out more about 409 units. 🙂
NPS has so many amazing and different units…there really is something for everyone 🙂 And such beautiful places to photograph
Yes, I love photography and there are lots of unique place to take pictures from!
National Parks really are awesome. I have appreciated some of the measures so,e parks have taken recently to reduce traffic and waste. I hope that will continue in the next 100 years!
Totally! We recently installed water bottle fillers so that people can easily fill them up. I love it. Luckily we have no animals who have figured out how to activate them like at the Grand Canyon: http://news.yahoo.com/elk-nose-grand-canyon-water-stations-194938500.html
haha
I have so many great memories of visiting Acadia National Park as a kid. As this year is the anniversary of the NPS, my husband and I are planning a trip out to Utah to see some of the National Parks there. The anniversary, along with low gas prices, makes it a great year to take a road trip to a National Park!
I’ve never been to Acadia, but hoping to go soon as one of my friends now works there! The Utah parks are great…as are low gas prices 🙂
Wow that picture of the lava glow is amazing!
It truly helps to take a semi pro photographer along with you 🙂 That way you don’t have to carry the equipment and get to be in the photo! 🙂
National Parks ARE America’s best idea, it helps preserve the natural diversity for generations to come.
Agreed! Hope you get to enjoy them this year!
Creating National Parks was a great idea indeed! I haven’t seen any of the parks on the east coast, but I’ve been to quite a few on the west coast. I still have yet to see Yosemite, which is high on my list.
What a fun post! Thanks for sharing. I love the pictures too.
This is fantastic! I’m so excited that this year I will visit a US National Park for the first time. Yosemite in California is in my plans but I may be able to fit in another west coast park too. They are so full of history and nature is stunning. I can’t wait!