Seeing every U.S. National Park

[Zardoz]

This may be a little ambitious, but something to put on your bucket list: The Optimal U.S. National Parks Centennial Road Trip | Dr. Randal S. Olson

[pstyer]

You're skipping Alaska and Hawaii!
Some of the best National parks are in these two states!
Peter

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

This may be a little ambitious, but something to put on your bucket list: The Optimal U.S. National Parks Centennial Road Trip | Dr. Randal S. Olson

Rich and Mary, Excellent resource! Thank-You.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Rich and Mary, Excellent resource! Thank-You.

I agree and I saved screenshots of each segment. Thank you!

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by pstyer

You're skipping Alaska and Hawaii!
Some of the best National parks are in these two states!
Peter

You can drive to Alaska (and check out some of Canada's National Parks along the way), but Hawaii... now that's a ferry ride!

Alaska (and the Banff, Jasper, etc) would presumably be inserted between Glacier National Park (Montana) and North Cascades National Park (Washington).

There's also one on American Samoa, but I don't think it has a campground.

[Zardoz]

Originally Posted by pstyer

You're skipping Alaska and Hawaii!
Some of the best National parks are in these two states!
Peter

True enough. Sorry, but not my creation (but I sure agree with you!).

[Brian B-P]

I'm surprised that there is only one National Park northeast of Ohio and Virginia... that's ten states with no national parks. The routing algorithm which was used apparently values nothing but distance or time, so it retraces its route in a few places, and for a huge stretch to and from Acadia National Park in Maine. It would make much more sense to me to take the suggested route (I95/295) between Virginia and Maine, but find some alternative between Ohio and Maine just to see more of the country... such as Vermont.

There's a similarly long retracing section through Georgia and Florida, but other retraced sections are short.

[dfandrews]

We've been to some of them, but the way I see it: we now have an Escape, so there is no excuse why we can't change some to all.

Thanks for posting.

[techfan]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

This may be a little ambitious, but something to put on your bucket list: The Optimal U.S. National Parks Centennial Road Trip | Dr. Randal S. Olson

As we write...

On our trip to see the last 11 in the lower 48, mostly on the East coast, with the Escape. Ft Jefferson in FL needs a boat or plane ride as does Isle Royale in MI. CHANNEL Islands in CA needs a boat ride. Alaska needs $$$$$ to see the ones you have to fly to, hence our bucket list to see all in the lower 48.

[padlin]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I'm surprised that there is only one National Park northeast of Ohio and Virginia... that's ten states with no national parks. The routing algorithm which was used apparently values nothing but distance or time, so it retraces its route in a few places, and for a huge stretch to and from Acadia National Park in Maine. It would make much more sense to me to take the suggested route (I95/295) between Virginia and Maine, but find some alternative between Ohio and Maine just to see more of the country... such as Vermont.

There's a similarly long retracing section through Georgia and Florida, but other retraced sections are short.

Think I'd verify and routes this comes up with, for many there will be better routes if you were to ask folks in that area. example, parts of I95 are a nightmare while better routes exist.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by padlin

Think I'd verify and routes this comes up with, for many there will be better routes if you were to ask folks in that area. example, parts of I95 are a nightmare while better routes exist.

I think that's sound advice. Reading more from the creator of this route, he used Google's mapping services (to get candidate segments, from which a desirable combination was found), which produce the shortest or fastest route, but without accounting for current traffic conditions.

It could be - if nothing else - at least a starting point for a workable sequence of parks; one could replace each segment with a more suitable route.

The same thing has been done for other points of interest, and for hitting every state in the lower 48. The author offers the code if anyone wants to build their own list, perhaps combining preferred types of destinations... and the same code will work for other locations, including Canada.

[cpaharley2008]

If you do decide to try the 48 state route, here is a good guide as to what to see in each state, other than the NP's
Most Beautiful Places in All 50 States - Best Places to Visit in the United States

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

If you do decide to try the 48 state route, here is a good guide as to what to see in each state, other than the NP's
Most Beautiful Places in All 50 States - Best Places to Visit in the United States

Thanks Jim, great resource!

[Mike Lewis]

Hmm, from counting the parks on this map it appears that I've visited 27 of them, in most cases with the initial visit being before I bought my trailer. I've never had a goal of visiting them all. Don't think I'll ever make it to Dry Tortugas, for instance.

I frequently find national monuments to be just as scenic and interesting as the national parks, and a lot less crowded. Some of them have camping as well.