Saturday, October 21, 2023

All 63 National Parks

Back in the mid to late 1990s, as the World Wide Web was becoming popular, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, said something like this: “In the future you will discover things on the web that you never could have imagined.” Over the years since then, I have often thought of Bill’s words when I, indeed, discovered something truly amazing on the web. 

Today I discovered an excellent example to share. Those of you who follow me will know that one of my favorite places in the world is Yellowstone National Park. So, imagine my fascination when I learned today that a 3-year-old has visited all 63 US National Parks. Yes, she has done that and even has her own website documenting all of her visits. Her name is Journey.

Journey at Yellowstone National Park
Journey's Website

I could never have imagined Journey’s accomplishment and, of course, being as curious as I am, I had to dig into the details. I questioned that there are only 63 National Parks. I did not realize the National Park System has 423 national park sites, but only 63 of them have the "National Park" designation. Go down the rabbit hole to discover what is necessary to have the words “National Park” in a Park’s name. Going down that rabbit hole, you will discover neat websites and maps like the one below. 

Map from Earth Trekkers website

So did you know a 3-year old has visited all 63 National Parks?

7 comments:

  1. Hello, John
    I would say Yellowstone is my favorite national park too. I have dreams of visiting all the national parks. I am envious of the 3yr old, Journey what a cute name. I am going to check out her website later, I am book marking it now. Thanks for sharing. Take care, have a wonderful day and happy weekend.

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  2. Isn't that amazing ...
    A sweet photograph of young Journey at Yellowstone National Park.

    All the best Jan

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  3. I love it! She might have had some help from relatives, but she is a wonderful mentor to not only preschoolers, but elders as well! Thank you, John!

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  4. I did not know. She’s quite the explorer. A wonderful example to all of us.

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  5. Journey is living up to her name! I reviewed the list of National Parks, I have been to ten. I still hope to visit more down the road. It is interesting learning how and why locations get the National Park designation.

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  6. If I could have afford a wishlist American parks would have on top :)
    No I could have not imagined ever that a 3 years old can visit the all 63 park sounds unbelievable

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  7. She made quite the journey, little Journey.
    I love our National Parks and have been to a good number of them. I do love Yellowstone a lot, but I have to say that my favorite one is Yosemite - we call it the National Park in our backyard. Yellowstone is definitely the runner-up!
    Have you ever read "Leave Only Footprints" by Conor Knighton? He visited all the National Parks within one year, and while he is not writing about all of them in the book, he describes some of the lesser known ones with interesting stories and facts.

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