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My son, Curtis, and I have the goal to visit all of the U.S. national parks. These are the real McCoys--the 63 (as of January 9, 2021) crown jewels of the U.S. national park system. This is a listing of all of those parks. Included are Google® Earth links (must be installed on your computer) to the park's high point (if on private land, the high point not on private land is shown). Also provided are links to the official National Park Service website for that park, as well as a relevant SP link (if any), and a link to an SP image that best characterizes that park (again, if any). Short lists of recommended reading material and external website links are also provided below. The columns on the far right show our progress. If you are also working to visit all of the U.S. national parks, keep us posted of your progress in the comments.
Click on the ◙ symbol to see the park high point onGoogle® Earth, or to visit the NPS or SP web page. Park high points shown are under NPS management. |
NationalPark |
State |
HighPoint |
NPSWebsite |
SPInfo |
SPImage |
Mark |
Curtis |
Acadia |
ME |
|
07/10 |
07/10 |
|||
American Samoa |
AS |
|
|
|
|
||
Arches |
UT |
|
05/91, 04/09, 08/09, 04/10, 06/11 & 04/13 |
05/91, 08/09 & 03/10 |
|||
Badlands |
SD |
|
07/00 |
07/00 |
|||
Big Bend |
TX |
|
07/05, 10/12, 12/13 & 10/14 |
07/05 |
|||
Biscayne |
FL |
|
|
06/02 |
06/02 |
||
Black Canyon of the Gunnison |
CO |
◙** |
|
08/06 & 08/11 |
08/06 |
||
Bryce Canyon |
UT |
|
08/09 & 05/15 |
08/09 |
|||
Canyonlands |
UT |
|
08/07, 04/09, 08/09, 05/10, 06/11, 04/13 & 05/15 *** |
08/07 & 08/09 |
|||
Capitol Reef |
UT |
|
08/09, 04/13, 07/13 & 05/15 *** |
08/09 |
|||
Carlsbad Caverns |
NM |
|
1962, 05/99, 11/12, 03/14 & 10/14 |
05/99 |
|||
Channel Islands |
CA |
◙** |
|
07/03 |
07/03 |
||
Congaree |
SC |
|
|
07/11 |
07/11 |
||
Crater Lake |
OR |
|
07/07 |
07/07 |
|||
Cuyahoga Valley |
OH |
◙** |
|
06/04 |
06/04 |
||
Death Valley |
CA |
|
06/03, 03/16 & 05/17 |
06/03 |
|||
Denali |
AK |
|
06/16 |
|
|||
Dry Tortugas |
FL |
|
|
06/02 |
06/02 |
||
Everglades |
FL |
|
|
06/02 |
06/02 |
||
Gates of the Arctic |
AK |
|
|
|
|
||
Gateway Arch |
MO |
|
|
|
|
||
Glacier |
MT |
|
06/01 & 07/16 |
06/01 |
|||
Glacier Bay |
AK |
|
|
|
|
||
Grand Canyon |
AZ |
|
06/99, 12/09, 05/10, 12/11, 07/12 & 02/16 *** |
06/99 |
|||
Grand Teton |
WY |
|
07/00 & 08/17 |
07/00 |
|||
Great Basin |
NV |
|
07/07 |
07/07 |
|||
Great Sand Dunes |
CO |
|
08/06, 08/11 & 07/13 |
08/06 & 03/10 |
|||
Great Smoky Mountains |
TN/NC |
|
06/04 & 07/14 |
06/04 |
|||
Guadalupe Mountains |
TX |
|
05/99 |
05/99 |
|||
Haleakala |
HI |
|
|
|
|||
Hawai'i Volcanoes |
HI |
|
|
|
|||
Hot Springs |
AR |
|
06/04 |
06/04 |
|||
Indiana Dunes |
IN |
|
|
|
|
||
Isle Royale |
MI |
|
|
|
|||
Joshua Tree |
CA |
|
07/03 & 05/17 |
07/03 |
|||
Katmai |
AK |
|
|
|
|||
Kenai Fjords |
AK |
|
|
06/16 |
|
||
Kings Canyon |
CA |
|
1960 & 06/03 |
06/03 |
|||
Kobuk Valley |
AK |
|
|
|
|
||
Lake Clark |
AK |
|
|
|
|
||
Lassen Volcanic |
CA |
|
07/07 |
07/07 |
|||
Mammoth Cave |
KY |
|
|
06/04 |
06/04 |
||
Mesa Verde |
CO |
|
05/91 |
05/91 & 03/10 |
|||
Mount Rainier |
WA |
|
06/01 |
06/01 |
|||
New River Gorge |
WA |
|
|
|
|||
North Cascades |
WA |
|
06/01 |
06/01 |
|||
Olympic |
WA |
|
06/01 |
06/01 |
|||
Petrified Forest |
AZ |
|
05/91, 06/99, 12/09, 12/11,07/12, 11/13, 05/14, 12/14 & 03/16 *** |
05/91 & 06/99 |
|||
Pinnacles |
CA |
|
|
|
|||
Redwood |
CA |
|
07/07 |
07/07 |
|||
Rocky Mountain |
CO |
|
05/01 & 07/15 |
05/01 |
|||
Saguaro |
AZ |
|
|
06/99, 08/09, 11/13 & 05/14 *** |
06/99 |
||
Sequoia |
CA |
|
1960 & 06/03 |
06/03 |
|||
Shenandoah |
VA |
|
06/04 |
06/04 |
|||
Theodore Roosevelt |
ND |
|
|
|
|||
Virgin Islands |
VI |
|
|
|
|||
Voyageurs |
MN |
|
|
|
|
||
Wind Cave |
SD |
|
07/00 |
07/00 |
|||
Wrangell-Saint Elias |
AK |
|
06/16 |
|
|||
Yellowstone |
WY |
|
07/00 |
07/00 |
|||
Yosemite |
CA |
|
1960 & 07/07 |
07/07 |
|||
Zion |
UT |
|
06/03 |
06/03 & 03/10 |
* |
Biscayne NP has two high points. |
** |
Channel Islands and Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP high points are on private property. Cuyahoga Valley NP high point is under Metro Parks management. The high points shown for these parks are under NPS management. |
*** |
Traveled multiple times since. |
National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States This "tourist guide" is useful for planning a trip to any of the national parks. This is the book to take in the car with you as you visit each park. It will help you locate frontcountry campsites, make reservations, find a good restaurant, research phone numbers, etc. You'll still need to do additional research for more typical SP activities (backpacking, mountaineering, climbing, etc). Life: Our National Parks: Celebrating America's Natural Splendor This "coffee table book" is filled with the wonderful work of the photographers of Life Magazine.
o Park Pointing What is park pointing, and who's doing it? Check here; the answer may surprise you! o U.S. National Park Highpoints A searchable, sortable list of all the park high points. o National Park Highpoint Trip Reports Read trip reports from park pointers, and learn about the effort to write a book about it.