Over two years ago, I began a quest: I want to visit every national park in the U.S.
A goal that may not seem like much of an effort to many, but these 58 protected places are spread far and wide all across this country, and it is not easy.
Every park is different, meaning I have to prepare for each one differently. Sometimes, it takes a lot of time, money and energy to plan a trip to one. There are times when opportunities fall through for whatever reason. I could go on and on, but you get the idea: this is not an easy thing I am trying to achieve.
Many have tried and failed before me, and some people do not think it is possible. But I will do whatever it takes to get to each and every one, because it is the most meaningful and important thing I have ever endeavored to do in my life.
Everything I am today, I owe to the national parks, and the main reason I want to go to every one, is because each one teaches me a life lesson.
Each lesson is different, but I want to know them all. I want to absorb every bit of knowledge the parks have to offer me, whether it is history or the importance of something.
The parks changed my life, and I want to share every lesson I learn, in the order of the parks that I go to.
At this point in my life, I have been fortunate enough to see seven of the 58 parks within the two years of my adventure, and I acknowledge it will be a long time before I see them all. So these lists will be updated in groups of three, for every three parks I go to.
1. Badlands National Park
Going into this park, I knew absolutely nothing about it. It was literally a random stop on this massive road trip my family was on. I had no prior knowledge of any kind other than “this is a national park.”
When we got there, and I saw the massive mud/clay hills that compose this place, I was fascinated. It was unlike anything I had ever seen.
Instantly, I was hooked; I wanted to know more, see more and do more. The moment I climbed that hill, I learned my first lesson, unknowingly, in a series of 58 I would grow to want to spend the rest of my life learning.
Badlands National Park taught me to love exploring: to acknowledge the existence of the wanderlust in my soul, and to expand on it to never stop wanting to see the other things in this world I have never known.
I know there is a lot more to discover; that there are so many things my mind has yet to learn, and I want to see it all. I have the Badlands to thank for that.
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Photo by Karley Nugent
No more than two days after the Badlands opened my eyes, I visited the place that would truly and completely change my life: the world’s first national park, Yellowstone.
I watched the ground change to colors I never knew existed. I saw massive waterfalls cut through canyons. I wandered at rolling mountains as they turned into flat, wildlife-filled valleys. I observed the power of the earth, and the massive volcano beneath the ground on Yellowstone, at work.
I beheld the most diverse place my eyes had ever seen, and the first time I ever saw the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, that was the moment I truly understood why places like this, national parks, are so special. I found what I loved most in life.
Yellowstone National Park taught me the most important lesson I could ever learn in my life: I learned who I was. I learned what truly mattered to me. I learned who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
The first time I went to Yellowstone, I only spent a day and a half there. I absolutely could not get enough of that place. That love and admiration for the park was what brought me back the following summer, when I lived and worked in the park for three months. Even with all of that time, I still could not get enough; I will never get enough of Yellowstone, because it gave me the piece of myself I never knew was missing.
There are not, nor will there probably ever be, proper words for me to explain just how much I love Yellowstone for giving all of that to me.
I live for the day I will return to the place I love more than any other again.
Artist Point, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Photo by Karley Nugent
3. Grand Teton National Park
Right below Yellowstone lives the third national park I experienced on my journey: Grand Tetons.
I grew up on ski trips to Colorado’s Rocky Mountains; I did not understand how these mountains could be any different than those.
These mountains are unlike any others I have ever seen, from the way they rise from flat ground to their jagged peaks, the Tetons are more beautiful than I have words for. Driving alongside them made me feel truly small for the first time in my life, and it taught me to be humble, for there are things truly bigger than me in the grand scheme of things.
It was a scary thought; to see how small I am, but to also realize how I, and others, could destroy something so beautiful that the earth had created.
Grand Teton National Park taught me my complete insignificance, and my absolute importance. It showed me how small I am compared to the world, and how vital I am to keep it alive.
The Tetons are a sight to behold, and they never cease to amaze me no matter how many times I see or hike through them. It is a new experience every time, and I cannot wait to see them again.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Photo by Karley Nugent
When people ask me why the parks are so important to me, I always tell them the same thing: because they have so much more to offer than just scenic views.
The parks, as well as nature in general, all have lessons to teach us. These lessons can better us, if we let them.
There is no telling how long my journey will last, and there is no way of knowing what I’ll learn next, but I look forward to any and every thing that the parks will bring me throughout my life.
I hope you do, too.
Happy exploring.
