I hope after reading my Earth Day pledge earlier this week, you’ve given some serious thought to visiting a national park in the near future. To help with your planning, you might want to check out Your Guide to the National Parks, “the complete guide to all 58 national parks.”
Author Michael Joseph Oswald spent a full two years exploring and photographing the parks. In the process, he logged thousands of miles hiking, paddling, and pedaling his way across America. The result is a one-stop resource for everything you might want to know about U.S. national parks – from when to go and what to see to fast facts and suggested itineraries.
What’s inside: This 704-page guide features in-depth information about all 58 national parks. In it, you’ll find:
- Introduction includes info about planning your trip (park passes, packing suggestions, camping guidelines, etc.), social media contacts for the parks, a “best of the best” (best scenic drives, best for hiking, best for families, etc.) & suggested trips
- Parks organized by region (East, South, Southwest, West, Alaska, Remote Islands)
- Each park description includes an intro, basic logistics, maps, popular activities & a brief vacation planner; there are also listings of nearby restaurants, grocery stores, lodging & attractions
What you’ll like:
- It’s packed with the details you need to plan a visit, including contact information, camping & lodging info, trails, activities, maps & more.
- Lots of color photographs and easy-to-read maps. Both help you get a better sense of the areas you’re considering visiting.
- The “What’s Nearby” sections helps you know what resources are available near each park – plus how viable it might be to visit multiple parks during one trip.
What you might wish was different:
- Only national parks are featured, which leaves out more than 300 other area designations such as national preserves, national monuments, national memorials, national historic sites, national seashores, and national battlefield parks.
- The recommendation “for kids” at each park is pretty much the same: Participate in the junior ranger program. As a parent who has been to a number of national parks, I know that’s just one aspect of family friendly activities worth checking out.
Note: I purchased a copy of Your Guide to the National Parks for personal use. I received no compensation of any kind to share my honest review with you here.
