The Vision

So, it all started on a drive from Logan, Utah to Provo, Utah.  Madison and I were scheming and planning – some of our favorite things to do.  When, one of us, we still can’t remember who had the original idea, said,”wouldn’t it be cool to go to EVERY single national park in the U.S.?”

That idea didn’t die there; It was expounded on so quickly we could barely keep up with ourselves!  Different ideas came to mind as to HOW we could get to every National Park… would we do it in one massive loop?  Would we do it in different trips and eventually make it to each one?  Would we fly to some?  And then it happened.  We drove past a little toyota RV that was moving down the road at what some may call a “snail’s pace”.

The vision became completely clear for both of us!  We were going to travel to every single National Park in a Toyota mini RV!

Now we just had to find one we could afford – and make the idea a reality!

I took it upon myself to start the “hardcore scheming”.  I threw together a little spreadsheet of the distance we would have to travel.  I mapped each leg of the trip out to get a total milage count – you know, you gotta run the stats!

Stop Number	Attraction	State	Trip Mile Marker	Miles From Last Stop	Drive Time	Trip Drive Time	Notes
0	Provo	Utah	0	0	0	0
1	Grand Teton National Park	Wyoming	301	301	5.26	5.26
2	Yellowstone National Park	Wyoming	353.6	52.6	1.12	6.38
3	Glacier National Park	Montana	826.6	473	8.68	15.06
4	Gates of the Arctic National Park	Alaska	3265.6	2439	49	64.06	*No road access. We can fly in, or hike in from the HWY…
5	Kobuk Valley National Park	Alaska	3265.6	0	0	64.06	*No road access. We MUST fly in. From Fairbanks?
6	Denali National Park	Alaska	3388.6	123	2.31	66.37
7	Lake Clark National Park	Alaska	3783.6	395	7.55	73.92	*No road access. We can fly or take a boat in from Kenai
8	Katmai National Park	Alaska	3783.6	0	0	73.92
9	Kenai Fjords National Park	Alaska	3783.6	0	0	73.92	*No road access. We can fly in or take a boat. (I think boat is a better option)
10	Wrangell-St. Elias National Park	Alaska	4186.6	403	8.2	82.12
11	Glacier Bay National Park	Alaska	4780.6	594	16.4	98.52	*Boat tour from Juneau (Bartlett Cove)
12	North Cascades National Park	Washington	6369.6	1589	40	138.52
13	Mount Rainier National Park	Washington	6555.6	186	3.73	142.25
14	Olympic National Park	Washington	6671.6	116	2.56	144.81
15	Crater Lake National Park	Oregon	7065.6	394	6.58	151.39
16	Redwood National Park	California	7219.6	154	2.95	154.34
17	Lassen Volcanic Park	California	7433.6	214	4.06	158.4
18	Yosemite National Park	California	7732.6	299	5.2	163.6
19	Kings Canyon National Park	California	7876.6	144	3.2	166.8
20	Sequoia National Park	California	7886.9	10.3	0.23	167.03
21	Death Valley National Park	California/Nevada	8188.9	302	4.88	171.91
22	Channel Islands National Park	California	8415.9	227	4.46	176.37
23	Joshua Tree National Park	California	8614.9	199	3.31	179.68
24	Grand Canyon National Park	Arizona	8969.9	355	5.25	184.93
25	Petrified Forest National Park	Arizona	9160.9	191	2.81	187.74
26	Saguaro National Park	Arizona	9458.9	298	4.85	192.59
27	Carlsbad Caverns National Park	New Mexico	9910.9	452	6.68	199.27
28	Guadalupe Mountains National Park	Texas	9946.6	35.7	0.6	199.87
29	Big Bend National Park	Texas	10182.6	236	3.9	203.77
30	Hot Springs National Park	Arkansas	11001.6	819	12.06	215.83
31	Biscayne National Park	Florida	12232.6	1231	18.05	233.88
32	Everglades National Park	Florida	12250.9	18.3	0.5	234.38
33	Dry Tortugas National Park	Florida	12384.9	134	2.85	237.23	*No Road access. We must take a ferry from Key West.
34	Congaree National Park	South Carolina	13050.9	666	9.65	246.88
35	Great Smoky Mountains National Park	Tennessee	13271.9	221	3.63	250.51
36	Mammoth Cave Park	Kentucky	13508.9	237	4.33	254.84
37	Shenandoah National Park	Virginia	14036.9	528	7.73	262.57
38	Acadia National Park	Maine	14833.9	797	12.5	275.07
39	Cuyahoga Valley National Park	Ohio	15750.9	917	13.91	288.98
40	Isle Royale National Park	Michigan	16509.9	759	12.02	301
41	Voyageurs National Park	Minnesota	16912.9	403	7.23	308.23
42	Theodore Roosevelt National Park	North Dakota	17491.9	579	8.85	317.08
43	Badlands National Park	South Dakota	17788.9	297	4.71	321.79
44	Wind Cave National Park	South Dakota	17910.9	122	1.91	323.7
45	Rocky Mountain National Park	Colorado	18248.9	338	4.41	328.11
46	Great Sand Dunes National Park	Colorado	18510.9	262	4.75	332.86
47	Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park	Colorado	18717.9	207	3.63	336.49
48	Mesa Verde National Park	Colorado	18871.9	154	3.03	339.52
49	Canyonlands National Park	Utah	18987.9	116	2.05	341.57
50	Arches National Park	Utah	19014.1	26.2	0.5	342.07
51	Capitol Reef National Park	Utah	19162.1	148	2.43	344.5
52	Bryce Canyon National Park	Utah	19278.1	116	2.46	346.96
53	Zion National Park	Utah	19350.4	72.3	1.35	348.31
54	Great Basin National Park	Nevada	19549.4	199	3.68	351.99

Here is the breakdown of the trip:

Total Miles to Drive	Average Distance Between Parks (mi)	Average Time Between Parks (hrs)	Total Time Driving (hrs)
19549.4	362.03	6.52	351.99

There are four parks that we wouldn’t be able to drive to:

55	Haleakala National Park	Hawaii
56	Hawaii Volcanoes National Park	Hawaii
57	American Samoa National Park	American Samoa Territory
58	Virgin Islands National Park	US Virgin Islands

We will have to get to these ones later.  We have two ideas for funding those trips – we could sell the mini motorhome and buy a few plane tickets!  OR – cash in all of our Southwest points we accumulated on gasoline through the trip!

So as you can see – the scheming hit an all time high as we planned and mapped things out.  Now all we have to do is find the rig!  Stay tuned for the next post on that!