This is our master plan for visiting all 63 national parks before our oldest graduates high school in 2028. It’s ambitious, but we’re combining as many parks as possible and leaving some breathing room at the end. Knowing us, trips to locations besides national parks will inevitably come up, which will lead to adjustments of this plan. We’re based in Southern California, which does allow for some weekend trips to nearby parks. What do you think? Would you organize it differently? (I will be updating this list as our plans evolve.)
2018
Trip 1 – Yosemite (Done March 25, 2018)
Trip 2 – Joshua Tree (done May 26-27, 2018)
Trip 3 – Channel Islands (done June 23-24, 2018)
Trip 4 – Mt. Rainier, Crater Lake, Lassen Volcanic (done August 6-12, 2018)
2019
Trip 1 – Pinnacles (done April 15, 2019)
Trip 2 – Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands, Wind Cave (done July 28-August 9, 2019)
2020
Trip 1 – Sequoia, Kings Canyon (done November 5-7, 2020)
2021
Trip 1 – Death Valley (done February 25-27, 2021)
Trip 2 – Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion (March 20-27, 2021)
Trip 3 – Redwoods, Olympic, North Cascades (done June 26-July 8, 2021)
2022
Trip 1 – Congaree, Great Smoky Mountains, Mammoth Cave, Gateway Arch, Hot Springs (done June 8-22, 2022)
2023
Trip 1 – Saguaro (done February 18, 2023)
Trip 2 – Petrified Forest (done May 27, 2023)
Trip 3 – Everglades, Biscayne, Dry Tortugas (done November 23-25, 2023)
2024
Trip 1 – Glacier Bay, Denali (done June 13-17, 2024)
2025
Trip 1 – Haleakala, Hawaii Volcanoes
Trip 2 – Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Rocky Mountain
Trip 3 – Virgin Islands
2026
Trip 1 – Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend, White Sands
Trip 2 – New River Gorge, Shenandoah, Cuyahoga Valley, Indiana Dunes, Isle Royale, Voyageurs
Trip 3 – American Samoa
2027
Trip 1 – Great Basin
Trip 2 – Wrangell-St. Elias, Kenai Fjords, Lake Clark, Katmai,
2028
Trip 1 – Kobuk Valley, Gates of the Arctic
Trip 2 – Acadia