By my count, there are 47 or 48 National Parks in the continental US, plus 7 in Alaska, 2 in Hawaii, 1 in American Samoa, and 1 in the US Virgin Islands. We have been in 23 of them, and our list closely parallels yours. The only significant difference is that you have missed the California parks! How did that happen? Can you find a month and go see them?
There are 8 (now 9) National Parks in California, more than any other state. We have missed Channel Islands, but the other 7 are absolutely stunning. If I had to choose favorites, they would be Kings Canyon and Yosemite. Yosemite has gotten horribly crowded in the high season, so we won't go back. But we've been there 3 times and loved it each time. Death Valley and Joshua Tree are desert parks, and are pretty tough in the summer. We've camped in both in the shoulder seasons, and will go back to Joshua Tree as soon as we can. (B&D, chime in on these parks.)
Channel Islands National Park
Death Valley National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Redwood National Park
Sequoia National Park
Yosemite National Park
plus a new one, Pinnacles, created a year ago by President Obama. Anyone know anything about it?
By the way, the count of 47 (or 48) came from several Internet sites, all of which appear to count Great Smoky Mountains twice because it straddles the border of NC and TN. I'm not sure I get that, but we hope to get there this spring for the first time. On the other hand, they do not count Pinnacles National Park.
Bill
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