This quest involves visiting each of the 63 “named” National Parks in the US. #GoQuesting1002
Quest Objectives
What Qualifies (?)
Only 63 of the National Park units are designated “National Parks.”
It’s a bit confusing, because the National Park Service informally calls all of its units “national parks” and is required by law to treat all of them similarly. Despite constant misinformation, being a “named” National Park offers no inherently-elevated budget or resource protections. Also, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts doesn’t qualify, even with the right words in the name.
Nonetheless, the label National Park has historically conveyed the status as the crown jewels of America’s public lands, which is why there’s been a push to rename units to capture some of the prestige—and tourism dollars.
List of Objectives
- Acadia National Park
- Arches National Park
- Badlands National Park
- Big Bend National Park
- Biscayne National Park
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Capitol Reef National Park
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- Channel Islands National Park
- Congaree National Park
- Crater Lake National Park
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Denali National Park
- Dry Tortugas National Park
- Everglades National Park
- Gates of the Arctic National Park
- Gateway Arch National Park
- Glacier National Park
- Glacier Bay National Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Grand Teton National Park
- Great Basin National Park
- Great Sand Dunes National Park
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- Haleakala National Park
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
- Hot Springs National Park
- Indiana Dunes National Park
- Isle Royale National Park
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Katmai National Park
- Kenai Fjords National Park
- Kings Canyon National Park
- Kobuk Valley National Park
- Lake Clark National Park
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Mammoth Cave National Park
- Mesa Verde National Park
- Mount Rainier National Park
- National Park of American Samoa
- New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
- North Cascades National Park
- Olympic National Park
- Petrified Forest National Park
- Pinnacles National Park
- Redwood National Park
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Saguaro National Park
- Sequoia National Park
- Shenandoah National Park
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- Virgin Islands National Park
- Voyageurs National Park
- White Sands National Park
- Wind Cave National Park
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
- Yellowstone National Park
- Yosemite National Park
- Zion National Park
Milestones or Smaller Quests
There are a number of ways slice the National Parks into smaller quests or milestones. The most common is focusing on those located in the Contiguous US, which reduces travel costs substantially. Some questers also have a milestone of completing all of the parks West (or East) of the Mississippi. Smaller local quests can include individual states (most commonly with California), or NPS regions.
Connect with fellow questers!
Be sure to add #GoQuesting1002 when you post about this quest on social media or a blog so other questers can find you.
Want to connect with others working on this same quest? Click these links to automatically search for this quest on each network (pro tip: save this search for next time!):
Quest Finishers
Fellow Questers
Related Quests
Tips and Resources
- National Park Travelers Club, especially its forums, is an amazing resource for park questers.
- The NPS mobile app has gotten some good reviews.
- If you’re planning on hitting multiple parks each year, then you’ll want an America the Beautiful pass.
- Here are some lessons I wish I knew before adopting this quest
Questing Merch
- The most infamous park merch is definitely the Passport to the National Parks. Each national park has its own cancellation stamp(s) to log your visit
- Our favorite maps are from Best Maps Ever.
- But you can find a ton of other options on Amazon and Etsy
- My friend Becky has an excellent guidebook on all the parks
Help make this better
#GoQuesting relies on the Questing Community—that’s YOU!—to maintain and improve these quest pages.
- Updates to the list of objectives
- Add a resource or tip
- Add yourself as a quest finisher
- Add yourself as a quester
- Something else
Please submit any suggested updates using these forms. Thank you! 🙏