Who's been to a National Park?

I know this is pretty random; that’s why it’s in general discussion. This thread is about if you’ve been to a national park, forest, monument, memorial, etc. I decided to make this poll in honor of the centennial of the US National Park Service. You can also feel free to post where/which national park it was and what cool/memorable things you did there (if you can remember). If you haven’t been to a national park before, feel free to post what national park you’d want to go to and why.

I’ve been to a few National Parks around in the Northeast (not just New England as of recently). Here’s some that I can think of. I’ll name a few facts of each national park as simply as I can.

[list]

  • [*]Cape Cod National Seashore; eastern coast of Cape Cod, MA. Towns in this range include Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. I’ve been here multiple times in my life at the various sites of the park, mostly visiting the sites in the towns of Wellfleet and Eastham.

    A few of the sites here within the seashore include where the Marconi towers once stood in Wellfleet (that area has since eroded away, but the park still stands), the old Life Saving station in Provincetown, and my favorite, Nauset Light beach. The infamous lighthouse sits on a hill near this beach; it’s the same one that’s featured on the Cape Cod Potato Chips logo, interestingly enough. Although the lighthouse is on the site, it’s operated by another non-profit organization. I will state I’ve been up it and there’s a pretty deep history of the lighthouse. However, for the sake of staying on the given topic, I will be more than happy to talk about that at some other point. Nearby are three smaller lighthouses that used to serve on this beach (owned by the National Parks), and the western terminal of the Trans-Atlantic cable (a LONG telegraph cable that used to serve as the primary communication means between Europe and North America).

  • [*][b]Adams National Historic Park; Quincy, MA.[/b] I visited the houses that are a part of this park in 2003. There's some houses including the birthplace of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and a residence of the Adams. I don't remember a whole lot about this site, as I was pretty young when I visited here.
  • [*][b]Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt; Hyde Park, NY.[/b] As mentioned by the name, this particular park contains Springwood, FDR's home in Hyde Park. This is where he was born, where he grew up, and where he retreated to during his presidency. Also on this site is the FDR Presidential Library, and his gravesite. This I visited this year.
  • [*][b]Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val Kil; Hyde Park, NY.[/b] This was Eleanor Roosevelt's personal residence on the site of the former Val-Kill industry. This was a factory that she developed to give farmers work during the winter months. She resided here after FDR's death in 1945. This, too, I visited this year.
  • [*][b]Vanderbilt Mansion; Hyde Park, NY.[/b] This park contains a gilded mansion constructed for Frederick Vanderbilt's family. This mansion is actually smaller than other mansions owned by the Vanderbilts, and was considered a Spring and Fall home. This isn't the same person who had the infamous Breakers mansion constructed in Newport, RI, but is still the same family (that mansion isn't a national historical park, but I figured I would mention it as they're related). This park I also visited this year. Interestingly enough, I believe the property was sold to the National Park Service for only $1. At the time it was sold in the 1930's, the person who owned the property didn't see too much value in it.
  • [/list]

    That should give you an idea of the parks I have been to. They’re pretty cool sites, and I hope to go to more in the future!

    I of course forgot to mention the ones I’ve been to, so here they are!

    [list]

  • Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming: A few years ago, my family and I made a trip out to Yellowstone National Park. We got the oppurtunity to stay in multiple historic buildings/hotels in the park, including the Old Faithful Inn (the old section of course). We saw many cool sites including many wildlife and lots of Yellostone’s famous thermal features. Much of the park and the surrounding area lies on a massive supervolcano called the Yellowstone Caldera. It last erupted thousands of years ago, causing massive damage. Scientists are closely monitoring the dormant volcano for activity as it could erupt again in at least a few hundred years. Sorry for the boring history lesson here…I like history…

    Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming: Before we got to Yellowstone that year, we went to Devils Tower and stayed in a Bed and Breakfast there. The bed and breakfast we stayed at also was a place where you could go to climb Devils Tower. We climbed it (not all the way to the top of course) and also had a rather frightening (at the time) rattlesnake encounter when we were hiking to the base of the tower. Luckily our climbing instructor blocked the rattlesnake so we could pass, but it was still scary!

  • [/list]

    I have a few more visits to national parks, etc. that I have to share, but I will post those later because I must wash the dishes! :slight_smile:

    Alright, so I found time to finish which National Parks I’ve been to, so here it is!

    Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio: Located between Cuyahoga and Summit Counties, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park is named after the Cuyahoga River and Valley. It was mostly a former landfill/garbage dump before the 1970’s brought about the Cuyahoga River fires and Environmental Crisis, which ultimately led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Over the years, the park has expanded by purchasing land and planting forests. While it is popular among locals for its extensive network of hiking and horseback riding trails, many historical landmarks are located in the park including the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, the Everett Road Covered Bridge, and the Ohio and Erie Canalway. Visitors can hike or bike along the Towpath trail which runs alongside the canal and where some 200 years ago horses would pull the boats along the canal. Many of the canal’s locks still remain intact, and are really cool to see. Also in the park is now a forest where the Richfield Coliseum was located. For those who do not know, this is the arena where the Cleveland Cavaliers played from the 1970s until 1994. The CVNP bought the land in 1994 after the QuickenLoans Arena in Cleveland (where the Cavs now play) was built and razed the building and planted forest there.

    If anyone is wondering why I know so much about this park, it’s because I live like 10 minutes away from it and go there often. I’ve been to many other national parks/monuments, including the Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, and Grand Teton National Park. However I’d say the most favorite park I ever went to by far was Yellowstone, of course!

    Another thing to add about my time at Yellowstone National Park a couple years back: we were at the mud pools when someone shouted ‘bear’ and there was a female grizzly bear and a cub walking across the area. Of course everybody stepped aside to let them pass, but it was still cool seeing one up so close.

    By the way, this is really off topic, but a month or two ago there was reports about a black bear wandering around neighborhoods in Akron. Uh oh!

    By the way…those mud pools - as well as many other of the parks’ geothermal features -Old Faithful Geyser and Mammoth Hot Springs were my favorite by the way - smell TERRIBLE. They contain sulfuric acid, which gives off the smell of rotten eggs. Yuck! It was a really cool experience besides the fact that it was May when I went and it was still practically winter down there!