National parks that we have visited.
There’s only one part of Acadia National Park that requires a timed entry ticket, and that’s the Cadillac Mountain summit road. It is a popular place to visit, especially for dawn, as it is (for part of the year) the first place in the US to see the sunrise. We managed to snag one of the limited sunrise tickets, and got up at 3 AM to experience it.
Here’s an interactive map of our route:
We drove the west-side loop in Acadia National Park in Maine, including Carroll Family Homestead, the Seawall area, and the iconic Bass Harbor Head Light Station.
Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some alternative stops marked:
Southwest Harbor:
We drove around the main park loop in Acadia National Park in Maine, including the main visitor center, a nature center, Thunder Hole, and Jordan Pond.
Here’s an interactive map of our route:
The Wild Gardens of Acadia:
Thunder Hole Gift Shop:
Thunder Hole:
We went to Jordan Pond House for dinner:
Jordan Pond:
We rode the Scenic Railroad train in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, doing the Vamos Vino Grape Escape wine tasting journey.
Akron Northside train station:
Train engine:
Each train car had different activities, including murder mystery, cigars (in an open car), cocktails, bingo, trivia, etc:
The Silver Lariat dome train car, which we were in:
The dome car table and seats:
Wine tasting menu:
Winemakers talking about their wines:
First tasting (in a souvenir glass):
Selfie:
Food tray… described as a “tasty charcuterie box, filled with artisan cheeses, cured meats, and other treats”… with some corn chips and no meats:
Wine tasting:
The “scenic” tour was not particularly scenic (and hard to see out the dirty dome windows anyway):
Looking out of the dome over the roof of the train:
Train conductor:
Downstairs in the train car:
Last tasting:
Train car:
Somewhat disappointing, but it was a thing we did.
We did a short hike (well, a walk along a boardwalk) around Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.
An interactive map:
Picnic dinner:
Boardwalk:
The waterfall:
Top of the falls:
We visited the two Cuyahoga Valley National Park visitor centers that are currently open (a third, Hunt House, is seasonally closed).
A canal lock outside the visitor center:
Mule power:
Ohio & Erie Canalway:
We also visited the Boston Mill Visitor Center, though I didn’t take any pictures inside:
One of the main reasons for traveling the United States in a motorhome is to explore the many wonders around the country. In previous years I had four posts of attractions visited in the year, but this year I’m going to split them by the kind of attraction, since that seems like it’ll be more useful for future reference.
This is a summary of the National Parks we visited in 2024. You can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021.
As with the previous summaries, I’ll include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture. Click or tap the link or picture to see more.
You can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the national park category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).
We visited 12 new National Parks in 2024 (plus revisited several), for a total of 47 so far of the 63 total National Parks.
Everglades National Park in Florida:
Biscayne National Park in Florida:
Dry Tortugas National Park south of Florida:
Congaree National Park in South Carolina:
Shenandoah National Park in Virginia:
New River Gorge National Park: Grandview in West Virginia:
New River Gorge National Park: Sandstone Falls in West Virginia:
New River Gorge National Park: Canyon Rim and Bridge in West Virginia:
New River Gorge National Park: Thurmond and waterfalls in West Virginia:
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina:
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky:
Gateway Arch National Park in Missouri:
Yosemite National Park: Yosemite Valley in California:
Yosemite National Park: Hetch Hetchy in California:
Yosemite National Park: Wawona and Glacier Point in California:
Yosemite National Park: Tuolumne Meadows and Tenaya Lake in California:
Kings Canyon National Park in California:
Sequoia National Park: northern side in California:
Sequoia National Park: southern side in California:
Channel Islands National Park in California:
Joshua Tree National Park: Geology Tour Road in California:
Joshua Tree National Park: Hall of Horrors in California:
Joshua Tree National Park: Wonderland Ranch & Wall Street Mill in California:
Saguaro National Park in Arizona:
White Sands National Park, in New Mexico:
Big Bend National Park, in Texas:
Several nice parks.
We visited Big Bend National Park, again — we first visited it in 2022. That first time, we explored the western part of the park; this time, we explored the eastern side.
Here’s an interactive map of our route:
Entrance sign:
Mountains and cacti:
We had a picnic lunch and short stroll at Dugout Wells, a little oasis where some homesteads once stood, and now just a windmill remains, as far as we could see:
Tunnel:
The Rio Grande Village Visitor Center, the one visitor center we didn’t make it to last time:
Big Rivers, Big Changes:
There’s even a full-hookup campground in the village, though it’s basically a parking lot:
A roadrunner on the road:
There’s also a no-hookup campground, which is nicer, despite the lack of utilities. It even has some sites big enough for us, like this pull-through site:
Interesting rocks:
Lots of Mexican trinkets for sale; this area is on the border with Mexico:
We did the Boquillas Canyon Trail along the Rio Grande river:
Steps:
The Rio Grande river; the other side of the river is Mexico:
Shady tunnel of trees, welcome on a warm day (about 82°F):
More Mexican trinkets for sale; Jenn bought the cloth in the front and a bead roadrunner:
The canyon closing in on the river:
Youngsters on the Mexican side of the river:
Canoes on the river; we spoke with a couple of the people, and they said they were camping down river:
A nice hike; a little too warm for us with little shade, but we survived.
We re-visited White Sands National Park in New Mexico. We first visited in 2022, but enjoyed re-visiting this year. As the NPS site says, it’s like no place else on Earth, the world’s largest gypsum dunefield.
The official NPS map; click or tap for full-size (and more info):
Visitor Center with the historic sign from before it became a National Park:
Road between sand dunes:
Picnic area:
Sand dunes:
We re-visited the two units of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona. We first visited in early 2022, but that was before Jenn was doing her National Parks passport book, so didn’t have a passport stamp for this park. Plus it’s nice to re-visit parks, especially ones we particularly enjoy like this one.
An interactive map of our route, starting with the west side (and a stop at a Subway to pick up some lunch for a picnic):
West-side entrance sign:
West visitor center:
When we visited last time, they were limiting the bookstore to 10 people at a time due to COVID restrictions (but without masks by then), but this time there were of course no restrictions, though it wasn’t super busy:
Fascinating timeline of growth of a saguaro cactus:
Jenn got her passport stamp:
Exploring a dirt road with saguaros and other cacti:
We stopped at the amusingly-named “Sus Picnic Area” for lunch:
Our picnic site:
Back on the dirt road:
After leaving the park, an undulating road:
Through the scenic Tucson Mountain Park, also with lots of saguaros:
East entrance of the national park:
East visitor center:
A saguaro outside the visitor center:
Along the cactus forest scenic loop in the park:
A nice park. There’s something about cacti and desert landscapes that we really enjoy.