Celebrating National Parks: My first park

[TraciC]

It’s National Park Week (#NationalParksWeek) in the United States and while most years the theme is to discover, explore and learn, this year it looks a bit different with a digital celebration.

With exploring National Parks being one of my favorite pastimes and knowing how many of you explore your own parks and ours, I thought I’d share about why I love National Parks and which was my first.

I first visited the West Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2009. The funny thing? I wasn’t meant to go to the West Rim and instead was meant to spend the day at the North Rim with an overnight at El Tovar Hotel. That’s right, instead of driving 3.5 hours from Phoenix, we wound up driving a whole 5+ hours in the opposite direction!

I wasn’t even a Local Guide then but in true Local Guide fashion, we made the best of it and discovered the Grand Canyon Skywalk which had breathtaking views of and out over the canyon. I remember just being in awe that this giant national park had so many entrances that I, a big planner, made a mix up (hey, I didn’t have Google Maps then on my Blackberry!) and that it didn’t matter because it was GORGEOUS!

Looking out over the Grand Canyon and driving through it was an amazing experience. Growing up in New York City, it made me appreciate wide open spaces even more than ever and that first visit has ignited a huge interest in National Parks for me. So much so that I now plan vacations around National Parks and I collect stamps in my National Parks Passport! Thankfully, I have my trusty Pixel, Google Maps and offline maps, so I hope I don’t get lost again but even if I do, I’ll always be able to make the best of it thanks to all of your contributions.

If you haven’t yet visited America’s National Parks, have no fear, you can find all of them on Google Maps (like another one of my favorites: Glacier National Park) and take digital tours from the comfort of your home.

For even more info about National Parks, you can visit g.co/nationalparks.

Have you visited a National Park? Join me in sharing your story (or reviews and photos) here on Connect!

[vvaibhav655]

@TraciC thank you so much sharing beautiful photos and very nice post.

[vvaibhav655]

@TraciC thanks for like.

[MukulR]

Amazing photos and great descriptions have made this a really enjoyable post @TraciC . It seems that you enjoyed this trip a lot. Thanks for sharing this nice post with us.

[KyleZhang]

HI @TraciC

Is National Park Week encouraging everyone to explore national parks? There are several national parks in Taiwan, but I haven’t been to them yet!
The Grand Canyon is so beautiful, I used to have friends to travel there, it is a very spectacular spot!

[MahabubMunna]

@TraciC My first visit to Muir national woods in San Francisco 2016.

identifier.html (735 KB)

Pic: jumping in Muir Woods National park gate

identifier.html (735 KB)

identifier.html (773 KB)

Picture; In front of a Redwood tree

identifier.html (735 KB)

[FaridTDF]

Comparto tu sentimiento @TraciC , para mi visitar los parques es una manera de conectarme con la naturaleza, con lo realmente vivo, por suerte en esta hermosa Tierra del Fuego tenemos el parque LaPataia, que esta limitando con el Canal de Beagle uno de los parques mas al sur del continente americano. Sus colores, su vegetación tan particular lo hacen único. Es un sitio que usualmente lo visito una vez al año para hacer fotos o recorrer alguno de sus senderos, que tiene muchos.

No me ocurrió recorrer 5 horas en sentido contrario, pero si unas tres horas jajaja, de regreso a Tierra del Fuego, tome la ruta equivocada, y no veía los mismos paisajes, hasta que llego a un puesto camionero y le consulto a los policías, me indican, la ruta es para el otro lado, el único problemas que tenía, era el combustible, se estaba acabando, por suerte todo salió bien. En mi caso, no tuve la precaución de guardar el mapa en el móvil.

La Argentina tiene unos 35 parques nacionales de los cuales solo pude visitar unos 4 parques, salir a visitarlos es toda una aventura y una planificación, ya que están muy retirados de las rutas principales, como es el caso del Parque nacional Glaciar Perito Moreno, que lo pude visitar en dos oportunidades, es tan hermoso con su imponente glaciar que cada varios años rompe su paso entre sus dos lagos, un espectáculo impresionantes si están justo cuando ocurre. El ruido atronador de cuando cuando se mueve el glaciar es conmovedor. al grado que es una de las maravillas mundiales.

En mi provincia natal existen dos parques nacionales importantes, y en uno de mis viajes planeo la visita al parque Nacional el Rey ya que por su estado semi selvático es recomendable hacerlo en otoño o invierno, las temperaturas no son tan altas y los mosquitos no te afectan tanto, es un lugar muy hermoso, con mucha zona boscosa, en realidad lo que mas me gusto fue el viaje hasta llegar al parque ya que pase por varios pueblitos, uno mas pintoresco que el otro.

Y por último te comento un viaje que realizamos con mis hijos Mariano y Maxi, fue una de las mejores salidas que tuvimos los tres, el destino fue las Cataratas del Iguazú, en la provincia de Misiones, esta es otra dela maravillas mundiales que tenemos en Argentina, son imponentes, con esa cantidad de agua que casi te cae encima tuyo, es de no creer al verlas, supongo que debe ser una sensación similar al que devén tener ustedes al ver las cataratas del Niagara.

Todavía no pude visitar a todos los parques que existen en Argentina pero estoy seguro visitaré varios mas a lo largo de lo que me queda visitar esta hermosa Argentina, te comparto un mapa que es de un post de Wikipedia, muy fácil de ver que aquí contamos con muchos espacios protegidos. Que hoy por hoy con una vision de Local Guides, lo recorro de una manera diferente.

[Nosaint2_Rafael_Fe]

@TraciC that place is unique.

that’s me & wife

[LaloPadilla]

Nice post @TraciC

My first National Park was Nevado de Toluca , its an extinct volcano, i visited when I was 5 years old ( I need to find those photos )

And in winter it is covered in snow , but in recent years due to global warming, there has been less snow every year

Here is a photo of my last visit 2 years ago

@FaridTDF Hace unos meses ví un video de AlanXElMundo (es un youtuber muy bueno, te lo recomiendo), en el cual visita ese parque y esta impresionante el tamaño del glaciar.

[Onkar_Pandhare]

@TraciC lovely pictures! the Skywalk overhang is truly thrilling!

[TraciC]

Hi @KyleZhang In any other time, yes, we’re encouraged to visit National Parks but it is all digital this year.

@FaridTDF Your photos are stunning!! I guess a 3 hour detour is OK, but nothing like a 5 hour one! Hahaha!

[ShafiulB]

@TraciC Hi!

Thanks for sharing about your National Park story.

Here is my first Nationa park visit photo in Bangladesh. It’s about Alatadighi National Park.

I visited this Park 02 times and took a lot of photos.

[OmarBD]

I like your nice story and beautiful photographics. @TraciC Many thanks for sharing your story with us.

Best Regards

Omar

[kroza]

Thanks for sharing @TraciC ! On my last trip I found out about this National Park passport, I found it really cool! These were taken at West Rim last November, I couldn’t believe my eyes, those views! Simply stunning

As for National Parks in the US I look forward to someday visiting either [Dry Tortugas](http://Parque%20Nacional Tortugas Secas Florida, Estados Unidos +1 305-242-7700 https://maps.app.goo.gl/5RCiAhuX1LAroXLV6) or [Mount Rainier](http://Parque%20Nacional del Monte Rainier Washington, Estados Unidos +1 360-569-2211 https://maps.app.goo.gl/fKpksBf9BXCGF8K39) have you ever been to any of them?

[OliverKIWI]

When my brother visited us a couple of years ago, I took them to Tongariro National Park at central North Island. And we saw this, a mini-scale eruption. Total worth the ticket LOL!! @TraciC

[KatyaL]

Hey everyone,

Here’re two of my favorite national parks that I’ve visited so far - the Rila National Park in Bulgaria and the Plitvice National Park in Croatia:

[SunMoon]

@TraciC this is really amazing topic. I like it.

I was visited most beautiful and big forest in Bangladesh “Sundarban” in 2019.

[TraciC]

Loving all these photos of your National Parks and can almost smell the fresh air!

@kroza I have been to Dry Tortugas National Park and LOVED it so very much. I actually just shared this pic with friends:

[MatheusRequiao]

Woow. The skywalk over the Grand Canyon looks like a great place @TraciC . I’m from Brazil and my favorite is Chapada Diamantina National Park (at the northeast of Brazil). I hope the pictures might inspire you!

For more places at the park, click here (Google Maps List).

[kasarefin]

@OmarBD Bro Comilla BARD