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Top 10 Non-Fiction Books Set in Multiple National Parks

November 30, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

The only thing that is nearly as fun as visiting National Parks is reading about them. Here is a list of our 10 favorite non-fiction books that cover multiple units of the National Park Service (NPS) System. Our previous list was limited to those set in a single park.

10. Hey Ranger! True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America’s National Parks
by Jim Burnett (2012)
Like the historic Oh, Ranger! books, this one covers the lighter side of interactions between NPS employees and tourists.

9. Before They’re Gone: A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks
by Michael Lanza (2012)
The writer travels to some of the most imperiled National Parks with his family to experience them before they are permanently altered by climate change.

8. Lassoing the Sun: A Year in America’s National Parks
by Mark Woods (2016)
This Florida journalist received a grant to explore National Parks across the United States of America and brings an interesting perspective on them.

7. The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest
by Timothy Egan (1990)
The author visits many National Park Service sites in this good introduction for outsiders to the landscapes and people of Washington and Oregon.

6. Travels in the Greater Yellowstone
by Jack Turner (2008)
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem also includes Grand Teton National Park and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, and this is an interesting journey across its many corners by an always opinionated and interesting writer.

5. Desert Time: A Journey through the American Southwest
by Diana Kappel-Smith (1992)
The author’s pencil illustrations add a wonderful layer to her vivid descriptions of American deserts from Idaho to Texas, including numerous National Park Service units.

4. House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization across the American Southwest
by Craig Childs (2007)
Craig Childs has written several great non-fiction books set in the Southwest U.S. This one describes the world of the Ancestral Puebloan (formerly called Anasazi) people at multiple sites including Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, and Mesa Verde National Park.

3. The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons
by John Wesley Powell (1874)
The author, a one-armed Civil War veteran, led the first expedition down the unmapped and untamed Green and Colorado Rivers through the Grand Canyon in 1869.

2. Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey through Every National Park

by Conor Knighton (2020)

During the NPS centennial year in 2016, this TV reporter visited all 59 National Parks (now there are 63).

…and finally our #1 non-fiction book set in multiple National Parks:

1. Our National Parks
by John Muir (1901)
Famous preservationist John Muir wrote many colorful descriptions of America’s wonderlands in his books (especially his beloved Yosemite), but none covers as wide a range as Our National Parks.

Honorable Mentions
Travels with Charlie in Search of America
by John Steinbeck (1962)
Perhaps a bit dated now, but this is a cherished travelogue from a national treasure.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed (2012)
The Pacific Crest Trail crosses many parks in the National Park Service System and is considered an affiliated unit. This sometimes painful-to-read autobiography contains beautiful descriptions of the natural landscape.

My Wild Life: A Memoir of Adventures within America’s National Parks
by Roland H. Wauer (2014)
The first half of this autobiography of a National Park Ranger is an interesting look at research in Big Bend, Death Valley, and other National Parks before devolving into his life list of international bird species.

Tennessee

Andrew Johnson National Historic Site

November 28, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

At age 15, Andrew Johnson fled his apprenticeship in Raleigh,North Carolina and eventually started a tailor shop in Greeneville, Tennessee. In 1829, he began his political career, ultimately serving as a U.S. Representative, Governor of Tennessee, U.S. Senator, Vice President, and President upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. He was the first President to be impeached after vetoing the Tenure of Office Act (later found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court) and was acquitted by the margin of one vote.

Highlights

House tour, tailor shop, museum, film, National Cemetery

Must-Do Activity

Start at the visitor center, which offers a film, a small museum, and the enclosed tailor shop where Andrew Johnson worked before going into politics. Dress-up clothes are available if you want to take a photo straight out of the mid-1800s (no smiling for authenticity). There you can also pick up a free timed ticket for the homestead tour and a ticket to vote in Johnson’s impeachment trial.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

The small National Cemetery atop a hill in Greeneville, Tennessee contains the graves of Andrew Johnson, his wife, and about 200 soldiers.

Peak Season

Open year round

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/anjo/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved with designated parking lots at the visitor center, homestead, and cemetery.

Camping

Cherokee National Forest offers campgrounds southeast of Greeneville.

Original Johnson home and Visitor Center
Tiff and her mother waiting for the homestead tour
Many of the artifacts were original
Johnson family homestead
Playing dress-up in front of the tailor shop
Tiff casting her ballot in the Senate Trial for Impeachment
Tiff and her father at the Johnson grave and National Cemetery

Explore More – Why did young Andrew Johnson flee North Carolina six years before his apprenticeship contract expired?

WONDON WAS HERE

District of Columbia

Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

November 27, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln attended a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., which General U.S. Grant was also expected to attend. It is common knowledge that Lincoln was shot by an actor (John Wilkes Booth) not performing in the play and died the next morning of his wounds. What is less well known is that the assassination plot also targeted the Secretary of State William Seward(critically injuring six men and one woman) and Vice President Andrew Johnson (which was never attempted). Since 1933,the National Park Service has run the site and the neighboring Petersen house where Lincoln died, which are open to tourists with timed tickets except when rehearsals are underway in the still-active theatre.

Highlights

Museum, Booth’s gun, ranger program, live theatre

Must-Do Activity

You can get a ticket to the free ranger talk that does not include the National Park Service’s excellent museum downstairs from the theatre, but this should not be skipped by visitors. It contains thought-provoking interpretative material and the original gun used by Booth to shoot Lincoln.

Best Trail

Take a walk to the boarding house where the conspirators met, which is now a restaurant in D.C.’s Chinatown. Mary Surratt, who ran the boarding house, became the first woman executed by the U.S. federal government on July 7, 1865.

Instagram-worthy Photo

There are still plays performed at Ford’s Theatre, but your timed ticket will only get you in to listen to a ranger talk about the assassination without any singing or acting. Either way, the stage right balcony provides the best view of the President’s box seats.

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Peak Season

Summer, but it is open year round.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/foth/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

Fees

A timed ticket is available online (with a reservation fee) and in person (free). Theatre performances charge an admission fee.

Road Conditions

All roads paved, but parking can be a challenge in Washington, D.C., though it is easier on weekends.

Camping

None

The boarding house where the conspirators met is now a restaurant in D.C.’s Chinatown
Tiff in front ofthe neighboring Petersen house where Lincoln died
Scott with Booth’s assassination weapon.
Tiff with John Wilkes Booth
Scott with Abraham Lincoln
Tiff at the Presidential Box

Explore More – Are theatre-goers allowed to sit in the presidential box during performances?

WONDON WAS HERE

Idaho, Montana, Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park

November 19, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Wyoming, Montana, Idaho

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1872

2,221,766 acres

Website: nps.gov/yell

Overview

The geothermal features here inspired the creation of the world’s first official “National Park” in 1872. Most of Yellowstone is actually a supervolcano where the magma heats up underground water producing 10,000 hot springs, fumaroles, and mudpots on the surface, as well as 300 geysers. Incredibly, over 50% of the geysers in the world occur within this one park, which is equally famous for its wildlife diversity, including grizzly bears, bison, gray wolves, and elk.

Learn more about how to visit this National Park in the expanded second edition of our guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.

Highlights

Old Faithful geyser, Grand Prismatic Spring, Norris Geyser Basin, Mammoth Hot Springs, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, countless waterfalls, wildlife in Lamar Valley, Mt. Washburn, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

The most famous geyser here is Old Faithful, which can shoot water up to 185 feet in the air. Since the occurrence of several earthquakes it is no longer as consistent as its name suggests, but its eruptions can be accurately predicted every 60 to 110 minutes throughout the day. Arrive early to get a seat or take the trail up the nearby hill to watch it from above. Afterwards, hike the boardwalks through colorful Upper Geyser Basin.

Best Trail

A hike into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone on Glacial Boulder Trail is one way to find the solitude lacking at the drive-up overlooks (you should still hike to the Brink of Lower Falls with the crowds). Instead of staying in the packed campgrounds, consider getting a permit to backpack camp in the canyon.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The trail is steep, but paved down to the Brink of Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River for unforgettable view of the canyon, especially on sunny days when a rainbow appears in the spray.

Peak Season

Summer, but Old Faithful Village can seem busy in the winter with all the snowmobiles during the day.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$35 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

Very few roads are not paved, but the majority close for seven months in the winter.

Camping

There are many campgrounds in the park, but they fill up quickly the summer (especially at primitive Slough Creek). The surrounding National Forests offer campgrounds and dispersed sites as well. We have enjoyed backpacking at designated campsites in the park with a permit, especially in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Related Sites

Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)

Gallatin National Forest (Montana)

Fossil Butte National Monument (Wyoming)

LR YELL — This design we created to celebrate Yellowstone National Park is available on a variety of products at Cafe Press and Amazon.

Explore More – How many of the park’s 4-million annual visitors arrive in June, July, and August?

Know someone who loves National Parks? Gift them our travel guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.

Wisconsin

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

November 15, 2018 Raven About The Parks 1 Comment

Overview

Twenty-one of the 22 islands within this archipelago jutting from northern Wisconsin into Lake Superior are part of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. This region is famous for its lighthouses and concessionaires offer tours to see them if you do not have your own boat. Kayakers come for the sea caves carved into Sand Island, Devils Island, and the mainland (accessible on foot after the lake freezes in winter).

Highlights

Islands, lighthouses, boating, camping, sea caves

Must-Do Activity

Even though this is a freshwater lake, Sand Island has sea caves carved into the billion-year-old sandstone cliffs by constant wave action. Located only 4 miles from shore, the Sand Island sea caves are carved nearly 50 feet into the rock and can be carefully navigated by kayak.

Best Trail

Sand Island was closed at the time of our visit due to black bear activity, but it is one of the few islands that has a hiking trail (Stockton, Basswood, and Outer being others). Lakeshore Trail on the west side of the Bayfield Peninsula offers a trail on the mainland.

Instagram-worthy Photo

You will need a kayak and a steady hand to take photographs while paddling through the sea caves on the east side of Sand Island.

Northwoods 2013 927.JPG

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/apis/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None to visit, but there are fees to camp on the islands and for concessionaire boat tours.

Road Conditions

Most roads on the Bayfield Peninsula are paved and the sandy roads through Chequamegon National Forest were passable by all vehicles.

Camping

Many visitors come with their own boat to camp on one of the 18 islands with sites (permit required and reservations recommended). Car camping is available at Big Bay State Park on Madeline Island (ferry service) and throughout Chequamegon National Forest on Bayfield Peninsula.