After FDR protected this very first historic site within the National Park Service (NPS) system in 1935, Fort Stanwix was finally reconstructed in the 1970s after demolishing the existing buildings in downtown Rome, New York. Visitors today will surely agree it was worth the effort, as were the recent updates in the excellent Visitor Center.
Highlights
Reconstructed fort, best historical museum in the NPS System
Must-Do Activity
The NPS museum inside the Marinus Willett Visitor Center is superb with videos and kiosks providing four different characters’ perspectives on the events of the American Revolution in Upstate New York. There are also costumed reenactors inside the fort, another reason why this National Monument is an example of historical interpretation at its best.
Best Trail
A short trail follows a portion of the Oneida Carrying Place and another leads to the historic Erie Canal.
Instagram-worthy Photo
Viewed from the drawbridge, you get an up-close look at the parapet and fraise (sharpened wooden stakes) of the reconstructed Fort Stanwix.
None within the 16-acre monument, but Delta Lake State Park is only 6 miles away.
The free museum inside the Marinus Willett Center is first rate.Fort Stanwix was originally built by the British during the French and Indian War
Americans rebuilt the abandoned fort during the Revolutionary War and survived a 21 day siege in 1777Something in this photo is not historically accurate.
Explore More – The portage called the Oneida Carrying Place (one to 6 miles depending upon water levels) connected which two important waterways?
The only thing that is nearly as fun as being in a National Park is reading about one. Here is a list of our 10 favorite non-fiction books set specifically in one unit of the National Park Service system. Our next list will include those that cover multiple parks.
There are many great books written about this oldest of all National Parks (including the bestselling Death in Yellowstone), but none is as funny as the one written by this globetrotting travel writer.
Wildlife biologist Adolph Murie was invited to Alaska by the National Park Service in 1939-40 to study the diverse species inhabiting Mt. McKinley National Park (as it was known at the time).
Also on our Top 10 Non-Fiction Books on Wildlife, this is one of the best books about bears ever written, it dispels myths based on a lifetime of close observation in Alaska.
Whoever said scientists can’t have any fun conducting research needs to read this exciting book about the ecologists that climb 300 feet up redwood trees in California.
Many National Park Rangers have written memoirs, but this is by far the best one. Written about a time before the red rock wonderland around Moab, Utah became the zoo it is today.
The journal of Richard Proenneke who homesteaded a remote part of the Alaska Peninsula before Lake Clark National Park and Preserve was created around it in 1980. There is also an excellent documentary of the same title.
An epic combination of history and biography about the men and women who run the Colorado River through Arizona’s Grand Canyon (which was the setting for the author’s 2024 work A Walk in the Park)
…and finally our number one Non-Fiction Book Set in a National Park:
The last frontier may well be beneath our feet. This true adventure of cave exploration is written in a very matter-of-fact way, yet is still a page turner.
The Appalachian Trail is counted as one of the 430+ units in the National Park Service System, and this is the funniest book ever written about backpacking it (or part of it).
One of 13 national monuments in New Mexico, this archaeological site is located in a beautiful forested canyon at 6,000 feet elevation outside Los Alamos. Ancestral Puebloans inhabited Frijoles Canyon from AD 1150 to 1550, building villages and carving rooms out of the soft volcanic tuff, much like in Cappadocia, Turkey.
Highlights
Ruins, cavates, Alcove House, Upper Falls, Painted Cave
Must-Do Activity
Climb 140 feet up ladders and steep steps to Alcove House cliff dwelling for superlative views of the canyon.
Best Trail
After exploring the ruins, be sure to hike 1.5 miles to Upper Falls downstream from the visitor center.
Instagram-worthy Photo
The National Park Service has installed some awesome, authentic-looking ladders to access the cavates.
Peak Season
Summer when a shuttle is required from Los Alamos, New Mexico due to limited parking
Paved, but visitors are required to take a shuttle from Los Alamos between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the summer (May 17 – October 17)
Camping
Juniper Campground has 94 sites, running water, and is open most of the year. Its 70 miles of trails also make the park popular for backpacking, which requires a zoned camping permit.
Scott inside a cavate
Tiff inside a cavate
The tuff looks like Swiss cheese; maybe that’s what attracted Swiss anthropologist Adolph Bandelier.
Upper Falls is only a 1.5 mile hike downstream from the visitor center
Explore More – When did the giant volcano erupt that created the 16-mile wide Valles Caldera and deposited hundreds of feet of volcanic ash that formed tuff?
American inventor Thomas Edison still holds the record with 1,093 U.S. patents awarded during his lifetime. Most of those came while running the massive laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey from 1887 until his death in 1931. After perfecting the incandescent lightbulb in 1879, it was here he employed hundreds to work on improving his phonograph, motion picture camera, alkaline storage battery, and Portland cement (one of his most profitable ventures). The park also includes the family estate, Glenmont, located one-mile away (a tour ticket is required to enter the house).
Highlights
Historic laboratories and workshops, inventions on display, house tour
Must-Do Activity
The multi-story Main Laboratory is handicap accessible and contains 400,000 artifacts from Edison’s prolific career. On display are some of the world’s first electric coffee-makers, waffle irons, and toasters marketed by his company Edicraft in the 1920s.
Best Trail
A self-guided walk around the grounds of Glenmont includes Edison’s gravesite.
Instagram-worthy Photo
At the West Orange laboratory is a replica of “Black Maria,” the world’s first movie studio originally built in 1893 on a track that allowed it to pivot for better lighting.
The only site in New Hampshire administered by the National Park Service (NPS) is dedicated to Augustus Saint-Gaudens, an Irish born immigrant that studied art in Paris and Rome. On this country estate he utilized beginning in 1885, he converted a barn into his sculpture studio. Other artists flocked to “Aspet” until his death in 1907.
Highlights
Home and sculptures of famous 19th-century artist, sculptor-in-residence program
Must-Do Activity
A tour ticket is required to enter the house and is included with your admission fee. While you are waiting, explore the many marble, plaster, and bronze castings of Saint-Gaudens’ work located around the property, including his famous Shaw Memorial whose original can still be found in Boston. A new cast of one of his Abraham Lincoln statues was added in 2016 during the NPS Centennial.
Best Trail
The quarter-mile Ravine Trail starts at the Ravine Studio, the workshop of the sculptor-in-residence. Blow-Me-Down Trail runs 2 miles between the Temple and a swimming hole.
Instagram-worthy Photo
Take a photo of “Aspet” house from the porch of Little Studio framed by the vine-draped arbor.
Raven About The Parks 