All posts by Raven About The Parks

Massachusetts

Springfield Armory National Historic Site

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Overview

The arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts began manufacturing guns during the American Revolution and became the first National Armory in 1794.  For nearly 200 years it served its purpose before being donated by the military for the creation of Springfield Technical Community College in 1967.  The National Park Service (NPS) maintains a museum and former officer’s quarters on 55 acres at the back of the gated campus.

Highlights

Museum, film, Organ of Muskets

Must-Do Activity

Start your visit with the 14-minute film, then peruse the two halves of the museum, one side dedicated to weaponry and the other to industry.  Watch the scale model of the Blanchard Eccentric Lathe as it demonstrates the shaping of wood to match a metal template.  This technology was first introduced here and is commonly used today to create keys, furniture, and baseball bats. 

Best Trail

There are no trails, but you can walk the sidewalks around the brick buildings that once housed the armory and are now the campus of Springfield Technical Community College.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The “Organ of Muskets” inspired the 1845 anti-war poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a Harvard professor with his own NPS site. 

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Follow street signs from Interstate 91 exits to the main gate for Springfield Technical Community College then back to the free parking lot by the NPS museum.

Camping

Granville State Forest is located 20 miles west of Springfield, Massachusetts on Highway 57.

Related Sites

Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (Massachusetts)

Minute Man National Historical Park (Massachusetts)

Coltsville National Historical Park (Connecticut, authorized in 2014 but remains unfunded)

  • Tiff signing the guest book with a rifle pen
  • The bayonet on top was struck by lightning!
  • Tiff with the historic Blanchard Eccentric Lathe
  • This scale model of the Blanchard Eccentric Lathe actually runs
  • An example of casting and forming a gun part
  • Historic photo from inside the armory
  • The spiral staircase in the armory tower.
  • Former officer’s quarters outside the NPS museum

Explore More – Who was the Springfield Armory employee who invented the M 1 rifle used throughout World War II?

Mississippi

Tupelo National Battlefield

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Overview

Two cannons and a monument mark this one-acre (less than a football field) National Park Service (NPS) site surrounded by the city of Tupelo, Mississippi.  The park was established in 1929 to memorialize the battle of July 14, 1864, when the Union army drove off Confederate troops trying to disrupt General William T. Sherman’s railroad supply line at the historic town of Harrisburg. Located only one mile off the Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo’s own Elvis Presley probably visited this park as a child.

Highlights

Cannons

Must-Do Activity

Unlike other NPS sites, Tupelo National Battlefield provides much easier access to a car wash and a Walmart store.  Its visitor center is combined with the one for the Natchez Trace Parkway just outside Tupelo.  The city of Baldwyn, Mississippi runs an interpretive center (with a small admission fee) that also commemorates a Confederate victory on June 10, 1864 at Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site.   

Best Trail

There is a sidewalk on two sides of the one-acre park.

Instagram-worthy Photo

This is one of the smallest units in the NPS system, but from one angle, Tupelo National Battlefield looks like many larger Civil War parks.

Peak Season

“They get about a week of spring then the summer is blistering.” –Jason Isbell from the song “Tupelo”

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved, with street parking available.

Camping

Tombigbee State Park offers camping about 10 miles from Tupelo.

The park is located on Main Street in Tupelo, Mississippi.
A view of the entire NPS site
Conveniently located across the street from a car wash
Tiff at the NPS site

Explore More – What does the T. stand for in General William T. Sherman’s name?

List

Top 10 National Parks

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Of the 430+ units in the National Park Service system, only 63 have earned the most prestigious title of National Park.  While not all of them are equal, each of these special places is full of history and wildlife, while protecting some of America’s most treasured natural landscapes.  Here we have ranked our favorite National Parks, unfortunately being forced to leave out some truly iconic ones. Click here to view all of our Top 10 lists.

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

10. Wrangell-St. Elias (Alaska)

Drive to McCarthy and walk on a glacier                

9. Grand Canyon (Arizona)

You don’t know it until you’ve been to the bottom

8. Everglades (Florida)

Get in a boat to really experience the ’Glades

7. Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico)

Spectacular cave and bat flight program

6. Great Sand Dunes (Colorado)

America’s sandbox is tons of fun

5. Virgin Islands (U.S. Virgin Islands)

A variety of activities await in this tropical paradise

4. Sequoia (California)

Visit the big trees in the snow

3. Capitol Reef (Utah)

Drive the dirt roads for the best scenery

2. Death Valley (California)

A wide range of elevations and sights

…and finally, our #1 National Park!

1. Yellowstone (Wyoming)

The world’s first is still the best

Honorable Mentions

Great Basin (Nevada)

Explore the alpine region and tour the cave

Rocky Mountain (Colorado)

Everyone should drive Trail Ridge Road at least once

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

Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park

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Overview

This truly is a National Park for all seasons.  In the summer, it is worth the extra time it takes to drive eleven miles up the unpaved curves of one-way Old Fall River Road to Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 feet.  Elk bulls spar and bugle in the autumn, when aspen trees briefly turn the mountainsides gold.  Winter is a wonderful time for outdoor recreation if you come prepared for the cold and snow.

Highlights

Bear Lake, Dream Lake, Trail Ridge Road, Adams Falls, Ouzel Falls,

Must-Do Activity

From the famous Trail Ridge Road, you do not even have to get out of your car for amazing panoramas.  If you want to walk, the one-mile Toll Memorial Trail at Tundra Communities Trailhead is paved and flat enough to not be too strenuous at 12,000 feet in elevation.  Elk, pikas, and yellow-bellied marmots frequent the parking area around Rock Cut. 

Best Trail

If you are looking to climb straight up the side of a mountain, there are plenty of options, including popular Flattop Mountain and the strenuous climb up Longs Peak.  For a less busy trail, head to Ypsilon Lake and continue up the hillside, scrambling over boulders all the way to spectacular Spectacle Lakes.

Instagram-worthy Photo

In Grand Lake on the west side of the park, hiking or snowshoeing past Adams Falls up the East Inlet Trail is breathtaking in all seasons.

Peak Season

Summer is the busiest, but winter brings opportunities for snowshoeing.

Hours

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

Fees

$35 per vehicle ($25 for one day) or America The Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

Almost all roads are paved; one-way Old Fall River Road is gravel and only open a few months in the summer.

Camping

There are multiple campgrounds within the park and Glacier Basin is open year round.  Several National Forests surround the park and provide opportunities for dispersed camping, although around Grand Lake it does get crowded on summer weekends.

  • Elk herd at the Tundra Communities Trailhead
  • On the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
  • Pika
  • Tiff and Scott atop 14,259-foot Longs Peak
  • Tiger swallowtail butterfly
  • Scott with two moose on the trail to Calypso Cascades
  • Dream Lake in winter
  • Tiff scrambling up to Spectacle Lakes
This design we created to celebrate Rocky Mountain National Park is available on a variety of products at Cafe Press and Amazon.

Explore More – How do the winter survival strategies differ between pikas and yellow-bellied marmots?

This photo from Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park is for sale on Imagekind

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

List

Update from Raven About The Parks

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We are currently on a 12 day trip to Massachusetts and New York to visit some of the many National Park Service (NPS) sites jammed into those two states, especially around Boston and New York City.  This will bring our total number of NPS units visited to over 350 and provide information for many future blog posts.

We are also working hard to edit our first guidebook, which we will self-publish in October 2019.  It is entitled A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s National Parks and it focuses on helping the reader have special experiences in 50 of the busiest National Parks.  Scott has created original logos for each of the 50 parks, which can be printed on T-shirts, mugs, pillows, and a variety of products through Amazon and Café Press.

Thank you to our readers for continuing to inspire us to visit new NPS sites and share the wonders with you all.

Tiff and Scott at Statue of Liberty National Monument in September 2016