Exploring Public Lands with T

When I first started NationalParksWithT.com at the beginning of 2018, there were 417 areas under the management of the National Park Service, America’s best idea. At that time, I had about 15 years’ worth of National Park-centric digital photography and stories to tell. It was my intention to provide a resource for other like-minded travelers, which would also serve as a remembrance of where I’d been and a reminder of where I still need to go.

After a few months of writing, scheduling and publishing blog entries, I realized that my ‘mission statement’ needed to be expanded to encompass all of our public lands, not just the sites managed by the National Park Service. While the NPS sites generally form the framework for our itineraries, we often find ourselves visiting sites outside of this network. The agencies I often check when planning a vacation are

  • The National Park Service (419 units)
  • The National Wildlife Refuge System (567 refuges)
  • The Bureau of Land Management (877 areas)
  • The USDA Forest Service (154 National Forests, 20 National Grasslands)

That’s 2037 federally managed places to go! Add to that the numerous state & city parks, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Register of Historic Places and the opportunities to explore this country are almost limitless. Thanks for sharing the journey with me.

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21 thoughts on “Exploring Public Lands with T”

  1. There are so many great parks to see! I’m heading to do a perimeter road trip around Four Corners, including Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, etc. Leaving May 1! I can’t wait! It’s so nice to find your blog for future ideas. 🙂

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  2. Thanks for continuing to read my current blog. If you are interested, I am doing a repeat post of our 2017 trip to Europe. My wife always likes to relive these trips on the anniversary and this was the easiest way I could make that happen for her to access. I am about 5 days in, but you are welcome to read, if you wish. Likely a bit more interesting that Edmonton in spring. Here is the site address https://confusedandamusedsite.wordpress.com. Upcoming on my current site will be another trip to Vancouver, where I will try to post on some different stuff, a short trip in August to Jasper National Park and then in the fall our 2 month journey across Canada and back. I appreciate you continuing to read. Allan

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    1. Thanks! I’ll be sure to check out the other blog! I am still pulling from the archives and have posts scheduled out a few months so I don’t miss a Monday or Friday. We have some great trips planned (Glacier NP up next) and I’ll be figuring out how to get the more current stuff in the rotations without flooding anyone’s feed all at once 🙂

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  3. Looking forward to your future posts. This fall, when we drive across Canada, we will be returning through the U.S. fro Sarnia to North Dakota. There are a few parks to see on the way, but looking forward to Mount Rushmore NM and Badlands NP in South Dakota.

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    1. If you are stopping overnight in the Badlands area, I recommend the Circle View Ranch…it’s a B&B…we were there in 2009, so it may have changed, but we enjoyed our stay there…wished we’d stayed more than a night before moving on. It’s on top of a butte in the middle of the badlands, lovely breakfast, friendly hosts, and our kids got to look for eggs the free range chickens had laid https://www.circleviewranch.com/

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  4. Pingback: Beerchasing (and Ubiquity *1) in Maine | thebeerchaser

  5. Erin

    Nice work! Nothing better than opening a state map and looking at all the public lands I want to visit. The hard part is narrowing down my list to fit within my time constraints. We live in a beautiful country and thankfully we have preserved some incredible places.

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  6. This morning, Kevin and I decided to go to New England next June. I have a lot to read on your site to get ideas for our trip in 2020. <3

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    1. How exciting! Will you make it to Maine? Boston? All my posts on those are up. If you are reading on a computer, the state categories are on the right side. Click Maine or Massachusetts and all relevant posts will come up. If reading on a phone, the categories are at the bottom of the scroll.

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      1. That’s the plan seeing all six states and Boston. Yep, that’s where I usually go to click on the states to read those blogs. 💗

  8. Thanks for following my (very intermittent) travel blog. I enjoy reading the historical content you always include. And sometimes I note that you have made discoveries that we missed during our visits to various public lands when we’re on the road. Fingers crossed, with Covid 19 vaccines complete and more park venues open there will be more travels soon.
    Stewart

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  9. Continuing our discussion from the Beavertail Lighthouse, I wanted to share with you that my YouTube friend just visited the Atalaya Castle, a National Historic landmark in Georgetown County, South Carolina.

    It got me thinking that I would really enjoy seeing a video presentation of your content on YouTube in addition to the photo blog. My YouTube friend is currently touring the South and here’s a link to the Atalaya Castle video:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4PGoJzRXG0

    If you have the time to watch, it might give you some creative ideas on how you might present your content. Plus, you can watch his recent videos including the series from Hilton Head.

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