I've been watching the Ken Burns National Parks series the last few nights. Beautiful cinematography and a surprising amount of historical photographs. As one who loves the outdoors, the National Parks, photography and history this series has a little of everything for me. Anyone else enjoying or even watching it?

We've watched some of it. We've been to most of the parks in this series, but still have two on our list, Glacier and Yosemite.

Glacier is fantastic as is Yosemite, Board-O. You've saved two of the best.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
We've watched some of it. We've been to most of the parks in this series, but still have two on our list, Glacier and Yosemite.

As a child, I lived near Yosemite National Park. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the pleasure to behold.

As far as other magnificent parks, I believe that you recently toured some of the very best; say, a couple hundred miles south of my current location.

If I had to rank the parks/sites we've visited in the western part of the US, in descending order, starting with our favorite, the list would be:
Yellowstone
Grand Teton
Monument Valley
Bryce
Grand Canyon
Badlands
Custer National Forest
Capitol Reef
Zion
Petrified Forest
Arches
Crater Lake
Painted Desert
Devil's Tower
Bandelier
Red Canyon
Mount Rushmore
Death Valley
Mount Rainier
Mesa Verde
Meteor Crater
Valles Caldera
Saguaro
Canyonlands
Wind Cave
Manti-Lasal National Forest
San Juan National Forest
Rocky Mountains
Natural Bridges
Smoky Mountains
Little Bighorn

I'm sure I've forgotten a few. Glacier and Yosemite will probably be in 2010 or 2011. This is a magnificent country. Though I love visiting Europe, the US National Parks have some of the greatest sights in the world.

Yes agree Icewino/giga, Yosemite is amazing. I've been to several, including Sequoia and Redwood NPs, Niagra Falls, Arches, Zion NP, and the first sight of El Capitan can be compared only to the Grand Canyon, IMO.

Thanks for the reminder Icewino. Just set the DVR last night, and watched part this morning. Excellent series.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
We've been to most of the parks in this series, but still have two on our list, Glacier and Yosemite.

Board-O, I live and work very close to Glacier National Park so if/when you do come here for a visit I'd enjoy having the opportunity to meet you.

We'd love that. I expect to be out there next summer or the year after.

The only one they've shown that I haven't been to yet is also Glacier. Most of the others I've been to at least a couple of times. It's hard for me to rank them but if I had to come up with a quick top 20 or so somewhat in order it would be...

Yellowstone
Bryce
Yosemite
Sequoia/Kings Canyon
Grand Canyon
Carlsbad Caverns
Grand Teton
Zion
Rocky Mountain
Acadia
Great Smoky Mountains
Olympic
Crater Lake
Badlands
Mount Rushmore
Great Sand Dunes
Mesa Verde
Seguaro
Little Bighorn
Death Valley
Black Canyon
Devils Tower
Guadalupe Mountains

Glacier, Channel Islands, Joshua Tree and all the places in Alaska and Hawaii are still on my wish list.

Don't forget Denali

and Tahoma (unfortunately known by the name of one of George Vancouver's lieutenants who never set foot on the mountain, Rainier).

I'm sure Denali is near the top from people I've talked to but unfortunately I haven't made it there yet.

Mount Ranier was still snowed in at the pass and it was near freezing when we camped there at night and that was in mid June. It looks spectacular in pictures and I'd love to climb it someday but for now I'm hard pressed to rank it highly from my experience with it.

This series is a great cure for insomnia.

I've got this on my DVR and am trying to catch up while also watching baseball's last week. It is interesting to watch, as my parents dragged me around to most of them as a kid and I didn't appreciate them. Now I want to get back to most or all of them.

The one in particular I want to visit that I have not been to is Crater Lake. The one that I am most amazed by is the Grand Canyon and hope to get back soon. Getting my wife to go on trips to these will be interesting since her family never went anywhere but Florida growing up.

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Originally posted by GreenDrazi:
This series is a great cure for insomnia.

I hear you. I just woke up from another one.

It's a great combination of fascinating information, gorgeous photography, and soporific delivery.