National Park Service

Our quest to visit all of the National Park Service sites

There are over 400 National Park Service sites and our goal is to visit all of them.

Visiting the national parks has been a focus of many major trips I’ve been on and I wanted a way to officially note that parks that I had visited so I took my research online and found out about the cancellation stamps. For those who aren’t familiar, there are books you can purchase (either online or at a park’s visitor center) that you can use to keep track of your cancellation stamps. Cancellation stamps are similar to a passport stamp and show the site you have visited with the date you were there. I bought the most serious of the books because I have some big plans for it. But there are several options of books ranging from about $10 to $55. There is even a version for kids as well!

You certainly don’t need to buy a book and collect the cancellation stamps to enjoy the National Park Service. There are plenty of reasons to visit a park without involving the stamps. However, if you do plan to visit multiple parks, even if you aren’t pursuing it seriously, I do recommend giving it a try. The smallest book is only $10 and the profits do go to help the parks promote visitation and provide services to visitors. I find that visiting the parks now are even more exciting with the thought that I’m not only getting to experience a wonderful natural, cultural, and/or historical place but I’m also participating in some sort of national scavenger hunt. I also believe it is an excellent idea if you are taking children to visit the parks as it makes the experience more fun and promotes experiencing and learning about each park.

The only rule I feel is fair when collecting the stamps is that there is no stamp-and-run. I need to truly experience the park in order to be worthy of the stamp. Obviously, some of the parks are rather large and experiencing every single aspect of it is not always feasible. I’m not likely to ever hike every single trail or participate in every educational offering the park has (some of these features aren’t available in every season), but I do read over the information offered in the museums, plaques along the major pathways, and make sure to get as many scenic views as possible.

Now that I have my book, I have to work my way through the 400+ sites which I cannot wait to share with everyone. I will be returning to some parks that I have seen before, but I am excited to make new memories at these locations and I’m sure I will visit many of them again, even after I get my cancellation stamps.