Atlas Insider
Atlas Insider: Knitting the National Parks
Over the past few years, there’s been an explosion of interest in the National Parks System as a making inspiration, and knitting has been no exception. Add to the growing list of crafty NPS resources the forthcoming Knitting the National Parks by Nancy Bates. It features 63 beanie patterns, each inspired by a different national park—from Acadia to Zion—and it’s a pretty great, colorful journey through the National Parks System—even as the price of gas keeps us living-room bound.
The majority of the projects—and it’s a significant majority—are pictorial in nature (and about that same majority involves some sort of stranded colorwork; if you don’t already know how to handle long-ish floats, you’ll learn pretty quickly). There are a handful of abstract beauties as well—I’ve got Lassen Volcano, White Sands and Mesa Verde (inspired by a piece of pottery) in my queue already.
Each pattern gets a few pages of its own, and the design is very thoughtful from a user standpoint. Every project has a two-page spread (though it’s a quite chonky volume, the book lies flat when open!) that shows you everything you’ll need and do from start to finish. Instructions on the left, chart on the right. No page turning!
Bates gives us a photo that was clear inspiration for each beanie, as well as a couple of photos of the finished products. There’s also a full-page, full-color chart for each one (there aren’t any line-by-line written instructions, but the charts are gorgeous and as clear as a bell). Each spread also gets its own glossary, which keeps you from having to flip around in the book too much. Just open the book to the pattern you want and the two-page spread tells you and shows you everything you need to know.
A wide array of techniques are covered as well. Cabling makes a few appearances, as does a little bit of post-knitting embroidery. And while there are definitely a handful of patterns that might lightly challenge a beginner (or, hello, chronic forgetter), a quick scurry to YouTube got me through the bobble making of Joshua Tree—my first bobble!—and honestly, if you see something that gives you pause skillwise … well, there are 63 patterns in the book. Just turn the page!
All patterns in the book—save one—call for worsted weight yarn, but one of its real strengths is that it recommends quite an array of different yarns brand- and price-wise, so it’s a good way to dip into yarns that might be new to you, especially if the price of yarn factors into your decision making—if you’re only making a single-skein beanie, a splurge might not break the bank.
A tongue-in-cheek warning: I suspect Knitting the National Parks will really appeal to non-knitters as well: they’ll pick it up, dogear thirty covetable, must-have patterns and then hand it to you—and you better get busy, because thirty is a lot of hats to make.
A Giveaway
You’ll need a nice big basin to block all those hats. The prize is a set of Soak Laundry Soaps and a Soak Basin!
How to enter?
Two steps:
Step 1: Sign up for our weekly newsletter, Snippets, right here. If you’re already subscribed, you’re set.
Step 2: What’s your favorite national or state park destination? Let us know in the comments.
Deadline for entries: Sunday, August 28, 11:59 PM Central time. We’ll draw a random winner from the entries. Winner will be notified by email.
MDK receives a commission for purchases made through the affiliate link in this post. Thank you!
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Congaree National Park
Since I’m staying close to home, Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma, San Diego, California, 5 mi from my home, is my go-to now.
Yosemite
The quiet unassuming Indiana Dunes And Lakeshore, home to a wide variety of native plants and species- who knew carnivorous plants were indigenous to those Sandy beaches – on the shores of Great Lake Michigan. Take your knitting and sit awhile – get inspired and then get you toes wet.
Me too! Congaree National Park in my beloved South Carolina!
I love, love, love Acadia!
Yellowstone
There are so many beautiful parks. Glacier National Park is my favorite, although there are several close 2nds.
Denali and Yellowstone National Parks so far. (many more yet to visit!)
I’d have to say that Shenandoah National Park (spent our honeymoon there), Gettysburg and Denali. I know you asked for one, but who can choose?
Mount Rainier Nation Park is my definite favorite! But our North Cascades and Olympic National Patks are also gems not to miss!!
This is a tough one. Yosemite such unbridled splendor. Now I live near the Great Smokey Mts. Which are equally beautiful just different. Would love to see the New River park in WVA. What treasures we have in these parks.
Assateague
Glacier national park
Glacier is on my list!
Denali National Park
We were lucky enough to visit Denali when it “came out.” Stunning!
I love Glacier National Park!!
So many favorites! Great Smoky Mountains, Acadia, Yellowstone and Glacier are all on my list. If I have to choose one I think it would be Glacier. Looking forward to visiting the Grand Canyon one day.
I grew up near Arches and we went there often (long ago, before it became so crowded) so it has a special place in my heart.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Ouachita National Forest, Saguaro National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, anything with trees and water really
Acadia. I hope to get to all of the national parks I haven’t yet been to. They’re such a treasure.
Denver. We were there many years ago The national park there had the little tiniest town -Lyons with a soda fountain shop. Made the most amazing Ice cream sodas.
Hocking Hills in Ohio.
Historic Jamestown
Saguaro National Park
They are all so spectacular so I will go with the most recent park visited – Organ Pipe National Park.
Kenia Fjords National Park. I’m lucky enough to live within driving distance of access to this treasure
Great Smokey Mountains NP
Of my goodness I can’t choose just 1. Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon are my favorite West Coast parks. Each has something special to give us.
A mini-National Parks tour just escaped our grasp a few years ago due to an unprecedented giant snowstorm. So I can’t mention which is my favorite Park through actual experience but have always wanted to go to Yosemite, which I think I read is now in peril because of the fires.
Upper Delaware Scenic park
Letchworth State Park or Watkins Glen State Park both in New York State.
I was fortunate to visit many National Parks as a child on summer camping trips in the late 1950’s and early 60’s. I remember Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion and Grand Canyon when there were hardly any other visitors. I loved them all.
One of the newest, Indiana Dunes National Park
Yosemite
Easy peasy! I’m a licensed battlefield guide here at Gettysburg National Military Park. The park is always beautiful and oh so poignant. Come visit!
I loved visiting Gettysburg when I lived for a spell in Virginia! But I spent a summer in college working in the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite, and those grand trees are just magnificent! Yosemite in the off season has always been a favorite.
Another favorite from my college days is Point Reyes National Seashore, also in California, my home state. Parks I most want to see include Yellowstone and Arches. And we made an overnight visit to Denali once, and never saw the mountain – it was covered in clouds. A return (and longer) visit is also on my wish list.
Crater Laker National Park, Oregon
Arches National Park, Bryce, Zion, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain. So grateful for our National Parks!
My favorite national park in the US is Yosemite.
Grand Canyon
I’m from the UK, but I’ve visited the US a few times and it’s so hard to choose! You have so many amazing parks and I’ve only been to a few states.
I think my favourite is Yosemite, closely followed by Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.
This book looks amazing! Can’t wait to read it
Pine Grove Furnace State Park (PA) where the Appalachian Trail cuts through.
Oh! We used to go there, from State College, when we were in grad school at PSU back in the 80’s. BEAUTIFUL!!!
Bear Mountain State Park, Bear Mountain, NY.
Our family (which eventually grew to 11!) spent many a summer vacation camping there and when we were older (~8-11) my Dad would take two of us at a time on overnight hikes. Great big memories. Thank you DG and MDK.
Acadia is beautiful and I’d love to go back some day
I have two NPS favorites – Death Valley ( salt flats ) and Bryce Canyon ( hoodoos )
The Grand Canyon. I still remember my first sight of it over 50 years ago. It took my breath away then and still does.
I can’t choose just one! I’d say Volacnoes National Park on the Big Island because I’ve been there with my husband and adult children and Crater Lake NP because I went there as a child with my parents.
Death Valley or Joshua Tree
Acadia National Park. Especially on 12/31 when you can watch the new year start.
The Everglades
Saratoga National Historical Park my bestie, because I know it so well. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park my favorite, those trees will make a hugger out of anyone.
Yesssss!!! Amazing trees!
Great Smokey Mountains!
So many choices- but I’m going with the Grand Canyon, as it literally took my breath away.
Glacier & Yosemite
Isle Royale in Lake Superior!!
My favourite national park is Banff National Park in Canada. Peyto lake is a surreal electric blue, surrounded by snowcapped mountains. The park takes hours to drive and is a great place to knit!
Love Glacier. Yosemite is wonderful too.
That chain of parks is so beautiful! And very good for stocking stitch!
Yoho is pretty spectacular too!
Glacier National Park. It’s beautiful, especially slightly off season when I wasn’t too crowded.
Capital Reef National Park is a gem!
Two favorite state parks: Pocahontas SP in VA and Hickory Run SP in PA
Glacier NP
Rocky Mountain National Park
Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park!
Rocky Mountain National park
Too many to pick one easily but I will: Glacier. It is incredible with the natural beauty and wildlife.
The Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It feels like this spot is part of our family’s very soul. An annual pilgrimage to hike in the mountains is essential to our wellbeing and has become “just who we are and what we do.” Four generations of our family have been going there for over 70 years! It started with my husband’s grandparents and now we take our sons. We are all about the mountains and the trees!
Denali National Park and Preserve
Yellowstone.
Every National Park that I have visited has been wonderful. I think that Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are my favorites.
How to pick just one…. Acadia National Park ties with Yellowstone, followed closely by Olympic NP.
I can’t pick, Yellowstone and volcanoes NPs.
Grand Canyon! It is beautiful and should be on everyone’s bucket list.
Oh my goodness, I could never pick! But Death Valley is sure up there. The quiet, the solitude, the -Surprise-waterfalls. You all give me lots of wanderlust to explore yours too!
Oh, and I have a few of the patterns but didn’t know there was a book. Heading to find a copy now!
We’ve had the ability to experience so many of our glorious national parks, but Glacier always is the first one that comes to my mind. I watched the mountains rise from the mist as I sipped my coffee.
Yellowstone! It is where I spent my honeymoon! ❤️
Glacier Park has amazing night skies and the justifiably famous Going-To-The-Sun Road.
That was an awesome drive!
I love every one I’ve had the privilege to visit. The first that popped into my head when I was reading this was Zion.
Hawaii Volcanoes Natl Park and Acadia are my two faves.
Glacier
Great Smokey Mountains
Yellowstone, now so crowded with visitors. Perrot State Park (WI) with bluff views of the Mississippi river.
Loved Acadia. Would love to see them all.
The Smokey Mtns NP was my playground growing up:-)
Bryce Canyon.
Mount Battie State Park, across the bay from Acadia. Great views of the mountains, Harbor towns, and the trees during fall.
I worked at Mt Battie in 1980. You are so right! Oh, the views!!!
Hard to choose but since I’m on the East Coast I’ll say Acadia.
Aren’t we lucky to have all the national parks? My favorite still is Yellowstone.
It restores my soul.
Yes, that’s the perfect sentiment! We are so lucky to have access to all the wonderful National and state parks.
Yosemite (and Acadia is a close second)!
Mammoth Cave National Park, KY
It is an awesome place! My brother is a guide there and just loves it.
Haven’t actually been to many…so Sandy Hook National Seashore in NJ has to be my honest answer. One day…
I agree with Kelly B.!
I do love the Great Smokey Mountains, however now that I am retired, Acadia and Yellowstone are going to be future destinations.
Custer State Park- South Dakota
How can I possibly choose just one?
Yellowstone NP holds a special place in my heart due to a family connection and memories. I lived most of my life in PA and now live in ME. Many special moments involve state and national parks all across the country, each with their own kind of beauty, history, and charm.
Acadia Naional Park has my heart. Hiking there, especially if the fall , when crowds have gone and trees are displaying a fashion show of spectacular colors, takes my breath away. Walking up and down rocky hills, in and out of forest-y hideaways, sudden reveals of the ocean and beaches (perfect for finding beach glass and all sizes of sea shells as souvenirs)….Breathtaking and soul reviving!
Buck Island was probably the most unique. But Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon are pretty special too!
Bryce Canyon National park with beautiful colors of terra cotta, tan and cream. The sunsets and sunrises were just spectacular! And Hoodoos are fun to imagine as your friends and family!
Grand Teton National Park is my favorite!
Acadia…Maine in general is not to be missed.
This is sort of cheating because it wasn’t a state park when I was growing up in Ocala, but Silver Springs in Florida is high on my list. We went there all the time when I was a kid and it seemed magical, part jungle and part ‘Old Florida’ – the Florida that was still there in the 50s, the Florida of “Cross Creek,” the Florida I wondered why anyone ever explored it, that took me back to prehistory, that left me in awe of the Native Americans who first lived there
Hands down our favorite National Park is Glacier National Park in Montana. We’ve been there twice and love it more each time. We try to visit NP when we’re on vacation, so we’ve visited many of them and they all have something to enjoy, but GNP is particularly spectacular.
I have so many still on my list to visit. Of the ones I’ve visited already it has to be Joshua Tree!
Yosemite, hands down.
Does the UK count? Because I’m currently in the lake district national park but I reckon the peak district might be an equal favourite.
Glacier
Although I love the majestic beauty of Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Acadia, my heart belongs to Assateauge Island on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where the wild horses run free along pristine ocean beaches.
Me, too!
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore!
Cobscook State Park in Maine
I love Custer State Park in SD. I will forever remember cresting a hill to see hundreds of Bison on the plains below.
My favorite National Park is Acadia National Park in Maine. It has beautiful views of our Maine rock-bound coast and historic carriage roads and Cadillac Mountain.
I found driving through the Badlands absolutely fascinating on a cross country trip.
Zion
There are too many to pick just one! You can’t beat Yellowstone, but Mesa Verde has a special place in my heart. We took our kids there many years ago and all had so much fun! Bryce Canyon is spectacular as well!
Grand Canyon takes my breathe away…so spiritual
Glacier National Park.
Acadia National Park. Have spent so much time there over the years, I named one of my Dalmatians after the park. Her name was Karefree Acadia Sieur De Mont, Acadia for short.
My favorite National Park is Glacier. But I do have some very close seconds, The Great Smokey Mountains, The Great Tetons or is it Grand Tetons?
Acadia
Yellowstone and/or Grand Canyon. Let’s face it it like chips can’t have just one. Lol
Acadia and Great Smoky Mountain
Glacier National Park. Stunning!
Well, the Grand Canyon, no Mesa Verde, but then again I love our annual trip to Acadia…..
I love how bio-diverse Yelliwstone is.
Yosemite. Where my niece was married 5 years ago.
I’ve only been to about 6 so far but Yosemite is my favorite. The site of Halfdome and El Capitan from the meadow in the early morning light takes your breath away
Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s UP. It’s beautiful and smells so fresh. It also has moose though I haven’t spotted one!
Haleakala on Maui …spectacular views and an amazing spot to watch the sunrise! Bring your hand knit shawl or blanket it’s cold.
Grand canyon or Yosemite would be my choice
Yellowstone.
Hawai’i National Volcano Park is amazing and definitely a must see! . They have cabins where one cam snuggle up with a great knitting project and enjoy the night sky.
Yosemite is my favorite. I have many fond memories of trips there with my husband.
I love Yosemite! But I’ll take any national park!
It has to be Acadia!
Love your posts, DG!
My favorite state park is definitely Terry Andrae.
I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting this park, Acadia National Park in Maine is on my list!
Acadia
Mesa Verde!
I love Shenandoah. But I will be visiting my son and daughter in law in Utah this fall.. Can’t wait to see more of the parks.
All of them? But in all honesty I love Acadia National Park in Maine. Rugged beaches and sea air… epitome of New England for me.
Acadia in Maine
Indiana Dunes on beautiful Lake Michigan
I would have said Acadia until I went to the Great Smokie Mountains this summer! Wow! Incredible!
I have wonderful memories of a family trip to Yosemite when I was a girl and yet more of taking my own children to Watkins Glen State Parking New York. Public parks are such a treasure! I hope to get to many more!
Oops autocorrect! Great Smoky Mountains!
I really like Pokagon State Park in Indiana.
Fundy National Park in New Brunswick,
Acadia in Maine.
Out of the ones I’ve seen Grand Canyon was the most spectacular
Yellowstone!!
Yellowstone!
My favorites State Park is Lehigh Gorge State Park in PA.
I love Yellowstone even if it is crowded. It is like landing on another planet!
Rocky Mountain National Park!
Grand Tetons, for sure! Such magesty! But, then again, there’s Arches Nat’l Park – totally stunning! Yet again the Grand Canyon, or Acadia, or the Great Smokies, or Denali, or Volcanos, or and or and or! No way to choose! How fortunate we are that previous generations saw the value on preserving these stunning areas.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
I grew up near the Blue Ridge Parkway (https://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm) and I miss that so much. Growing up we often took rides up there and picnicked at some of the overlooks or areas like Mabry Mill.
I love so many but my top three are Yosemite, Grand Tetons and Glacier!
What a brilliant idea for a book,and endless exploration of different hats!
I would have to choose Grand Canyon for a million reasons,
Shenandoah
I’ve recently moved east to Middle Tennessee which has afforded me the opportunity to visit the Smokies and Mammoth Cave, but my two favorites still have to be Mesa Verde and Big Bend.
Mesa Veede was the first park I can remember visiting and would love to go back to see how my memories have held up over the years. But I was in awe of Big Bend when we visited in 2019. Depending on the cloud cover, the time of day and the directions you looked it was a different scene each time. So vast and beautiful. Can’t wait to go back!
I’ve only been to a few, but they’ve been amazing… Glacier and Acadia.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park-I’ve spent many days hiking there,from UT field trips to a March honeymoon hike to weekends hiking in all seasons.
Acadia National Park in Maine and John Muir in California, but I never saw a park I didn’t love!
Born and raised in San Francisco, I’m native Californian… and living and raising my children on the California coast in a small town called Half Moon Bay… There are several beautiful National Parks in California that come to mind. Nothing hold a candle though to Yosemite National Park.
Acadia, by far! – the ocean, the cliffs, the mountains, the trails, the wildlife. I just love it there!
Yellowstone National Park
Anza Borrego state park in California.
Mesa Verde!
Acadia and the Grand Canyon are the ones I have visited and enjoyed.
Yellowstone
They are all beautiful but the Grand Canyon still sticks with me the most.
Yosemite! We honeymooned there & I can’t wait to go back someday soon.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. First saw it as a young teen and thought it the most beautiful place I’d ever seen; fifty+ years later, still love to visit, still delighted by the beauty.
Yellowstone – There are so many interesting natural and geological things to see here that make it hard to compare any other national park. I had the opportunity to work at YNP after college and it will forever be my favorite. Let it be known I polished the entire Old Lodge structure for a Presidential visit and he didn’t even come inside to inspect “my” work!! Old Faithful stole my thunder.
Acadia and Yellowstone
The Great Smokey Mountains have always been a favorite.
Really an impossible choice, but I’ll go for Glacier. Can’t wait to go back!
Glacier National Park
Favorite national or state park is a bit tricky: perhaps Yosemite, where my family and I had a wonderful vacation when I was a teenager. My county has a wonderful collection of land conservatories, though, and my husband and I are working our way through all of those. I have a definite favorite for that one!
Now this was an easy one for me – I just loved Yellowstone!! Bisons tying up traffic, a pack of wolves leaving my husband speechless as he had his morning smoke, hoping each day to see a moose up close, endless beauty at every turn………..
My most visited is Great Falls because its close by, but the variety of beautiful sights makes Yellowstone my favorite. (Of those we’ve visited so far. We have a lot more to visit.)
My favorite would be beautiful Acadia, with a cousin in Bar Harbor and surrounded by Maine!
Grand Canyon! Hermit trail down to the Colorado River.
Crater Lake, and this summer I finally checked Mesa Verde off of my bucket list, and all I can say is, Magnificent! What a piece of history!
Buckhorn lake state park in perry county Ky. Currently home to hundreds of flood victims from southeastern Ky July flood victims.
Oh, White Sands. Sledding without snow!
The Great Smoky Mountains. My family spent many summers exploring the Tennessee – North Carolina area.
I love Glacier National Park!
It is hard to answer: Grand Canyon, Shenandoah and Yosemite
I love Arches. The beauty of the formations especially against a blue sky is undescribable!
Rocky Mountain National park’
Sleeping Bear Dunes in our Mitten – I mean Michigan. 😉
Acadia National Park, and a must is slices of fresh blueberry pie for breakfast!
Smoky Mountain National Park
Yosemite, there is so much gorgeousness there.
Assateague Island National Seashore
Yosemite is my favorite but I’d like to visit some of the parks in Utah like Bryce Canyon, Zion, Arches…
I’ve not been to many National Parks. We visited the Badlands last year, and I very much want to go back! We have many beautiful state parks in WI, I love Pattison State Park with its many waterfalls and great trails along the river.
Rocky Mountain National Park is one of my favorites.
Eldorado Canyon State Park
How about Ranier? The wildflowers were gorgeous last week.
I’ve only been to the Everglades, but I’d love to visit the other national parks.
The Everglades in southern Florida….I am concerned about climate change and the impact it will have on the wildlife living there.
Cape Cod National seashore! I live nearby!
Love Yellowstone and Montana. Have gone numerous times. Also where I live – the Everglades <3
Yosemite. I got to see much more of its beauty since my husband was driving and we are from Chicago – where we don’t get much chance to learn to drive mountain roads!
Lake Clark in Alaska. Glacier. Grand Teton. Just back from a trip that included the Great Sand Dunes NP. And the nearby favorite Great Smoky NP.
Glacier or Weir Farm.
The Grand Canyon!!!
Bryce Canyon
Great idea!
I visited Canada a few years ago and they were celebrating 150 years of their park system.
A yarn was created for each of the Providences. They were beautiful!
There’s an IDEA for some ambitious fiber creator , a yarn for each major National Park!!
My favorite, favorite is Glacier National Park! But I can’t think of one that I don’t like
My favorite park is Glacier. They all are amazing in their own way.
Have been to many but Glacier National park has a special place in my heart.
Definitely Mammoth Cave National Park
Lake Taghkanic State Park in NY
I have been to many of the national parks, but Yellowstone stands out
My favorites are Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks because they’re home, even though I’ve been on the east coast 18 years. Headed to Acadia for the first time on Wednesday!
Has to be Rocky Mountain National Park
I didn’t list my own in the piece, but my answer is Great Basin National Park in Nevada. It’s got a little bit of everything – alpine lakes, caverns, bristlecone pines, wide desert views, craggy mountain hikes…even a tiny glacier (in Nevada!) – and it’s almost completely people-free. Of the 61 official National Parks, it’s the 54th most visited, so your chances of running into a crowd is slim to none.
Yes! Ditto Grand Staircase… an idea more than a monument
I am totally biased. My favorite park is the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, just 3 miles from my home. Year round, we go there to hike the trails on the hills that surround the valley created by the Cuyahoga River in northeast Ohio. There are the Cuyahoga Valley Railway, farms that lease land from the park, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and programs run by the park authority. I have read that it is the most visited national park. It is certainly most visited by me.
I’m fortunate enough to live near a few state parks like Minnewaska and Bear Mountain plus a very favorite state park I believe the only one with no trees or grass The Walkway Over the Hudson if you’ve never been you should go.
I am lucky enough to live between Glacier National Park and Yellowstone, so having to choose one is difficult. I would pick Glacier as it is becoming different than it previously was due to climate change. The iconic glaciers of my youth are almost gone now.
The beauty of the all the parks prevail as they change. I never miss a chance to see any of the parks!
The favorite that I have visited is Sequoia National Park. It was some time back before a lot of the wildfires. Well worth the drive to see and experience that primeval type woodland.
New River Gorge
The Utah big 5 are amazing, linked too by Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument and a stone’s throw from the north rim of the Grand Canyon. An entire geological wonder worth a lifetime of exploration… although I spend most of my free time in France these days !
As a kid Great Smokey Mountains, as an adult I have yet to discover my favorite.
Zion, Arches, Canyon Land how can anyone just pick one. Bridges in New Mexico is nice also
I’ve loved all the National Parks we’ve been to and have so many yet to get to! My favorite is Assateauge. We go every year to see the ponies.
Appalachian
Acadia! Long, easy to moderate hikes perfect for humans and canines together and great carriage trails for biking when the pooch isn’t with us.
My brother has been trying to retire from law enforcement since January of 2020. His plan was to pack the camper and hit the road and photograph whatever interests him in the national parks. We all know what happened that year and he’s still waiting to resolve two, count em 2, court cases. He’s hoping to hit road by mid-October of this year, starting in Acadia in ME on the East Coast. I’ve already made him an afghan for his trip but a hat for the different parks on his list coulde be fun.
Many thanks and best wishes for your brother! Our law enforcement heroes are so under-appreciated these days. May he have a wonderful retirement and find all his own favorite special places!
Yellowstone!
Saguaro national park is uniquely beautiful and a site to behold at different times of year.
Big Bend National Park.
Colorado National Monument
Devil’s lake in WI
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
So difficult to choose because there is so much natural beauty in our country. Today I choose Glacier!
Yellowstone!
Zion. It suited my one-year-old daughter with squirrels and crows holding court on the main lawn. Eight years later, my 68-year-old mother with the artificial hip hiked the Virgin River. Trail rides, hanging gardens, and desert—best park ever.
Out of the parks I’ve actually visited? Great Smokies was beautiful. I have a driving through there in a blizzard that seemed to come out of nowhere story from the mid 90s…
Yosemite!
My favorites are Glacier and Yellowstone. I have lived close to them and would go multiple times a year. Always fun to get to know them in every season. Now I am learning all about Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota. They each have a beauty all their own!
They are both on my list! <3
I love Zion, Valley Forge and Gettysburg
Lady Bird Johnson Redwood Grove in California.
Crater Lake, Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, Grand Canyon. Which is my favorite? How to choose? Crater Lake is close. Grand Canyon is huge. Both of them put me in perspective as to my importance in the universe. Both of them are my favorite!
Really hard to choose, but since I did work at Jamestown National Park in graduate school, I pick that one.
Zion!
Arches National Park
Arches
Mount Rainier National Park!
Shenandoah National Park is my current favorite because it is within a 2 hour drive and reminds me of my childhood in Vermont. But Acadia is certainly on my bucket list to visit!
This is a hard one. My husband loves Yellowstone. While I feel the same way, my favorite is probably the Arches in Utah. Although, I can’t think of any we haven’t found spectacular, and we have probably visited at least 20, from California to Maine, including Alaska and Hawaii. I have pre-ordered the book, and I can’t wait to get it!
Grand Canyon
Mesa Verde
I love to visit the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park!
Green Mountain National Forest
Glacier. .. and Yosemite!
Rocky Mountain National Park. We visited last year and now it’s my number one recommendation. Also recommended: the Nevada Barr Anna Pigeon mystery series through the parks.
Yes! I love Nevada Barr’s mysteries. Her descriptions are so good… she brought back great memories of Lassen NP. And I once was on a trip driving through the forests of Mississippi, when I had a strong feeling I had been there before (I hadn’t). It was the Natchez Trace Parkway, site of one of Nevada Barr’s great stories, and I knew where I was before I actually knew where we were!
I spent my honeymoon in the Tetons but have more recently spent time in the Great Smoky Mountains and love both for different reasons.
Yellowstone National Park for the memories it have me and my husband, and Saguaro National Park West (there’s also an East) for being a gorgeous backdrop in my growing-up years.
Badlands
Glacier. It is soooo quiet you can easily hear the bears snuffing about.
Mt. Baker National Park, my husband and I love to snowshoe. He proposed to me during a snowshoe trail.
i had the wonderful experience of being snowed in yellowstone national park!! we live in absolutely beautiful country. so many parks…so little time…
They are all so beautiful, but I have to pick Haleakalā National Park.
Glacier National Park in Montana is….gobsmacking.
The Grand Canyon or maybe Yellowstone or maybe Zion or maybe Denali…
It’s like picking a favorite yarn! So tough to choose.
My favorite park is Denali!! I am really looking forward to the release of the book. I have knit several of Nancy’s kits and really enjoyed the process and the finished project.
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is a magical place. Closer to my current home William O’Brien State Park in Minnesota is a toned down version, along the beautiful St Croix National Wild and Scenic Riverway.
Gotta be the Grand Canyon!
So many! Glacier, Grand Teton, Yellowstone. All amazing!
Sandy Hook National seashore, NJ. Hands down! Ocean, beach, view of Manhattan, all at once.
I love Joshua Tree NP. It is so unique in the landscape and flora. And lucky me, I live close to this beautiful park.
Glacier National Park
Bryce, hands down. Otherworldly.
Prairie Creek, Redwoods in the Redwoods National Park.
My favorite national park is Acadia, and the park highest on my list of places to visit is Joshua Tree. We are so lucky to have so many beautiful wild places in the US, as well as those sites of historic significance.
North Cascades National Park, there is nothing like it!
Acadia holds my heart.
Goal is to visit them all! So far Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Acadia are my favorites.
Just visited Glacier National Park, and I think it’s my favorite – at least until I see more. Glorious vistas. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
I’ve always wanted to visit Grand Canyon National Park, so I guess that’s my fave.
Glacier! Headed there in two weeks!
Cool book! I love Zion National Park. There are so many different landscapes and vistas. It’s just stunning.
The Olympic Peninsula in Washington. It has is all – ocean, river rain forest and mountains.
As so many have written already, who can choose? That said, having lived in Tacoma WA with a view of the mountain, I’ll choose Mt. Rainier.
Yellowstone National Park – it’s an hours drive from where I live!
How to choose. I guess I’d have to say Zion. But Acadia is a runner up
I love Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park in Colorado. Once on a sweltering June day we were treated to an afternoon snow storm. Truly refreshing!
That would be a tough decision. I’m probably closest to Great Smoky, so either that or Yellowstone.
Tough to pick one! Live near Great Smokies now so get to visit often but loved visiting Yellowstone at different times of year.
Harris Beach State Park, in awesome Bandon OR. ❤
I love Glacier Nation Park. Can’t wait to visit Zion National Park.
My favorite national park is Shenandoah National Park
This is a fascinating read: all the well known parks, but so many I have never heard of. How blessed this nation is! Makes me want to go on a road trip (which won’t happen) but this book might be a consolation.
Yellowstone National Park
Great Smoky Mountains NP after a great week at Arrowmont in Gatlinberg. Incredibly beautiful forests and stream plus preserved original housing.
Everglades National Park or the Great Smoky Mountain National Park… or the Blue Ridge Parkway
Hawaii Volcano—probably the most amazing sight at night.
I think my favorite National Park is Yellowstone, but Glacier is on my bucket list. My most favorite state park is Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island in Washington. If you live nearby and haven’t visited it, go. Its diverse beaches are beautiful.
My husband proposed at Joshua Tree National Park and we got married in Virgin Island National Park! Knitted Wit does NPS inspired colorway so of course I have those – plus a few other too beautiful to pass up
Acadia will always be my favorite as I am a New England girl through and through.
Trip to Sequoia & King’s Canyon was one of our most memorable vacations.
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park for me. My husband and I once spent a week tent camping in a state park nearby, and I’ll never forget seeing so many black bears while hiking in the National park.
Yellowstone & Grand Tetons
I’m originally from the East Coast so it’s Acadia but I look forward to visiting those on the west coast
My favorite National Park right now is Shenandoah National Park, mainly because it’s in my “backyard”. A close second is Rocky Mountain National Park, which was in my backyard in college. So beautiful!
How to choose just one?? I have so many favorites. For wildlife, it has to be Yellowstone. For hiking, Glacier NP. Forbidding landscape, Death Valley. Lush landscape, Smoky Mountains. Red rock, Arches and Capital Reef. Awe inspiring, Yosemite and Grand Canyon. I’d visit them all again and again if I could.
I’ve not been to any in America, but I loved seeing Niagara Falls when I was a kid!
So many great parks, but Zion holds a special place in my heart.
Grand Teton—I have knit 3 of these patterns already (I got them as kits from her) & have enjoyed each one! The book will be inspiring…
Yosemite National Park
Joshua Tree Nat’l Park.
Three-way tie for Favorite park: my mom’s family has lived within the mandated boundary of Acadia for generations, so that’s my home park. I did a lot of research in Rocky Mountain National Park, so that’s a favorite, too. And my favorite vacation destination is St. John in US Virgin Islands National Park!
I have so many still to visit but I love Yosemite and Mt Rainier!
Love Yosemite and Olympic National parks and would love to see Bryce canyon and Zion. Actually would want to visit them all!
While I’ve visited quite a many throughout the US, Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming is my absolute favorite.
The national parks with historic sites … such as The Ford Mansion (Washington’s Headquarters) in Morristown, NJ … where I took my boys when they had President’s Day off.
My favorite national park is the North Cascades National Park. It’s a short 20 miles from home to a beautiful drive through the “American Alps”:
That is too hard ! Visually I think Bryce is it, but for hiking Zion is tops, but then there is Yosemite, Grand Canyon and and and and !!!
For 20 years, I lived only a few dozen miles from Rocky Mountain National Park, making it an easy day trip to show it off to poor visitors who weren’t lucky (or smart) enough to have the park in their back yard.
Crater Lake, Oregon, just as a starter!
I was moving, sight unseen, to New Mexico, from NYC. I’d always lived on the coasts. I stopped by my Aunt’s and she took me to Arches. It was really hot. Very hot. I stepped into the shade of one of the arches, and it was 75o. I burst into tears, saying no one told me that
there was a climate for me. No humidity. The Arches have a spot in my heart.
Yosemite has a lot of fond memories – we’re close enough to go a few times a year, thanks to the lifetime Senior pass. Olympic is a close second, for the sublime lakes.
We had a lovely and memorable family trip to the Smokies, so I think that ranks as my favorite. We brought back an excellent book, targeted at kids but interesting for all ages, The Smokies Yucky Book. We reread it many times.
If I have to choose a favorite, it would be Yellowstone. But I don’t want to choose, so I will also add in Grand Canyon and Yosemite.
There are so many beautiful parks that it’s almost impossible to choose, but I’m going to do it anyway…Rock Island State Park in Wisconsin. It’s beautiful, interesting, and so secluded that it takes two ferries to get there.
If I have to choose a favorite, it’s Acadia National Park.
Yosemite
Montauk Point Park with the Lighthouse which is a National Historic Monument
I miss Montauk! It’s been many years since I’ve been there. Thanks for bringing up the memories.
PS: DG I clicked your link up top, “knitting has been no exception” and it led me to your delightful first letter for MDK, I don’t know how I missed it back then but its wonderful! And congratulations on all your knitting award ribbons!
Grand Canyon so far, but hiking in Zion is on my bucket list.
So hard to pick just one park! My FIRST favorite was Yellowstone, especially the first weekend in the spring when the snowplows had cut through the snowpack on the passes. We had the park mostly to ourselves and baby animals were everywhere. It was easy to watch them with their mamas while respecting their space.
I’d be hard pressed to pick just one! Camping at Silver Springs, FL as a small kid- catching lizards and diving into the cold springs. Living in HI in 5th-6th grade- snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, hiking up Diamond Head, the solemnity of Pearl Harbor. A military cross country move from MD to AK (tent camping, minivan, 5 kids, 2 cats, black lab!) staying in many state and National (and a few Canadian) parks along the way. Two years later (1 more kid, 2nd vehicle, pop-up camper, different route) moved to NY hitting different parks. Now living in view of Pike’s Peak with Garden of the Gods 15 min down the road. The Parks are like Lays, you can’t pick just one! And as a hat knitter, that book is definitely coming to my house.
virgin islands–love st. john OR rocky mountain!!!
Olympic National Park – Hurricane Ridge!!
Zion
Rocky Mountain National Park, because it is in my back yard and I see something different every time I go!
Isle Royale National Park, an island in Lake Superior.
My favorite is Yosemite
Everglades
Yosemite and Yellowstone.
A lovely project indeed! Hope Yellowstone National Park is included. Can never visit too often!
I think Yosemite is my favorite— or is it Bryce Canyon? I first saw that at sunset. Then again, the Grand Canyon is awesome. As Vinnie Barbarino would say, “I’m so confused!”
I have always said that I love Badlands National Park. For the wide, colorful, expansive view by day and the magnificent sky by night. My favorite state park is High Cliff near Sherwood Wisconsin, practically my back yard. 🙂
Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.
I love Acadia. Went a long time ago, pre-kids and would love to take my young adult children there soon!!
Pipestone (in MN) is a hidden treasure. It’s a living, working cultural monument, with a short loop trail that winds through several landscape types.
I just returned from 12 days in Yellowstone and Glacier, so they are my two current favorites.
Patrick’s Point State Park, California
I couldn’t possibly choose! Let’s say Yellowstone. No, Glacier. no, Great Smoky. they’re all treasures. I hope to get to Mesa Verde soon. Thanks for alerting us to the book!
Acadia national park!
Yellowstone! It’s 5 different parks in one! Mountains, hot springs (including geyers and paint pots), a river that’s green, fishing, wildlife watching, and you can experience a hot sunny day and then cimb into the mountains for snow and ice.
So many great choices, but I do love the Olympic state park.
Acadia Park is my favorite!
We went to Craters of the Moon National Park this summer in lieu of Yellowstone. It was beautiful!
Ha! I am reading this as I just finished a hike in the Black Hills National Forest. Not a National Park, but we were in Badlands NP on Friday and Wind Cave on Saturday. I have been knitting on my temperature blanket. I’ll put this book on my Christmas list.
Hard to choose, but Yosemite and Lassen because we go there the most.
My favorite national park is my local- Redwood National Park. I never get tired of the peace and quiet of the giants who inhabit it.
I am in love with the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, the beautiful pines of Rocky Mountains, the gorgeous leaves of the Smoky Mountains, the starkness of Joshua Tree and Death Valley. But the bats and caverns of Carlsbad Caverns are just awe inspiring. Oh, heck, I love them all. I really hope to visit each one, and each one will be my favorite.
Rocky Mountain. I remember it fondly from my college days in Denver.
Well, that’s simply an impossible choice! Yosemite? Yellowstone? Sequoia? Rocky Mountain? Each one I visit, I say: “THIS one is really my favorite!”
My favorite park is Yosemite. Very beautiful
Olympic, in WA State. So lush and verdant. Childhood memories of Joshua Tree, CA, camping trips. So many I have visited and loved! So many yet to see.
Yosemite!
My favorite so far as been Kenai Fjords!
Shenandoah national park has been my favorite since childhood.
Yosemite National Park is pretty hard to beat in my opinion. It also happens to be closest to be me 🙂 I do need to broaden my horizons and visit some of the other wonders of our beautiful country though.
North Rim of Grand Canyon
It was long a dream of mine to visit every national park. It’s was beginning to look like that will never happen. I’m hopeful, though, that I’ll be able to take advantage of the virtual tours. I’ve been to “a few” monuments, and even lived in a battlefield memorial park as a child (No one can live there now.), but not to any of the 63 designated parks. My daughter took her kids to Yellowstone this summer. She and I agree it’s ridiculous we never visited, considering we visited family very near there quite often.
I’m currently knitting Yellowstone Beanie from a kit from Nancy Bates. I’ll need to knit more because everyone wants one, but this one goes to my granddaughter who said, “that’s the prism spring!” when she saw the yarn. And, yes, Yellowstone is amazing, but my favorite is Sequoia National Park, because … giant trees. I hear there’s one you can drive through.
Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite. The variety of wildlife on view is so amazing. Also, being from Denver , it is quite easy to get to for a wonderful day trip.
Glacier – visited in the 70’s and was enchanted. A close second, Arches.
Glacier National Park is my absolute favorite! Gorgeous lakes, breathtaking forests, and amazing Mountain Views!
One of my favorite parks is Gates of the Arctic national park in Alaska. I rode in a float plane to access it. Once there I was in pristine wilderness!
Yosemite is my favorite place. Thanks to the early American people who fought to preserve this land as national parks.
Great Smokey Mountains National Park, incredible scenery!
Olympic National Park, WA. The hike through the rain forest, up and across the glaciers to the top of Mt, Olympus. Stunning 360 view of ocean, mountains, islands and forests from the peak.
Crater Lake, Yosemite, and Olympia National Parks have beautiful vistas and wonderful lodges.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.
King’s Canyon. Never very crowded.
Mese Verde is an incredible national treasure. I am so glad I went there when I was younger and could climb up the ladders to the cliff dwellings.
As a longtime knitter and proofreader, I was excited to have the opportunity to proofread this book, and seeing it featured today is a thrill! (Please don’t tell me you found any errors!) My favorite national park is the one I visited many times growing up, Rocky Mountain.
Pickett State Park in Tennessee
Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.
Laine Basin in Hatcher Pass, AK. It’s a state park and is my favorite summer knitting spot. Plenty water for the dogs, plenty views for me, song birds and golden eagles and wildflowers aplenty. What more could you want?
Having lived within 20 minutes of the Great Smokey Mountains – they would be my favorite Park. I have spent many hours hiking and biking in the Smokies!
Has to be Sleeping Bear Dunes!
I’m completely biased. I’m a native Californian so it has to be Yosemite. I’ve been there in every season and it never disappoints. My husband proposed at the Ahwanee Hotel so it’s very special to me. Volcanoes National Park on the big island gets an honorable mention. Interesting and awe inspiring!
We lived in Illinois and often brought our children to the Indiana Dunes with trucks to load with sand and shovels and buckets to move the sand. This was before it became a national park. Would guess it is nearly the same as then only more popular. My latest national park with my daughter was Glacier. Enjoyed our ride on Going to the Sun Road on a beautiful sunny day.
Lucky to have visited quite a few but our kids treated the family to a week in Yosemite to celebrate an anniversary so I am saying Yosemite.
I love the Grand Tetons. Is that right? Do I win?
Another voice for Ohio’s Hocking Hills State Park. My family used to camp there almost every weekend when I was growing up, and it’s always in my heart.
From my youth, Acadia; from my thirties, Great Basin; from my advanced years, Redwood State and National Park. How can one choose?
Wait, wait! No one has mentioned Lassen!
Putting this book on my wishlist immediately! My favorite park is Yosemite.
I love big trees, so Sequoia, Redwood, and Olympic National Parks are all favorites of mine. We see Mt. Baker in North Cascade National Park from our house, and it’s the park we visit most, so it’s also a favorite.
Rocky Mountain National Park for the peaks and views, Haleakala National Park for the sunrise (though when I went the clouds hid the sun so it just barely peaked through).
Oh my gosh, how do you choose just one! Living in New Mexico and Colorado, close to Utah and Arizona, wow! If I have to pick one, I’m going with Rocky Mountain National Park! Stunningly beautiful!!
Yellowstone is my favorite National Park. The landscape and wildlife are heaven on earth.I love the bison and geysers especially. What an ethereal place!
I live near the New River Park and haven’t been there yet, but it’s on a very short list. The state parks in Virginia can’t be beat for camping.
Such a difficult question to answer. Too many places I have not seen but are on my wish list. So I will just pick Glacier National Park; we took a helicopter ride and it was thrilling and beautiful. Sad to see the glaciers disappearing.
Yellowstone
Yellowstone gets my vote but I’ve never been to a NP that I didn’t like.
Shenandoah National Park. Lived within an easy day trip from the park for many years in the Washington DC area. Now I live just three miles from the southern terminus since I retired, and can get there in 10 minutes.
Had to skip Carlsbad Caverns (government shutdown because of budget fights) and Yosemite (closed because of fires that summer) but we had the wonderful opportunity to visit three or four dozen national and state parks during a year of hit-n-run sightseeing while traveling the US in an RV – so many amazing sights across our country!
We enjoyed every park we visited (even Yellowstone which was overrun with selfie obsessed tourists) but Grand Teton National Park is probably our favorite.
My favorite has to be Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island in Hawaii. We took a family trip to Hawaii and our girls were old enough to enjoy this amazing place. We got to actually walk on the cooled part of the Kilauea Volcano and walk through a volcano tube.
Mt Rainier! There is no better day in the northwest than one in which you can say, “The mountain is out!”
So many beautiful parks to choose from! Grand Canyon National park is breathtaking.
Yosemite National Park. It is in my home state and I can’t ever get enough of it’s beauty.
Yellowstone might be my favorite park, but I haven’t seen enough of them to say for sure!
Canyon Lands – because I became engaged there, overlooking the Green River!
So hard to choose as I love all I’ve visited! My favorites, for so many wonderful family memories, are Great Smokey Mtn. NP and Padre Island National Seashore.
I love Crater Lake!
Love many of the Parks’s, but Yellowstone is still my favorite.
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky is a sight to see! I also love Daniel Boone National Forest.
Hands down Acadia! But to be honest, making it to every national park is a bucket list of mine.
SLEEPING BEAR DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE….Sugar sand beaches, salt-free and no sharks!
My favorite national park is Yosemite-however waiting for a reservation in Glacier and will be going to the Teton’s this fall. Great Adventures!
Big Bend, of course.
Each is fabulous and different. We are trying to get to all of the parks. I love Acadia.
I live very close to Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park, and we go to both frequently, so those are probably my very favorite. But, Yellowstone and Yosemite hold a special place in my heart as well. They’re all great!
Yellowstone National Park, it’s our backyard Park as we live 90 miles from both West Yellowstone and Gardiner
Has to be Acadia living on the east coast
We love Zion. We never tire of its beauty.
Glacier! Glacier! Glacier!
My first adventure to a national park was to Yosemite .I took my children and a thermos of chili and one of hot chocolate. Pictures were taken of them beside the drive thru tree to show how big it was. It was fall and there was snow in some of the areas. My kids had a ball and memories were made.
I would love to go back and visit Grand Canyon National Park again. It is so beautiful.
Hoh Rainforest, Washington State (I just moved from WA to the East Coast and have to add State or they all think DC)
I have been to and love the Grand Canyon. I live by the ocean and the Grand Canyon gives the same feel. The immenseness of something other then ourselves. I have been to Carlsbad Caverns, Joshua Tree and others and they are all special in their own way
Denali National Park!!!
I was just knitting in Glacier last week, so currently this is my favorite. I plan to knit in Olympia next year!
Malaquite Beach on Padre Island, Texas—it has a wonderful end-of-the-road feeling.
I was having a very bad day until I read this and found myself laughing out loud. Thanks for making me laugh. How can I name a favorite park? That’s like trying to name a favorite grand child. But the contenders for my favorite are Denali, Glacier, and Yellowstone.
Zion Park.
You’re asking us to pick a favorite child! And how can I know until I’ve seen them all? That said, I’d go back to Acadia any day, and while I was there, I’d see my friends John and Harriet. With a bit of oceanic longing, Cyndy in Montana
Yellowstone National Park
Joshua Tree in winter. Great hiking and climbing, plus star gazing at night absolutely stunning.
Bandelier, New Mexico!
Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, but also Starved Rock State Park in Illinois! It has a waterfall that freezes over spectacularly every winter, making it one of the few destinations that’s actually best outside camping/tourist season.
My two favorites are Mount Rainier National Park, Grand Teton National Park.
Mammoth Cave will always be my favorite! It was a few hours from my home and I visited often. When I was working as a night nurse, a group of us would get up early in the day and drive to the park, do a tour, and be back in time for our shift. Great memories!
Zion or Arches. I am from Cedar City, Utah and they feel like home…
I’ve lived in Minnesota for two decades and not yet been to Voyageurs. I really ought to go.
Glacier National Park is probably my favorite although Tetons is pretty close!
We have a city park, Steele Creek. It’s the largest municipal park in the state of Tennessee. It has a little train, that I’m certified to drive, that puffs around the park. No need to go anywhere else.
The Smoky Mountains, hands down!!
How to choose?!? But gotta say Zion….and of course Grand Canyon!
Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii Island
Glacier National Park
El Dorado National Park. It was damaged by the Caldor Fire but there are still great things to see & do plus it’s close to home.
DG, this is right up my alley! Thank you for sharing this with us!
My favorite park is Yellowstone. We go once a year to be expert geologists for an expeditionary learning school, and every year we see something new. It is an amazing place!
My favorite monument in the NPS is Florissant Fossil Beds, an hour from my home. It is one of the science based parks, and I find it fascinating and educational. I know it probably won’t be in the book, but I wanted to share my love for this unusual gem in the park system.
Now I’m off to get this amazing book!!
Cape Lookout National Seashore in NC. Gorgeous, isolated, and surrounded by water!
I love Crater Lake…one of those places that really looks as amazing in person as it does in pictures.
Acadia
Bryce Canyon—-_> hoodoos
The Grand Teton National Park is so majestic it’s definitely the favorite of the ones I have visited.
DG, I just went back and looked at your National Parks blanket. It is absolutely stunning. My mother told me the wrong side should always look as good as the right side. You certainly got that down too!!
Tha k you! All these years later, I am much prouder of the back than I am the front.
Acadia National Park in Maine
i love Banff National Park – I hope this qualifies for your draw ‘cos I’m a Canadian!
So many Choices! The last one I Visited was Grand Canyon, which was spectacular.
Sequoia, Volcanoes, Grand Canyon, all the colors!
My favorite is the Point Reyes National Seashore! Gorgeous coastline beaches and hiking trails. 🙂
The Great Smokey Mountains.
Having moved to Wisconsin only recently, we are loving the options an kayaking the Apostle islands last week was fabulous. Thank goodness the winds were mild so we only dealt with a very easy paddle. It can be extremely dangerous
Love Bryce. And especially Acadia!
We live about 10 miles outside Shenandoah National Park, so that’s the one we visit most often. We buy an annual pass every year. The farthest and most exotic national park we’ve visited was Haleakala in Maui. A memorable experience for sure!
Yosemite is stunning!
Favorite national park: cape cod national seashore.❤️
Glacier. Going-to-the-Sun Road is beautiful.
Acadia, of course, since I live just 90 minutes away! Plus, Yellowstone and Glacier from when I lived in Montana for a few years.
Yosemite!
Mesa Verde and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
I haven’t visited in several years now, but I have always loved everything about the State of Maine, so to me Acadia is the best National Park!
My favorite is Yosemite National Park.
The Grand Canyon. I had an opportunity to float from Lee’s Ferry down to Lake Mead. We were on the river for 19days. A once in a lifetime experience.
Glacier NP
Glacier National Park. The Going to the Sun Road through the park is awe inspiring.
Zion National Park is my absolute favorite!
Family trip to Yellowstone when I was eleven.
After hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon several times, it has to be my favorite.
Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument, White Sands National Park because they are near by and they are newly became what they are.
I live in Cedar City, Utah – Gateway to the Parks, and live a couple of hours away from Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, a few hours drive from the Grand Canyon, Arches and Capital Reef. My favorite? Too tough to call, but farther from home, Lassen Volcano was a delight!
PS – Just ordered the hat book.
Glacier National Park is my favorite
Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada. Not a state park but it is a provincial one!
Can these patterns be adapted for blanket squares?
Rocky Mountain National Park
Child’s Glacier in Chugach National Forest
This is a very difficult question to answer. I have only been to a third of the NPs, and have so many great memories. I suppose Yellowstone is the one I most want to visit with my Grandkids. Denali is so vast and we saw such an abundance of wildlife. The best hike I have ever done is up to the Harding Icefields in Kenai Fjords NP. I can hardly wait to get my book!
Superior National Forest (especially The Boundary Waters Canoe Area).
Glacier National, just came home from my first visit there. Breath taking.
Cedar Breaks Ntnl Monument if you like red rocks, wildflowers, and no crowds.
I have only been to a few of your NP’s (Canadian here), but have a big fondness for Bryce and Grand Teton NP. Always worth watching Ken Burn’s NP documentary when you can’t travel.
Yosemite is awesome inspiring!
Ohiopyle State Park in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.
My favorite is Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois/Wisconsin. It’s a wonderful place. I encourage everyone to visit.
Although I’m a native Oregonian, I’ve never seen Crater Lake National Park. It’s on my bucket list to correct this oversight. I’d love to time it to see the Perseid meteor showers peak in August of some year soon.
Glacier national park!
I love love love Yosemite NP! Had such a some adventures there! Yosemite Valley is so beautiful and seeing it all from Tunnel View was gorgeous.
Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan
Olympic! It’s where we had our honeymoon. We just moved out to WA state, so now we can go all the time!
It’s a toss up: Yosemite National or Mount Diablo California State Park
Bryce Canyon – it’s like this mythical world walking in the hoodoos.
So many to choose from! Yosemite…Rocky Mountain…Smokey Mountain…and throwing in a favorite state park – Tettegouche in MN!
Glacier National Park! We loved getting huckleberry ice cream from the camp store after each day’s hike
Yosemite
Yosemite!
So many wonderful visits to parks but Zion holds special memories.
Fire Island National Seashore, the beaches are wonderful !
Mammoth Cave National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky above ground and below. Live too far away, look for virtual tours.
Acadia holds special memories! Can’t wait to see the design for this one❤️
I grew up going to Great Smoky Mountains NP, but my goal is to visit as many as I can in my new camper van.
Great Smoky National Park
Acadia National Park
Hello,
I may be driving up and back to Baltimore from Florida and look forward to visiting the blureridge mountains. I think that’s what they are called. I need to do research.
Petrified forrest
Acadia National Park is a favorite. Love the great views and hiking trails.
My favorite area? Hands down, no question in the heart of this girl, is the Boundary Waters Canoe Park Wilderness. The extensive area includes Superior National Forest and Voyageurs National Park. The peace and tranquility here is its selling point. Air traffic is not allowed. No motors. Transportation is limited to canoes. Entrance is controlled and limited to those with a permit. Quiet, quiet, quiet beauty. Extremely conducive to knitting and dreaming about knitting! Where else can you go a week without seeing another person?
Acadia
Zion. I haven’t been to a lot – I’d like to eventually visit every park.
How can you name a favorite? There are just so many … OK Zion is pretty amazing.
Acadia! I’m there right now. (Ask me next month and you will get a different answer.)
Arches. We went there in the 70’s and our friend and traveling companion, our parish priest, slept out on the picnic table because the stars were amazing.
Rocky Mountain National Park – we were there this summer!
My family was fortunate to visit many national parks during long summer car/tent vacations in my childhood. I loved so many of them it is hard to pick a favorite. However, although I love many above-ground parks (Sequioa might be my favorite of all) I will give some love to a below-ground marvel: Wind Cave in my home state of South Dakota! The idea that all of this amazing terrain lies below the prairie above is absolutely astonishing!
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Grand Teton since I live in the park. Years of exploring leave me still in awe.
White Sands National Park in New Mexico
My favorite national park is Mt. Rainier National Park. I worked there for years in my youth.
Tough choice, so many beauties. But,Yellowstone for it’s diversity. Multiple geographic examples within one area. Can’t imagine what early explorers must have thought when they happened into the area for the first time!
Gosh, my favorite park destination is the last one I visited! So for national parks, that’s Shenandoah, and for state parks, it’s beautiful Little Buffalo State Park in PA!
Joshua Tree
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The lavascapes are so surreal!
Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio
Rainier National Park is one of my favorites!
Acadia or Grand Teton – so different from each other, but I love them each for their own things!
My favorite national park is Isle Royale, in Lake Superior. It’s a hidden gem— the least visited national park in the lower 48– but I spent an amazing, peaceful week there, camping, hiking, and kayaking, and can’t wait to go back.
Definitely Olympic! Lots of great memories.
I’ve loved every park I visited. Every one has its own distinct beauty! Can’t choose a fav. Been to Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Acadia. They are all amazing.
You can’t beat the Mall in the nation’s capital! Great museums for all!
North Rim, Grand Canyon. So many that are wonderful!
It’s the Shenandoah NP for me. Born & raised in Virginia, I love the Blue Ridge Mountains. Skyline Drive and the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway are beautiful and peaceful. The trails and scenic overlooks are spectacular in every season.
My current favorite park is the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic peninsula in Washington state. No place better to be on on a hot summer day!
I’m going with Muir Woods – classic and inspiring.
Bryce Canyon, always and forever. The beauty of the red rocks, especially in the snow, fills my heart.
I’ve been to many, but when i first moved to Califormia I went to Yosemite 5 times in about as many months. There’s always something new to see, and of course it’s wonderful to see the same sights in different seasons. I <3 Parks!!
In my (very) limited experience, Acadia will always hold a special place in my heart! It is in my neck of the woods, and I have fond childhood memories of driving up Cadillac Mountain!
I have knit several of Nancy’s hats and love the patterns and yarn that her daughter dyes. My daughter likes them so much that she has started knitting them also. Nancy is the best!
This book looks great!! I live in Canada, thus I will say that Kananaskis Provincial Park, near Banff, Alberta is my favourite. The Rocky Mountains are very majestic, peaceful and so beautiful.
When I was a kid, nearly every summer our family drove to Coeur de Laine, Idaho (sp?) to camp. It was a beautiful spot to swim in the lake and walk along the shore.
very hard one………….Acadia is #1, Olympic is #2.
Thanks for an engaging post and a great inspiration.
Big Thicket National Preserve–so many different ecosystems! Pines, pitcher plants, and pileated woodpeckers would make a great hat pattern. . .
Yosemite!
Yosemite National Park is my favorite place in the world.
Of all the National Parks I’ve visited, Joshua Tree National Park is my all time favorite.
Two thumbs up for Yosemite, the first I ever saw (age 4! stayed in a canvas tent!) and still the I’ve seen most often and one of the closest to me. And may I mention a National Monument? Bandelier, in New Mexico. Outstanding!
Denali NP. I’ve been a handful of times (grew up in Alaska) and the enormity of that mountain awes me every time.
Superior National Forest in Northern MN
Well as a california person I’m just going to say Yosemite because my real favorites are all state parks. 🙂
Joshua Tree
Mount Rainier, so beautiful.
Cape Cod National Seashore.
Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island
Acadia National Park in Maine because it’s gorgeous but primarily cause I live 1 1/2 hours away!
Indiana Dunes National Park
Yellowstone National Park-beautiful!
So far I’ve only been to three: Hawai’i Volcanoes, Glacier, and Acadia. I don’t know which is my favorite. Of those three it’s between Hawai’i and Montana, probably because the landscapes are so different than Maine. We went to Maine every summer when I was a kid. I know that the ones I want to see next are Sequoia and Redwoods, partly because I am afraid the trees will disappear because of the wildfires before I can see the trees in person. It’s probably Glacier, though. I have lots of stories from that trip!
So many great parks. Can’t really pick a favorite but our vacation to Redwoods is at the top.
Favorite I’ve been to is Grand Canyon. But I have dreams of a cross country trip visiting national parks along the way.
State Park: Whitewater in southeast Minnesota; Wilderness Area: Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
Glacier! It’s the Crown of the Continent for a reason, and I have so much family history there. My great grandfather worked in the park in the 20’s, my aunts were trailblazers during their high school and college summers, and my grandmother sold her pressed flower artwork in the gift shops in the 90’s.
My past favorite National Park is on the list of the 25 most visited in 2021 and after going there last year, I’m not going to mention the name because one more visitor might just make it sink into the ground, never to be seen again! So I’m recommending the *least* visited National Park: Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve, with under 8000 visitors last year. (And good on Rita Coppernoll, who earlier on this thread says she has been there!)
Although there are far too many I haven’t visited yet, I have very fond memories of going to Yellowstone as a child. Geology like nowhere else on earth!
Mesa Verde is definitely my favorite, especially off season. Beautiful area, so much history, and wildlife too.
Hard to choose as I love so many. I suppose Arches or Canyonlands have the closed place in my heart.
Glacier followed by Yellowstone.
I love many national parks, but I really enjoyed Acadia a lot. There were touristy kind of places and trails, and mountain hikes with not another soul in sight that held the most amazing views. You can’t go wrong with a national park!
Arches NP in southern Utah—many great memories here!!
Hands down, RMNP! But we’re headed out soon to what may become a new favorite: North Cascades. Only time will tell! Thanks!
OH, by far, Acadia National park. I could walk the carriage roads every day. Mary in cincinnati
That’s like asking which child is my favorite. (For the record, it’s Tara)
I just got back from a wonderful week in the North Cascades, so that’s it…
No, wait….
Minnesota has some of the best state parks. My favorite is Tettegouche State Park.
I’ve made lot of Nancy Bates’ beanies and just finished Mesa Verde. Check out my projects on Ravelry (lsdaloia) if you want to see them.
BTW she sells kits, too!
Yosemite national park
Yosemite national park
Denali in Alaska!
Arches was amazing! It was like nothing I had ever seen before.
i love Glacier National Park. but I also love the Blue Ridge parkway in virginia!
This year I visited the Grand Canyon and I asked my sister snap a photo of me knitting there. It was a fantastic cross-country trip!
I live in Shenandoah but Joshua Tree is my absolute favorite. That said I haven’t met a park I didn’t love. Saw this book in person yesterday and it is wonderful.
Great Smoky Mountains
And now I have ordered the book and am looking at stash yarn for color options. Not sure I have a favorite destination but I’m still hoping to get to Olympia Nat’l Park, which we had planned for summer ’20.
I love Mesa Verde – I lived in the area when it was made a national park and have so many fond memories of climbing through the cliff dwellings. My last adventure before the turn of the century was visiting Mesa Verde. So much fun!
Apostle Islands in Wisconsin
Being Canadian I love Banff in Alberta and Stanley Park Vancouver
Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona. I have made 3 of the Saguaro beanies. They’re beautiful and very special.
Probably Acadia in Maine.
The one closest to me, North Cascades National Park!
Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mi
Bear Mountain State Park!
The Great Smokey Mountains National Park is my favorite. I have returned to hike or drive in it many times.
Rocky mountain national park!
Hunting Island State Park, SC
Harriman State Park in New York is my local treasure. It is Stunning in every season. Lakes, trails, endless colors. It is a place where I come to recharge and feel the beauty of this world again.
I have to say Yellowstone is my favorite. I first went there as a child and was thrilled by Old Faithful and I have brought my children there as well
The Adirondack Mountains…..love them in all seasons.
Moran State Park, Orcas Island, Washington
Yellowstone is my fav!
I thank the Good Lord that made all these places and the wise folks that set them aside for all to enjoy. Each has it’s own unique awsome beauty and features, plus activities to explore them by, be it passive or strenuous; from car, by foot, bike, canoe/kayak or however. Everyone I’ve been to has been amazing!!! Fondest memory is the elk bulging in Rocky Mt Park, hiking to the glaciers in Glacier Park, the GIANT trees of CA’s Redwood & Sequoia Parks, canoe camping the BWCA of Superior National Forest.
Acadia in Maine, for sure. That is where our “know-it-all” New York 2 year old told us when we felt droplets falling on us after the rain had stopped: “you think it’s raining, but it’s really the air conditioners.”We knew we had to get her out of the city more often.
Yellowstone
The National Mall, Washington DC. My future husband and I went to the museums on the National Mall when we were dating. They were free and we had little money to spend.
Virgin Islands National Park
Sequoia National Park!
Yosemite National Park. Although we haven’t seen them all and we are blessed with so many. There are so many access passes available worth looking at.
So hard to pick as all the national parks are beautiful. I might have to say Grand Canyon as we spent time there and were able to hike in and out.
Joshua Tree is on my bucket list, but the BWCA is my favorite!!
Grand Canyon, especially in the off season!
Wow! How do you choose? Love Yellowstone and the parks in southern Utah. But there are so many great parks. I have to get this book.
Acadia
Yellowstone is probably my favorite, especially since I live so close to it. But I love so many National parks. We are so lucky to have so many and to live in the midst of such beauty and variety.
Acadia National Park, Maine
My heart lives in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Visitors often mistake it to be a national park.
If I’m forced to choose I will go with the Grand Canyon (especially in winter), or Arches. But, my favorite is probably the next one I get to visit.
Acadia!
Rocky Mountain National Park!
Yesterday I visited Andre Koehler State Park on Lake Michigan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and now it’s my new favorite.
It’s hard to choose just one National Park but my top favorite would be Yellowstone with Grand Teton right behind it.
Zion!!!
Shenandoah National Park!
Letchworth State Park, Yellowstone and a plug for Knox Farm State Park
So hard to choose! It’s a tie between Acadia and Sleeping bear Dunes national lakeshore in Michigan!
We are so fortunate to have so many beautiful parks in the US. My favorites are Glacier, Bryce Canyon and Acadia.
For its scale and grandeur Yosemite left a lasting impression, but I’ve never been to a National Park that I didn’t love!
Right now it’s Liberty State Park in NJ- spectacular views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, and my daughter was married there this summer! ❤️
No likelihood of visiting in the near future as I live in Canada and my passport has lapsed but I would love to see Mesa Verde national park one day. The YouTube video is fascinating.
Letchworth State Park in Castile, New York! Also love Estes Park in Colorado.
Denali National Park in Alaska is magnificent. The variety of flora and fauna is incredible and you really feel as if you’ve left civilization behind as you walk the tundra.
Glacier. Would Atlas work on these patterns? Or is it a bit too light?
Last year, during that lovely break we had from the pandemic because we were vaccinated, it was summer, and cases were down, we took a road trip to Glacier National Park. My smart husband made a reservation for the Road to the Sun Highway, we got a last minute cabin at an old motel near the town of East Glacier, but the best part was that my older daughter, her husband and the four kids were visiting his grandma, who has a curio shop in Browning, MT, on Blackfeet Indian land, and my younger daughter drove in from Tacoma to be with us all. Too much information, I’m sure, and I could tell you more about things we did together. I’ll just say that the memories we made there have been sustaining when times got rough again. Times keep getting better, also.
I grew up in Estes Park, Colorado on the border of Rocky Mountain National Park- My heart
Yosemite- without a doubt- my family would go there sometimes twice a year when I was a child- I learned to ski at Badger Pass and discovered my love for hiking and Nature
Glacier National Park- Got to go there for my daughter’s wedding.
Acadia National Park
I miss Muir Woods and want to go back.
I must admit that I haven’t been to many so I will say Acadia!
I love visits to the National Mall. From one end to the other, it’s a treat in any season.
Big Bend National Park in West Texas
ASSATEAGUE where the wild ponies run free!
Big Bend, TX… of course, so many state parks to choose from, but will guess this one won’t make the list ’cause it’s not often thought of, but when people visit, they LOVE it!
I have to pick one?? Acadia, Crater Lake, and Zion are my top 3 so far!
I live close to Yellowstone National Park, so it is my favorite. The tourists also love it so much they want to pet the buffalo and bears and go for a dip in the boiling hot pots. Therefore, visitors are constantly in the news.
Mt. Ranier in WA State. Would camp there every summer with spectacular views!
So hard to choose, but I’ll go with the Yorkshire Dales.
Acadia National Park!
Yosemite! Ansel Adams made it come to life for me. It took my breath away when I first saw El Capitan. What a spectacular formation!
How to pick one?! I visited Crater Lake this summer, so I’ll pick it as my favorite national park. Thanks!
Acadia. Spent part of my honeymoon there
Katahdin Woods and Waters
Arches. So far anyway. My husband just retired, and our retirement plan includes trips to as many national parks as we can manage! This new book is perfectly timed!
Shenandoah National Park
Acadia National Park in Maine, of course. Each time we go, we find something new at which to marvel .
We are about 1 1/2 hours from Shenandoah. I’ve loved it there since I was a child.
I’ve only had the opportunity to visit one but it is stunning and gorgeous and can’t wait to get back: Acadia National Park, Maine
I love Glacier, and Yosemite is on my bucket list.
The western parks typically get all the love but I’m going to give some love to Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts — old mills, canals, and a nod to Jack Kerouac! Something for everyone.
Arches
I’ve only visited a few but so far Zion and Pictured Rock are my favorites. The Virgin Islands National park is one I hope to visit soon.
The Grand Canyon.
It’s hard to pick a fave NP! Yellowstone is amazing for its crazy geo thermals, but I went to Glacier NP for the he 1st time this year & the amount of wildlife (grizzlies, moose, bighorns, etc) & stunning mountainous beauty that constantly shifts around you was breathtaking!
I love Big Bend NP. I have the privilege of camping and hiking annually with 20 to 35 women. The park is vast and offers both desert and mountain hikes.
The next one I’m going to visit. Love visiting them all.
I’ve been to so many and each has unparalleled beauty. For me, the two most memorable are Yellowstone and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Everybody probably knows about Yellowstone, but the second was an unknown hidden gem we discovered because of a required detour during a 2021 cross-country road trip. Breathtaking (and huge plus, no crowds)!
Rocky Mountain NP
Acadia!
In Minnesota where I grew up and live now, I’m most familiar with Gooseberry National Park. Love the greens and sound of water. I lived in Washington State for several years, where I could see Mount Rainier from my front yard, so that became my favorite national park there. I did a lot of camping (way) back in those days.
Yellowstone!
Tough to pick just one (like the beanies!): Crater Lake, Yosemite, Shenandoah, Grand Canyon, Everglades, even Rock Creek Park in DC–so many great destinations!
That’s an impossible question. All of the parks are unique and have their own draws. I’ve had wonderful experiences in all that I’ve visited. But, if I had to choose, let’s say for a giveaway of some sort, I’d choose Yellowstone.
Favorite is whichever one is closest at the moment. Most of the time for me, that’s Rock Cut in Rockford, IL. On weekdays and in winter, it’s quiet and tranquil.
For sure: Rocky Mountain National park!! And Yosemite, and Glacier, and Joshua Tree…
So many I still want to visit but I love Assateague. It it small and gorgeous, the birds are amazing because it is on the flyaway for Atlantic migrations, and the ponies are fun to spot. Plus fresh seafood at all the local restaurants! Heaven.
I live on the Blue Ridge Parkway so it feels like cheating to say it’s my favorite! Acadia and the Smoky Mountains are also among my favorites!
Acadia National Park – beauty all around
So many beautiful place … it’s hard to choose just one!! Some of my favorites:
Monmouth Cave
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Double Trouble State Park
Volcanoes National Park In Hawaii is spectacular!
I am going to go with the Grand Canyon also!
Arcadia
Joshua Tree National Park holds a special place in my heart.
There was that memorable time staying overnight in a cabin near the oasis of Twentynine Palms, and waking up to a pack of coyotes yipping just outside the window.
But every time there is always special.
Smokey mountains
Honeymooned at Great Smoky Mountains 46 years ago and saw a mother bear and her 2 cubs at Alum Cave Bluffs. Years later, our sons have seen ( and heard!) bears on walks-just a “quiet walkway “. And I’ve come face to face with a huge timber rattler there….
Carlsbad National Park. The cave system is amazing.
Ooo. Wow. Tough choice….im a backpacker so do i rate based on hiking? Or proximity to me? Or beauty alone? I love Yosemite for the trees and memories. And Rainier with its 90-mile wonderland trail is still to this day one of the best (and most challenging) backpacking trips I’ve done. But i live 30 minutes from Rocky Mountain NP now so it’s my backyard playground these days. My husband proposed in Acadia. And the Tetons are just majestic. But i think i have to go with Yellowstone. Its the fist NP i ever visited with my family when i was 10 and there’s just nothing else like it anywhere.
Fair Haven Beach State Park is located in upstate New York on the eastern portion of the Lake Ontario shoreline. It’s beautiful and peaceful.
Glacier NP is my most favorite. I was there in the fall when the aspens were golden and there were very few visitors. It was magical!
Definitely Yellowstone.
Gooseberry Falls State Park in Minnesota! Waterfalls, trails, and Lake Superior for miles and miles. What else would I possibly want to be? We visit at least twice every summer and once in the fall.
I grew up in AZ, and that is a state full of amazing National Parks, National Monuments, and National Forests. Around Tucson, the Saguaro National Park is a favorite. I also loved visiting the Petrified Forest National Park as a kid.
But my all time favorite park isn’t a park at all—national or otherwise. It’s Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.
I am partial to a couple of National Monuments in New Mexico – Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos and Petroglyphs National Monument in Albuquerque. I lived near both and would visit on a regular basis.
The Grand Canyon- that was awesome!
In the US it’s the Grand Canyon and in Canada it’s Gros Morne in Newfoundland.
White Sands National Monument, does that count as a national park? Fascinating place and they recently found human and animal footprints from eons ago.
Glacier National Park. We just drove the Going to the Sun road in my husband’s convertible, and it was fabulous!
During the pandemic, I’ve enjoyed camping and hiking in Shenandoah National Park.
Zion National Park
The one on my bucket list would be the first National Park, Yellowstone. But there’s too many options so how do you pick one?
Blue Spring State Park in central Florida. It’s a safe spot for Manatees in winter and a fun spring to explore the rest of the year. It’s a reminder that central Florida has more to offer than just theme parks.
Yosemite National Park
As a Canadian, I was lucky to visit many national and state parks on family camping trips as a younger person. I would say my favourite, without a doubt, was Fort Stevens on the coast. With a ship wreck and miles of beach it could not have, IMHO. be better.
Yosemite is beautiful
Denali National Park in Alaska is a favorite ❤️
Acadia for its humility but also pride! One of the few national parks in the Northeast of the U.S.
Mesa Verde
I dream of returning to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Every season-is a delight there. A rich experience for all the senses. A loving gift of the wonder that is the Cuyahoga River.
Yellowstone, hopefully it wasn’t to badly damaged from all the flooding last fall. Such beauty in it’s vastness. Including into the Badlands for it’s history and original beauty.
And if you come just north of the American border you’ll find Banff and Jasper National Parks which are incredible with all their greenery, mountain terrain and mystical waterways.
Joshua Tree (just because it’s the one I visited most recently)
Yellowstone where the buffalo roam!
So hard to choose!!! Yellowstone is probably my top favorite, with Grand Teton as a close second! But Acadia holds a very special place in my heart, so shoutout to her, and Yosemite is next on my list to visit 🙂 This book looks truly wonderful!
Bryce Canyon Park in Utah. Grew up watching my dad’s home movies of a trip there. Went with my boyfriend now husband on an amazing hike during a grand westward car trip.
Yellowstone!
We visited Mesa Verde for the first time this summer and loved it!
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is my favorite—stunning and undiscovered still. I wrote my thesis on Dinosaur National Monument. I won’t say I did this just because I could go explore many parks for ‘work.’ I won’t say I didn’t do this also.
Shenandoah National Park for camping with the family!
I haven’t had a chance to go to a state park, but if I could pick, I would love to go to Yellowstone.
Grand Teton!
Badlands national park
Gosh, how can I pick just one! Black Canyon of the Gunnnison is on the top of the list.
Very hard! North Cascades NP.
I’m with Mary, Congaree National Park in beautiful South Carolina!
Olympic National Park, home of the Hoh Rainforest
Love the parks!! One of our new Favorites is Letchworth State Park in NY!! What a gem it is
I’m from Canada. Favourite: Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highland’s National Park!
Rocky Mountain National Park is breathtakingly beautiful.
New Jersey’s Island Beach State Park. No boardwalk. Hasn’t changed in 40 years. Just beautiful sand , dunes, nature, and ocean.
Cape Cod National Seashore: Nothing says Summer like a Cape Cod beach! The fried clams and onion rings under the summer sun, the rolling waves and endless sand dunes, the gulls and terns, and the endless breezes. Even in winter, that beautiful green North Atlantic enchants.
I’ve loved the great Pacific but nothing says home like the beaches of Cape Cod.
Glacier national park is amazing!
I haven’t been to a National park for a very long time! I love the Smoky Mountain park and would love to see the Grand Canyon!
Muir Woods
Itasca State Park in Minnesota will always hold my heart. Headwaters for the win!
Rocky Mountain National Park!
…although I did accidentally run over that snake in Cade’s Cove in Smoky Mountain National Park and then memorialize it in cross stitch.
….I should add that I ran over it on my bike.
Acadia National Park and Maine
I live in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown, and I love taking people to see his house. It is filled with weaving and lots of little crafty touches and you constantly find something new.
Mount Rainier National Park – my local park!
Redwood and Yosemite.
Acadia National Park. I was two months pregnant with our daughter watching the sun rise on Cadillac Mountain. (She’s now 32 and newly married). It was an unforgettable experience.
My favorite park is the one I am at. However I visited Watkins Glen state park in NY this month and would love to revisit.
Being from Maine I probably should say Acadia It really is splendid yet Bryce Canyon is breathtaking and really has captured my heart!
My favorite national park is Yellowstone – those mountains, those animals, those rivers, such a beautiful place!
Picking a favorite is pretty impossible – Bryce, Zion and Mesa Verde are all amazing in their own unique way.
Zion National Park
I worked at Cedar Breaks National Monument in 1984. We, rangers & park volunteers, loved hiking and camping in Zion NP. Such an amazing area with Bryce, Cedar Breaks, North Zion (name?) and Zion.
Yosemite is my fav!
Acadia in Maine! A gem!
So many stunning parks in this country
I have a soft spot for the park next to my home
Topanga State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains.
My favorite national park is in my hometown area, Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park!
I love Hammonasset State park in CT. My family camps there every summer!
California is so rich with amazing State and National parks, that choosing just one makes me feel disloyal to the others! I feel fortunate to live in a place that has such a wealth of natural beauty – from beaches to mountains to deserts.
The patterns look terrific! Thanks for letting us know about it. I’d have to name two: Yosemite for its natural beauty and grandeur, and for its illumination of an important time in our country’s history, the Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park in Richmond, California.
My favorite park is Yellowstone with the geysers & hot springs but Yosemite is also a favorite with the giant Sequoia trees.
I grew up in Washington, we are blessed with a lot of natural beauty. I love the Olympic National Park, the Hoh rain forest has it all.
Lassen Volcanic National Park!
Pali Duro Canyon (Texas)
My favorite state park is Joe Whealer Lodge in Rogersville, AL where we have our annual knitting retreat.
Grand Canyon is truly awesome, but our literal go-to is Assateague National Seashore
Yellowstone
I’m going with Yosemite – granted, it’s the only one I’ve been to so far in life. My spouse recently decided though that we should visit all of them in the next ten years. Wish us luck! Although he did say that for every park we visited, we should get the complimentary Pendleton blanket – a good way to stay warm! And yes, I could knit all the blankets, but maybe I’ll spend my time knitting the parks hats instead 😉
Yosemite National Park!
Acadia Nat’l Park, farthest from my home is my current favorite after Zion, Mesa Verde, & Yellowstone.
Rocky Mountain National Park! It’s close to home, and it’s spectacular. The drive over Trail Ridge Road alone is worth the price of admission.
Yosemite! The beauty is overwhelming.
No maybe Badlands…those horned sheep……
I am fascinated by Yellowstone but have yet to get there. Still hoping.
We took in the Grand Canyon for the first time in 2018! It’s magnificent, and our teen daughters were thrilled with our vacation.
Glacier national park
Joshua Tree! Growing up in California in the 1950’s and 60’s, we came here often as a sort of spiritual retreat. As a young adult I slept in a sleeping bag under the stars. Once a awoke to my nose being tickled as a gentle coyote sniffed me. Magic
My sister-in-law and nephew just went to Acadia. I have to get that book! Christmas presents, anyone?
My family has been going to Cape Cod National Seashore for many years. It may not be as dramatic as many of the national parks are, but its pristine beaches, high dunes, and historic lighthouses make it a very special place.
Banff National Park, in Canada is my favourite. I spent my 40th birthday there, a grand weekend, including my first and only spa mud wrap (soothing), and lavender soaker tub (I floated and couldn’t get out–not built for spa life.) That pine-scented air, even the memory of it is intoxicating.
Zion National Park
Finger lakes National forest in New York….. you can practically spit on a dozen world renowned wineries
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Grand Teton National Park
Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia. Accessible only by ferry, populated by wild horses, and beautiful undeveloped beachesp
I did not grow up in one of those “let’s go to see all the national parks” families so I think I’ve only been to one: the Smokies. Maybe a few more random state parks? I do know that after being locked down for four months at the beginning of “Covid Times” when I couldn’t leave my village because I have no car and public transit was reserved only for essential workers, I did finally escape upstate at the end of the summer and visited Niagara Falls properly for the first time ever and it was a balm for my soul.
Olympic National Park and the Hoh rainforest!
I hope to make it to Acadia someday!
Great Smoky Mountains & the Blue Ridge Parkway (but a plug for some of the coolest state parks ever in Utah… Coral Pink Sand Dunes and Dead Horse Point!)
My favorite is Arches National Park in MOAB. I just love that area!
Baxter State Park in Maine!
Rocky Mountain National Park for sure! We love everything about it. Something different to see as seasons or times-of-day change. We tour RCMP then head down to Estes Park for lunch and more great views.
I would like to put a good word in for a national park that my family visited when we were very young. It’s in Minnesota and it’s called Pipestone. Yes, American Indian ceremonial pipe bowls were carved from this Minnesota Rock.
Glacier NP all day every day
Yosemite is my fave. Waterfalls.
I can’t help but be loyal to the National Park I grew up with — Mount Rainier National Park. If you haven’t been there (especially from July- September) you are missing something. But I found Mesa Verde especially moving – scenery and human history.
Glacier National Park, it’s majestic!
Agree with those who say this is a tough question. Any park in southern Utah: Canyonlands NP, Deadhorse Point State Park, Arches (of course!), Bryce NP, Zion NP.
On a similar knitting theme (but without a pictorial book), check out Very Busy Monkey’s VBM Shawl Collection 2 – National Parks on Ravelry.
Grand Canyon
I farm & ranch so little time for traveling but of course I love my home state’s Glacier Park & it’s Canadian sister park; Waterton
Big Bend and Death Valley
Patapsco Valley Park in Maryland. It stretches into 3 counties.You can bike,hike, picnic, fish, camp, canoe and horseback ride. Some many activities for one park!
Yellowstone is my all time favorite National park
Denali, Denali, Denali. It is a geographical wonder, a miracle of nature, and a visual treat all rolled into one.
Death Valley is so unbelievable!
So many parks,so many memories! And more to come! White Sands is definitely a standout – especially beautiful at sunset.
Grand Canyon!
Yosemite!
Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada)
Olympic National Park!
I have a soft spot for Devils Lake State park in Wisconsin. We grew up going there every summer and i have such happy family memories there!
So hard to choose but I have a special fondness for Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway areas in VA and NC.
Glacier National Park!
In terms of number of times visited, my favorite would have to be a humble Minnesota state park, William O’Brien. Varied terrain for hiking and xc skiing, and lovely views of the St. Croix river valley.
SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON ARE MY FAVORITES!
Man, that’s a tough one. Rocky Mountain or Smokey Mountains- love them both. Might have to go with the big boy- Rocky.
Not sure which is my favorite but Acadia is high on my list of “parks to visit”!
Acadia National Park is amazing, and not that far away from me. Of course, with so many parks to visit and enjoy, it’s difficult to choose just one.
Great Smoky Mtns National Park is my fav!
My favorite national park is Yellowstone. It is breathtakingly beautiful. Each of the four corners of the park has a different terrain. You can swim in the river on one end, while it’s snowing on the other. Amazing wildlife too; bears, moose, deer, rabbits – you name it, Yellowstone has it.
I live in the shadow of Pisgah National Forest, and a hop skip and a jump from Smoky Mountains. It’s a toss-up whether I go east or west!
I’ve loved every National Park I have visited. My favorites: Mt. Rainier, Glacier, and Acadia. Have you ever noticed that the people who work and volunteer in National Parks are always wonderful – knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. Someday I hope to volunteer at one of the parks.
Nothing beats the Olympic national park in Washington state
Yellowstone. Everything is there – mountains, river, lake meadows, geysers, wildlife…. Want to go back and spend a quiet week there….
Although it’s tough to pick one I will say Glacier. It was an awesome place to camp back in the 70s. But there are still so many left to see!
So hard to choose! Zion or Great Basin Totally different from each other
My favorite National Park is ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
I live 40 miles or so down the road from Rocky Mountain National Park and it is spectacular — I’m more ocean person than mountain person, but the beauty of RMNP is stunning and undeniable. Visit if you can! And Estes Park, the town at the gateway to the park, is charming.
Glacier National Park is my favorite national park.
OMGosh, it’s of course YOSEMITE Nat’l Park !!!
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Great Basin National Park, I’ve already chosen my yarn, it is my brother-in-laws favorite he has not seen the hat but has politely requested one!