12 in 6...

Something hit me the other day, within a 6 hour drive or less, I can be in 12 different National Parks!

How incredibly lucky am I?

National Parks are my favorite places to vacation to.  You have peace and quiet, nature, different ecosystems from where you live, amazing rangers who share information in an entertaining way and so many other benefits.

Why would you go anywhere else?

So, here are the 12, I can get to within 6 hours from Salt Lake City...

the 5 in Utah:  Arches
                        Bryce Canyon
                        Canyonlands
                        Capitol Reef
                        Zion

the 4 in Colorado:  Black Canyon of the Gunnison
                               Great Sand Dunes
                               Mesa Verde
                               Rocky Mountain

Nevada has one:  Great Basin

Idaho/Wyoming/Montana's:  Yellowstone

Wyoming's:    Grand Teton

Ok, and I just google mapped it, as a bonus, in 6 1/2 hours, I can be at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon from my house, so I thought I should mention it.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I created a Bucket List a while ago, and one of the top items is to visit all 59 of the National Parks.  I recently took a trip to Colorado to visit 3 of their parks, and with those visits, I have passed over the half way point!  :)

I really need to get to Alaska and visit its 9 parks, but I am very happy with my number at this point.

The reason of this post is this, as I have been visiting parks in the past year or so, people have been telling me that they have not gone to a park ever!  This just hurts my soul.  For one thing, visiting a park, for the most part, is a relatively cheap vacation, especially if you camp, and another, your tax dollars help support the parks, so take advantage of a wonderful use of your money.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now,
but leave you with an impassioned plea,
GO VISIT YOUR NATIONAL PARKS!!!!

Just home from another amazing National Park Adventure,
Melissa