U.S. National Parks Guides, Resources

General Information

U.S. National Park Service — The National Park Service’s website is brought to you by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is your main source for anything on the nation’s many national parks. The service is entitled to providing care for said national parks and allows visitors to their website to explore and discover the many wonders of them.

National Park Foundation — The National Park Foundation entitles itself as the official charity of America’s national parks. It is somewhat similar the U.S. National Park Service’s site in its vast directory to information on mostly all of our national parks but is a bit more interactive with its users giving them ways to take action in the preservation of their beloved parks.

The National Parks: America’s Best Idea —This is the official website for a PBS documentary by Ken Burns which details the greatness, the benefits, and the outright aura of America’s national parks. It’s a film that I am yet to watch, but judging by the information about it on this site, is a documentary I may be interested in viewing in the near future.

NationalParks.com — NationalParks.com is a much blander, nondescript, and boring site than the other three I’ve already outlined. While it does provide some useful information journalists may be seeking it is merely presented in the format of a series of search engine results for each of the country’s most popular national parks.

National Parks Travel Guide — The National Parks Travel Guide website plays a fantastic role as a promotional tool for the U.S.A.’s national parks and motivates Americans to visit the areas that truly make this country naturally beautiful. It is also a primary source for information on numerous parks providing its own statistics and maps on all of these great venues.

National Parks Information — What struck me as most interesting about this website is its organizational method. The main page displays a map of the United States and allows the viewer to click on any state he/she wishes to explore for information on their respective national parks. It’s an excellent tool for someone planning a vacation to a certain region of the U.S. but not knowing exactly where to go in the area.

Florida Parks

Florida State Parks — It’s time to now narrow down our search and focus in on some websites that deal exclusively with national parks in the state of Florida. The Florida State Parks site is a good place to start. This site is an essential travel guide for all of the state’s parks with trivia, fun facts, and special deals and discounts.

National Parks in Florida — I found this site as part of another website called yankeefreedom.com. This page has a primary focus on the national parks in the state of Florida with tabs on constantly updated information on all of these parks. This is also a site that gets more specific with the individual parks.

Biscayne National Park — This page derives from the first site I posted on this list—the U.S. National Park Service. Of course, the page focuses entirely on Biscayne National Park just off downtown Miami. It provides facts on the history of the park as well as suggestions for things to do upon arrival.

Everglades National Park — This page is similar to my previous one on Biscayne, except if focuses on what is probably Florida’s most popular park both nationwide and worldwide. What I found most fascinating about this site is that it provides a virtual tour of the Everglades and even has a Spanish feature to it.

Dry Tortugas National Park — Again deriving from the U.S. National Park Service, this is a page entirely entailing the ins and outs of Dry Tortugas National Park located about 70 miles west of Key West. This page is an excellent source for the various sites to visit at Dry Tortugas, some of which may not be above sea level.

Other Popular U.S. National Parks

Yellowstone National Park — Now it’s time to get to some of the entire nation’s most popular and prominent national parks. The site in the link above is dedicated entirely to information revolving around Yellowstone in Wyoming. It presents the reader with the park’s history as well as some of the different animals that hikers may find at different points in the year.

Mount Rushmore — This site is all about the nation’s most marvelous man-made creation—Mount Rushmore. This page refers to Mount Rushmore as a “shrine of democracy” and a “monument and memorial to this country’s birth.” Mount Rushmore, of course, consists of colossal rock carvings of the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln—four of the country’s most esteemed presidents.

Yosemite National Park — This is a very expansive site on Yosemite National Park, which is located in central California. It goes beyond the basics of providing information on the history of the park and its distinct features by allowing users to make travel accommodations on the spot at the site’s main page.

Grand Canyon — The Grand Canyon website could not possibly make traveling to the marvel that is the Grand Canyon any easier. One can make reservations right on the site and even has an introductory tutorial video teaching the visitor how to do so. In addition, it also contains all the facts and history of the Arizona-based national park.

Great Smoky Mountains — The Great Smoky Mountains are the only national park on my list outside of Florida that I have actually visited. It was a fantastic scene driving through these mountains in some very light snow. The Smoky Mountains are actually the most visited national park in America and this site allows you to make your travel accommodations for a visit.

Rocky Mountain National Park — Shifting west from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, this website gives you everything you need to know about the park including its history, wildlife, scenic hiking trails, and beautiful campgrounds. The site also provides downloadable maps on the park.

Gates of the Arctic — Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to include the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska into my list predominantly because of the intrigue it creates being so far from home. Gates of the Arctic can provide an unparalleled wilderness adventure. This site provides useful information on what to find during different seasons at this park.