Did you check off everything on the official Roadtrippers Resolutions list for this year (including attending a snake orgy and having a picnic at the Seven Gates of Hell)?
Great, then let’s move on to 2019. Our goals for this year are perhaps a little less fantastical than last year, but they are no less exciting.
In a time when national public lands are under increased pressure from politicians who want to allow drilling, cut funding, roll back protections, and dramatically increase entrance fees—not to mention the government shutting down—we want to show our love for our national parks more than ever. They truly are America’s best idea, and we would collectively be worse off without them.
My personal New Year’s resolution is to visit at least 10 national parks I haven’t been to yet in 2019. However, for all you overachievers out there, the U.S. has a total of 60 national parks. Fourty-eight of those are within the contiguous United States. With enough time, planning, and—let’s face it—money, it’s entirely possible to hit them all in one year.
Really—as long as you have a reliable vehicle, a flexible job, and a National Parks Pass, nothing is impossible (just ask these guys). To help with trip planning, we made this handy map of all mainland national parks.
Starting at Big Bend National Park in Texas and working your way around the country in a clockwise fashion, you’ll end up at Dry Tortugas off the coast of Key West, Florida 14,300 miles later. It might not be the most direct route, or the most efficient one. But the whole point of going on a road trip, at least if you ask us, is to take as many detours as possible.
If you start now, you might just make it back in time to ring in 2020.