About the blog
The purpose of this blog is to preserve my memories and to share stories of my time spent in the national parks as well as in other public lands. My favorite activity in the parks is hiking, but I also enjoy rafting/kayaking, trail running, camping/backpacking, attending ranger programs, stargazing, and learning about the natural and cultural history of an area. My hope is that by sharing my adventures, I will help to inspire more people to get outside and play while also becoming stewards of these incredible, yet fragile, spaces. As a woman who primarily travels to these spaces solo, I also want to challenge the false narrative that hiking and traveling alone as a woman is inherently dangerous and encourage more women to step outside of their comfort zone and have fun!
What is a National Park Service "unit" anyway?
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In addition to the 63 National Parks that we know and love (think Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon), the NPS also preserves and interprets other places such as:​
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National Monuments
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National Memorials
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National Historic Sites & Historical Parks
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National Battlefields, Battlefield Parks, Battlefield Sites, & Military Parks
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National Lakeshores & Seashores
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National Parkways
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National Preserves & Reserves
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National Recreation Areas
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National Rivers & Wild and Scenic Rivers
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National Scenic Trails
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plus more sites that don't fit a particular category
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These different designations typically indicate the underlying reason as to why the area was protected and preserved. Contrary to what the media shows, the units with the grand "National Park" designation are not actually "higher tier" when compared to the other units and are managed similarly. I won't go too much into it, but the making of a National Park is a highly politicized process that can be influenced by politicians, the general public, and economic desires, and doesn't necessarily indicate how awe-inspiring a place is. Because of this, I have expanded my original goal of visiting all of the National Parks to visiting all of the NPS units; there are simply too many amazing places that would be missed otherwise!
And what are these other "public lands" that you speak of?
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Public lands are generally areas that have been protected via governmental agencies like the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, state and city parks, etc. For simplicity's sake, I will also include lands owned and managed by the Native American nations here as well.
Like with the NPS units, each agency offers varying levels of protections and regulations for what can and can't be done on and with the land. Not all of these lands are exclusively protected for recreation and conservation, however, as some do permit mining, drilling, logging, energy production, etc. This is typically done in a manner that is considered sustainable.
As a side note, there are many National Monuments that are managed by these other agencies rather than the NPS. These monuments are nearly always created from land that was already federally protected. When a president designates a National Monument via the Antiquities Act, they typically will allow whichever agency was already managing the land the monument was on to continue, instead of transferring management.