National Parks Master Traveler Award
The National Parks Master Traveler Certification was a tougie. I started it when I thought I was going to go up through the northeast on a business trip. I had already gotten a Golden Eagle National Park pass (it is a pass that allows free admission to National Parks for a year) from a vacation earlier in the summer, so the admission wouldn't cost me anything extra. I got everything in line and then the business trip fell apart. I decided I wanted to do it anyway so I started it off with a BB1500 over through Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Day trips got me a few other surrounding states. Now I had all the states right around me and I had only eight of the required 25 states. What does that mean? Road Trip! This spring I did a coast to coast (CC50). Going coast to coast allowed me to tack on several more states, but I missed out on New Mexico. I need to go back and pick it up sometime. So that had me a little closer. An over night trip in late spring up took me up through Ozarks into MO and over into KS. Another overnight trip knocked out IL, IN, and KY. By this time I was already over the required 50 parks, but I was still short by about five states. Sounds like it is time to go to DC. So the last week of July with my Golden Eagle Passport running out, I made a pass up through VA, WV, MD, PA, DC, and SC. I also went through NC, but not at a time when any parks were open. So I left a hole there too. Returning home with another 20 days on the clock, but with the thermometer hovering around 100 and my Golden Eagle Passport spent, I pulled the plug on it, made my copies, and sent them off to Mike Kneebone and company. Click on this if you want to see the certificate.
This was not an easy certification to get. It required a lot of planning and several nights in motel rooms to get. On the other hand it let me do some things I had always wanted to do but hadn't. For one I made the coast to coast run. I left Jacksonville, FL one morning and the next day before midnight I was in San Diego, CA. Pretty amazing thing to do. I got to see the sites at the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, the cactus of Saguaro. I spent several quality hours on the Natchez Trace (always a good thing). And I found out that the Catoctin Mountians might be the prettiest place on earth (and I had never heard of them until I found myself in them between Antietam and Gettysburg). All in all it was pretty good ride. I hope to do it again some day. But, when I do it again, I want to do the gold version. To do the gold version you have to do the corners of the nation, Maine, Florida, California, and Alaska. So, when the time comes in a few years for me to do the Key West to Deadhorse, AK run, I will do my best to knock out a bunch of states at the same time.
Here is a graphic summary and a complete listing of the parks I have visited in my quest to obtain the IBA National Park Master Traveler Award.
| Summary of National Park Passport Cancellation Stamps | ||
| Description | Total | Goal |
| Total Stamps | 76 | 50 |
| Number of States | 25 | 25 |
And now the complete list
| # | Park/Unit - Top Line | Location - Bottom Line | Date |
| 1 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Mount Locust Plantation | 8/21/2004 |
| 2 | Natchez National Historical Park | William Johnson House | 8/21/2004 |
| 3 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Natchez, MS | 8/21/2004 |
| 4 | Natchez National Historical Park | Melrose | 8/21/2004 |
| 5 | Big Thicket National Preserve | Beaumont, TX | 8/22/2004 |
| 6 | Cane River Creole N.H.P. | Natchez, LA | 8/22/2004 |
| 7 | Cane River National Heritage Area | Natchitoches, LA | 8/22/2004 |
| 8 | U.S.S. Cairo Museum | Vicksburg, MS | 8/25/2004 |
| 9 | Vicksburg Nat'l Military Park | Vicksburg, MS | 8/25/2004 |
| 10 | Tuskegee Airmen Nat'l Hist Site | Tuskegee, AL | 9/3/2004 |
| 11 | Tuskegee Institute NHS | Tuskegee Institute, AL | 9/3/2004 |
| 12 | Selma to Montgomery, NHT | Selma-Montgomery, AL | 9/3/2004 |
| 13 | Jimmy Carter Nat'l Historic Site | Plains, GA | 9/3/2004 |
| 14 | Andersonville National Historic Site | Andersonville, GA | 9/3/2004 |
| 15 | Shiloh National Military Park | Corinth Ms Civil War Center | 9/4/2004 |
| 16 | Shiloh NMP | Shiloh, TN | 9/4/2004 |
| 17 | Trail of Tears National Historic Trail | NC, GA, TN, KY, IL, MO, OK, AR | 9/4/2004 |
| 18 | Trail of Tears National Historic Trail | Arkansas Post | 1/15/2005 |
| 19 | Arkansas Post National Memorial | Gillett, AR | 1/15/2005 |
| 20 | Poverty Point State | Historic Site | 2/11/2005 |
| 21 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Kosciusko | 2/12/2005 |
| 22 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Jeff Busby, MS | 2/12/2005 |
| 23 | Gulf Islands National Seashore | Ocean Springs, MS | 4/1/2005 |
| 24 | Gulf Islands NS - Naval Live Oaks | Gulf Breeze, FL | 4/2/2005 |
| 25 | Gulf Islands National Seashore | Fla NS Trail | 4/2/2005 |
| 26 | Gulf Islands National Seashore | Ft. Barrancas, FL | 4/2/2005 |
| 27 | SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK | TUCSON MTN. DISTRICT, AZ | 4/6/2005 |
| 28 | Mohave National Preserve | Barstow, CA | 4/6/2005 |
| 29 | Mohave National Preserve | Baker, CA | 4/6/2005 |
| 30 | LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATIONAL AREA | BOULDER CITY, NV | 4/6/2005 |
| 31 | Grand Canyon National Park | Grand Canyon, AZ | 4/7/2005 |
| 32 | Glen Canyon NRA | Page, AZ | 4/7/2005 |
| 33 | Hovenweep National Monument | Utah - Colorado | 4/7/2005 |
| 34 | Mesa Verde National Park | Mesa Verde, CO | 4/7/2005 |
| 35 | Yucca House National Monument | Cortez, CO | 4/7/2005 |
| 36 | Washita Battlefield NHS | Cheyenne, OK | 4/8/2005 |
| 37 | Hot Springs National Park | Hot Springs, AR | 6/10/2005 |
| 38 | Pea Ridge Nat'l Military Park | Pea Ridge, AR | 6/9/2005 |
| 39 | TRAIL OF TEARS NAT'L HIST TRAIL | PEA RIDGE NMP, AR | 6/9/2005 |
| 40 | GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER NM | DIAMOND, MO | 6/9/2005 |
| 41 | Ft. Scott Nat'l Historic Site | Fort Scott, KS | 6/9/2005 |
| 42 | Wilson's Creek Nat'l Battlefield | Republic, MO | 6/10/2005 |
| 43 | Buffalo National River | Harrison, AR | 6/10/2005 |
| 44 | Buffalo National River | Pruitt, AR | 6/10/2005 |
| 45 | Buffalo National River | Tyler Bend, AR | 6/10/2005 |
| 46 | Buffalo National River | Buffalo Point, AR | 6/10/2005 |
| 47 | Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail | Ft. Kaskaskia, IL | 7/15/2005 |
| 48 | Lincoln Boyhood Nat'l Memorial | Lincoln City, IN | 7/15/2005 |
| 49 | Mammouth Cave National Park | Mammouth Cave, KY | 7/16/2005 |
| 50 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Leipers Fork, TN | 7/16/2005 |
| 51 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Colbert Ferry, AL | 7/16/2005 |
| 52 | BRICES CROSSROADS | BALDWYN, MISSISSIPPI | 7/16/2005 |
| 53 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Tupelo, MS | 7/16/2005 |
| 54 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Tupelo National Battlefield | 7/16/2005 |
| 55 | NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY | NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL | 7/16/2005 |
| 56 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Brices Cross Roads | 7/16/2005 |
| 57 | Natchez Trace Parkway | French Camp, MS | 7/16/2005 |
| 58 | Natchez Trace Parkway | Meriwether Lewis Monument | 7/16/2005 |
| 59 | Harpers Ferry | National Historical Park | 7/30/2005 |
| 60 | C&O Canal National Historical Park | Sandy Hook, MD | 7/30/2005 |
| 61 | Antietam National Battlefield | Sharpsburg, MD | 7/30/2005 |
| 62 | Catoctin Mountain Park | Thurmont, MD | 7/30/2005 |
| 63 | Gettysburg National Military Park | Cyclorama | 7/30/2005 |
| 64 | Gettysburg National Military Park | Gettysburg, PA | 7/30/2005 |
| 65 | Theodore Roosevelt Island | Washington, DC | 7/30/2005 |
| 66 | George Washington Memorial Parkway | McLean, VA | 7/30/2005 |
| 67 | Marine Corps Memorial / Netherlands Carillon | Arlington, VA | 7/30/2005 |
| 68 | Lydon B. Johnson Memorial Grove | Washington, DC | 7/30/2005 |
| 69 | Theodore Roosevelt Island | Arlington, VA | 7/30/2005 |
| 70 | Arlington House | Arlington, VA | 7/30/2005 |
| 71 | US Marine Corps Memorial | Arlington, VA | 7/30/2005 |
| 72 | George Washington Memorial Parkway | Arlington, VA | 7/30/2005 |
| 73 | Kings Mountain Nat'l Military Park | Blacksburg, SC | 7/31/2005 |
| 74 | Overmountain Victory Nat'l Hist. Trail | South Carolina | 7/31/2005 |
| 75 | Overmountain Victory Trail | Cowpens NB | 7/31/2005 |
| 76 | Cowpens National Battlefield | Chesnee, SC | 7/31/2005 |
Last Updated October 19, 2005