Which national park do you live closest to?

[Rabrrrrrr]

Springing on from Arwalden's military post thread.

I live closest to Alexander Hamilton's "Hamilton Grange" national park. It's about 7 blocks from me. In fact, I live on land that used to be his farm.

Location: Harlem

I also love this particular national park because it is, as far as I know, the only one that the park service will soon be loading on a flatbed and moving a few blocks over to a bigger lot. I'd love to see 'em do that with Yellowstone!

I'm sure it's also the only national park that is wedged between a low-income apartment complex and a church, and sits across a small residential street from a row of townhouses.

[mwdem]

1. being from Kansas, the Tallgrass Prarie National Park

In the Flint Hills of Kansas. Very beautiful and totally unique.

[pmbryant]

2. San Antonio Missions

National Historical Park

http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm

We've got 5 old Spanish missions from the 1700s in town here. The Alamo was part of one of them, interestingly, and the other 4 are all still in use as churches, I believe.

--Peter

[GOPisEvil]

20. Me, too. I love the missions.

Last time I was there, a really cute Ranger was on duty. Yowza! :-)

P.S. Espada is probably my favorite of all...quiet, very few people, interesting now that the acequia is back in operation. San Jose is nice, too. The most complete mission left. They opened the corn mill recently, too.

[HERVEPA]

34. Valley Forge

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. here's a link to Hamilton Grange

Didn't think of that the first time, and now I can't edit the post.

http://www.nps.gov/hagr/index.htm

And a picture of it - that building (the dark colored mass) to the right is the church.

http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parkphotos/hagr%2Dwide%2Ejpg

[CanuckAmok]

4. Do Canada's National Parks count?

Here's the one nearest our home, a couple of hours away (text from the Victoria tourism page):

Strathcona
Created in 1911, Strathcona is BC’s oldest and largest provincial park. With more than 250,000 hectares (965 square miles), Strathcona extends from sea level to the highest peak on Vancouver Island (2,200 metres/7200 feet). The park is dominated by snow-capped mountain peaks and filled with lakes, rivers and 107 kilometres of hiking trails. It is also home to the Island’s last remaining icefield, the Comox Glacier, and the highest waterfall in Canada, Della Falls. At 440 metres, Della Falls is nearly eight times higher then Niagara Falls and among the 10 highest waterfalls in the world. The primary access points for the park are located west of Courtenay and Campbell River. Forbidden Plateau and Buttle Lake offer the only vehicle-accessible camping in the park.

We live across a bay from a Provincial Park, and I can see it from here. It's:

Newcastle Island

Rich in history, Newcastle Island near Nanaimo is considered one of the most intriguing parks in BC and has been a favoured destination for adventure seekers since the 1930’s. From a distance, the island shoreline is dominated by sandstone cliffs and sunny beaches. The interior, however, is a forest of Douglas fir, Garry oak, arbutus and dogwood trees. You’ll discover native artifacts from an abandoned Salish village and rocky caves and old mines from Newcastle Island’s sandstone and coal mining days. Bring your own boat or take the 10-minute ferry ride from Nanaimo. Moorage facilities are available at 650 metres of public floats for day and overnight use.

[TrogL]

5. Elk Island National Park

(in Canada)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Greenbelt National Park

is about a mile from me. It's one of our smallest parks; but I don't think it's as small as Hamilton Grange.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. If the park won't fit on a flatbed and doesn't offer tours of "upstairs"

I don't want to go to it. :-)

heh heh.

Where is the Greenbelt?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Greenbelt, MD

My dad used to find arrowheads there when he was a kid...before they turned the land into a park.

It's a beautiful spot; but because of $cuts$, it isn't well-patrolled by police, and they're understaffed. That makes it prime territory for homeless camps and drug/gang activity. Maybe if we can get these damned stingy republicans out of Congress we can make our parks nice again...

Here's a link: http://www.nps.gov/gree/index.htm

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Nice park! $14 a night, and they have hot showers

That's good camping.

And Maryland is surprisingly quite beautiful.

That has to be close to one of those civil war battlefields - antietam, perhaps? I remember stopping at one outside of DC on my way through MD once.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. Greenbelt's actually inside the Washington Beltway.

Antietam, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, and Fredericksburg are all about 90 minutes away from here. Manassas, Monocacy, and Frederick are about an hour away. There are a number of forts within 45 minutes of here that were part of the Civil War defense of Washington DC; though all that remains of most are evidence of their earthworks.

The Greenbelt Park area was mostly farmland. The center of the park is pretty swampy, though. It's fun to tramp around it in wading boots; but probably safest to do so with a partner, just in case you step a little too deep...

[funkyflathead]

7. This one:

Great Smoky Mountains

National Forest: Pisgah

National Seashore: Cape Lookout

National Grassland: I don't know

[mwdem]

8. Miss those, I'm from Greensboro..

always miss North Carolina, hope to move back soon.

[Zomby Woof]

9. Grand Canyon National Park

I live near the biggest city gateway to it, so traffic in the summer picks up.

Got to see it when the sun hits it just right...

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. traffic must suck there

I remember how bad the traffic was at Yellowstone.

Must annoy the local people something god-awful.

Even in WI, all the traffic around the Dells is bloody nightmarish when all one wants to do is get from pt. A to pt. B, but the Dells are between them.

There should be, in all touristy areas, one special road that is really and truly only for local people to use.

[Zomby Woof]

16. it's not too bad

The nearby town of Williams has the railway that goes to the Canyon, which has been running since 1902. So Williams gets the parking lot so to speak, and it isn't so bad through here. There is an interstate skirting the town that siphons off the excess. But yeah, it picks up a bit.

After living in Seattle for 15 years, all traffic seems very light to me these days. :-)

[KT2000]

11. Olympic National Park

I rarely go into the park now as years ago I became lost at the bottom of the ravine. The trees were so tall I could only see spots of blue looking up to the sky.
Now I just enjoy the mountain peaks from my house.

[PartyPooper]

12. Yosemite

My favourite National Park.

I've been to several: Yosemite, Crater Lake, The Tetons, Yellowstone, etc., etc.

But, my all-time favourite is Yosemite!

I still have yet to visit Grand Canyon...but, at least, I've flown over it!

:D

[bif]

18. Isle Royal

Off the coast of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Midewin Tall Grass Praries

It's not officially open yet, but there are some areas that can be toured (with a guide).

It's a huge parcel of land that used to be an arsenal that was turned over from the DoD to Interior about 4 or 5 years ago.

They've remediated tens of thousands of tons and are replanting all the natural prarie plants and repopulating prarie animals.

It's about 50 miles south-southwest of Chicago.
The Professor

[SaveElmer]

21. Manassas National Battlefield Park

Gettin squeezed by urban sprawl unfortunately!

[CO Liberal]

22. Pikes Peak National Forest

And the San Isabel National Forest.

(A large portion of Colorado is National Parks and National Forests.)

[beawr]

23. Right Between Monocacy Natl Battlefield and the C&O Canal

You can't spit around here without hitting a Civil War site. It is very nice to be close to the C&O Canal. There's a lot of parkland here in Montgomery County, MD.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. That's a beautiful area...

One day I want to take a bike-packing trip along the C&O...

[beawr]

29. It's a good trip to take

n/t

[northzax]

24. I don't know if it counts

but I live four blocks from the National Mall..

looks a little something like this:


ON EDIT: yes, it does count...http://www.nps.gov/nama/

[Rattlesnake]

25. Isle Royal...

it's about a 5-6 hour drive, then an hour long boat ride from me here in MN.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

26. Banff National Park, about 75 mins from the gates. n/t

[TopesJunkie]

28. Crater Lake NP --

[Snow]

30. Channel Islands National Park is closer,

distance-wise, I think, but travel time is less to Joshua Tree National Park. Going out to Joshua Tree for the first time camping this weekend. Never seen it before, although I hear it's rock-climbing heaven. I have Angeles National Forest within about 300 yards of my house.

[Aristus]

31. Mount Rainier National Park.

Turn right onto Meridian, drive until it become Wa Rt 161, go through Graham and Eatonville, and just head on up through the foothills. Beautiful drive!

[lpbk2713]

32. I'd say about 150 miles to the Everglades

There's a National Forest that's closer.

[GumboYaYa]

33. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial aka St. Louis Arch

for me. I can see it out the windows of my house. As long as I have lived in St. Louis, I have never been up in that thing (and I don't intend to anytime soon).

[cmf]

35. Olympic National Park

We have a yearly pass and go there pretty often. It's nice because outside of Hurricane Ridge, the crowds are light even in summer. The park I work closest to is the Klondike Gold Rush Seattle Unit National Historical Park, which despite the long name, happens to be the second smallest park in the national park system.

[mlawson]

36. Great Smokies.

About an hour away.

[ScreamingMeemie]

37. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore...

Although it's quite a distance away.

[LisaM]

38. The Klondike Gold Rush Museum, in downtown Seattle

It's near a streetcar, and right off Pioneer Square. It's the country smallest national park, and is staffed by park rangers. There's almost no memorabilia, since most was swept away by avalanches or lost in the snow. I am not sure if it's near any churches or townhouses, but it might be!

[MaineDem]

39. Acadia

One of my absolutely favorite places on earth!

[Rabrrrrrr]

43. I love Acadia! And the extra bonus is that, if one is close to Acadia,

one is also close to AWESOME LOBSTER!!

That's just not fair that you can go to the park and then pig out on delicious fresh lobster...

[Cleita]

40. Kings and Yosemite.

But they are a good day's drive away though.

[greendog]

41. Glacier

45 miles away.

[Doc_Technical]

47. Pinnacles National Monument

n/t

[peacebuzzard]

42. Smoky Mountain National Park.

come breathe some smog and feel the acid rain.

[Ramsey]

44. Valley Forge

It's pretty damn cool.

Actually that's wrong, the closest national park to me is Independence National Park, where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are located.

It is now marred by scads of completely useless ugly metal barriers and ugly plastic security tents where you get metal-detected and patted down. Don't bother coming to Philly to see the birthplace of American democracy right now. You'll be sorely disappointed in the experience.

[Rattlesnake]

45. Whoops. In my earlier post, I was wrong.

Voyagers National Park here in MN is the closest one to me, not Isle Royal.

[LWolf]

46. Joshua Tree National Park

http://www.nps.gov/jotr/