The first US National Park I visited was Crater Lake in Oregon. I thought, “No, it’s a big volcanic lake,” but it was engraved with a sense of scale and scenery that Japan doesn’t have. After that, I went to the classic Grand Canyon and realized the scale was so big that I felt sick, and from there I started to visit national parks and quasi-national parks in the United States.
Travel is exclusively by rental car. It takes time and effort because you may drive in the wilderness and arrive in a place where you can arrive without braking for a long time. This is something that you can’t continue unless you like it, but running for a long time in the wilderness and nature leads to a state of “nothing” in your head, which is an important refreshing method.
In addition to enjoying the scenery while going around a remote national park, the act of putting yourself in a state of “nothing” and resetting is a kind of “meditation”. I feel that this meditation not only enjoyed the national park, but also added value to the process leading up to it and continued.
National parks in the United States are very well run. Many national parks have gates at the entrance to the park, and if you pay the entrance fee, you will receive a good rectangular pamphlet. This pamphlet has a unified design, making it fun to collect. In addition, park rangers patrol the park to help in case of trouble, and facilities such as toilets are also in place.
Here, I’m introducing the places I think “should go” from the American national parks I visited in a ranking format. If you are thinking of going to the American National Park from now on, I hope you can refer to it. The photo inserted in the text is the photo when I visited, so I hope you can refer to it based on the year of visit described in the article.
(described on Apr 30 2019)
(latest update on Mar 19 2023)