Darryl and Kathleen Toupkin, an Arizona couple, have officially visited all 430 of the national park units—a journey they started unintentionally decades ago. The Toupkins checked the very last unit off their list recently by visiting the St. Croix Island International Historic Site.
The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) manages not only national parks but also national monuments, national historic sites, national recreation areas, national lakeshores, and national trails. There are national park units in all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“We didn’t start out with a goal of visiting every National Park Unit,” wrote the Toupkins on their blog site that chronicles their adventures. “We just visited them because we enjoyed them. I am sure you can empathize . . . you hear so much about places like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Smokey Mountains, Death Valley . . . it is just natural to include them in your vacation plans!”
Eventually, they decided to make it an official goal to see all the national park units in the United States. They hung a giant map on their wall and put a pin on each NPS site as they checked it off their list.
See a short local news segment about the Toupkins and their quest to visit all 430 national park units here:
Congratulations to the Toupkins! What an awesome journey.
Would you make this trek to all 430 national park units in the United States?