About the Explorers

Thanks for checking out our blog. We are proud to announce that we have met our goal of visiting every National Park Unit administered by the National Park Service in the United States. 

If you have been following our quest, you will know that we have been working towards this goal for many years. Our journey has taken us from Alaska, to Hawaii and to the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam, plus every state on the mainland. Although we have travelled extensively outside of the United States, the two of us have found there is so much here at home to see you could spend a lifetime exploring! We really encourage everyone to “See America First”!

Your modern-day explorers, Darryl and Kathleen Toupkin

Muir Woods

National Park Units Visited to Date

As of August 2024, there were 431 National Park Units on the list and we have visited every one, including all 63 National Parks. This includes:

  • 63/63 National Parks
  • 11/11 National Battlefields
  • 84/84 National Monuments
  • 4/4 National Battlefield Parks
  • 1/1 National Battlefield Site
  • 63/63 National Historical Parks
  • 77/77 National Historic Sites
  • 3/3 National Lakeshores
  • 31/31 National Memorials
  • 9/9 National Military Parks
  • 4/4 National Parkways
  • 19/19 National Preserves
  • 18/18 National Recreation Areas
  • 2/2 National Reserves
  • 4/4 National Rivers
  • 6/6 National Scenic Trails
  • 10/10 National Seashores
  • 10/10 National Wild & Scenic Rivers
  • 1/1 International Historic Sites
  • 11/11 “Other Designations”

We are so thankful that we embarked on this journey. There are so many places that we would never have visited without having this goal of visiting all the national park units. For sure there are places in Alaska we would never have made it to, and certainly American Samoa and Guam don’t pop into one’s mind when you think of an island vacation. But in fact, both of these were amazing experiences. We loved our visit to American Samoa, as well as to Guam and the nearby islands of Rota, Saipan and Tinian.

Not only have we visited every state, we can now say that we have visited every inhabited territory of the United States. We have had some amazing experiences and have learned so much about our natural world and our history. Even though we have reached our goal, there are many places that we have been that we want to revisit and explore more thoroughly!

We love to share our story – both on this blog and in person. If you have any questions about any places you might be thinking of visiting, please feel free to contact us!

Kathleen & Darryl