Our National Geographic Weekend Radio Interview

We were honored to be interviewed by Boyd Matson on his National Geographic Weekend radio program. You can listen to our eight-minute interview here:

Boyd Matson, host of the National Geographic Weekend radio program.

We’d been told to expect to spend most of the interview talking about US National Parks, so we mentally revisited the more than 100 US National Parks we’ve been to since our Journey began in in 2006.

This was a fun bit of prep during which we came up with a kind of National Parks Hit List. In the end, our interview with Boyd focused almost entirely on the whys and hows of our Trans-Americas Journey and not on National Parks, but we don’t want our US National Park travel tips to go to waste so here it is.

US National Park travel tips

Most Unique US National Park: Denali National Park & Preserve in Alaska because the wildlife here is still wild (and it’s everywhere) which means you really feel like part of the food chain, not just another ho-hum human visitor. Also, this is the only National Park we know of where you’re allowed to hike anywhere you want, not simply on established trails.

Most Varied US National Park: Lassen Volcanic National Park in California because it delivers bears, volcanoes and geysers in one package.

Most Surprising US National Park: Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida because even the two hour ferry ride from Key West out to the park is full of marine life and because the snorkeling and beach camping once you get to this park, which protects the third largest barrier reef system in the world, is some of the most beautiful, accessible and low key in the country.

Most Underrated US National Park: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park in California because the redwood groves rival (and even outdo) Yosemite’s and because we saw seven bears in one day here.

Need more reasons to go visit a National Park? Every summer the National Park Service offers fee-free weekends during which most National Parks waive their entrance fees.