State Checklist

 

It took a steady stream of travel, but in 2015 I completed my last U.S. state: Hawaii.  Now onto my Country list...
 

National Parks

 

One of my other goals is to hike all the National Parks in the US, and as many outside the US as possible in my lifetime. Here is my progress:

Alaska

-Denali

-Gates of the Arctic

-Glacier Bay - we went here on an Alaska Cruise, spent time watching one of the glaciers calve.  Also enjoyed watching sea otters, harbor seals, humpback whales and the occasional bald eagle.

-Katmai

-Kenai Fjords

-Kobuk Vallay

-Lake Clark

-Wrangell - St. Elias

American Samoa

-American Samoa

Arizona

-Grand Canyon - the first time you look out at the Grand Canyon, you'll gape speechless at the amazement of it. Did this back on a major road trip in 2000, and I really would like to go back. Preferably with enough money to get a Canyon view room at the lodge :)

-Petrified Forest - beautiful and old Route 66 used to run right through it.

-Saguaro - small but lovely

Arkansas

-Hot Springs - not much hiking here, but the baths are amazing.

California

-Channel Islands - I've hiked this one twice.  Its a beautiful boatride across to the islands and a fun day trip. The exclusive home to the protected island fox, experts are currently working to bring the flora and fauna back to the original state before it became a home for agruculture back in the day.

-Death Valley - beautiful. Hot, but beautiful.

-Joshua Tree - 103 in the shade, 123 in the center of the park. Not my favorite hiking experience and it made me very ill. 2 gallons of water and gatarade and it still took me 3 days to pee.

-Kings Canyon - Got here late, just in time to see the sunset. I need to make an effort to hit this one again.

-Lassen Volcanic - Too much snow, didn't get much hiking in.

 

-Pinnacles - caves and rocks and lizards

-Redwood - Great park and at a lower altitude that gave me a great snow-free day. Mystery Trees is a little tourist trap at the edge of the park, and although cheesy, the actual tree mutations were very interesting. Drove my car through a giant Redwood tree and felt a little guilty at my delight.

-Sequoia - Huge trees. Shorter than Redwoods but thicker around. Or maybe its the other way around, I forget. Too much snow here to do a lot of hiking, but I got a few short ones in. At these altitudes, the snow is deep enough to lose a car in, didn't want to take any chances. Did see the largest tree in the world though :)

-Yosemite - Limited at this park too....heavy snow in higher altitudes. Saw the 3rd largest waterfall in the world, it was very cool. Got some great photos.

Colorado

-Black Canyon of the Gunnison

-Great Sand Dunes

-Mesa Verde

-Rocky Mountain

Florida

-Biscayne - most of this park is underwater, so the hiking is very limited. However,I explored the coastline and the education center and got a few nice photos.

-Dry Tortugas - One of the hardest NP in the lower 48 to get too. Its a very long boatride west of Key West. A very interesting old for and a beautiful beach. Took a guided history tour from the park ranger, hiked the coastline. Might go back for some snorkling.

-Everglades - Its hot and full of mosquitos.  Good for a day trip, but unless you boat or kayak...it has limited appeal.  The first boardwalk/hike was the best part of the trip and I got some really beautiful photos there.

Hawaii

-Haleakala - Every angle was a photo oppportunity.  At the highest point you can see for miles.

-Hawaii Volcanoes - There were way too many people here the day we went.  Parking was a problem and we didn't get to see nearly enough of the park.  Need to go back.

Kentucky

-Mammoth Cave - Love the caves, love the trails, love this park.

Maine

-Acadia - spent most of our time hiking the old carriage trails, but I think we would have had more luck spotting wildlife on the dirt trails. Watched the sun rise in the highest peak on the Atlantic side of the US, which was pretty amazing.

Michigan

-Isle Royale

Minnesota

-Voyageurs - Bad timing on my part.  I was there in the spring, it was too warm for winter activities and too early for the summer tours to begin.  But I did some hiking and it wasn't crowded at all.  Didn't see much wildlife but at least there weren't any heads in my photos.

Montana

-Glacier

-Yellowstone - Amazing and I need at least 3 months to really visit this park right.

Nevada

-Great Basin

New Mexico

-Carlsbad Caverns - I've been in caves all over the country and in other countries as well.  These are by far the best I've ever walked through.

North Dakota

-Theodore Roosevelt - Spring was perfect, animals were all active but the tourist were there yet.  I saw bison, elk, wild horses, wild turkey, deer and I can't even remember what else.

Ohio

-Cuyahoga Valley - Biked the river trails, hiked to some amazing waterfalls. A very cool trip.

Oregon

-Crater Lake

South Carolina

-Congaree - made a stop here on the way to Virginia. Had some difficulty finding the place and the mosquitos were bad, but we got some nice hiking in.

South Dakota

-Bad Lands - Stunning, amazing formations. Not a lot of hiking here but totally worth the effort.

-Wind Cave - they have some unique box formations, but not sure it was "National Park" worthy. It was a nice tour though.

Tennessee

-Great Smoky Mountains - spent 2 days here in 2019, and it wasn't enough.

Texas

-Big Bend - beautiful sunsets, lovely desert

-Guadalupe Mountains - wildflowers blooming in the spring led to fantastic photos

US Virgin Islands

-Virgin Islands -they have wild donkeys :) Didn't see any donkeys, but some lots of donkey doo!

Utah

-Arches

-Bryce Canyon - More amazing formations and at the high points you can see for miles! Its breathtaking!

-Capitol Reef

-Canyonlands

-Zion - I love this park. I need to learn how to climb, then I'll come back here.

Virginia

-Shenandoah - Great waterfalls, great trails - I love this park!

Washington

-Mount Rainier - I went on opening day in the spring.  Huge mistake, but i saw some great waterfalls and lots of snow at the higher altitudes.

-North Cascades - A secret wonder of Washington.  No one ever talks about this park but it was amazing and beautiful.

-Olympic - fantastic, i really need more time to explore the WA National Parks.

Wyoming

-Grand Teton - A gorgeous place to watch a susset.

Outside the US

Iceland

-Thinkvellir - the pretties part of Iceland that we saw. Lots of water and vegetation, a nice contrast to normal lava rock you usually see everywhere else.

Costa Rica

-Arenal Volcano - Cool Volcano, cool park - I saw my first wild monkeys here in 2005 :)

-Braulio Carrillo - Ok, I didn't really hike this park, but I was here. Our bus drove through it too and from Tortuguero.

-Manuel Antonio - Fantastic beach (and you'll not hear me say that often) incredible wildlife and probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

-Tortuguero - Miles of canals, monkeys, iguanas, cayman, crocodiles, snakes and lots more. Great for wildlife. Not so great for hiking. Everything is by boat or canoe, with the exception of one small island we hit on our way out of town.

-Poas Volcano - a little different than Arenol, this volcano is full of toxic gas and not lava. Its in an indent rather than a cone. Pretty amazing though to look down at a volcano.

 

-Irazu Volcano - really not that much here,the volcano isn't currently active and the hiking is limited. I did like taking photos of the sky/volcanic rock/greenary layers.

 

-Guanacaste - We showed up here and they kicked us out. I don't think Costa Rica understands the point of a National Park. This place is closed to the public and only open to scientists and stuff.  I was very disappointed,they have a very large cat population and I really wanted to try to get a picure..

 

-Rincon de la Vieja Volcano National Park - hot springs, horse rides, tubing, zip lines,hiking,waterfalls....this place was awesome. Scheduled 1 day here, should have scheduled 3.

- Santa Rosa - this is a historical site from CR single big military type battle. An American lawyer decided to take over Central America and become emperor or something. So he worked his way south recruiting (or enslaving) people along the way until he hit the Guanacaste Providence of Costa Rica. This site is where the battle took place.

 
Guatemala

-Tikal - the largest Mayan settlement discovered to date and probably the largest one to be found. They have a man made structure here that was the largest for hundreds of years...until the Empire State Building was built. Some pretty amazing stuff.

-Pacaya - I climbed this a few months before the big eruptions that killed a few people in May of 2010. It was very active at the time and there were multiple lava outlets. People brought hot dogs and marshmallows to roast over the open lava pits. An amazing experience.

 

Aruba

 

- Arikok - the best part of Aruba, wild donkeys, beautiful shorelines, caves, feet nibbling fish, historical ruins. It is a full day of fun.

 

Nepal

 

- Chitwan - absolutely wonderful! Elephant safari, wild rhino, beautiful birds and constant fear of tigers and bearsloths.  Can't wait to go back!

 

Italy

 

- Vesuvio - I do love me some volcanos!

 

Zimbabwe

 

- Victoria Falls - Incredibly beautiful

 

Zambia

 

- Mosi-oa-Tunya - The Zambia side of Victoria Falls, also very beautiful.

 

Botswana

 

- Chobe National - Incredible!  Did a game drive by truck and later did a sunset cruise, where all the animals came to the water to drink or bath before night.  It was an incredible sight.  Elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, impala, hippos and more.

- Okavango Delta - Spend 3 days in an undeveloped campground, hosted by an indigineous Delta people.  We toured the area by foot and by boat.  Lots of wildlife.  

 

Namibia

 

- Skeleton Coast - We drove through this National Park and did a quick stop to see an abandoned ship on the coast.  The name is for the boats that have hit sand bars and been abandoned.

 

- Etosha - Spent three days here, and incredible National Park.  We did game drives ever morning and afternoon and I don't think we ever saw the same area twice.  Saw all the standard wildlife groups and saw my first rhinos here along with my first lion.

 

- Dorob - Mostly desert and dunes, I did a living desert tour where our tour guides were able to find snakes and lizards and gechos and more in the desert.

 

- Namib-Naukluft - Because we were still catching up due to a three day delay at the Botswana/Namibia border, we got here late.  Not a lot of time to enjoy the park, but we were able to hike to the Deadvlei in the salt pan of Sossusvlei and we watched the sun rise over the high dunes.

 

South Africa

 

- Table Mountain - This National Park covers a huge area of Capetown and the outskirts.  Not only does it cover the Mountain, but it also covers Bolder Beach and the Cape of Good Hope.  Probably more, but those are the areas we visited.

 

- Pilanesberg - My final game drive, saw all the standards, along with a pack of lions go after some zebras, a sleeping leopard and a black rhino (the only black rhino I saw on the trip).

 

Country Checklist

Unlike states, countries change periodically and are sometimes in disagreement on how many countries there actually are.  But I found this list, and I'm using this list.  Chances are I will have to modify the list occasionally.

 

1. Afghanistan

2. Albania

3. Algeria

4. Andorra

5. Angola

6. Antigua and Barbuda

7. Argentina

8. Armenia

9. Aruba

10. Australia

11. Austria

12. Azerbaijan

13. Bahamas, The

14. Bahrain

15. Bangladesh

16. Barbados

17. Belarus

18. Belgium

19. Belize

20. Benin

21. Bhutan

22. Bolivia

23. Bosnia and Herzegovina

24. Botswana

25. Brazil

26. Brunei

27. Bulgaria

28. Burkina Faso

29. Burma

30. Burundi

31. Cambodia

32. Cameroon

33. Canada

34. Cape Verde

35. Central African Republic

36. Chad

37. Chile

38. China

39. Colombia

40. Comoros

41. Congo, Democratic Republic of the

42. Congo, Republic of the

43. Costa Rica

44. Cote d'Ivoire

45. Croatia

46. Cuba

47. Curacao

48. Cyprus

49. Czech Republic

50. Denmark

51. Djibouti

52. Dominica

53. Dominican Republic

54. East Timor (see Timor-Leste)

55. Ecuador

56. Egypt

57. El Salvador

58. Equatorial Guinea

59. Eritrea

60. Estonia

61. Ethiopia

62. Fiji

63. Finland

64. France

65. Gabon

66. Gambia, The

67. Georgia

68. Germany

69. Ghana

70. Greece

71. Grenada

72. Guatemala

73. Guinea

74. Guinea-Bissau

75. Guyana

76. Haiti

77. Holy See

78. Honduras

79.  Hong Kong

80.  Hungary

81.  Iceland

82.  India

83. Indonesia

84. Iran

85. Iraq

86. Ireland

87. Israel

88. Italy

89. Jamaica

90. Japan

91. Jordan

92. Kazakhstan

93. Kenya

94. Kiribati

95. Korea, North

96. Korea, South

97. Kosovo

98. Kuwait

99. Kyrgyzstan

100. Laos

101. Latvia

102. Lebanon

103. Lesotho

104. Liberia

105. Libya

106. Liechtenstein

107. Lithuania

108. Luxembourg

109. Macau

110. Macedonia

111. Madagascar

112. Malawi

113. Malaysia

114. Maldives

115. Mali

116. Malta

117. Marshall Islands

118. Mauritania

119. Mauritius

120.  Mexico

121. Micronesia

122.  Moldova

123. Monaco

124. Mongolia

125. Montenegro

126. Morocco

127. Mozambique

128. Namibia

129. Nauru

130. Nepal

131. Netherlands

132. Netherlands Antilles

133. New Zealand

134. Nicaragua

135. Niger

136. Nigeria

138. Norway

139. Oman

140. Pakistan

141. Palau

142. Palestinian Territories                

143. Panama

144. Papua New Guinea

145. Paraguay

146. Peru

147. Philippines

148. Poland

149. Portugal

150. Qatar

151. Romania

152. Russia

153. Rwanda

154. Saint Kitts and Nevis

155. Saint Lucia

156. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

157. Samoa

158. San Marino

159. Sao Tome and Principe

160. Saudi Arabia

170. Senegal

171. Serbia

172. Seychelles

173. Sierra Leone

174. Singapore

175. Saint Maarten

176. Slovakia

177. Slovenia

178. Solomon Islands

179. Somalia

180. South Africa

181. South Korea

182. South Sudan

183. Spain

 184. Sri Lanka

185. Sudan

186. Suriname

187. Swaziland

188. Sweden

189. Switzerland

190. Syria

191. Taiwan

192. Tajikistan

193. Tanzania

194. Thailand

195. Timor-Leste

196. Togo

197. Tonga

198. Trinidad and Tobago

199. Tunisia

200. Turkey     

201. Turkmenistan

202. Tuvalu

203. Uganda

204. Ukraine

205. United Arab Emirates

206. United Kingdom

207. Uruguay

208. Uzbekistan

209. Vanuatu

210. Venezuela

211. Vietnam

212. Yemen

213. Zambia

214. Zimbabwe

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