Some of our Favorite Pictures of some of our Favorite / Special Places
Yes, most are in National Parks. Yes, some places have multiple pictures. Most notably is Olympic National Park, one of our favorites…so many visits, so many special places…of the “outdoors/scenic” variety.
Pictures Grouped (to jump ahead):
- Other “Special” National Parks (i.e. The Arch, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, 6 Alaska Parks!)
- And more National Parks … SO Many
- State Parks & More
Olympic National Park
Where we took our first camping trip and have taken multiple guests visiting the Northwest.
A few other “Special” (to us) National Parks
Our 1st, the Most Beautiful, the “seen-often-visited-seldom”, and…the Alaskan National Parks!
Gateway Arch-our FIRST National Park (September 2000) 
Crater Lake NP-the most BEAUTIFUL National Park (August 2019) 
Crater Lake-the most BEAUTIFUL National Park (August 2019) 
Mount Rainier-Seen Often, Visited Seldom (September 2019) 
Mount Rainier-Seen Often, Visited Seldom (September 2019) 
Katmai NP-Bear at Brooks Falls, from the Riffles Platform (July 2025) 
Katmai-SO MANY Salmon at Brooks Falls (July 2025) 
Katmai-Close up of bear eating salmon skin at the lower Brooks River Platform (July 2025) 
Katmai-View across Lake Brooks 
Lake Clark NP-Waterfall to which we hiked (July 2025) 
Wrangell-St. Elias NP-View of Kennecott Glacier from Kennecott (July 2025) 
Wrangell-St. Elias-Kennecott Mines National Historic District from the Air 
Gates of the Arctic NP-Flying into Anaktuvuk Pass 
Denali NP-Hike around Horseshoe Lake 
Kenai Fjords NP-Northwestern Glacier, where we stayed awhile watching it calve (July 2025) 
Kenai Fjords-Our first ever seen Orca!!! (July 2025) 
Kenai Fjords-Habor Seals on Glacial Ice near Northwestern Glacier (July 2025) 
Glacier Bay NP-John Hopkins Glacier (July 2025)
And more National Parks (alphabetically)
Apostle Islands-Raspberry Island Lighthouse (and Fog Horn House & Boat House (Sept 2024) 
Big Bend-Chisos Mountain Sunset (Jan 2015) 
Big Bend-Rio Grande Canoe Trip (March 2025) 
Big Cypress NPre-Egret & Alligator living in harmony (January 2024) 
Big Cypress-Swamp (Jan 2024) 
Cape Hatteras-at Cape Point, where the Labrador Current & Gulf Stream meet (Oct 2023) 
Channel Islands-Super Pod of Dolphins (Jan 2020) 
Chiricahua-View of “Standing up Rocks”, from Lower Rhyolite Trail (Feb 2023) 
Dinosaur-Steamboat Rock on the Green River at Echo Park (Jul 2022) 
Dinosaur-View of the Green River for lunch at Rainbow Park (Jul 2022) 
Death Valley-Artist Drive (Dec 2012) 
Dry Tortugas-View from inside Fort Jefferson (Feb 2015) 
Glacier-Lake Sherburne (Aug 2012) 
Grand Canyon (Dec 2012) 
Grand Tetons-Jenny Lake (Oct 2018) 
Great Smokies, at the Mountain Farm Museum (Mar 2024) 
Isle Royale-View of Rock Harbor on Rock Harbor Trail (Sept 2024) 
John Day Fossil Beds (Aug 2019) 
Joshua Tree (Jan 2012) 
Lassen Volcanic-Chaos Crags & Lassen Peak (Oct 2019) 
Lake Chelan-view of North Cascades (Jun 2019) 
Organ Pipe Cactus (Feb 2020) 
Pictured Rocks-Chapel Rock from North Country NST along the cliffs above Lake Superior (Aug 2024) 
Pictured Rocks-View from Lake Superior on Sunset Cruise (Aug 2024) 
Pinnacles (Jan 2020) 
Redwoods (Jan 2020) 
Rocky Mountains-Sprague Lake (Jul 2022) 
Rocky Mountains-Cow Moose (Jul 2022) 
Saguaro-Cactus Drive (Jan 2015) 
Sequoia NPGeneral Grant (2nd largest tree in world), Sentinal (average size Sequoia), General Sherman (largest tree in the world). Note, sizes are by volume of the trunk, not height. 
Sleeping Bear Dunes-View from Empire Bluff (Aug 2024) 
Voyageurs-Bark Canoe at Rainy Lake (Sept 2024 
White Sands (Jan 2015) 
Yellowstone-Bison Roadblock, leaving West Entrance (Oct 2018) 
Yosemite Valley (Christmas 2012)
State Parks & More
Custer State Park, South Dakota – Sylvan Lake (September 2018) 
Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon-Wreck of the Peter Iredale (March 2019) 
Oswald West State Park, Oregon – Hike to Cape Falcon (April 2019) 
Lake Tahoe Sunset-from Nevada (October 2019) 
Superstition Mountains – near Apache Junction, Arizona (March 2020) 
Cape Perpetua – Best View on the Oregon Coast (April 2022) 
Mount Shasta,-just driving to California (April 2023) 
Gates of the Mountains, Montana (June 2022) 
Baxter State Park, Maine – Katahdin View from Sentinel Peak (September 2023) 
Mount Washington, New Hampshire – View over Presidential Range & Cog Railway (October 2023) 
Mark at Trinity Ground Zero Monument, New Mexico (April 2023) 
Very Large Array, New Mexico (April 2023) 
Utqiaġvik Famous Whale Bones (July 2025) 
Orca accompanying us as we cruise the Alaska Inner Passage (July 2025) 
Tracy Arm Fjord-Sawyer Glacier (July 2025)