The 10 Best of Everything: National Parks

Normally I hate lists. I make them all the time for groceries, things I need to do, etc., that I hate them in any other form. I don’t want to see them in blog posts, in magazines, and especially not in books. But then I saw National Geographic’s 10 Best of Everything: National Parks with the 800 top picks from parks coast to coast. Sigh. I knew I had to have it. It was a national parks book, after all, and one which would help me decide which U.S. National Parks I’d want to visit based on my interests.

Flipping through the 10 Best of Everything: National Parks book in the store showed me it had lists for everything I would want – Natural Wonders, Seasonal Enjoyment, Wildlife, Discovering History, and more. Any sort of option I was interested in when it came to national parks – By Land, By Sea, Lake, and River, Learning Experiences, Sleeping and Eating, and Other Wonders – was in the book. National Geographic wasn’t leaving anything out. From Acadia in Maine to the volcanic wonders in Hawaii, it’s all there.

For its structure and organization, everything it offers to for highlights on the U.S. National Parks, I really like the book. I think it’s a good starting point when planning a trip to see the parks. It helped me while setting up my recent trip to Washington D.C. with a special Capital Attractions section, which listed and described many of the great sites and monuments to see in the area. I can’t say I’d be lost without it, but it was certainly helpful.

On the other hand, as I said, I hate lists. I make them all the time, yes, but I can’t stand them. And the lists in National Geographic’s 10 Best of Everything: National Parks, no matter how you look at it, comes down to one thing: subjectivity. No two people will have the same thoughts on every listing in the book. For instance, I’m a big fan of Big Bend National Park in Texas. I even wrote about it in my book, The Drive North. But, in my opinion, it’s extremely under-sold in this book. I would have listed it in so many other sections than the eight it is, but that’s how it goes – everyone has different opinion about what they like.

Nonetheless, National Geographic’s 10 Best of Everything: National Parks is a good and handy book to have around. It can not only help in planning a trip, but also deciding where and when to go. And, seeing as I’ve already used it as such, I can vouch for it and say I would recommend it. The book, while not essential, was helpful and I’m glad I had it when trying to decide where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see in Washington D.C.