Favorites from first 100 national park units visited

Last year, I visited over 100 of the national park units (including historic sites, monuments, etc.), in the middle of the country in my Model 3 LR. Here are some of my favorites (links go to my ad-free blog with a photo of each site). Enjoy, let me know yours, and don’t underestimate your range!

Best battlefield & military site: Shiloh in Tennessee. The battle road tour is easy to follow & understand, and the cemetery and monuments are moving. (Honorable mention goes to Little Bighorn for the native ranger’s description of the battle).

Best canyon: Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Strikingly beautiful, with Navajo guided tours available.

Best cave: Timpanogos in Utah. Carlsbad may be the largest and Mammoth the longest, but Timpanogos has the most features to see on its regular tour. Also, the hike up to the entrance is simply stunning.

Best Civil Rights site: MLK in Georgia. Grand in purpose, history and inspiration. (Honorable mention goes to Birmingham’s Civil Rights Institute.)

Best fossil site: Agate in Nebraska. I loved the diorama, the Native Art collection, and the lush natural setting.

Best national park: Teddy Roosevelt in North Dakota. Both north & south units have a great variety of natural features, scenic drives, hikes, views and more.

Best native ruins: Chaco in New Mexico. Well preserved in a remote location, the grand scale of the many pueblo structures here is awesome.

Best presidential home: Grant in Missouri. Excellent films, exhibits, and informative tour.

Best rangers: Fort Union Trading Post in North Dakota. Three different rangers here brought to life the personalities, ideas and history brilliantly. (Honorable mention to Organ Pipe for Ranger Kate’s provocative wilderness talk).

Best tragic site: Big Hole in Montana. The film, the setting, and the tipi-pole memorial all bring the painful story of the flight of the Nez Perce to heart and mind. (Honorable mention to Cane River for its haunting cotton plantation slave quarters).

Best volcanic site: Craters of the Moon in Idaho. Best camping, hiking, and volcanic features.

Best wildlife experience: Smoky in Tennessee. I loved the little bear there (no, not Smokey Bear) and the horses rolling and playing.

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[Electric700]

Excellent post. Thank you!

 

[ThePirate]

Last year, I visited over 100 of the national park units (including historic sites, monuments, etc.), in the middle of the country in my Model 3 LR. Here are some of my favorites (links go to my ad-free blog with a photo of each site). Enjoy, let me know yours, and don’t underestimate your range!

Best battlefield & military site: Shiloh in Tennessee. The battle road tour is easy to follow & understand, and the cemetery and monuments are moving. (Honorable mention goes to Little Bighorn for the native ranger’s description of the battle).

Best canyon: Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Strikingly beautiful, with Navajo guided tours available.

Best cave: Timpanogos in Utah. Carlsbad may be the largest and Mammoth the longest, but Timpanogos has the most features to see on its regular tour. Also, the hike up to the entrance is simply stunning.

Best Civil Rights site: MLK in Georgia. Grand in purpose, history and inspiration. (Honorable mention goes to Birmingham’s Civil Rights Institute.)

Best fossil site: Agate in Nebraska. I loved the diorama, the Native Art collection, and the lush natural setting.

Best national park: Teddy Roosevelt in North Dakota. Both north & south units have a great variety of natural features, scenic drives, hikes, views and more.

Best native ruins: Chaco in New Mexico. Well preserved in a remote location, the grand scale of the many pueblo structures here is awesome.

Best presidential home: Grant in Missouri. Excellent films, exhibits, and informative tour.

Best rangers: Fort Union Trading Post in North Dakota. Three different rangers here brought to life the personalities, ideas and history brilliantly. (Honorable mention to Organ Pipe for Ranger Kate’s provocative wilderness talk).

Best tragic site: Big Hole in Montana. The film, the setting, and the tipi-pole memorial all bring the painful story of the flight of the Nez Perce to heart and mind. (Honorable mention to Cane River for its haunting cotton plantation slave quarters).

Best volcanic site: Craters of the Moon in Idaho. Best camping, hiking, and volcanic features.

Best wildlife experience: Smoky in Tennessee. I loved the little bear there (no, not Smokey Bear) and the horses rolling and playing.


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"Tesla Supercharger" by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine is marked with CC0 1.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

Can you point out your top 3 hints for charging strategies to get to them, and can you point out the three toughest charging situations you got into? Would be good to learn from these.

In CA you can go almost anywhere with Superchargers. However, someone recently pointed out that there are indeed routes where you cannot, or are really stretching it. I believe the example was Boise ID to Sacto, CA.

-TPC

 

[ZeroCTravel]

Hints: Sometimes I turn off the climate control and open the window. That helps.
I have both 30 and 50 amp adapters for RV parks. Charging overnight at a campsite helps in remote areas in the west.
I use the PlugShare app to find chargers. Some are free. Some are Tesla destination chargers.
I have a CCS adapter too. Even the J1772 stations are useful. There are far more charging places available than I realized.
Trouble: While I’ve been nervous about charging, I’ve never actually gotten into trouble. The 3 worst charging problems were 1) at a DQ in Needles, CA, where every time the owner wants to update his seasonal specials ad, his truck blocks 3 of the 4 superchargers, and he never notifies Tesla in advance. 2) Somewhere in Kansas, where the superchargers were blocked for a town festival, but a town councilwoman apologized and offered me free BBQ while I waited. And 3) in Terlingua, Texas, where I couldn’t find the owner of a JuiceBox charger to ask permission, so I ended up just charging for free.
Impossible routes: no, I don’t believe there are any, except for driving to Hawaii. I’m surprised by how many Tesla owners come up to me in remote parks and say “oh, I didn’t bring my Tesla, because I didn’t think I could get here”.

 

[Johnny Vector]

Hints: Sometimes I turn off the climate control and open the window. That helps.
I have both 30 and 50 amp adapters for RV parks. Charging overnight at a campsite helps in remote areas in the west.
I use the PlugShare app to find chargers. Some are free. Some are Tesla destination chargers.
I have a CCS adapter too. Even the J1772 stations are useful. There are far more charging places available than I realized.
Trouble: While I’ve been nervous about charging, I’ve never actually gotten into trouble. The 3 worst charging problems were 1) at a DQ in Needles, CA, where every time the owner wants to update his seasonal specials ad, his truck blocks 3 of the 4 superchargers, and he never notifies Tesla in advance. 2) Somewhere in Kansas, where the superchargers were blocked for a town festival, but a town councilwoman apologized and offered me free BBQ while I waited. And 3) in Terlingua, Texas, where I couldn’t find the owner of a JuiceBox charger to ask permission, so I ended up just charging for free.
Impossible routes: no, I don’t believe there are any, except for driving to Hawaii. I’m surprised by how many Tesla owners come up to me in remote parks and say “oh, I didn’t bring my Tesla, because I didn’t think I could get here”.

Well that's disappointing about Hawai`i.

Okay, now Imma go read all your blog entries, in prep for retirement (still about 3 years away, unless TSLA really takes off!)

Thanks for the info. And thanks to the coders who caused this to pop up under "similar threads" for me.