a. The 423 official NPS parks must be visited between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. If more parks are established before or during 2023, they will be added to the count/journey.

b. Meet the National Park Travelers Club (www.parkstamps.org) requirements for what constitutes a park visit, which includes item c, below.

c. I must cross the boundary of each park. Some parks have two sections, due to Congress’s intent to allow hunting and other activities in a specific portion of the total park. The usual pairing is that of a Park and a Preserve (Denali, Glacier Bay, etc.). Heck, Gates of the Arctic NP and NPres used to be a “single” NMon before Congress retitled the land. I must cross into both sections of these “dual parks”.

d. For parks which have multiple physical locations (Manhattan Project, John Day Fossil Beds, etc.), only one location/site must be visited.

e. For a park whose visitor or information center is not located within the boundaries of the unit (Cumberland Island, Channel Islands, American Samoa, etc.), stopping at the associated center does not constitute a visit to that park. A visit must be within the physical boundaries of that park.

f. For units which I will access via a plane-landing on water (Alagnak Wild River, etc.), or on backcountry runways, the landing constitutes visiting the park. This is similar to someone taking a boat across the boundary line for Buck Island Reef National Monument. Both constitute being in the park. There may be a situation that due to safety concerns relative to unacceptable conditions (fog, wind, storm, soft snow, etc.), a pilot decides not to make a water or ground landing after reaching a specific park. If a dedicated flight plan for flying to a specific park was followed, the plane is within the boundary of that park, and a sincere attempt is made to land, the experience is considered a visit.

g. For a park unit which has the National Park designation (Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc.) and whose primary experience is based on outdoor activities, attempt will be made to schedule a two (or more) day visit. But there will be a few parks, notably those north of the Arctic Circle (Kobuk Valley, etc.), which I will only visit one day.

h. There is no requirement to enter a park’s Visitor Center due to potential timing issues.

i. There is no requirement to meet a ranger at any park unit due to potential timing issues, and due to some parks where no ranger is actively stationed within their boundaries, or located where I will be visiting.

j. There is no requirement to obtain a Passport stamp (aka Passport to Your National Parks program) at any park due to potential timing issues (i.e. Visitor Center may not be open when I visit) or the lack of a stamp being available at certain parks.

k. There is no requirement to partake in a park’s activity which I deem as the primary experience (link to Activity Listing) due to potential timing conflicts (i.e. visiting a park in “off-season”, or arriving at a park before/after standard hours) and availability (i.e. a tour is full), though all effort will be made to participate in said activity. There are many other activities which can be enjoyed at each park.

l. Photographs and/or videos must be taken of each park unit. An attempt will be made to photograph each park’s entrance sign, though some park units like Aniakchak National Monument will not have an entrance sign, or a sign may not be located in an accessible location.

m. Adhere to the requirements given me by Guinness World Records. This includes maintaining a Log Book of my daily travels, and generating GPS tracking files.

Succinctly put, I must be within the boundaries of a park and attempt to experience at least one aspect related to its story, its purpose, before traveling to the next park. Our national parks exist for enjoyment, education, and honoring men, women, and events in our country’s past. Walking into a park’s Visitor Center, then turning around and leaving the park is not acceptable. No one should mimic Chevy Chase’s character in the 1983 movie Vacation when he stopped at the south rim of the Grand Canyon.