The National Parks | East Texas Based Travel Photographer

For those unaware, in June of this year, I spent 17 days traveling through part of the Western United States and two Canadian provinces. During that trip, I either sat foot in, viewed from a distance, or drove through ten U.S. National Parks, Monuments, or Historic Sites. I can’t begin to tell you all how humbling and awe inspiring our parks, monuments, and historic sites are. It would be a safe bet that I had a constant slack jawed in awe expression on my face for most of that trip. As I twittered and said aloud multiple times during those seventeen days, “God is an awesome artist.” And He is — visit the Tetons, drive through Yellowstone, take a bus tour at Glacier, give yourself a crick in the neck gazing up at Devils Tower, stare at Pikes Peak from Garden of the Gods, get up close and personal with the bison at Theodore Roosevelt (from the safety of your vehicle, that is!), gaze at the artistry of what dynamite can do at Mount Rushmore, enjoy the peaceful beauty of Wind Cave’s lands, and quietly reflect on the lives of those who lost their lives in the spring of 1995 at Oklahoma City. That’s just some of the sites we visited in one trip — there are a total of 58 national parks in the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories, and an even greater number of National Monuments, Historic Sites, Military Parks/Battlegrounds, and Recreation Areas to visit.

So — as a belated celebration of National Public Lands Day (it was yesterday, Saturday, September 26th) and to lead up to the airing of Ken Burns’ The National Parks miniseries, I thought I’d share a few of my absolute favorite images from the parks we visited.