- Jul 19, 2018
- 2 min read

A Year in the National Parks: The Greatest American Road Trip

By Stefanie Payne (Author), Jonathan Irish (Author, Photographer)

By Stefanie Payne (Author, Photographer) & Jonathan Irish (Author, Photographer)

“The Greatest American Road Trip,” our journey through America’s most treasured lands, took place during the Centennial of the U.S. National Park Service in 2016.

...It started on January 1st when we entered the first of 59 national parks (the Everglades), and ended on December 31st in Pinnacles, which was the latest national park to be established at the time of the project conclusion (three new parks have been named since). In that time, we traveled more than 50 thousand miles by car, towing an Airstream trailer, and traveled thousands more by rail, air, water, and on foot. Beyond doubt, it was an amazing adventure honoring the “Jewels of America.”

The project really started with an idea in early 2015, and a lot of planning and pitching and a bit of luck to follow. Amazingly, the idea came to life and the project (while grueling) was a success. It was astonishing how many supported us and cheered us along the way.

The culmination of it all – hundreds of thousands of photographs taken, hundreds of stories written, countless memories recorded – was a 240-page hardcover coffee-table book: A Year in the National Parks: The Greatest American Road Trip (currently out of stock after a lot of interest… we are considering a second run).

The good news is, the project was captured in detail on Filled with hundreds of photos, descriptions, facts, and stories – A Year in the National Parks is destined to become a treasure in homes, schools, libraries, coffeehouses and backpacks across the USA and internationally. Stay tuned, there is more yet to come.