National Parks, etc. – The Destinators

Jacques Cartier National Park

Jacques Cartier National Park was created in 1981. Like other national parks around the world, its raison d’être (we’re in Quebec…) was to protect the natural resources of the region while balancing access and recreation. Although the entirety of the river is over 160 km/100 mi long, the area protected by the national park features a 54-km /34-mi stretch of a magnificent glacial gorge that is 550 m /1,800 feet deep. Water sports – canoeing, kayaking, tubing, and fishing – are top of mind at Jacques Cartier. There are also 100 km/ 62 mi of hiking trails throughout the park.

We’ve been confused before about national parks in Canada, particularly in the province of Quebec, because all but 2 of the national parks in Quebec are under the umbrella of SÉPAQ, a provincial organization that operates 23 national parks in Quebec, including Parc National du Jacques-Cartier and Parc National de la Gaspésie, among others. Huh? Inquiring minds…

Gaspesie National Park, deux

This is our second visit to Gaspesie National Park. Our first visit in 2023 was amazing and we knew we’d be back. Well, here we are! Last time we did 3 epic hikes in 3 different regions of the park – Mont Jacques Cartier, Xalibu, and Mont Albert – likely our favorite hike in a North American national park. This time we did one hike, not as spectacular as the others, yet it was still magical!

Prince Edward Island National Park – the north coast

One of Parks Canada’s primary goals is to protect the ecology and culture representing 39 distinct natural regions across the country. Toward this end, Prince Edward Island National Park was established to include some of the most endangered and incredibly beautiful areas of the north coast of PEI. The park consists of three sections, each with controlled access points allowing for public access to these very popular attractions while minimizing stress on the fragile ecosystems that made them so incredible in the first place.

Fundy National Park

The Bay of Fundy from the high point of the plateau near Rossiter Hill

Established in 1948, Fundy National Park was New Brunswick’s first national park. Fundy is focused on protecting a sample of the Maritime Acadian Highlands region of Canada. It’s well known for its dramatic tides, rugged coastline, deep river valleys within the rolling highlands, being at the transition between the mostly deciduous Acadian forest and strictly coniferous boreal forest. Also, waterfalls. Lots of waterfalls.

People only started to settle the area now comprising the national park in the 1820’s, mostly because it was not a particularly inviting place to live. Growing food was tough with poor soil, short and cool summers, and long harsh winters. However, trees grew well in this environment so logging and lumbering became the predominant industries. The best easily accessible trees most sought for shipbuilding were soon depleted, pollution of the rivers contributed to a decline of fish that spawned there. Fewer wooden boats were being built, and as technology changed the boats used more steel and less wood, further reducing demand for lumber and causing the decline of logging and lumbering in the area in the 1920’s. Fundy National Park has made restoring the ecosystem after a century of damage from logging and dams a priority.

Kejimkujik National Park

Kejimkujik NP and Lake – it’s all about the paddling…

Kejimkujik was established as a National Park in 1969, preserving old growth forest, a landscape for rare wildlife and waterways traveled by the Mi’kmaw people for thousands of years. In 1995, it was also designated as a National Historic Site celebrating the Mi’kmaw culture. The canoe routes were used to travel between the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Coast (with portages). Traces left behind by the original indigenous people included stone carvings (petroglyphs) on outcroppings along the rivers. These portray the typical Mi’kmaw life including hunting, fishing and wildlife. Being semi-nomadic, the Mi’kmaw spent winters inland, away from the colder coast while stocking up on fish and other food from the sea during the summer.

Campobello Island

Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada is just across the short Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge from Lubec, ME. Not quite 1/3 of this island is taken up by the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, jointly administered by Canada and the US, preserving Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s summer home and surrounding land.

Death Valley National Park

We’d really wanted to see Death Valley National Park on this trip – that was right up at the top of our list of reasons for undertaking this repeat visit across the country. Once again, due to the government shutdown we didn’t quite know what to expect, and up-to-date information was hard to find. However, given our recent experience at Joshua Tree, and considering that from Bakersfield we were less than 3 hours from the park, we headed over to check it out. And once again, we were pleasantly surprised! The Death Valley Natural History Association is a non-profit that supports all of the goals of DVNP. They are funding park staff salaries during the shutdown, and the park was nearly fully open! And most of the closures were due to planned improvements or repairs to flood-damaged roads, unrelated to the current budget issues. Our heartfelt thanks to the DVNHA and all of the staff we met in the visitor center and campground for enabling us to have an amazing visit in Death Valley

Joshua Tree National Park

We really wanted to visit Joshua Tree National Park as we head east. We didn’t know what to expect with the government shut down, and in this case we were pleasantly surprised. With the help of many volunteers and paid staff from the Joshua Tree National Park Association, a non-profit partner that provides support to JTNP to meet all of its goals, and a skeleton crew of National Park Service staff, the entire park was open and almost fully operational. We made sure to thank all of the volunteers and staff for their time and effort so that we could visit this wonderful place. Several thanked us back for having come despite the shutdown.

Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Park – Topeka, KS

On our last trip through Kansas (nine years ago!), we wrote that Kansas had no national parks for us to see. That changed in 2022 – and that change has (so far) withstood our government’s renewed scrutiny of National Park Service facilities.

Big Cypress National Preserve

As we left Everglades National Park, we drove west through Big Cypress National Preserve. It’s another million acres of wetlands, though deeper and with slower moving water. Yes, the folks at Cypress are proud of their swamp! The National Preserve status allow for more recreational usage (compared to a National Park) so fossil fuel exploration and extraction, hunting, and off-road vehicle use are all permitted. There are also parcels of land withing the preserve that are privately owned, and traditional uses by the indigenous Seminole and Miccosukee tribes also take place.