Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

I’m never secretive about my love for our national parks. We have a park passport stamped to death from all of our park explorations all across the US. They are usually well-marked, easy to locate on maps, have good facilities and great hiking. Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky has been stamped in our book a few times. Two years back we camped here with the boys in the newly repaved campground which was a delight and went on an hour-long cave tour which was good for their age and about the longest I could carry my youngest. The hiking here is amazing, and includes an old railroad bed that was completely redone and gravelled. We just got back from hiking to White’s Cave entrance and Mammoth Dome Sinkhole which was mesmerizing for the fellas. Oh yeah, and the caves are world-famous, so not to be overlooked! We’ve enjoyed a few tours underground as well, but when the pocket-book doesn’t allow cave tours or if you are just passing through (like us today), this place still had excellent hiking and camping.

 

Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida

The oldest city in our country, St. Augustine, FL, houses many old treasures, many of which charge treasures to enter. However, squashed between the ocean and city is a national monument that is well worth the $7 adult, free child price tag. Castillo de San Marcos is a fort built by the Spanish, surviving multiple owners by treaties, and made of tiny shells! The rangers are friendly, the facility interesting, and my boys loved the firing demonstrations. You can spend a couple hours here walking atop, inside, and around the fort, watching the movie, taking to soldiers, and listening to frequent ranger talks. Learn why the moat never had water in it! Visit the Castillo de San Marcos site.

 

Canaveral National Seashore, Florida

Ponce de Leon discovered a wild, lush new land that you can glimse at Canaveral National Seashore. No neon buildings obstruct your view here but you’ll be thankful for the boardwalks over the thick plants. We walked to the top of Turtle Mound, a huge pile of oyster shells which was made by Native Americans. We also made our own shell discovery on the beach, a shell from a horseshoe crab. We were so engrossed in our discovery that we ran out of time to see the whole shoreline. Be sure to arrive early because the rangers chase you out to close the park at 6 pm. We weren’t anxious to leave. This seashore could easily provide hikes and entertainment for the day. My youngest son could have spent an hour alone looking at the awesome shell and bone collection in the tiny, soon to be upgraded visitor’s center. For Midwesterners, just looking at the local landscape provides long entertainment.

 

Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL.

The Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois (about 1 1/2-2 hours west of Chicago) is one of the largest railway museums in the country. They feature the oldest still operating train station, trains from the 20′s, steam engines, diesel engines, old buses, and gobs of things to see. Your family can easily spend the entire day here. They have a reasonable entry fee which includes rides on their electric train which runs around the park and on their diesel or steam engines (depending on the weekend) which run through the country for about a mile and turn around. Finally, they have a picnic area so you can pack your own lunch, which is a perk falling by the wayside I’ve noticed. Their displays are informative, you can ride trains, walk through trains, see trains being repaired, and learn about how trains evolved at this gem. See their site for more information: http://www.irm.org/

 

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, Mansfield, Missouri.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, Mansfield, Missouri.

We’ve been listening to the wonderful Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is amazing to me how many places she lived, and how many of them are available to visit today. The actual home she wrote her books in is in Mansfield, Missouri, and so fun to see.

Your admission ticket gets you into two houses, a movie, and the small museum. One home she built with her husband, Almanzo, the other their daughter Rose had built for them. It’s one thing to read the stories, it’s another thing to stand in the room and home where they were written. It’s so exciting to see her desk where the stories were penned, to actually see the paper it was penned on, and the little stool she put her feet up on to share her life stories.

The small museum also features Pa’s real fiddle, books of Little House on the Prairie in over 20 languages, the paper Laura used to write her stories, and many referenced items from the books. The bookstore has every title along with the children’s titles we have fallen in love with.

Mansfield is about an hour away from Branson, Missouri, and this is a fun place to visit if you are passing through. The volunteers are friendly and full of information, the home sites are very beautiful and have Mid-western farm appeal, the book store is full of great pioneer reading, and the museum is detailed.

Here is a link to the site:

http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/

Here is a picture of the Rock House her daughter Rose had built.

 

Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, TX

Dinosaur Valley State Park is an excellent place to camp and hike because you can see REAL dinosaur prints! The area was a shoreline in dinosaur days and they tracked back and forth along the water line. Their prints have been preserved and are re-exposing because of the river that runs through. It’s amazing! The camping was very private and shady, the employees were informative, and the hikes were exhilarating because you get to search out real dino prints in the river, (some are marked, some are not). The kids also got to step in prints that were recreated for hundreds of guests’ feet – to give a size ratio. Dinosaur Valley State Park is located just outside Fort Worth, Texas, and quite a treasure. Click below for the link to the park.

Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, Texas

 

National Park Service Junior Rangers & Web Rangers

When we are traveling, some of our favorite stops are America’s National Parks. They are diverse, preserved historical sites, from hot springs to mountains, from sand dunes to log structures. The parks are organized, have nice campgrounds, are fairly priced, and have an abundance of well-maintained hiking trails! We earn junior ranger badges by filling out booklets and having the rangers look over them, (just inquire at the main desk) when we’re out and about, but I just found out they have a web ranger program now too. Here is the link to the webranger information.

http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/

 

Heartland Acres Agribition Center, Independence Iowa

The WORLD’s largest tractor drew us into the Heartland Acres Agribition Center in Independence, Iowa, and we were so glad it did. Big Bud has brought glossy eyes to my family of tractor lovers because of its size. We went to Heartland Acres racing to see it, however, we spent a lot of time in the museums other hands-on exhibits as well. Here, yes, you can stand in the shadow of the world’s largest tractor, but you can also milk a model cow the old-fashioned way, get dried kernels off of corn cobs, piece together a quilt, visit an old schoolhouse, learn pioneer vinegar recipes and more! This museum is quite a collection of those old-time days with plenty of applications for your child to try. The new exterior is very deceiving, there are several wonderful antique collections to view, cars, hooked rugs, and machinery. We were sad to leave and I hope to make the trip again.

Here is a link to the museum: http://www.heartlandacresusa.com/

 

 

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado

This National Park is a real treat because instead of worrying about touching and damaging this area for future patrons, this park says DIVE RIGHT IN! With towering sand dunes, you will be tempted to run right out and play, but don’t miss out on their very nice visitor’s center with great displays. They have a lot of kid friendly materials including blocks that swivel to match animals with their homes and skeletons and a cyclone continually creating new sand dunes. There is also a movie describing the reason these dunes are here and how they are created and continually changing. Bring lots of water and sunscreen and hats, because what looks like an easy jaunt easily becomes tiring as the sand sucks your feet in creating quite a work out. However, the rolling hills provide tons of fun for running down hills, rolling down hills, sledding (yes, we saw people with sleds!), digging, and whatever this larger than life sandbox will tempt you to play. I once read that children can learn about nature from reading about it, but cannot fully APPRECIATE it. Here is an excellent and fun opportunity for your children to explore nature. The whole family said in unison as we were leaving, “we want to come back!”

Here is the link to their site:

http://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm

 

Mesa Verde National Park Colorado

In the Southwest corner of Colorado is Mesa Verde National Park preserving ancient housing settled about 1400 years ago! This park has pithouses, pueblos, and of course the famous cliff dwellings. It is an amazing feeling to hike down and back up again to a cliff full of stone houses. You can walk in and among the dwellings and gain a respect and wonder for the ancient people who chose this place to call home. My children climbed down in a reconstructed kiva (a stone circular room thought to be used for religious reasons) a few times and you could see the experience was one not to be soon forgotten. This park is well laid out, the hikes are easy (we did them with a 2 year old!), the museums have wonderful dioramas and information, the wild horses are beautiful, and the impact is huge! What a treasure our country has in National Parks!

Visit Mesa Verde’s website:

http://www.nps.gov/meve/

Also, here are some cards I made up featuring Native People’s Homes including photos from Mesa Verde:

http://3readers.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/free-native-american-homes-montessori-style-cards/