In 2016, our National Park Service celebrated its Centennial, and what rides it has been for the millions of visitors who have enjoyed them: on horse, by stagecoach, car, bus and boat. Included in the system are 412 areas: national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails and the White House. To celebrate the event, we visited a few of the parks in the West to learn about the methods visitors have used to get to them and enjoy their stays during these first 100 years. President Theodore Roosevelt’s words at at the Grand Canyon May 6, 1903, resonate still: “Leave it as it is. Man cannot improve on it; not a bit. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children and your children’s children and all who come after you.”
