Do you need a little inspiration to plan that long overdue trip to a national park? Read these books – both real and fiction stories – set in national parks across the country!
Last updated: December 1, 2025
Books to Read for National Parks’ Lovers
Do you envision a trip to a national park as an arduous journey that involves miles-long hikes, rock scrambling, and occasionally river crossings? Or are you the first to book that nature-infused trip and plan the next national park adventure before the current one ends?
I’d join the second camp any time of the year. A national park trip can be anything you want it to be: a strenuous and challenging adventure in the most dramatic surroundings or a relaxing outing in nature. Far more, according to the authors of these national parks’ books, by planning a trip to the great outdoors you are one step closer to learning something new about yourself and even solving a mystery.
Whether you are an avid national park goer or just wondering if this type of travel suits you, grab these books and revisit your favorite places or get inspired to see new destinations and try new activities.
BOOKS TO READ BEFORE VISITING NATIONAL PARKS
1. Open Road
A midlife memoir of travel through the national parks by Toby Neal.
A Maui-based therapist and writer, Toby Neal and her husband set off on a long journey through national parks in the American Southwest, following Neal’s health issues. A year later, the couple flies back to the mainland, rents a camper, and heads north through the national parks in the Pacific Northwest and all the way to Alberta,British Columbia.
Throughout their national parks road trips, the author documents her and her husband’s experiences, adding her witty charm and occasional new acquaintances to the spectacular natural beauty.
The book Open Road is not a how-to guide to visiting some of the most beautiful national parks in the U.S. and Canada. It’s a one-woman take on the journey, at her own pace, with her own perspective. Highly entertaining and equally inspirational, this book should be your first read if you want to give your own national parks trip a try.
2. Journey on the Crest
A book about one woman’s journey along the Pacific Crest Trail by Cindy Ross
Cindy Ross, the author of the book Journey on the Crest, delivers a new perspective on traveling across national parks. A long-distance hiker, she already hiked the 2,000-mile long Appalachian Trail. Now it’s time for the even more challenging Pacific Crest Trail.
While the book doesn’t zoom in on separate national parks that the author hikes through during her months-long journey, it inspires you to get outside and prepares for the challenges you may encounter along the way.
3. Scraping Heaven
A book about a family’s journey along the Continental Divide Trail and national parks by Cindy Ross
Now married and a mother of two small children, Cindy Ross and her husband Todd, both avid long-distance hikers, take their entire family back on the trail. This time it’s the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail that follows the crest of the Rocky Mountains, passing through the bear-inhabited Glacier National Park, the volcanic terrain of Yellowstone National Park, and stunning Rocky Mountain National Park.
If a long-distance hike can ever be easy, this journey is overcomplicated by the age of the kids. The first summer, Cindy and Todd take their family on the trail in the great outdoors, the kids are just one and three years old. It takes them five summers to hike the entire trail that runs across the U.S., from Canada to Mexico.
The book Scraping Heaven had the most profound effect on our travels with a baby and later a toddler, both through national parks and different countries.
4. The World Is Our Classroom
Cindy Ross delivers another extraordinary manual of traveling with kids across national parks and abroad
In her new book, The World Is Our Classroom, Cindy Ross omits “juicy” details about what traveling across the national parks with two small children in tow really looks like. She’s done it exceptionally well in her previous books. Instead, the author shares with her readers valuable lessons she has learned through these national parks trips and many other adventures in the U.S. and abroad.
5. National Park Mystery Series
A series of 5 (as of now) books set in national parks across the West Coast by Aaron Johnson
Aaron Johnson brings a series of 5 books set in different national parks, written in the best Indiana Jones traditions. The books cater first of all to mid-grade children. Yet after perusing these novels alongside Dylan, I can confirm the books that follow three families across national parks of the U.S. engross even older readers.
The quest for hidden treasures scattered across several national parks on the West Coast starts with a photo album that Jake’s grandfather entrusted to him after his death. In it, the boy finds clues to secret spots in the parks the families travel to. Now, it’s up to him, his cousin, and his friend to solve the mystery and find the treasures before they get in the hands of bad guys.
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