# How close are you to the nearest National Park? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091 "2016-03-25T03:07:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/1 "2016-03-25T03:07:18Z")
I live less than a half hour drive from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Ok, so it’s not the Grand Canyon or Denali, but it’s still a real National Park. How close are you to the nearest one? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/2 "2016-03-25T03:13:31Z")
Less than an hour to Joshua Tree. About 2 hours from Mojave. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/3 "2016-03-25T03:15:57Z")
45 minutes from Pea Ridge. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/4 "2016-03-25T03:16:02Z")
About an hour from Olympic National Park. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/5 "2016-03-25T03:21:01Z")
I’m about 75 miles from [Pinnacles National Park](http://www.nps.gov/pinn/index.htm). Going hiking there next week. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/6 "2016-03-25T03:31:38Z")
Depends how you National Park, part of the NPS or “\_\_\_ National Park” 10 miles to the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (the official more-than-a-mouthful-name for the **USS Arizona Memorial** ) 135 miles to Haleakalā National Park (but an island away on Maui) 240 miles to the more famous Hawaii Volcanoes National Park ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/7 "2016-03-25T03:32:16Z")
I just walked my dogs in the OP’s national park this week. I am 4 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/8 "2016-03-25T03:43:22Z")
I’m about 15 minutes from [Valley Forge National Historical Park.](http://www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm) I’ve flown kites, hiked, bicycled, picnicked, etc. there many times. Mostly years ago when it was a state park and used mostly as a local recreational area. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/9 "2016-03-25T03:47:15Z")
I’m only a few miles away from the Pt. Loma National Monument, with the Cabrillo Lighthouse. Very pleasant little place. I’m also quite close to the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge, and just beyond that is the Cleveland National Forest. Joshua Tree is the closest park to me that actually named “National Park.” Looks like about eighty miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/10 "2016-03-25T03:53:04Z")
Yosemite is about 3 1/2 hours away. Yosemite Village is 120 miles as the crow flies, or 167 by car. It looks like Lassen Volcanic National Park is actually closer by time, being only a 3 hour drive, despite the fact that its a 20 miles or so farther away distance-wise. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/11 "2016-03-25T04:01:58Z")
About 88 miles from Houston to the Big Thicket National Park. Twice as long to the San Antonio Missions–for those who prefer culture to mosquitoes & alligators. More than Six Hundred miles to Big Bend… ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/12 "2016-03-25T04:05:28Z")
Mount Rainer is 2+ hours away. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/13 "2016-03-25T04:09:36Z")
It depends on which direction I go. I live near [Saguaro National Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro_National_Park), which has two regions, one on either side of Tucson. The eastern section is 20 miles from Tucson, and the western section is 15 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/14 "2016-03-25T04:12:34Z")
Hot Springs National Park is 50 miles from me. It’s not a traditional park. It’s the historic bathhouse district of Hot Springs. the closest park with camping, RV hookups, a lake and cabins is the Ouachita National Forest and Lake Ouachita State Park. 70 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/15 "2016-03-25T04:15:00Z")
Less than half an hour to Olympic National Park. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/16 "2016-03-25T04:23:52Z")
The nearest proper National Park is 483 miles (Big Bend), but only about 125 miles from San Antonio Missions National Historic Site and Padre Island National Seashore. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/17 "2016-03-25T04:27:00Z")
5 minutes to Francis Marion National Forest. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/18 "2016-03-25T04:49:25Z")
I live within walking distance of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. If you want something that says park in the title, the closest one is Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls which is about seventy miles away. If you want an indisputable National Park, the closest one is Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio which is about 260 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/19 "2016-03-25T04:59:10Z")
About 50 miles from Channel Islands National Park, though you have to swim to get there. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091/20 "2016-03-25T05:01:01Z")
160 miles to Yosemite. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-the-nearest-national-park/750091.md?page=2)