America’s parks at your fingertips.

ParkQuest is your one-stop shop for U.S. national park resources. Having personally visited each park himself, Ken Crane shares firsthand expertise and insight through informative travel guides, descriptive trip stories and stunning original photography garnered over 5 years of immersive park experiences, all with the hope of inspiring your very own quest into America’s national parks.

Ken’s Story

It was too big for me to ever consider it a real goal. I never expected to attempt something so extravagant. Personally visit and photograph all 63 National Parks? Are you crazy? That’s over 30 states and 2 territories—one of which is halfway across the world. A hundred separate flights maybe. Easily 10,000 miles. That’s too audacious—not to mention expensive. I was happy to just visit the nearby big-name parks and call it good . . . but this thought kept nagging me and, well, over time it just sorta happened. One park at a time, reaching farther and farther from home. Rocky Mountain became Zion became Rainier became Everglades became Denali. Momentum just kept building.

I remember hitting a critical point in my travels when I first thought this crazy idea might actually be doable. It was after Kings Canyon, my 50th park, that I stopped referring to my visits to the parks as a journey and started calling them a quest. That’s when I knew I was serious about it. By definition, a quest implies a goal. It speaks of direction and intention. And that gave me all the drive I needed to commit. Because if I made it this far along, I knew I could see it through. So from this point on it wasn’t a question of turning back. Just a matter of how long would it take.

I guess you could say my park quest started back in 1996. At only 3 years old, I visited Yellowstone for the first time with my family. I remember kicking pine cones along the trail and riding in my car seat through herds of buffalo (or “lallos” as I called them). I probably wasn’t aware of it then, but that trip set a trajectory of nature and exploration in my life. Born and raised in Colorado, I grew up blessed with easy access to adventures in nearby national parks, like Arches National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park and of course Rocky Mountain National Park, fueling my imagination.

My first real park experience, however, happened back in 2020 with a trip to Death Valley. I don’t think I had any idea what I was in for because what happened on that trip was completely unexpected and unplanned. The night before our visit, a rare winter rainstorm flooded Badwater Basin, the park’s low point, creating a thin skim of rainwater for miles upon miles in every direction. You could easily walk out half a mile and only get your ankles wet. The best part was sunset that night. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it: cotton candy clouds of pink and orange illuminated in the sky reflecting with mirror-like perfection in the breathless water. The sight was completely otherworldly. I felt humbled to witness such remote, rare beauty, which of course ruined me from then on. I suddenly had an itch to replicate magical moments like this across the country and share them with others. I kept thinking, if I just happened to stumble upon this, what other hidden gems out there am I missing? Fast forward 5 years and 50 parks later, I’m finishing up my last few trips just as giddy as ever to explore the far reaches of this country.

Sometimes I think we can do ourselves a disservice by setting an audacious goal too soon that winds up frightening us away instead of inspiring us along. That was apparent in my quest. If I had known how much time and investment a project like this would take, I wouldn’t have even attempted it. I would’ve looked at Hawaii and Alaska and American Samoa and thought there’s no way I could afford that. But because I had my eyes focused on the joy of each park before me, I began to check them off one by one, slowly and steadily. Like one of those moments when you’re ascending a mountain peak and if you stay focused on the path ahead of you grinding it out on step at a time, then when you pop your head up you always marvel at the progress you’ve made.

Sometimes I still can’t believe it. I have to remind myself that I have photographed more than 50 national parks so far. To be near a summit like this looking back on all the ground covered is quite humbling. To think of all the friends and family who sacrificed to help make this happen. As I remember hikes, measured not just in miles but conversations, I see relationships deepened from exploring parks together. All the meals shared over campfires or long car rides through the American countryside—it leaves me utterly grateful. And that’s my desire for you. Through ParkQuest, I want to help you create your own awe-inspiring moments and life-changing adventures. I want you to share my delight for our beautiful world, and discover new and better experiences, one park at a time.

Hope to see you out there,