The World’s Best National Parks in 500 Walks

After I finished the Nüümü Poyo aka John Muir Trail in 2020, I came home to hundreds of emails, one of which was from a publisher in London seeking an author for a book on hiking in national parks. Since I had just finished backpacking one of the planet’s most scenic trails through three spectacular national parks, I took it as a sign that this should be my next project.

Millions of people visit national parks each year to explore the great outdoors, see wild animals in their natural habitats and revel in the spectacular grandeur of Mother Nature. Intrepid travelers could spend a lifetime visiting national parks and still only see a fraction of the planet’s highlights. The World’s Best National Parks in 500 Walks is the perfect inspirational resource for every explorer, from the armchair traveler to the veteran hiker, with full color photos and vivid descriptions of some of the world’s most beautiful hiking trails. 

The book begins where national parks began: in North America, and then moves across the western hemisphere to Central and South America before skipping across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and Africa, then Asia and Oceania. The 500 hikes are spread out among 336 national parks. Some parks are represented by multiple hikes of varying intensities, ranging from short and sweet scenic strolls to half day hikes to multi-day backpacking trips into remote wilderness.

I started hiking in college, when I adopted a young, hyperactive border collie mix and realized that both of us greatly benefitted from daily walks. Over the next 15 years, those walks evolved into hikes, backpacking trips and mountaineering expeditions. I’ve hiked most of the North American trails in this book and a few of the international hikes as well. I average 25 trail miles a week or 100 miles a month. At this rate, I’ll walk enough miles to circle the Earth before I turn 40. 

Whether you’re looking for an easy stroll on a boardwalk to peer into the turquoise geothermal depths of Yellowstone’s Abyss Pool or to embark on a multi-day trek through prime grizzly bear habitat, The World’s Best National Parks in 500 Walks is sure to inspire you to lace up your hiking boots and see more of the world—and maybe even circle the globe—on your own two feet.