Ranger Dan: 36.3 Blue Ridge Parkway - Visitor Center & Folk Art Center

Date of Visit: September 10, 2026

We stopped at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center to get the America 250 stamp.

As there was not much to see here and I wanted to do a sketch on the Blue Ridge Parkway page in my National Park coloring book, we ended up also going to the Folk Art Center.

Only ended up with some flowers to sketch, but got another America 250 stamp and there was a wide variety of interesting arts and crafts to see there.

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Previous Visits to this Unit:

• 36.1 Blue Ridge Parkway
• 36.2 Blue Ridge Parkway

Ranger Dan: 122.1 Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site

Date of Visit: September 10, 2026

Our first stop on our way to Chicago to start our Route 66 trip was at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site.

To get to the Carl Sandburg Home, it is a short, but STEEP hike.

We got there a little before the first tour of the home at 11am.

My favorite part of the house were the books. They have like 10,000 books.

After the tour, I did a sketch of the house in my sketchbook that I am collecting the America 250 stamps.

We skipped checking out the goats and more of the property as it was lunch time and we had to hike back to the car for our sandwiches. Definitely a place we need to come back to see more of it.

On the way back to the car, we stopped to take photos in the chair on the  rocky outcrop.

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 121.1 Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park - Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center

Date of Visit: June 26, 2026

We visited the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center to get the America 250 stamp for the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. We enjoyed the exhibits, especially learning about the Wright Brothers printing press business.

Wright Flyer

Helicopter Toy

Frank B. Hale Groceries

Frank B. Hale Groceries

Wright Brothers Gliders

Aviation Trail Parachute Museum

Aviation Trail Parachute Museum

Aviation Trail Parachute Museum

Bench from Wright family home

Composing Room

Printing Press

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 120.1 Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

Date of Visit: June 26, 2026

Because it was raining, Mik did not want to get out of the truck when we visited Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. Thus, Dad and I just quickly went through the exhibits inside the house and got the stamps.

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 119.1 Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

Date of Visit: June 25, 2026

As this was our first visit to Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, we planned to spend time really exploring it. However, we found the visitor center rather lacking with no real exhibit and the sidewalk to the mounds did not even get to the first info sign. We were not surprised that it was not accessible for Mik (Wheelchair Travel Adventures post) to go through the mound side, but we had expected there to at least be some sort of exhibit about the site in the visitor center. Mik did at least let me quickly walk through the mound area to the various signs and take some Ranger Dan photos.

Visitor Center

Shawnee Tribe Flag

Mound 7

Elliptical Mound

My Sketch

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 6.2 New River Gorge National Park & Preserve

Canyon Rim Visitor Center

Date of Visit: June 24-25, 2026

The New River Gorge was one of the places we visited on the trip we got Ranger Dan. Back then, it was designated a National River, so this was our first visit to it as a National Park. That visit we only went to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center. This trip we also visited the Sandstone Visitor Center and Sandstone Falls.

Batteau

As we got to the visitor center near closing time, Dad went in and got the stamps while I took some Ranger Dan photos and did a sketch of the batteau.

Batteau Sketch

Sandstone Falls

At the Visitor Center, Dad learned that the Sandstone Falls could be seen from a short accessible trail, so we drove over and saw that before going to the hotel.

The next morning we went to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center for more 250 stamps and for Mik to see the New River Gorge Bridge.

New River Gorge Bridge

Previous Visits to this Unit:

6.1 New River Gorge National River

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 45.2 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

Date of Visit: June 24, 2026

As we had previously visited Guilford Courthouse NMP in 2017, this visit was just a quick one to get the America 250 stamp.

A Heroine of ’76 - Mrs. Keren Happuch Turner

1776 - America 250 stamp for Guilford Courthouse NMP

Previous Visits to this Unit:

45.1 Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Ranger Dan: 48.3 Indiana Dunes National Park

Date of Visit: May 4, 2026

We have visited the Indiana Dunes several times including when it used be a National Lakeshore and not a National Park. Thus, this visit was meant to just be a quick stop for the America 250 stamp. We discovered there was a Indigenous Cultural Trail at the Visitor Center that is new since our last visit and ended up exploring that, too.

Sign at Visitor Center

Buffalo Statue in front of Visitor Center

Indigenous Cultural Trail

Indigenous Cultural Trail - Miami Lunar Calendar

Indigenous Cultural Trail - Miami Lunar Calendar

Indigenous Cultural Trail - American Elm

Indigenous Cultural Trail

Indigenous Cultural Trail - Potawatomi Lunar Calendar

America 250 stamp

Previous Visits to this Unit:

• 48.1 Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
• 48.2 Indiana Dunes National Park

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.