National Parks near Santa Fe.

You might say our family consists of extreme National Parks aficionados. Our kids love the Junior Ranger program. We always have a good (and educational time) at NP sites. Here are some previous links:

Support our National Parks. Please.

One of the best day trips from Santa Fe (Tsankawi).

What they left behind.

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. (also, in search on this blog, type in Bent's Old Fort for more pictures) or go to Judging From His Tracks.

Capulin Volcano National Monument.

You can see four states from here. (also Capulin)

El Malpais National Monument.

Travel in Malpais.

Great Sand Dunes.

And of course, Bandelier National Monument, near Los Alamos and always a wonderful day trip from Santa Fe. This is an NPS shot of the backcountry:

Here is information about the Junior Ranger Program.

By the way, Bandelier has a new superintendent: Jason Lott, who has been superintendent at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona, was appointed Thursday at Bandelier. He won the NPS director's award for natural resource management in a small park in 2005 as program manager for resources management at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Texas.

More to come on this subject. We'll discuss Pecos soon when we cover the subject of Greer Garson and Forked Lightning Ranch.

All photos on this page except the last two (credit:NPS) are by Patricia Lenihan.