Your Park Stories

Sum 16 - My Park Story intro graphic

A couple of years ago, we set up a website, My Park Story, and asked people to send us stories about their experiences in parks. Hundreds of submissions later, the anecdotes are still rolling in. Your stories — full of wonder and wisdom — have made us laugh and cry. When an especially poignant one pops up, we send around the link and blink back tears at our desks. To celebrate the National Park Service centennial this summer, we published some of our favorite submissions: Seeing the Milky Way for the first time. Sleeping under the stars and grieving. Watching the sun rise and realizing something profound about yourself. It’s challenging to sum up the Park Service at 100, but we think these snapshots begin to tell the story. — Editors