Five Fun Facts about Presidents and National Parks

During his visit, President Jimmy Carter traveled to one of the islands on Yellowstone Lake to fish with National Park Service officials. After his presidency, Carter returned to the park and had pizza in the employee pub at Lake Lodge. He even signed the wall of the pub, and his signature is still visible today.Long before he became president, actor Ronald Reagan visited Death Valley in 1948 when it was still a national monument. Reagan was a regular host of the wildly popular “Death Valley Days.” Sponsored by 20 Mule Team Borax – which was appropriate because the discovery of borax was pivotal in the history of the region – “Death Valley Days” was originally a radio program and then also achieved stunning success as a television program, airing for 16 years before its final episode in 1968. Death Valley was designated a national park 1994.  Bill Clinton visited the Grand Canyon in 2000 and Yellowstone in 1995. President Clinton stayed in the Mary Colter Suite of the Grand Canyon’s El Tovar and had lunch at Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn. President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton also took a stroll around Old Faithful GeyserView the list »
Coolidge was pivotal in granting funding for Mount Rushmore. In 1927, he visited Custer State Park in South Dakota’s Black Hills, not far from the site where sculptor Gutzon Borglum planned to carve the giant faces of Mount Rushmore. Borglum hired a plane to fly over the lodge where Coolidge was staying and dropped a wreath from the plane with an invitation for Coolidge to attend a dedication ceremony for the mountain. Coolidge not only agreed to attend but following the ceremony, he promised federal funding for the project.  

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The National Park system started with the Yellowstone Act of 1872. It set apart a piece of land by the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. From that beginning came a worldwide national park movement. Today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves.

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Of course, within the USA, more and more pieces of federal land became part of the park system. By 1916, there were 35 national parks and monuments and President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the growing list. The National Park System of the United States now comprises almost 400 areas covering more than 84 million acres in 49 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands.

Sooner or later just about every President pays a visit to the National Park system. Of course, many of the presidential libraries and museums are part of the National Park system, but beyond that, the great outdoors does beckon and even the POTUS find themselves touring.

But there are also those wonderful bits of trivia that humanize our Presidents and highlight our parks as well.

Did you know any of these fun tidbits? Just in time for President’s Day, here are some fun facts about parks and U.S. presidents provided by Xanterra Parks & Resorts:

View the list
  • Coolidge was pivotal in granting funding for Mount Rushmore. In 1927, he visited Custer State Park in South Dakota’s Black Hills, not far from the site where sculptor Gutzon Borglum planned to carve the giant faces of Mount Rushmore. Borglum hired a plane to fly over the lodge where Coolidge was staying and dropped a wreath from the plane with an invitation for Coolidge to attend a dedication ceremony for the mountain. Coolidge not only agreed to attend but following the ceremony, he promised federal funding for the project.  
  •  Bill Clinton visited the Grand Canyon in 2000 and Yellowstone in 1995. President Clinton stayed in the Mary Colter Suite of the Grand Canyon’s El Tovar and had lunch at Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn. President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton also took a stroll around Old Faithful Geyser
  • Long before he became president, actor Ronald Reagan visited Death Valley in 1948 when it was still a national monument. Reagan was a regular host of the wildly popular “Death Valley Days.” Sponsored by 20 Mule Team Borax – which was appropriate because the discovery of borax was pivotal in the history of the region – “Death Valley Days” was originally a radio program and then also achieved stunning success as a television program, airing for 16 years before its final episode in 1968. Death Valley was designated a national park 1994. 
  • During his visit, President Jimmy Carter traveled to one of the islands on Yellowstone Lake to fish with National Park Service officials. After his presidency, Carter returned to the park and had pizza in the employee pub at Lake Lodge. He even signed the wall of the pub, and his signature is still visible today.
  • President Theodore Roosevelt made his final visit to Yellowstone National Park in 1903.  During that trip he also laid the cornerstone for the Roosevelt Arch at the northern entrance to the park. The arch bears the inscription: “For the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”  President Roosevelt also visited the Grand Canyon – in 1903, before it was a national park and again in 1911.
View the list

, Albuquerque Travel Examiner

Neala Schwartzberg is an Albuquerque-based freelance writer specializing in travel-related stories, and publisher of Offbeattravel.com and OffbeatNewMexico.com. She can be reached at neala@offbeattravel.com.

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