Okay, so maybe nobody really HATES Nature. We just don't want to be OUT in it. There's all that walking around, and sweating. And you're probably going to have to wear sunscreen.

But our Founding Fathers, in their infinite wisdom - Teddy Roosevelt was a Founding Father, wasn't he? His face is on that mountain, right? - set aside the very BEST parts of our nation's Nature to form the National Park System. (I mean, seriously, there is some kick-ass stuff socked away in those vast patches of green space muckin' up our highway maps.)

And once you actually go there and get to know the Nature, some of it is really very soft and fluffy: Like the hazardous Teddy Bear Cactus of Joshua Tree National Park - our nation's most Xtreme Cactus - or the voracious Canyon Bears of Grand Canyon National Park who see human beings as nothing more than a source of food - particularly junk food - Doritos, if you got 'em.

But let's face it. It's a pain in the patoot peeling your posterior off the porch swing and hauling it down it to the nearest National Park. Plus you're gonna need camping equipment. And that of course might lead to camping. And who really needs that kind of trouble?

The answer is: Nobody! But now you can enjoy our nation's National Parks the way God intended: From the safety and comfort of your own car. Or walking distance from it.

This Guide is filled with sights you can see just a few steps from the roadside; conveniently located snack bars and restaurants; hiking trails that don't take you too far from your parking spot - or better yet, hiking trails that take you to a snack bar or restaurant.

You'll learn how to do an entire Park in a day, without missing any of the good stuff.

Or, if you don't have that kind of time, I'll show you how to do the Park in an hour!

Or a minute, if you just want to swing by on the way to someplace more luxurious and indoorsy, preferably with central air and a heated pool.

And, because we know you like to live dangerously, I'll tell you the best way to get hurt in each park! Let your Nature-hugging co-workers go on a camping trip and come home with courageous tales of sunburn and muscle cramps, but those things don't leave permanent scars. Wimps!

Our nation's National Parks are filled with hundreds of truly stunning natural wonders. And it's a shame to waste it all on the Nature lovers.

---Jeff Goode, indoorsman

Let's Go Parking!

• Acadia National Park
• Arches National Park
• Badlands National Park
• Big Bend National Park
• Biscayne National Park
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Canyonlands National Park
• Capitol Reef National Park
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park
• Channel Islands National Park [not yet available]
• Crater Lake National Park
• Death Valley National Park
• Denali National Park
• Dry Tortugas National Park
• Everglades National Park
• Gates of the Arctic National Park
• Glacier National Park
• Glacier Bay National Park
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Grand Tetons National Park
• Great Basin National Park
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Guadalupe Mountains National Park
• Haleakala National Park
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
• Hoover Dam
• Hot Springs National Park
• Isle Royale National Park
• Joshua Tree National Park
• Katmai National Park
• Kenai Fjords National Park
• Kings Canyon National Park
• Kobuk Valley National Park
• Lake Clark National Park
• Lassen Volcanic National Park
• Mammoth Cave National Park
• Mesa Verde National Park
• Mount Rainier National Park
• North Cascades National Park
• Olympic National Park
• Petrified Forest National Park
• Redwood National Park
• Rocky Mountain National Park
• Saguaro National Park
• Sequoia National Park
• Shenandoah National Park
• Theodore Roosevelt National Park
• Virgin Islands National Park
• Voyageurs National Park
• Wind Cave National Park
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
• Yellowstone National Park
• Yosemite National Park
• Zion National Park
• Zion National Park