How to track the national parks you've visited (and who you hiked with)

If you've been to a national park visitor center, you've probably seen people lined up at the ink stamp. They bring a little passport book, press the cancellation stamp with the park's name and the date, and move on to the next one.

It's one of the nicest traditions in American travel. It's also missing the part people remember most, which is who they were with.

What a parks record should hold

The paper book gets the park and the date. That's a great start. A record you'll want to look back on also has:

• Who came. The friend who talked you into the sunrise hike. The kids, at whatever age they were.
• What you did. The trail, the campsite, the town you stayed in, the thing you swore you'd do next time.

That's what we built Pond Passport to keep.

How it works in YourPond

A national park in Pond Passport is its own illustrated stamp. Open it and tap "I've been here," and it's collected. The check-in also collects the state, country and continent around the park, so a Zion check-in fills in Utah on your map too.

Then add the people you were there with. The stamp keeps them, and their profiles start showing the parks you've shared. Add a note with the trail you did or the thing you want to remember.

If the park was part of a trip you already logged as a moment, attach the park to that moment and it collects the same way, with the people from that moment already on it.

It works for parks you visited years ago too. There's no date you have to prove, just a tap.

Yellowstone is still on my list.

Plan the next park

Parks cluster, and planning around a cluster is how people pick up several on one trip.

Utah. Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands are close enough to string together on one road trip.

California. California has more national parks than any other state, from Yosemite and Sequoia to the desert parks in the south.

Colorado. The Colorado guide puts Rocky Mountain, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde and Black Canyon of the Gunnison in one place.

Alaska. Alaska is the big one. Some of its parks have no roads in at all, so you fly or you don't go.

Save the parks you want to your Bucket List. When you finally check in, the stamp moves into your collection on its own.

Parks on a state line

A few parks belong to more than one state. Great Smoky Mountains is in Tennessee and North Carolina. On a park like that, the stamp has a "Where you were" section, and you tag the side you were on, or both.

How to start

Open YourPond, find the national parks in Pond Passport, and check in at the ones you've been to. Then add who was with you.

Keep the paper book too. The ink stamp at the visitor center is half the fun, and the two make a good pair!

Pond Passport is free, on the web and in the YourPond app for iPhone.

Browse the national park stamps · Stamps by place · How Pond Passport works