Taking a year to visit all the national parks is the stuff of bucket lists. It’s also a logistical puzzle and a lot of hard work, especially if you’re reporting stories for an Emmy-winning news magazine and capturing the entire experience in a bestselling book. Conor Knighton did all of that, and today he shares his insights from a year on the road in the national parks.
To celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service in 2016, journalist Conor Knighton visited all 59 capital-N, capital-P parks in one year — turning that experience into a series of "On the Trail" segments for CBS Sunday Morning and, later, into the New York Times best-selling memoir "Leave Only Footprints."
Host Todd Christopher interviews Conor about that year and how his year in the parks shaped his understanding of our public lands, and of himself as well.
Original theme music by Chad Fischer
The Secret Lives of Parks is brought to you by:
Todd Christopher – Producer & Host
Jennifer Errick – Producer & Host
Bev Stanton – Online Producer
The Secret Lives of Parks is a production of the National Parks Conservation Association. With more than 1.6 million members and supporters, NPCA is the nation’s only independent, nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to protecting national parks. Learn more at npca.org