A Yearly Review. My Favorite National Parks 2025
It’s time, once again, to highlight some of my absolutely favorite, (and often underdiscussed) National Parks.
This isn’t a comprehensive recommendation list, as every National Park, Monument, Preserve, and more have are valuable. But I want to shout out some of the more interesting places I’ve seen on my travels. Including a few first of their kinds! So here are 4 of my top recommendations, downloadable prints you can used to make postcards, for these parks and Yellowstone at the end. Don’t forget, to send them to people to share your love of parks!
(Author’s Note: I had way too much fun writing these, but one stands above the rest. Even if you skip the others read #3. Downloadable Postcards for this, and Yellowstone, are available here and at the bottom of the blog. Ask your parents before downloading!)
#1. Xyleph’s Charge Interstellar National Historic Park
Artistic rendering of Xyleph and ship after the battle, placed over the approximate location of the crash landing.
Directions: Turn east from Roswell, head up into the mountains, and look for the hovering discs hiding in the perpetual clouds.
When To Visit: Any time of the year. Closed on days with excessive snow. (watch weather forecasts)
What to Do: Daily Guided hikes to the waterfall. Guides will describe a few of the more momentous moments of the intergalactic battle which once took place in the skies overhead, and also talk about the local ecology. The visitor center has a movie detailing the history of the Middleton’s and Elvira Middleton’s work to uncover the truth of the site. Spicule viewing occurs the third Thursday of Every month, although translators are limited. In summer months there is a weekly star gazing event, and rangers will point out stars now held by the Empire Xyleph once defended.
Junior Rangers activities: Activities for Junior Rangers include an art contest to depict Xyleph’s famous charge of aerial discs against Klippon entrenchment, and panning for platinum shards from the remnants of both battlefleets in the calm stream. To attain the badge does also require identification of at least 15 different native plant species, and 10 animal species, so the guided waterfall hike is definitely recommended.
Special Highlights: When I went there, I was fortunate enough to get a tour from Tabitha Middleton herself. Her vivid description of her time-displacement, and her detailed 4th dimensional account of the battle before she was slingshot into her own future was quite entertaining. Unfortunately, she is only available for tours infrequently as she is still time skipping, and scientists estimate it will be another fifty years before she syncs back up with our time entirely.
The History:
Nestled in the heart of Lincoln National Forrest near Alamogordo, New Mexico, sets a seemingly unassuming patch of land. A stream carves through the center of the property. You can follow it, upstream, to find a small but lovely canyon and a waterfall sometimes frozen in the winter.
An early trading post, built of adobe stands in ruins near the entrance station, and it was Elvira Middleton, daughter of the Trading Post’s owners, Frank and Melinda Middleton, who first discovered that the plain forested valley might be home to something much more significant.
She was playing with her younger brother and sister near the waterfall, when she noticed a metallic cylinder jutting out of a gnarled crevasse. Pointing it out to her two younger siblings, fearing it might have been a gun, hidden in cache by bandits or some of the people who traded at the post, she warned them not to touch it. Although it appeared to be a gun, she would note later that it was far too large, and quite shiny.
Unfortunately, Thaddeus Middleton did not listen to his sister. Climbing over to inspect the item, he and Elvira noted that when he touched it, it radiated with the distinctive amber hue of a Klippon Battle Ray, and that a sound like bumbling bees filled the waterfall valley before a ray discharged and young Tabitha Middleton vanished in a puff of smoke.
The two remaining children rushed back to tell their parents. Sherriff Pat Garrett, more famous as the man who shot Billy the Kid, just happened to be in the area that day. Upon hearing the story, they went back, with the children, to the waterfall valley. Fearful to touch the weapon, (although modern studies show it was now disarmed,) they concluded that the device must be some sort of unstable cannon, and that poor Tabitha had fallen victim to a belated shot. They declared the valley off limits. The Middleton’s mourned thier daughter/sister and eventually moved away.
That wasn’t enough for Elvira, however, who was haunted by the flashing disappearance of her sister. She saved up enough money by raising and training quarter horses to eventually return and buy back the fallow property. She began to excavate the area around the cannon, having to carve into the rock to unearth the rest of what could only be described as an alien spaceship.
In the crumpled remains, she discovered a holo-spicule left by Xelgorph, Xyleph’s second in command, which detailed a grand aerial battle over the skies of what would be New Mexico. The Klippon forces had entrenched themselves in the lower valley hoping to force a charge, and charge Xyleph did, leading his ships into the gauntlet and through a barrage of Time-Displaement rays. More than half his forces were scattered about time and space, most crashing or vanishing for good. But the rest were able to overcome the Klippon barrage and capture the enemies in thier hover rays, ending the last battle of an ancient and undefinable interstellar war.
Soon after the ship was unearthed, while Elvira was in the old trading post transcribing the content of the spicule, the Klippon Weapon was struck by lightning, which charged up the cannon once again, and caused a missfire, errasing all evidence, save the Spicule, and Elvira’s stories, from the site.
All that is left today is a placid valley, a nice streamside hike to the waterfall, and a massive depression where the time-crushed remains of a Klippon Cruiser once sat. Some have suggested it was one of Xyleph’s time displaced ships which appeared, and crashed near Roswell in 1947, but without the release of classified documents, this is only speculation.
Elvira would share her stories to anyone who would listen, but people only really began to believe them once they saw the holo-spicule for themselves. Unfortunately, overtime, it lost charge. And now it can only be played every other day, (although the park only plays it once a month to lessen the risk of further deterioration.
However, the area grew in regional, national, and eventually international prominence in the early 1900’s when Elvira burst into saloon halls in nearby Alamogordo to announce that her sister Tabitha was back. Half the men and women in that room had seen the spicule and believed her, the other half were curios to witness the spectacle, so they followed her up the valley, and to the waterfall, where a decidedly older woman (looking to be in her mid-twenties instead of Tabitha’s 7 years of age at time of disappearance) hovered glowingly over the waterfall pool.
She explained that she had been time displaced, was time displaced still, and would be gone before long. But before she vanished again, she told the story of being scattered across time, aging in the random moments, hours, and days she got to spend in corporeal form, and that she had witnessed the battled which had lead to her inevitable displacement, and the many changed and uplifst to the battlefield over the aeons. She gave them the date of her next appearance before fading away.
Ten Years later, both her brother and sister were on hand, along with local politician Jared Raskin, and Polly Crews of the Audobon Society — who was interested in the migratory birds which traveled over the mountain range. Thaddeus Middleton was there with Elvira, to apologize for his misfiring, and after Tabitha had shared her story again, the Middleton siblings got to spend the day together, with Tabitha stating that she was slowly coming back into sync with Earth, and Earthtime.
Moved by what they had seen, and interested, anyway, in preserving the local ecology. Jared Raskin, Polly Crews, and a small band of locals initiated a petition to preserve the land, and the interstellar history of the location. They took it first to the state, and it became the Xyleph - Middleton New Mexico State Park. Sometime after 1947, several men in black came to interview Tabitha when she was available, and soon a petition was drafted to nationalize the monument. The Xyleph-Middleton Monument was elevated to Xyleph’s Charge Interstellar National Historic Park in April of 1997, just a month after the Phoenix Lights. (although links between the two events are speculative.) The removal of Middleton from the name was on Tabitha’s request, as she found it embarrassing.
Visitors are encouraged to reflect on the ancient battle, the massive mystery of the universe, and the quirks of time. Do not touch, prod, or provoke any seemingly alien artifacts found within the park grounds.
#2. Nightly Fireworks National Traveling Park
Image depicts one series of fireworks, and is not indicative of each and every show.
Directions: Look outside at night.
When To Visit: The Nightly Fireworks National Traveling Park announces itself to an area with a 5:00 a.m. Blaring of the National Anthem to alert everyone in a 20 mile radius of the show. From there, it’s word of mouth. Will not visit areas currently at medium, high, or very high fire risk. Otherwise, anywhere, any time.
What to Do: Sit back and watch. Remove or secure animals who do not like loud noises from the area.
Junior Rangers activities: Activities for Junior Rangers include sparklers and bottle rockets. The quiz included questions about the chemical composition required for fireworks to emit different colors.
Special Highlights: Every now and then a Gray Wizard shows up and launches surprisingly mobile fireworks that seem to behave like animated creatures.
The History.
Tired of having to travel to National Parks? What if they came to you?
Tired of planning travel around your time off? What if the National Park was a surprise?
This new Explosive Idea was directly from Tom. Why not bring the celebration of our National Treasures to the People? Fireworks have been a traditional American pastime since the red glare of rockets inspired our national anthem.
There’s not much else to this one. Hope it comes to a town near you on the weekend!
#3 Ghost in the Window National
Location of the ghost is not always the same window, although she does seem to prefer the 4rth floor. All halls belong to her.
Directions: Near the Old Jenkins Cemetery, Shreveport, Louisiana.
When To Visit: Open Daily. The nights belong to her. Although every 2nd Tuesday there stargazing on the roof. Ghost hunting tours can be scheduled outside of the witching hour.
What to Do: The grounds around the buildings are open daily for hiking. Buildings are open from 7 am to 5 pm. (Beware the North Stairwell) Guided tours through the Sanitorium every 2 hours. Seances are limited to the 3rd floor and lower, and are not allowed in the dining area. Ranger Guided ghost hunts fill up fast so book early. Ghost hunting tools are available for rent from concessionaires, but it’s recommended that visitors bring their own recording or specialty equipment. Grounds are open at night, buildings are not unless otherwise specified. It is highly recommended that visitors check that Rangers have a face before following instructions, and to not accept any invitations from faceless rangers or dark clad figures to enter any structure in the park. Spirit Boards of any kind are not allowed on the premises.
Junior Rangers activities: Activities for Junior Rangers include spirit radio setting, navigation of dark hallways by lingering whisper, protective spiritual barrier construction, and identifying plants and animals in an urban ecology. (please do not feed the birds on the Sanitarium Roof, or near the birdbath.) There is an advanced Junior Rangers program for older participants which allows them to solve a historical mystery puzzle. Put together clues from the past, and signs from ongoing hauntings to help identify the the most likely identities of the nearly 35 individual spirits which are said to haunt the property. (Do not Speak Her Name)
Special Highlights: On rare winter moons, She will give tours. Rangers only know to announce them if they see her at midnight standing in the 6th window on the south side, on the 5th floor. The tour will commence the very next night, promptly at 9 p.m. and is only open to 13 individuals. Spots fill up fast, so start checking for announcements in the 5 days surrounding a new moon. She doesn’t speak, so I highly recommend the audio tour, which is a collection of the best EVPS in every room. Since tour locations are at her will, I wasn’t certain how they did this, but there are audio cues placed at all relevant locations, which trigger the correct recordings.
History:
Built in the Early 1900s, by Louisiana Socialite and Philanthropist: Madame Marissa Bly, The Bly Hospital and Asylum was, for it’s time, on the cutting edge of medical science and architecture. It provided free healthcare for the sick. Birthing services for at risk women, and long term care for those deemed unwell, or unable to fit into society. Eventually, the hospital expanded to outlying buildings, and all five stories of the primary building were converted to long term care, with each floor belonging to different health groups and the 6th floor used for administrative purposes, and to house some of the asylum workers.
The name Sanatorium was never applied to any of the buildings during their operation, but might have been a holdover used from when the 4rth floor was deemed the: Mephistopheles Sanatorium and Health Resort, and used for long-term convalesces of those with mental illness. It’s been noted, with respects to Her, that the southern wing was the women’s ward. (However, all evidence of Her identity should be taken with a grain of salt.)
As decades past, the construction of all buildings in the Bly Hospital Complex, and especially the first built structure, proved resistant to modernization. As costs to update began to exceed cost of new construction the Bly Hospital Complex was moved to new property across the river. A new Charitable Health Center moved into the older structures, but never filled them entirely. The first building, remained a long-term care facility until it was shuttered in 1976 with the death of it’s last patient, one Millard Carlton who had entered 40 years previously. His only listed medical condition was Severe Agoraphobia and the building remained open with 3 nurses on staff to accommodate him in his final years. (There are questions as to the financing, but it’s generally regarded that Carlton was actually directly responsible for the investment managing of Carlton Holdings, and despite his fear of the outside world, he was considered something of a market and economics genius.
Indeed, it is widely believed that it was the Carlton family who maintained the new Charity Hospital anonymously, and although the land and buildings still belonged to the Bly Hospital Complex, it was a lump some anonymous donation which paid for rental, upgrades, and continued services, (along with small donations and yearly fundraisers.) The Carlton family also organized the push to provide the complex with protected memorial status after it was shuttered.
In the 1980’s there was an attempt to turn the first building, now called the Bly Building, into an office, but reports show that no business or private entrepreneur would stay for more than a week. Many were chased out of the building by “haunting experiences” such as, but not limited to: Doors shutting and opening on their own, voices and sounds of medical procedures, shades, shadows, and incorporeal figures, with two accounts of bloody prints in the North Stairwell.
During a heavy rainstorm in 1982 the power went out, and due to flooding on the grounds, the generators in the outlying buildings failed cutting off emergency power. Unfortunately, two patients on life support were lost before power could be restored, and the morgue freezers in the basement went unpowered for more than 48 hours. Fortunately, most of the other patients were treated or moved to the new Bly Facility.
Attempts were made at repairs but eventually all buildings on the property were shuttered. By 1984, the grounds and buildings were empty, except for squatters, the occasional explorer, early paranormal investigators, and guards hired to patrol the property. As the grounds began to grow over, a local campus began to study the transition of the once well manicured building complex as nature began to take over. Mary Winslet, a local birder, began to record the larger than expected number and diversity of migrating birds through the property, and a pond/wetland located directly to the south of building 4.
When a proposal was made to demolish the buildings for a new mall, the Carlton Family, local school children, an array of artists and paranormal hunters, and Madame Bly’s great grand children came togther to make an alternate proposal, and after a visit and personal sighting, a former Louisiana Senator Championed the proposal, 1985 her two contemporaries fast tracked the proposal through congress, and Ghost in the Window National Park was born.
The Name and the Haunting
Stories of ghosts, poltergeists, and other paranormal phenomenon go back to the early days before Bly Hospital. Strange lights were said to hover over the southern wetlands, witches were rumored to have used the spot for ceremonies, and some say that Pirate Jean Lafitte executed three of his crew after an attempted mutiny on the grounds.
However, the haunting stories truly begin with the construction of the Bly Building (the first medical building.) Two workers died after a fall during construction, and yet there were continued reports of sightings by their peers throughout construction.
Building was delayed when the the hospital and asylum was opened early to quarantine a small yellow fever outbreak, which was only an echo of the last outbreak in New Orleans 15 years earlier. While several of the quarantined lost their lives, most survived, and the rapid pace of quarantine is believed to have saved countless lives. Yet, the workers, already on edge, only reported more hauntings when they returned to complete construction.
In the early days of operation, the hospital and asylum remained relatively, spiritually, calm. But there are scattered reports in nurses notes, and journals of convalescent patients of strange sightings, visions of people who died in the hospital, and the stories of a subtle green glow which trailed the halls at night.
The first recorded sighting of the woman in the window was by Dr. John Fillingham. He arrived at the Hospital on call in 1950, to deliver the baby of a family friend. While walking up to the front door, he noticed a strange woman staring down at him from the 4rth floor. She was notable for two reasons, an eerie green glow, and the fact that the 4rth floor was closed for construction at the time.
After delivering a healthy baby boy, he went to explore the 4rth floor, but found all doors locked from the outside. Fearing that a woman might have been locked in on the temporarily abandoned floor, he found a janitor with a set of keys. They explored the entire floor but found no one, and nothing but contruction supplies. Yet, when he left the building later that evening, he felt a set of eyes on his back, and the woman had returned, two windows down.
The janitor was the first to share this story with the rest of the staff, but when Dr. Fillingham was asked to comment, he relayed the same story above. Over the years sightings of the woman continued, with such frequency that she was almost considered something of a building familiar, or one it’s permanent residents. Although descriptions of her vary wildly, she’s typically described as a woman with short hair and a round face, in her 20s or early 30s. And people often report feeling pinpricks on the back of their neck alerting people when she is looking down on them outside the building, or passing their room in the halls. Some reports say she is wearing a period hospital gown, and others report her in various medical and civilian garb.
Sightings continued throughout the complexes term as a long-term care facility, and after its abandonment. While she’s never officially left the first building, a nurse escorting patients out of building 3 during the blackout, says that he was guided through the darkness by a faint green glow. The decision to use her as the inspiration for the name of the National Park goes back to a series of letters written by Millard Carlton including a letter of introduction to every new nursing student which mentioned the Woman in the Window, and promised that they should not be afraid when they see her.
However, she is not the only ghost on the premises. Several other ghosts are said to haunt the Bly Building (Building 1.) Including an unidentified doctor, two men who might have been patients in the long term care ward. A young girl who haunts the basement and is said to scream out on full moon nights. There are also various reports of other spirits, shadows, and shades seen in the halls, and at least 13 different names tied to the structure.
Buildings 3, 4 and the guard house are also said to be paranormal hotspots, haunted by medical providers and patients. It’s claimed that former guard Louis Sheryl who patrolled the complex from 1960 until his untimely death when a tree limb fell on him in 1987, is said to show up late at night when the guardhouse is otherwise empty, appearing as another guard, and to mess with any radio, cell phone, or any electronics that are left in the structure.
Building 2 is said to be, relatively, quiet. However, warnings from several spiritual guides suggest that this silence might be a trap to lure in the unexpected. As indeed the most violent story of poltergeist activity is said to have taken place there on the night of January 21st 1983, when a group of high school students brought a spirit board to the third floor room which had once been the nursery for children of healthcare employees.
Two of the victims were found unconscious in the room by friends who were late to the party. Every piece of furniture in the room was shattered, and a mirror hanging on the wall had been smashed. Revived from unconciousness, the two victims described only reading out the word BEWARE before hearing an otherworldly scream and watching the world grow dark. Feeling a creep of cold fingers on their backs they fled the structure, and under the watchful gaze of the woman in the window, they searched for thier two missing friends in the courtyard.
Eventually, they were able to follow a trail of broken glass to the wetlands, where their other two friends were found, floating face up in the bog. Their fifth friend was never found. In fact, they didn’t even recall her presence until leaving the property. Some say they have seen her again, recognizing her face in mirrors in the restrooms of Building 2 from the missing persons report, or, now, from the memorial sign at Building 2’s entrance.
Still, the woman in the window remains the most prominent ghostly fixture, and Building 1, the Bly Building, is the most popular attraction, not just for the ghosts, but also for the attractive rooftop garden, which is practically it’s own elevated habitat.
The wetland and forest south of the complex were officially added to the park in 1998, but are currently closed as new trails are being developed. Please report any sightings of bloody handprints or ectoplasm in any of the buildings, and, again, avoid the northern stairwell.
#4 The Mutant Ninja Hotspring National Park
While the water is not safe to swim in, and even mild fumes can cause burst of martial arts to erupt, miles of wooden paths have been constructed allowing visitors to explore this fascinating park.
Directions: Just outside of New York City, next to the Krane Industrial Complex
When To Visit: Open Year Round, Temporary closures if temperatures in the Hotsprings reach Boiling Point, as the steam is known to carry a lesser array of side-effects
What to Do: There is a nice walkway through the park, where you can see the sickly green water, and note the mutated plant and animal life living in this 100% totally natural Boiling Spring of ooze. In the yard next to the visitor center there are daily classes for Ninjas in training, lead by Mr. Sharp.
Junior Rangers activities: Activities for Junior Rangers documenting at least 5 uncommon or rare mutations of the local wildlife. Chemical testing sets to find out what is happening to the plant life. A Rescue the Drowning Animal will be given to an Junior Ranger who helps any hapless animal out of the bubbling ooze.
Special Highlights: Average ninja skills will allow one to do moderate levels of park core and be better than average at most throwing games and non-professional fights. (but they are not sufficient to advance to the 2nd round of Ninja Warrior, and should be enhanced with further training.
In an entirely coincidental series of events, two years after Krane Industrial Complex opened, a brand new hotspring bubbled up in the adjacent wetlands. Uniquely greenish waters oozed to the surface, and spread through 49 acres of the central basin. Known to be healthy Krane Industries began an investigatory process to marked the springs as a local all-natural hot spring. But in a move of benevolence, (after discussion from their lead scientist Dr. H Baxter,) they decided to donate the property, and the surrounding forest, (an entire 3 square miles) to the Department of the Interior. With plans to open a hot spring park for the public.
Funding was sourced to study, and preserve the local, surprisingly distinct ecology. Scientist knew they had something special on their hands when Drs. Floram Arkansas and Velma Richards began an environmental impact study on-site, only to be ambushed by a group of bipedal squirrels wearing masks and wielding weapons.
When Dr. Floram was kicked in the shins, and Dr. Richards had to duck a set of stars thrown by a duck, they knew that not only was the local wildlife unique, but also moderately skilled. When backup arrived in the form of 4 graduate students, the animals vanished behind a flurry of smoke bombs, but could be witnessed fleeing through the woods.
Unfortunately, development of the park was stalled, but over the years, and with training from a karate dojo in New York, the Scientists were able to find, spar with, and eventually negotiate with the local wilderness, and the new park was born. They learned that a variety of animals had acquired bipedalism, and a modest amount of ninja skills by swimming through the ooze.
Unfortunately, it was found that the mutations were wildly variable. While development of average Ninja Skills seemed to be a trait universal to any animal swimming in the boiling green hot springs, other effect could range from bipedalism and human -like vocal cords to 3 extra left toes and a nose-mouth. The group of mutant ninjas which often roamed the lands to defend them, were also protecting some of the less fortunate mutants.
With help from the local wildlife, a wooden boardwalk was built throughout the property, and upon establishment of the grounds, Mr. Sharp was hired to train anyone (or animal) interested in Ninja skills. The park was fast tracked for federal status after 4 mutant turtles saved the president during a top secret incident. While there seems to be dispute as to the age of the turtles or if they are from the Mutant Hot Springs, the area was non-the-less protected by the president through the antiquities act in the late 1990’s
It’s unknown if the mutated plant life has also acquired moderate ninja skills, as they are plants, but there have been suggestions that the park could test it by introducing a Venus fly trap. Rangers who have seen Little Shop of Horrors remain resistant to this experiment.
Well, there you have it, another year of Some of My favorite parks. Let me know if you end up visiting any of them.
Postcards are now Downloadable for both these 4 parks, and also for Yellowstone. More to come.