National Park Travelers Club facts for kids
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| Founded | 2004 |
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| Type | Non-profit social club |
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Members
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over 3000 |
| Website | http://www.parkstamps.org |
The National Park Travelers Club (or NPTC) is a special group for people who love visiting America's National Parks. It's a non-profit club that helps park visitors connect with each other. The NPTC also celebrates people who explore many different parks across the country. Their main goal is to help everyone enjoy and learn more about the amazing U.S. National Park System.
Contents
About the National Park Travelers Club
The NPTC started in 2004 when a small group of park fans got together. Since then, it has grown a lot! There are now over 3,000 members who pay a small yearly fee. There are also more than 18,000 members on the free online site.
What Members Get
Paying members get access to special lists and maps. These show all the known locations where you can get national park passport stamps. Members can also vote in club elections. The club's online site has fun trip stories and tips for visiting parks. It also shares news about laws that affect parks. There's a message board too, where members can chat about park topics.
Club Meetings and Newsletter
The NPTC holds a big meeting every year called the Annual Convention. Smaller group meetings also happen at special events. These might be when a new park area opens or for important park anniversaries. The NPTC also gives out awards to members. These awards are for visiting a certain number of park units in a year or over a lifetime. The club publishes a newsletter four times a year called The Stamp Pad.
NPTC Annual Conventions
The NPTC has hosted 20 yearly conventions at different National Park locations. These meetings are a great chance for club members to meet up and share their travel stories. They also get to hear talks from National Park Service Rangers. Members can also join group tours of the area. Anyone can attend these meetings. A special official national park passport stamp is made for each convention. This stamp is only available during that specific convention.
- 2003: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
- 2004: Rocky Mountain National Park (The NPTC officially started here!)
- 2005: Mammoth Cave National Park
- 2006: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- 2007: Olympic National Park
- 2008: Lowell National Historical Park
- 2009: Sequoia National Park
- 2010: El Malpais National Monument
- 2011: National Mall
- 2012: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
- 2013: Shiloh National Military Park
- 2014: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- 2015: Chamizal National Memorial
- 2016: Independence National Historical Park
- 2017: Mount Rushmore National Memorial
- 2018: New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
- 2019: Flagstaff, Arizona area national monuments (Wupatki National Monument, Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon National Monument)
- 2020: A virtual meeting was held using Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2021: Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site & Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site (Washington DC)
- 2022: Gateway Arch National Park & Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (St. Louis, MO)
- 2023: Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (Hendersonville, NC)
- 2024: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (Vancouver, WA)
- 2025: Hot Springs National Park (Hot Springs, AR)
NPTC Awards for Travelers
The NPTC gives awards to people who visit many parks. These awards celebrate both lifetime achievements and visits made within a single year.
Lifetime Achievement Awards
These awards are for visiting a large number of park units over many years.
- Bronze: For visiting 100 park units.
- Silver: For visiting 200 park units.
- Gold: For visiting 300 park units.
- Titanium: For visiting 400 park units.
- Platinum: For visiting all current National Park Units in the National Park System.
Annual Master Traveler Awards
These awards are for visiting many parks within one year.
- Special Achievement: For collecting 20 national park passport stamps from 10 park units in 2 different geographic regions.
- Clean Sweep: For visiting a park unit in each of the 9 geographic regions within one year.
- Bronze: For collecting 50 stamps from 25 units in 4 geographic regions within one year.
- Silver: For collecting 75 stamps from 35 units in 5 geographic regions within one year.
- Gold: For collecting 100 stamps from 50 units in 6 geographic regions within one year.
Other Awards
- Most Wanted: This award is for finding a park passport stamp that was very hard to locate.
- Surprise Park: (This award ended after 2012.) It was for visiting a park chosen each year by the club's President. The park was chosen because it had an important historical anniversary.
- Civil War 150th Anniversary: (This award ended after 2015.) It was for visiting a Civil War site and getting its stamp on the 150th anniversary of an event that happened there.
Club Recognition
The National Park Travelers Club has been recognized by several important organizations. This shows how much their work is valued.
- Amtrak
- Eastern National
- National Park Service
