The national parks have inspired some of the best writing in American history. Below are quotes about the national parks, John Muir quotes, nature and wilderness quotes, hiking and camping quotes, and short messages to write in a national park card.
Article contents
- Quotes About National Parks
- John Muir Quotes
- Nature and Wilderness Quotes
- Hiking and Camping Quotes
- Messages for a National Park Card
- How to Use a Quote in a Card
- Frequently Asked Questions
Quotes About National Parks
- "National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." (Wallace Stegner, 1983)
- "There is nothing so American as our national parks." (Franklin D. Roosevelt, radio address from Glacier National Park, 1934)
- "Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it." (Theodore Roosevelt at the Grand Canyon, 1903)
- "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people." (inscription on the Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone)
- "Going to the mountains is going home." (John Muir, Our National Parks, 1901)
John Muir Quotes
John Muir helped found the Sierra Club and pushed for the protection of Yosemite.
- "The mountains are calling and I must go." (John Muir, letter to his sister, 1873)
- "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." (John Muir, Steep Trails)
- "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike." (John Muir, The Yosemite)
- "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees." (John Muir, Our National Parks)
Nature and Wilderness Quotes
- "In Wildness is the preservation of the World." (Henry David Thoreau, Walking)
- "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach." (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)
- "In the woods, we return to reason and faith." (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature)
- "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." (Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder)
- "There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot." (Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac)
- "Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit." (Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire)
Hiking and Camping Quotes
- "We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it. We get it rough enough at home." (George Washington Sears (Nessmuk), Woodcraft, 1884)
- Take only pictures, leave only footprints.
- The best view comes after the hardest climb.
- Every trail has a story.
- Life is better around a campfire.
- Happy trails.
Messages for a National Park Card
For a card sent from a trip, or to someone who loves the parks.
- Writing to you from a picnic table with a view you would love. Wish you were here.
- We hiked to the falls today and thought of you the whole way up.
- Happy birthday to my favorite hiking partner. Which park is next?
- Congratulations on your retirement! Now you finally have time to see all the parks.
- Thank you for teaching me to love the outdoors.
- The stars out here are unreal. Sending you a little bit of this place.
- Thank you for a wonderful week in the mountains. Let's do it again next summer.
- Happy anniversary. Every trail is better with you.
How to Use a Quote in a Card
- Write the quote first, in quotation marks. Add the name of the person who said it.
- Add one or two lines of your own. Say why the quote made you think of them.
- Close with your name.
Example: "The mountains are calling and I must go." (John Muir) Happy retirement, Dad! We can't wait to hear about your first trip. Love, Anna
Frequently Asked Questions
Who said national parks are the best idea we ever had?
The writer Wallace Stegner, in 1983. The line is often shortened to "America's best idea."
Who said "The mountains are calling and I must go"?
John Muir, in an 1873 letter to his sister. He was writing about returning to the Sierra Nevada.
What should I write on a card from a national park?
Say where you are, share one detail from the day, such as a trail, a view or an animal you saw, and tell them you thought of them there.
Our Vintage National Park, Natural Wonders and American Wilderness sets each show 12 different parks and are blank inside. See all national park cards, or keep track of your visits with our national parks checklist.
More quotes for cards: gratitude quotes, dog quotes, cat quotes, national park and nature quotes and ocean and beach quotes.
