Duckwyn's Travel Blog

Imagine standing in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, surrounded by towering peaks and ancient ice. Banff National Park , established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park, is the oldest national park in Canada. By 1930, the Canadian National Parks Act officially gave it the name we know today. Here, families can explore some of the most impressive glaciers in North America. The park is home to several major icefields, including the famous Columbia Icefield, the largest uninterrup

Saxon Switzerland National Park, established in 1990, is one of Germany’s most dramatic natural landscapes. Located just south of Dresden, the park is divided into two sections within the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, an area famous for its towering rock formations and deep forested gorges. The scenery rises sharply from the Elbe River valley, where calm waters wind through the countryside, to rugged peaks that reach up to 556 meters above sea level. Families can explore narrow r

Here are 5 national parks in Iceland, Austria, Croatia, Germany, and Turkey that you should visit along with our recommendation for what you should not miss while exploring each of the parks. Göreme National Park    Göreme Historical National Park in central Turkey features soft tuff rock carved by wind and water over thousands of years. The rocky formations are connected by an ancient network of caves. Back in the 4th century, people built underground communities, including

Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of Croatia’s oldest and most breathtaking national parks, and it feels like something pulled straight from a storybook. Families come from all over the world to walk its wooden pathways, listen to rushing waterfalls, and explore a landscape that looks almost unreal. The park’s most famous feature is its chain of 16 terraced lakes, all connected by a network of waterfalls and limestone caves. As you move from lake to lake, the water shifts

Planning an unforgettable family adventure? California has nine incredible national parks filled with giant trees, otherworldly landscapes, and wildlife your kids will never forget. If you’re looking for a mix of nature, learning, and hands-on exploring, these parks are some of the best places in the United States to start. A few summers ago, we rented an RV and road-tripped our way through Sequoia and Yosemite with the kids — and it quickly became one of our favorite family

If you’re looking for rugged mountains, sweeping glaciers, and wild wilderness your family will remember, the North Cascades deliver in every way. Located in northern Washington, this dramatic region is home to the most expansive glacial system in the contiguous United States, making it a standout destination for nature-loving families.  Long before modern trails and viewpoints existed, Native American people explored and lived in this mountain landscape. Archaeological evide

Great Basin National Park lies along Nevada’s eastern border with Utah, in a remote and beautiful mountain-and-desert region. The park takes its name from the Great Basin, a vast arid watershed between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains, and offers your family a unique mix of high peaks, ancient trees, underground caves, and clear night skies.  All 63 US National Parks have their own unique badge to collect in the DuckAbroad Travel app. What to See and Do with Your

Channel Islands National Park is located off the coast of California, just west of Los Angeles. The park protects five of the eight Channel Islands and features rich natural beauty and deep human history.  Archaeologists have found evidence of human activity on the northern Channel Islands stretching back more than 10,000 years. On Santa Rosa Island, remains known as Arlington Springs Man were dated to around 13,000 years ago.  The islands were later home to the Chumash peopl

63 national parks in the US. Your family can drive to most of them. You can plan a summer road trip, hit three or four in a week, collect the stamps in your DuckAbroad Travel Passport. Then there's the National Park of American Samoa. You can't drive there. You need a passport (the real kind) to visit. Around 10,000 people made the trip last year—meaning you're more likely to summit Mount Whitney than visit this park. We just added it to the passport. And it might become your

Saguaro National Park is one of the most unique desert landscapes in the United States, and it’s now a new destination in the DuckAbroad Travel Passport. The park is split into two areas just outside Tucson: the Tucson Mountain District to the west and the Rincon Mountain District to the east. Each one protects a different side of the Sonoran Desert, but both are filled with the park’s iconic giants — the towering saguaro cacti. Saguaros can grow more than 40 feet tall and li

Capitol Reef National Park is one of Utah’s most beautiful surprises. Tucked between red rock cliffs and winding desert canyons, it’s a place where families can explore colorful ridges, towering buttes, and miles of wide-open sky. The park gets its name from its unusual white sandstone domes, which look like the rounded tops of capitol buildings. These dome formations rise above the landscape like giant stone waves, creating some of the most distinctive scenery in the Southwe

We’re excited to announce the first new destination for 2021 in the DuckAbroad Travel Passport: Joshua Tree National Park . Located in southern California, the park is home to the distinctive Joshua trees—and the protected area sits across two deserts, mostly within the Mojave Desert at higher elevations.  Joshua Tree was originally declared a national monument in 1936 and later redesignated as a national park in 1994 under the California Desert Protection Act.  For families