New US National Park: American Samoa

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 family's favorite chase.

The challenge

American Samoa sits in the South Pacific, 2,600 miles from Hawaii. Getting there requires deliberate planning. You fly to Honolulu, then catch one of the few weekly flights to Pago Pago. The journey filters out casual tourists.

What remains are families who want something different from their national park experience.

What different looks like

This is the only national park where you'll snorkel coral reefs in the morning and hike through rainforest in the afternoon. Where your kids can see species that exist nowhere else in the US park system. Where local families still live on park land and maintain the same practices their ancestors used 3,000 years ago.

The park protects three islands: Tutuila, Ofu, and Ta'ū. Each offers experiences you can't replicate anywhere else in the national park collection.

On Tutuila: The Mount Alava Trail takes you through paleotropical rainforest to panoramic views over Pago Pago Harbor. Your kids will spot flying foxes with three-foot wingspans. The trail reveals why this ecosystem matters—it's the only place in the US park system where these species survive.

On Ofu: The beaches front some of the healthiest coral reefs in the Pacific. Your family can snorkel directly from shore and see fish diversity that rivals any aquarium. No boat, no guide required—just mask, fins, and curiosity.

In the villages: Samoan families offer homestays where your kids learn practices still used daily. How to climb coconut palms. How to prepare food in an umu. How to weave. These aren't demonstrations for tourists. These are skills that sustain communities.

Why add this to your passport

Because completion isn't the point. Discovery is.

Sure, your family might chase all 63 stamps. But the value isn't in filling pages. The value is in pushing beyond the obvious choices. American Samoa rewards families who choose challenge over convenience.

When you finally make the trip—and it will take planning—your kids won't just collect a stamp. They'll experience a national park that operates differently from every other one they've visited. They'll see what conservation looks like when people still live in and depend on protected ecosystems.

They'll learn that the hardest destinations often teach the most.

The documentation matters more

Remote experiences fade faster than familiar ones. When your family visits American Samoa, documenting what you discover becomes essential. The specific reef fish your daughter identified. What your son learned from the village elder about sustainable fishing. How the rainforest sounded at dawn.

The DuckAbroad Travel Passport now gives you space for these details. Because years from now, when your kids look back at their collection, the rare stamps will trigger the richest memories.

Start planning (or start dreaming)

Most families won't visit American Samoa this year. The distance, the cost, the planning required—these create real barriers. But knowing it's possible changes how your family thinks about their passport collection.

You're not just collecting nearby parks. You're building toward something bigger. The complete collection includes the challenging destinations, the remote experiences, the stamps that require real commitment.

American Samoa is now one of those stamps.

Your family's passport just got more interesting.

Join us. Get the app today on iOS, Android, or from the web.