Tezels on the Road

Welcome to Ranger PamPaw’s Guide

Your companion for exploring the National Park System. Each guide offers practical context, history, and planning information drawn from a lifetime of experience in America’s parks — to help you prepare for your own first visit, or get more out of a return trip. Use the filters below to find a park by state, type, or region.

Showing 9 guides
Antietam National Battlefield
MarylandNational Battlefield
Antietam National Battlefield
America’s bloodiest day — and the morning that changed everything. September 17, 1862: more than 22,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing in a single day.
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Big Bend National Park
TexasNational Park
Big Bend National Park
Where the desert meets the sky — and where Ranger PamPaw’s connection to the National Park System began. One of the least-visited and most rewarding parks in America.
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Chiricahua National Monument
ArizonaNational Monument
Chiricahua National Monument
Arizona’s Wonderland of Rocks — a sky-island landscape of volcanic pinnacles, balanced rocks, and deep natural and cultural history unlike anywhere else in the park system.
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Coronado National Memorial
ArizonaNational Memorial
Coronado National Memorial
Perched on the US-Mexico border in the Huachuca Mountains — marking the approximate route of the 1540 Coronado expedition and the southern terminus of the 800-mile Arizona Trail.
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Fort Bowie National Historic Site
ArizonaNational Historic Site
Fort Bowie National Historic Site
Fort Bowie is intentionally off the beaten path — and that’s exactly the point. A historic site you earn, reachable only by a scenic drive and a memorable hike into the ruins.
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Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
New MexicoNational Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Tucked deep within the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, ancient homes built within natural caves — remarkable remains that reward the long drive in.
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Indiana Dunes National Park
IndianaNational Park
Indiana Dunes National Park
A national park between steel mills and Lake Michigan suburbs that turns out to be far more than a compromise — one of the most ecologically diverse parks in the system.
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Monocacy National Battlefield
MarylandNational Battlefield
Monocacy National Battlefield
Most people drive right past Monocacy on their way to Gettysburg or Antietam. That’s a mistake worth correcting. The battle that bought Washington, D.C. the time it needed.
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Pullman National Historical Park
IllinoisNational Historic Site
Pullman National Historical Park
Stand on the corner of 111th and Cottage Grove and the whole story presses in at once — brick rowhouses, labor history, and the clock tower that still anchors it all.
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