- Tom Hatfield, 74, has been to every state and is set to visit his last few national parks this year.
- Hatfield put Utah and California as his favorite states and Mississippi and Nevada as his least favorite.
- He and his wife save money by cooking meals, avoiding cities, and owning a mobile home.
Tom Hatfield, 74, spent the first 60 years of his life living in Louisiana. However, after traveling extensively over the last few years, the retiree has visited all 50 states and is set to visit his last few national parks this year.
Hatfield has been to over 75 countries, and he plans to continue his frequent travels while he's still healthy. The former chemical engineer said hitting all the states and all seven continents has been a point of pride, given he and his wife have found economical ways to travel in their retirement.
Hatfield said they had saved money by grouping national parks within one road trip, cooking most of their meals, rarely paying for accommodations, and avoiding larger cities.
"We'd rather go out and visit the scenery than in big cities, so we tend to stay away from the cities as much as we can," Hatfield said.
Hatfield ranked his top five favorite and least favorite states and national parks.
Embarking on travel in retirement
Hatfield has spent most of his life in Louisiana. He was born in a small town 20 miles north of New Orleans, got a chemical engineering degree at Louisiana State University, and moved to Lake Charles for his job. He worked as a chemical engineer for 43 years and was a manager for the last decade of his career.
Hatfield retired 11 years ago, but he knew he wanted to explore the world after spending nearly all his life in the same state. He and his wife had a large nest egg, and they learned to be frugal on their past trips. They have a mobile home that uses a lot of gas, but they use an app that tells them the cheapest gas stations along their route.
To escape the heat, he and his wife took longer trips during the summer, often to the Western US. They also tried to hit every state, taking shorter trips across the US to knock off the remaining ones. A few years ago, they hit their last two states: North Dakota and New Hampshire.
Hatfield said he and his wife cut costs by cooking most of their meals on their trips and staying in as much as possible.
"When we go on most of our trips, unlike some of our friends, dining is not at the top of the list," Hatfield said. "The state parks or regional parks in Canada don't cost as much, and they usually have some very nice scenery, though sometimes, they're a little bit off the beaten path."
The couple also went on various international trips, hitting over 75 countries. They took a bus trip through the Bavarian Alps, explored Dubai, took a cruise across the Greek islands, and went on an expedition to Antarctica. They spent two weeks driving across Ireland, took a river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam, and went on a mission trip to Egypt.
Over the last four years, they have concentrated on hitting all national parks. They hit 17 during trips in the 1990s and mid-2000s, though they visited over half of them starting in 2020. One of their first national parks-focused trips was to Alaska, where they hit all but two. They also took a road trip through California, hitting all but Redwood National Park due to RV trouble; they flew to Redwood earlier this month.
To get the remaining national parks, they went to Isle Royale National Park in Michigan en route to the two in Alaska they missed — Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley. On their way back to Louisiana, they plan to hit Great Basin in Nevada. They also have a cruise scheduled to American Samoa, home of the National Park of American Samoa, their last national park.
Favorite and least favorite states
Hatfield acknowledged his favorite states were also the ones with the most diverse national parks. Utah took the top spot, boasting five national parks — including his two favorites. His favorite sites, besides the national parks, are the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the Great Salt Lake, and downtown Salt Lake City.
California ranked second on his list, as it has eight national parks with their own character. He noted that he stayed away from the major cities on his trips to California.
He ranked Alaska third for similar reasons, admiring the vast outdoors and wildlife. He said it's not cheap to get to Alaska, though taking an RV cuts some costs because "there are a lot of places where you can pull over on the side of the road and sleep in your vehicle." He added that driving through Canada en route to Alaska saves some money because of conversion rates.
He said he visits Colorado, his fourth favorite, nearly every summer, pointing out Colorado's expansive mountains, fairly consistent temperatures with low humidity, and strong infrastructure.
His last pick for the top five is Montana, which he acknowledged is a polarizing state given its "big and wide open" nature. Still, he said he treasures Montana's scenery and serenity, as well as its national parks, including Yellowstone and Glacier.
On the flip side, Mississippi is his least favorite, noting there wasn't much there that Louisiana didn't also have. He also said the heat is sometimes overwhelming.
He ranked Nevada as his second-least-favorite state, explaining there was little to do outside Las Vegas. He said Las Vegas also didn't live up to his expectations.
Many people save North Dakota for last on their journeys to reach all 50 states, and Hatfield said it's because there was little to do between the major cities, which he acknowledged were quite nice and calm. He also said the same about Nebraska, which was monotonous and fairly flat, and Indiana, which he viewed as "nothing special."
Favorite and least favorite national parks
Hatfield said he enjoyed every national park, though some have more to offer than others. He and his wife try to take five-mile hikes in each park to see the top destinations.
His favorite park is Zion, particularly hiking The Narrows, aptly named because it is the narrowest section of the canyon. The hike has no trail, as it traverses the Virgin River. Hatfield also praised Angels Landing, a strenuous and steep hike with chains offering some of the best views of the park.
His second favorite is Bryce Canyon, noting he greatly enjoyed The Needles, a series of zebra-striped sandstone spires. He said the hikes weren't too difficult, and the scenery was stunning.
"All five national parks in Utah are fairly close, and you could hit all five in a week easily," Hatfield said, noting this is one of the most economical options for knocking a few of the parks out.
One of his earliest and most memorable national parks was Yosemite, which he visited 15 years ago. His hikes took him through the wilderness and snow-capped mountains, and he saw sites like Half Dome and El Capitan.
His fourth and fifth favorites are Crater Lake and North Cascades, both in the Pacific Northwest, both on the same trip. He said he couldn't believe how blue Crater Lake was and how pristine North Cascades' mountains and hills were.
Conversely, their least favorite so far has been Congaree in South Carolina, which he said was "just a boardwalk that went through a cypress tree." He said that because Louisiana has a lot of cypress trees, there wasn't anything in the park that impressed him.
He wasn't a fan of Hot Springs in Arkansas, which he said was too small with few hiking opportunities. He also thought some of the park's amenities were somewhat run-down.
He had similar comments about Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, which he viewed as fairly monotonous with little greenery or waterways.
He enjoyed the scenery of Isle Royale, though he didn't enjoy the two-hour boat ride to get there or the limited hiking trails. He said it would be more worth it to spend the night on the island instead of a day trip to get the full experience.
Rounding out his least favorites list is Indiana Dunes, which he said couldn't compare to other parks like Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan.
Have you visited every state or national park? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].