Barnette is the owner of Road Trips & Coffee, a blog for anyone like him who believes driving is the best way to see America up close and personal. Whether it’s mountains, people, beaches, cities, historic sites or even remote roadside gas stations, Barnett wants to see it all on four wheels and wants to inspire others to do the same. I am.
In 2022, Burnett mapped all 429 national parks with plans to drive to every state capital in the continental United States within eight months. His idea was to use maps to be able to visit nearby national park locations to fill in time to get to your destination. Since then, he has made several changes to the map, making it more user-friendly and up-to-date.
Of the 429 national parks in the United States, Barnett has only visited 46 (his first national park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, was in 2011). But Barnett’s goal isn’t to increase the number of national park sites. He doesn’t obsessively count countries, and he has no interest in rushing through all the national parks.
“I want to stay in every national park I visit long enough to experience it and write about it,” he told Matador in a phone interview.
Barnett is actually a model of a slow traveler. His main rule for road trips is to not use interstates while driving. Although he is honored and a lot of fun, there is a downside to this self-imposed restriction. For example, a future road trip to Alaska. Although there are no plans yet, Barnett’s ambition is to drive to the final frontier within the next few years.
“It will probably take four or five months to get there and four or five months to get back,” he explained unfazed. Such patience and dedication to his favorite mode of travel is admirable.
Photo: Jason Barnett
Barnett is used to spending a great deal of time on the road. In 2017, he drove the eclipse path from Charleston, South Carolina, to Paducah, Kentucky, taking three months to complete the 1,000-mile journey. In 2018, he spent 30 days driving 441 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway. In 2021, he spent another 30 days driving everywhere from the mountains to the beaches of North Carolina.
Unfortunately, due to his health condition, Burnett will be out of town for most of 2024, but he has big plans for 2025. He plans to return to the road with a series of road trips through the eastern half of the United States, visiting every Revolutionary War site in the country. . Along the way, he plans to write road trip itineraries, destination guides, and inspiration for how people can explore his 250th anniversary of American Independence, which begins on April 19, 2025.
No matter where you go, you’ll have maps of all 429 National Parks with you, so you won’t miss a thing. Neither do you. 
