Somewhere in our boxes of physical prints are some from Maine in August 1995. At some point, I scanned one of them.

The view looks toward the town of Camden, and out into West Penobscot Bay. Camden Hills State Park surrounds the town, and we camped there, though not exactly at this vista. I don’t think so, anyway.

I don’t remember a lot about Camden Hills SP, but even so I was reminded of that place when I found out that August 4 is a free day at all national parks, reportedly in honor of the anniversary of the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act four years earlier.

Not because Camden was a national park – obviously not, it was a state park – but because it was close to Acadia National Park, which hugs the coast of Maine just a little further to the east. The visit to Camden was a weekend trip, so there wasn’t another day for Acadia, though we knew it was there. No worries, we’ll visit later, was the thinking.

So far that hasn’t happened. Maine was close in 1995; now it’s a little far. But still possible. I did a count and among the actual national parks (not other kinds of park service units) in the Lower 48, I’ve visited 26 out of 51. None of those was on a free day, including August 4, 2024. Major events that day including mowing the lawn and sweeping out the garage.