Can you ever have enough books in your personal national parks library? Well, not if you’re a true parks enthusiast. Odds are, you’ll run out of bookshelf space before you run out of titles on the parks. Even with that understood, here are some selections you might want to have on hand for both research and enjoyment purposes.

First Impressions, A Reader’s Journey To Iconic Places Of The American Southwest

This is not a book for light reading. It is, though, one that takes a historical approach to examining the hallmarks of the Southwestern landscape. Canyon de Chelly, El Morro, Rainbow Bridge, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon are among the destinations to which we are reintroduced through the writings of the first non-natives who encountered.

Deep Into Yellowstone: A Year’s Immersion In Grandeur & Controversy

This title, by Rick Lamplugh, is a primer on both the grandeur and controversies of Yellowstone National Park. Mr. Lamplugh writes not as a scientist, park manager, or authority on any of the issues, but as an outdoorsman and concerned citizen who has been captivated by the Yellowstone country. He tells stories, delves into park history related to the issues he describes, and offers natural history insights into the Yellowstone community as he explores it.

Heading Out: A History Of American Camping 

Has America seen its heyday of campers pass? Is sleeping under the stars now on a slow downward trajectory, not unlike the dying flames of a campfire? That’s one of the questions Terence Young examines in this heavily footnoted text tracing the history of camping in the United States.

As awe-inspiring as national parks are, they can be also be dangerous, if you’re not careful. More than a few authors have picked up on that theme, and here are just three of the many titles.

Into The Mist: Tales Of Death And Disaster

Books like David Brill’s, are reminders that national park landscapes can be as deadly as they are beautiful. If anyone is apprehensive about entering one of the nation’s big park landscapes that rolls and tumbles, sprawls and stretches, climbs and dips, and is roamed by wild animals that might consider you as a meal, this is not the book for them.

Big Walls, Swift Waters: Epic Stories From Yosemite Search And Rescue

When the Yosemite Search and Rescue men and women head out, they might be plucking a hiker from icy waters, evacuating a climber from a sheer cliff, or recovering the body of someone who wasn’t even that lucky. It’s dramatic reading.

Engineering Eden: The True Story Of A Violent Death, A Trial, And The Fight Over Controlling Nature

Jordan Fisher Smith masterfully describes the mistakes national park managers made with grizzly bears, telling of a time when certain park practices actually raised the odds of being attacked, if only a little. For example, leftovers and kitchen waste were routinely dumped not far from kitchens, providing the nightly “shows” as visitors watched grizzlies gorge. And when these dumps were shut down, suddenly, the bears went after those it associated with those free meals: people.

Anthologies are always great to have on hand in your library, as they provide a nice range of stories on either a specific park or a number of parks.

The Rocky Mountain National Park Reader

This title is a great addition for park lovers. Through its nearly 280 pages James H. Pickering has masterfully assembled narratives crafted from those who homesteaded the land within today’s park, from naturalists such as Anne Zwinger, Stephen Trimble, SueEllen Campbell, and some mountaineers.

Natural Wonders Of Assateague Island

As much as writers love to use words to create lasting images in readers’ minds, photographer Mark Hendricks, has captured the flora and fauna of Assateague Island National Seashore in a wonderful photo collection. You, and your visitors, will love looking through these pages.

As rich as the National Park System is in beauty and grandeur, it’s also an incredible repository for our history, whether that’s cultural or natural history and that should be reflected on your bookshelves.

National Park Roads: A Legacy In The American Landscape

In this title, Dr. Timothy Davis details the history of a relationship as fragile and monumental as Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road – full of ups and downs, twists and turns, challenges and beauty. It is a story that many of us take for granted; after all, a park’s road serves as a de facto tour guide for most visitors, and that’s due to intricate planning and inventive engineering by park leaders for over 100 years.

Civil War Battlefields: Walking The Trails Of History

Traveling from the Battle of First Manassas to Appomattox Court House, and stopping at nearly three dozen battlefields along the way, the author first sets the scene at each location by laying down in stirring prose the events that took place there. Then, he selects a number of trails you can follow through these hallowed places, to not just gain a feel for the lay of the land, but to practically feel how the battles progressed.

Where Water Is Gold: Life And Livelihood In Alaska’s Bristol Bay

This is a wonderful look at life around Bristol Bay, Alaska. While the bay’s waters are known as the foremost source of sockeye salmon, the mountains surrounding the bay are also sources of great mineral wealth, which makes for a conflict. Carl Johnson’s gorgeous photography does a fine job of showcasing a way of life that may be threatened by the proposed Pebble Creek Mine.