Leave only footprints : my Acadia-to-Zion journey through every national park
(Book)

Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, in 2020. --Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

When CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Conor Knighton set off to explore America's "best idea," he worried that the whole thing could end up being his worst idea. A broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery, but the plan he'd cooked up in response had gone a bit overboard in that department: Over the course of a single year, Knighton would visit every national park in the country, from Acadia to Zion. In Leave Only Footprints, Knighton shares informative and entertaining dispatches from what turned out to be the road trip of a lifetime. Whether he's waking up early for a naked scrub in a historic bathhouse in Arkansas or staying up late to stargaze along the loneliest highway in Nevada, Knighton weaves together the type of stories you're not likely to find in any guidebook. Along the way, he identifies the threads that link these different places--and that tie us to nature--and reveals how his trip ended up changing his views on everything from God and love to politics and technology. Filled with intriguing facts about our parks' past and reflections on their fragile future, this book is both a celebration of and a passionate case for the natural wonders that all Americans share. --,Provided by publisher.