Beginning in 1973 with a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and ending early last month at the future site of the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C., Pat Hierl of Whitefish has visited every one of the 411 sites in the National Park System.

A former assistant membership director of the 1,600-member National Parks Travelers Club, Hierl is just the 38th person in the group to attain that feat.

And she completed it during the year the National Park Service celebrates its centennial.

“There are parts of this country that are so stunningly beautiful that some of it looks fake,” she said. “I remember when I was 7 years old, watching on TV and reading about these places, and to actually see them is really cool.”

Hierl, now 66, grew up in Minnesota. Her father, a World War II veteran, had returned from service in the Pacific without much interest in adding to his travels.

“When I was a kid, my family never did a lot of traveling,” she said. “But once I graduated from college, got a job, got vacations, I was off to the races. Pretty quickly I realized the national parks have the best stuff.”

When it comes to describing the nation’s system of iconic landscapes and landmarks, the word Hierl uses the most is “fabulous.”

“If Yellowstone wasn’t protected, if Zion wasn’t protected, if Glacier wasn’t protected, who knows what would happen. High-rise condominiums?” she said. “I think most people would agree they’re so fabulous that they need to be saved for future generations.

Hierl’s quest began in earnest in 1995 when she purchased her first National Park Passport in Yellowstone. It had a spot for each park to stamp the passport, but was light on specifics about where in the park a traveler could get his or her book stamped.

That dilemma led her to a website in the early 2000s with a message board where people would post tips on finding stamps. Over time, the community grew and became the travelers club.

“It was really the trigger to get to all of them,” she said. “People only know about the big ones. But do you know about Nicodemus in Kansas?”

Nicodemus is a black pioneer town and historical site in Kansas.

Hierl estimates she has covered more than one million miles by car, RV, plane and boat, venturing everywhere from the site of the Jonestown Flood in Pennsylvania (home to “the creepiest historical movie in the national park system,” according to Hierl) to Mount Aniakchak, a 6 mile-wide volcanic caldera within Alaska’s Aleutian Range that receives only about two dozen visitors per year.

Naturally, she’s frequently asked to name her favorite.

But trying to compare the historical sites to the sweeping landscapes of Glacier and Yellowstone, she said, is like comparing apples to oranges.

“The ones I really like are the ones that don’t have a whole lot of people in them while I’m there,” she quipped.

But pressed, she gives top honors to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska.

“But the Alaska parks are so fabulous it’s kind of unfair,” she added. “It’s like comparing the NBA to college basketball.”

For Hierl, a history major, the park system’s abundant American history offerings were a big draw.

“All of the history that made this country what it is, it means so much more to me to actually be there,” she said, adding with a laugh how she and her husband toured the major battlefields and historical sites of the Civil War backward, starting with Appomattox and ending in Manassas.

As for most of the 40 or so forts in the park system, she said she isn’t exactly rushing back: “I’m not saying if you’ve seen one fort you’ve seen them all, but if you’ve seen 40, you’ve probably seen 41.”

Even with a new national park site designated seemingly every two months, she said she will keep checking the new ones off the list, although she noted that now it’s her husband’s turn to achieve his goal of golfing in all 50 states.

And for those just beginning to discover the seemingly endless variety of the National Park System, Hierl’s advice is to take your time.

“It’s kind of like stuffing your face with these fabulous foods and trying to remember what the appetizer was,” she said. “You’ve got to spend time and savor the experience. It’s not about getting to all of them, it’s about getting to spend time at each park.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.