Must-read Adventure Book: Before They’re Gone

Read this! Before They’re Gone: A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered Parks by Michael Lanza

What if you could spend a year taking your family to as many of the most amazing National Parks in the country as you could? Before your kids are grown and gone and before these magical places might be gone. Well, one dad did just that.

You don’t have to be a parent to appreciate this memoir from longtime Backpacker magazine editor, Michael Lanza. But you at least have to have a deep appreciation for the outdoors and a curiosity about what it could mean to lose some of our best National Parks as we know them today.

If you do have kids, you’ll be inspired by Lanza’s journey in 2009 when he set out with his wife Penny, son Nate and daughter Alex to not only see, but backpack, kayak and rock climb through our nation’s gems like Glacier National Park, the Everglades, Yellowstone, Joshua Tree, the Grand Canyon—11 parks in total throughout the year. Did we mention his kids were only 9 and 7 years old at the time?

A cross between one dad’s journal from a year of amazing experiences with his kids and a scientific and enticing look at our planet’s environmental catastrophes waiting to happen (and in some cases already happening), Before They’re Gone is a book that leaves a lasting impression with you on multiple fronts. You’ll want to pack up your kids and immediately take that trip you’ve been talking about for years. Maybe even to one of those places you fear will change before you ever get to see it.

Get your hands on a copy. Order Before They’re Gone here.