Texas toddler is youngest person to visit every national park

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Palo Alto National Historic Park in Brownsville hosted a special guest Thursday. Journey Castillo, a three-year-old from San Antonio, is the youngest person to visit all 63 national parks.

The toddler started her journey when she was only two weeks old with a visit to the Grand Canyon. Journey's parents, Eric and Valerie Castillo, said visiting the parks was their therapy and opportunity for physical activity during the pandemic.

The Castillos said they wanted to give their daughter something she could achieve, but that was also a challenge.

After going to more than a dozen parks, they decided their visits needed to have more purpose. It's not just about visiting the parks but learning their history and the history of The National Park Service.

As they went back to different parks, the Castillos said they saw them changing before their eyes. Climate change and natural disasters were affecting the parks and they wanted to make sure they were preserved.

“We were evacuated in so many different parks because of wildfires, because of storms. Record-breaking storms, record-breaking heat," Valerie Castillo said, "So we said ok if we don’t get to these parks not only in our lifetime to see them, but don’t instill a passion for her, she’s not going to see them and experience them in the same state as they are today.”

Journey completed her tour of the national parks last October, just after her third birthday, with a visit to Lake Clark National Park in Alaska.

The Castillos recognize she may not remember all the trips Journey has taken, but believe they've instilled a sense of adventure in their daughter and broadened her horizons.

They said she'll be able to use her experiences in lending her voice to help defend and advocate for the national parks and the natural world.