Sacred Landscapes

One Van Lifer's Six-Year, 175,000-Mile National Park Journey

Sam Gennawey

$49.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
20 May 2025

Caravan & camp-site guides

Sacred Landscapes chronicles Sam Gennawey’s remarkable six-year, 175,000-mile, van-life journey exploring over 380 sacred locations preserved by the United States National Park Service. These remarkable parks showcase the best of America—the stunning beauty of nature, historic sites of great significance, and the stories of inspirational people who have left lasting impressions. The National Park Service sites also serve as reminders of the country’s darker moments, including slavery, the Civil War, the attempted Indigenous genocide, Japanese concentration camps, and other tragedies. Sam Gennawey, a former urban planner and noted theme park historian, delves into crucial questions about “we the people” of the United States, reflecting on his experiences as he undertakes this journey through America’s national memory. He even volunteers in many parks along the way to gain a deeper understanding of their significance and fuller appreciation for how park rangers have carefully and creatively managed the environment to highlight their stories.

Combining travel experiences, insightful commentary, historical accounts, self-reflection, and practical tips for van life, Sacred Landscapes will inspire exploration, encouraging readers to visit and appreciate America’s national parks’ diverse and rich heritage. Take the journey of a lifetime with Sam Gennawey to learn the secrets of a park you thought you knew, or find a new one to explore.

By: Sam Gennawey
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 626g
ISBN: 9798881806491
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 20 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1SPONTANEOUS DELIGHT 2NATURE The Volcano Parks The Geology Parks Vignettes of Primitive America The Cave Parks The Desert Parks The Fossil Parks 3HISTORY Indigenous People European Conquest Manifest Destiny War - A Love/Hate Relationship The Presidents A More Perfect Union American Ingenuity and Innovation The Inspiration Parks 4RECREATION The Infrastructure Parks The Water Parks The Urban Parks The Parkways 5LESSONS LEARNED? About the Author

Sam Gennawey is a retired urban planner, planning historian, and public participation expert. He built his approach and unique point of view based on his passion for history, professional training as an urban planner, and obsession with national parks, theme parks, museums, and historic areas. These abilities have resulted in speaking engagements from Walt Disney Imagineering, the Walt Disney Family Museum, Universal Studios Creative, the American Planning Association, the California Preservation Foundation, the California League of Cities, libraries, and dozens of podcasts. As an urban planner, Mr. Gennawey worked on over 190 projects and conducted over 1,000 community workshops and charrettes. Mr. Gennawey is the author of The Disneyland Story: An Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney’s Dream, Walt and the Promise of Progress City, Universal vs. Disney: The Unofficial Guide to American Theme Parks Greatest Rivalry, and Jaybangs: How Jay Stein, MCA, and Universal Invented the Modern Theme Park

Reviews for Sacred Landscapes: One Van Lifer's Six-Year, 175,000-Mile National Park Journey

Our pride in America's national parks as a rite of passage is beautifully served in this book. Molding wanderlust into patriotism, there is nothing like them in the world. Sam Gennawey takes ""we the people"" on the road trip of a lifetime, rekindling, with wit and conviction, our faith in the country and ourselves.--Alfred Runte, author, National Parks: The American Experience Sam has a passion for history, often the history that was swept up and tucked into the corners of America. Everyone should have such a passion. In combination with wanderlust, Sam travels as an 'every' man. What is the story of a place and why does it resonate still? Never satisfied to visit a place and get the standard and often repeated story, Sam digs deeper, settles down, takes off his shoes and gets comfortable and intimate with each new place his van delivers him too.--Karl Koster, fur trade historian and National Park Ranger at Grand Portage National Monument Sam's book brought home the careful choreography of the national park visitor experience, the placemaking, and storytelling. One example is the ""One Good Road,"" where a ""show path"" carefully hugs the landscape and provides the spine of the National Park experience. Thanks for inviting me to ""ride shotgun"" with you and ""Darlene"" on this ""E-Ticket"" ride!--Mel McGowan, co-founder and CCO of Storyland Studios Sacred Landscapes is a skillful blend of colorful descriptions, interesting anecdotes, and key facts gleaned from the author's visits to nearly 400 National Park Service sites. Sam Gennawey combines those details with commentaries on the history behind some of those areas, and the result is an informative and thought-provoking book.--Jim Burnett, author of Hey Ranger! True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America's National Parks This is the story of America as told through treasured physical places. Gennawey delves into questions about what we choose to preserve, who tells our stories, how we deal with our egregious failings, and momentous achievements in a way that evokes the skillful storytelling of Erik Larson's Devil in the White City.--Steve Tatham, Walt Disney Imagineer