Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park

Conor Knighton, a CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, spent a year visiting every national park in the United States, from Acadia to Zion. Leave Only Footprints documents this journey through dispatches that blend information with entertainment. Knighton undertook the trip following a broken engagement, seeking a change of scenery. Throughout the year, he encountered unusual experiences—from bathing in a historic Arkansas bathhouse to stargazing along Nevada's loneliest highway—and met interesting people across the country. His accounts include details about the parks' histories and reflections on their future. Through these travels, Knighton explores connections between the parks and between people and nature. He reflects on how the journey shifted his perspectives on God, love, politics, and technology. The book presents America's national parks as sources of beauty, humor, and inspiration while making a case for preserving these shared natural wonders.