I missed out on the original National Parks on the Air event organized by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). To mark the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, Ham Radio operators activated parks and hunters worked as many as possible in 2016. It was such a hit that a couple of different programs were started to make the activations and hunting permanent. In the US the most popular program is Parks on the Air (POTA).
As of October 20, 2026 I’ve worked 880 different parks around the world. I’ve also activated 7 parks around Sonoma County.
I’ve written several posts about my park activations, including my activation of Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area, which was the first activation of that park. Look for articles in the POTA category of this site for more examples.