I launched this project to help fund a 6-month photography trip that will result in a 200 page, landscape photography book titled “Undiscovered America”. The book will feature images of 56 unknown natural landscapes across the United States that could become future National Parks.



If successful, I would be the first professional photographer to photograph almost all of these sites as if they were National Parks. The vast majority of pro photographers only shoot places you know well (e.g. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon) because they know they can make money off them.

All of the photos on this page were taken by me as I quickly traveled through a handful of these unknown areas. With your help, I can spend the days/week photographing them that they obviously deserve.

If this project is a success, I’ll leave immediately to photograph the landscapes in the northeast, but the rest of the trip would begin in spring 2015. On the maps below you can see the route and locations (click on them for interactive versions)

Stage 1

Stage 2

To keep costs down while traveling, I would camp most nights and avoid cities as much as possible. For some people this adventure might seem crazy but as a Marine Corps veteran, hiker and avid traveler I have the training and experience to accomplish this goal.

After photographing all of the sites I would assemble an 8x10 inch, 200 page photography book and distribute it as an ebook in Kindle, iBooks, and PDF formats, as well as in limited printings made primarily for you, the backers. Right now, the plan is to self-publish the book, but I am looking for publishers.

Along side the photos, the book would contain brief histories of the locations, information on how to visit them, and selected interviews with conservation groups trying to preserve them. I’ve already conducted interviews with groups like 'RESTORE: The North Woods' and 'Friends of Blackwater' that are trying to preserve these sites, and I will be reaching out to other groups as well.

Over the last 7 years I’ve been researching these unknown natural landscapes and the major difference between these places and the National Parks is that these areas weren’t lucky enough to be championed by people like John Muir, Timothy O’Sullivan or Ansel Adams. As a result they’ve gone overlooked by most artists and travelers. Fortunately, it’s not too late to give these locations the attention they deserve before they end up overly commercialized like Niagara Falls or destroyed like West Virginia's eroded mountaintops.

The locations range from privately owned lands and American Indian reservations to state preserves and lesser-known Department of the Interior sites. The environments include: the deepest canyon in the United States (deeper than the Grand Canyon), a second Yosemite in the mountains of Wyoming, the greatest undeveloped wilderness in the east, the largest remaining natural habitat in the Great Plains, canyons carved out of the painted desert, caves, badlands, mountains, forests, wetlands and much more.

The money you pledge would be spent on basic supplies like food, water, gasoline, and camping fees... not to mention the rewards:

The finished book “Undiscovered America”

My first book “The National Parks (a visual guide to visiting)”

A regularly updated video diary of the trip

Signed photography prints

Postcards from the road

Meeting you along the way

Guided tours of scenic wonders

An official sponsorship for this entire project

If this project reaches its goal, it would be the most successful project in the 'Nature' Photography category in Kickstarter history!

As I mentioned in the video (if this project reaches the funding goal) I have agreements to show my work at art galleries across the country. This traveling show would give people a chance to meet me in person, and give people all over America the opportunity to see landscapes they never knew were there.

Feel free to contact me for interviews, blog posts, Reddit AMA's or podcast requests, I’ll do anything to spread the word of this project. So far 'Undiscovered America' has been featured on the following:

National Parks Traveler

National Parks Conservation Association

United States Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association

CreekLife Blog

Please considering backing this project because it can’t succeed without your support! If you can’t pledge any money, you can help by telling others about this campaign on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, and Reddit. Feel free to leave questions or comments, and thank you very much!

-Zack