2026 International Lecture Series / CONOR KNIGHTON

Leave Only Footprints: My Journey Through Every National Park
Conor Knighton, CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent

When Conor Knighton set off to explore America’s “best idea,” he worried the whole thing could end up being his worst idea.

A broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery, but the plan he’d cooked up might have gone a bit overboard in that department. Over the course of a single year, Conor set out to visit every national park in the country, from Acadia to Zion.

Filled with entertaining dispatches from some of the most scenic spots in the world, the CBS Sunday Morning correspondent takes us on a whirlwind tour through our parks, highlighting some of the unexpected stories, colorful characters, and profound lessons he unearthed along the way. Through his unique lens, America the Beautiful becomes America the Captivating, the Hilarious, and the Inspiring.

Conor Knighton is a national correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning—the country’s #1 morning news show—and the author of the New York Times bestseller Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park.

His reports for CBS Sunday Morning have covered everything from the Scandinavian obsession with salty licorice to what it’s like to wake up on Wake Island, one of America’s most remote military bases. Conor has won five Emmy Awards as part of the Sunday Morning team and a Los Angeles Area Emmy for his work on KCET’s SoCal Connected. His feature reporting has also earned a National Headliner Award and an LA Press Club Award. He’s hosted and produced shows for AMC, Biography, EW Scripps, and Current TV, and his commentary has been featured on CNN, MTV, E!, and Oxygen. In 2025, the National Parks Conservation Association recognized Knighton’s storytelling with a Centennial Leadership Award.