National Parks protect some of our nation’s most beautiful and remarkable landscapes. There’s no denying that National Parks are a primary go to destination for millions of Americans. However, nearby National Forests often go unnoticed by the millions of visitors driving by on route to some of our nation’s best-known natural landmarks. These surrounding National Forest landscapes can be just as grand. Mount Rainier National Park is the most prized natural attraction in Washington and the iconic glacier capped Mount Rainier stands 14,419 feet high as the park’s main feature. There are a handful of trails, waterfalls, rivers and stunning viewpoints to explore in the 236,381 acre park all throughout the year, with summertime being a favorite for the clear views and meadow flowers.
Storms usually come from the Pacific Ocean, so western portions of the park get wetter than eastern ones. None of the slabs of ice are right off the road, and most involve at least a mile and a half of tramping. The National Park Service has a concise guide to glacier viewing.



Warm desert days lead to clear nights, and the park is popular with stargazers from all over the country. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Shenandoah National Park is one of America’s most beautiful and instantly recognizable regions, covering over 200,000 acres of stunning Virginia scenery. The Skyline Drive runs its length, and its vast network of trails includes a section of the famous long-distance Appalachian Trail. A whole host of creatures call the park their home, including bats, mountain lions, bobcats, red foxes, coyote, black bear, raccoon, skunks, weasels, deer, elk, and mountain goats. The northeastern region of the park is home to an area called Sunrise, which is the highest accessible point in the park, making it the perfect spot to look out over the vast mountain ranges. Death Valley is the hottest, driest, and lowest National Park in the U.S., and it offers mile after mile of iconic desert landscapes for visitors to enjoy all year round.
Our tour manager made every effort to ensure we would be able to spend quality time with her before we went our separate ways - extremely grateful. Forty-four of us traveled together and the entire group was wonderful and respectful of everyone’s time as we stopped often for either a picture or rest break or one of the many great venues Collette planned for us. The discussion centered around not only the wonderful itinerary but also most often about how lucky we were to have a great tour manager and superior bus driver. The breakfast and dinner meals, the hotels, the rest stops were wonderful . During the trip it seems we couldn’t find enough positive descriptive adjectives – wonderful, awesome, beautiful, incredible, inspiring – and more. We saw so much wildlife and the sun was out for us everyday with one exception but we were travelling that day so it didn’t count.
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Do your part to help keep them clean and beautiful and always practice leave no trace principles when camping or trekking in the backcountry. The distances within the USA can be huge, so plan accordingly when sorting out your national parks itinerary. Our National Parks — John Muir’s classic collection of wonderful sketches and descriptions of the national parks of America. There are some of the best, most beautiful and remote camping spots to be found anywhere on my best national parks in the USA list. I’ll just say that the national parks in Alaska are on another level.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is spread out among the national park and three state parks, which include prairies, woodlands and 40 miles of rugged coastline. The high desert Rincon offers a paved loop that visitors can bike or drive, hiking trails, backcountry camping, as well as expansive mountain and sunset views. Due to its remote location north of the Arctic Circle and the fact that there are no roads in the park, Gates of the Arctic attracts very few visitors and is the least visited national park– around 11,000 per year. This century-old concept has since been applied to more than 6,ooo national parks in nearly 100 different countries around the world. Ahead, see the full list of all 63 national parks in the U.S. America’s most visited national park, Great Smoky Mountains, is an ideal getaway.

Amar was born and raised in England, UK, embarked on an 11 country round the world gap year after graduation and then became well and truly hooked. The first gap year inspired a second which ended up being a 23 country down-the-world trip from Canada to Antarctica. Since then Amar has endeavored to turn his gap year into a ‘gap life’ and has spent the last 10 years traveling the 7 continents. Ranging from mountain altitudes all the way down to nearly sea level, the park has many different climates and extremely varied wildlife as a result.
For more information about hiking to the Great Gallery in the Horseshoe Canyon of Canyonlands National Park and more about archaeology in Utah, see this guide on Archaeology Travel. For more information on a road trip through Bryce Canyon National Park, check out this post on Escaping Abroad. The park road has 14 scenic viewpoints along an 18-mile (each-way) drive. Find more about visiting Crater Lake National Park on The World is a Book. Find more about hiking in Theodore Roosevelt National Park on Back Road Ramblers. Located in the Badlands of North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt National Park is part wildlife sanctuary, part wild west.

That terrain extends for over 10 miles from the edge of Michigan City to Burns Harbor, offering a taste of the wild in the midst of the built-up Midwest. Indiana Dunes are a doozy for families looking for an escape from the Windy City in the hot summer months. There are top campsites between the pine woods and oodles of wholesome fun to be had on the shoreline. The 150+ miles of marked trail here weave and wiggle past scree slopes and deserts, but also plunge into lush jungles and pine forests.
It’s another of the American reserves dedicated by keen naturalist Teddy Roosevelt, which means it got its tags way back in 1903. How about one of the longest and densest underground systems going? A whopping 150 miles of tunnels and chambers exist here beneath the rolling South Dakotan prairie. Badlands National Park, South Dakota, US.A C-shaped swathe of carved mountains all dappled by different hues of red and orange, the Badlands are South Dakota both raw and wild. Those on the 240 highway that wiggles through the upper and more accessible part of the reserve are treated to visions of sun-cracked canyons and painted walls of rock ad infinitum. Down south, things switch from grassy plains roamed by bison to dusty ridges watched over by bighorn sheep.
The park consists of three islands, and you can often spot humpback whales just off the coast. Native Samoans still live within the park and the National Park Service offers a Homestay program, which lets you stay with local Samoan families to learn about and experience their culture. The park is a tropical rain forest, the only one in the National Park Service. You will find tropical birds and hundreds of tropical plant species only found in this region. The park is also home to the endangered flying fox and the fruit bat with a wingspan the size of a barn owl.

A fun hike is found along the East Rim Trail from Weeping Rock up to Observation Point. Standing 1,983 meters above the valley floor, Observation Point is a fantastic place to snap some incredible photos. With the influx of new visitors, it’s hard for the park staff to clean up after them. Bring a trash bag with you, so that if you see any litter, you can help pick it up. Save money by getting the America the Beautiful Annual Pass if you plan on visiting more than one National Park within one year.
Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses 415 square miles of breathtaking, protected mountain wilderness. Critters are everywhere in Yellowstone; geysers spurt regularly; sulphurous lakes bubble and boil; and massive waterfalls glint in the sun. Plus, don’t be surprised if you spot buffalo wandering right down the center divider of the two-lane road that connects the park. With challenging hikes into the backcountry as well as handicap-accessible wooden boardwalks, the wonders of Yellowstone are awesomely plentiful. This natural wonder cradles two billion years of geologic history, with 40 layers of rock shaped into buttes, spires and cliffs.