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The National Parks System was founded in 1916, and we are all richer for it. With life in this country seeming smaller and more indoors everyday, trees and wild animals sometimes seem like things that exist in countries people leave America to take vacations to.
America the Beautiful, however, is a nickname well earned, and these 25 amazing national parks prove why this magnificent country is still a destination for nature lovers the world over.
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Hot Springs
Closest City: Hot Springs, AR
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Website: nps.gov/hosp/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Taking a bath in a mountain fed hot springs, bathhouse.
The only park in America located in an urban area and the smallest park to boot, Hot Springs is all about the sensation and health benefits of an all-natural spa (and they mean all-natural). The hot spring water has been used in therapeutic baths for centuries in order to cure rheumatism and a number of other ailments. The water is naturally potable, full of minerals and—bonus—makes a great toddy.
Theodore Roosevelt
Closest City: Medora, ND
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Website: nps.gov/thro/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Seeing the American Bison in its badass badland habitat.
The land that both enticed and inspired Theodore Roosevelt with the "perfect freedom" of the West is now one of the last wild habitats of the very animal he had come to hunt. The American Bison, as well as many other staples of life on the plains, including wild horses, bighorn sheep, whitetail deer, are all in abundance here. The three areas of badland named in his honor also include the town of Medora, a recreated frontier town with wooden sidewalks, museums, and an amphitheatre that performs the Medora Musical for a few months every fall.
Crater Lake
Closest City: Klamath, OR
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Website: nps.gov/crla/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Hiking Cleetwood trail, and then rewarding yourself with a dip in the deepest lake in America.
Crater lake formed from the destroyed volcano, Mt. Mazama, which gives it a distinct rim of rock, and makes it so very deep. One of the most pristine bodies of water in the country, there are no streams or rivers that feed into it, it is filled by precipitation and snow. Its elevation also gives it a "lakefront view" that works the other way.
Wind Cave
Closest City: Hot Springs, SD
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Website: nps.gov/wica/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Feeling the wind that spews from the mouth of the cave.
Wind Cave is the only cave in the world that has been named a National Park. It features a very unique feature called boxwork, which involves honeycomb-like calcite which had previously filled gaps in the cave walls that have since eroded with the wind. It is one of the largest maze-like caves in the world, with an average of four new miles of cave discovered every year. The countries largest mixed-green prairie also sits at the mouth of this magical cave.
Big Bend
Closest City: Alpine, TX
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Website: nps.gov/bibe/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Floating down the Rio Grande through Santa Elena Cavern.
One the most overlooked treasures in the National Park system, Big Bend has some of the most rewarding and secluded trails in the region. With 245 miles of riverfront access on the Guadalupe, you don't even have to hike if you don't want to. You can just float down the Mexican-American border, surrounded by mesas that most definitely contain fossils from the Cretaceous period. That's luxury.
Shenandoah
Closest City: Front Royal, VA
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Website: nps.gov/shen/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Seeing the sunset over the fall foliage.
This very skinny park that houses parts of both Skyline Drive and the Appalachian trail is all about the journey. With 500 miles of trails and hundreds of scenic outlooks, there is always something to see. Animal lovers can rejoice at the tens of thousands of animals that call Shenandoah their home, including the bears which will sack your cooler (and maybe more) if you're not careful.
Arches
Closest City: Moab, UT
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Website: nps.gov/arch/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Taking a picture using the Delicate Arch as your frame.
Arches is one of the greatest collections of art nature ever made, featuring thousands of arches, buttes, plateaus, and rock pieces a bit more abstract. Though most of these formations are technically off limits, it's easy to find yourself at the top of one, looking out as if on the shoulders of a titan.
Mount Rainier
Closest City: Tacoma, WA
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Website: nps.gov/mora/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Climbing up to and staying in Paradise, the snowiest place on Earth.
The beautiful Mount Rainer seems to be perpetually surrounded by the clouds that make it some of the snowiest places on earth. There are also two Glaciers in the park, Carbon, the largest by volume in the continental US, and Emmons, the largest by area. One of the most popular mountains to climb in the country, the park also contains old growth forests and sub-alpine meadows of incredible so-beautiful-they-seem-symbolic quality.
Great Smoky Mountains
Closest City: Cherokee, NC
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Website: nps.gov/grsm/index.htm
Coolest Feature: The great haze of the sunrise and sunset.
The lush green of the canopied Smoky Mountains, so named for the thick fog that often rolls over them, has made it the most visited of all the National Parks. The park sits on the Appalachian trail and is one of the most accessible parks by road, trail, and river, and features a handful of wonderfully preserved landmarks of Appalachian life (schools, farmhouses, and churches, among others). A great place to bring your mountain family band for some inspiration.
Joshua Tree
Closest City: San Bernardino, CA
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Website: nps.gov/jotr/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Climbing on one of the hundreds of sites marked by the park.
This blast of life and personality at the edges of the Mojave and Colorado desserts is home to large groves of the yucca trees for which the park is named. With great climbing rock formations and a host of succulents and cacti of great personality, this playground is great for clambering dessert explorers.
Glacier
Closest City: Kalispell, MT
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Website: nps.gov/glac/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Staying in one the many chalets that overlook the lakes.
The changes in scenery on a single hike in Glacier National Park make it feel like multiple parks in one. The park is perhaps best known for its many historical chalets (think of the hotel in David Lynch's Twin Peaks) and their scenic outlooks, and for some of the best fly fishing in the country. But the park also has a lot of personality, with beautiful vintage tour buses on every road, and boat tours on many of the 130 painterly lakes.
Mesa Verde
Closest City: Cortez, CO
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Website: nps.gov/meve/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Walking through the rooms of the Anasazi people.
After scaling down the cliff walls in the Colorado wilderness, you can experience the magnificent dwellings of Mesa Verda, home of the Anasazi Indians. These intelligent farmers moved their homes onto the cliff faces to protect their people from attack, and inadvertently made one of the first scenic chalets in America. This incredibly well preserved archaeological site (many of the tools and baskets remain on site) is a wonderful slice of some of the earliest American history.
Olympic
Closest City: Port Angeles, WA
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Website: nps.gov/olym/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Backpacking along the beach.
Olympic National Park has such distinct areas that it is naturally broken up into four parts: The Pacific coastline, the alpine areas leading to Mount Olympus, the temperate rainforest to the west, and the drier forests to the east. There's certainly a lot of water here, whether in the many tide pools of the coast or the Hoh and Quinault Rainforests (the wettest area in the continental United States) which make it wonderful in the Spring and Summer months.
Petrified Forest
Closest City: Holbrook, AZ
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Website: nps.gov/pefo/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Seeing the 225 million year old trees from which the park gets its name.
The Petrified Forest is a theme park for the Archaeologist inside of you. It is a hotbed for fossils and remains of all kinds, from small animals and dinosaurs, to plant life and giant preserved trees. The area where the park sits used to be a lush and humid part of Pangea and is so well preserved because the creatures who died in this flood bed were well covered in volcanic rock that preserved and protected them (and in the case of the trees, replaced their organic matter with quartz.)
Rocky Mountain
Closest City: Estes Park, CO
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Website: nps.gov/romo/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Hitting the slopes in one of the few Parks that allows both downhill and cross country skiing.
Arguably America's most iconic mountain range also makes for one of its most photogenic parks. The mountains, forest, and surrounding tundra and grasslands are home to many different creatures, and all easily accessible in this crowd-favorite park. Fishing, hiking, fresh water lakes, snow coverage, and dozens of mountains just waiting to be climbed, RMNP is a great playground for the outdoorsman who is not afraid of weather.
Acadia
Closest City: Bar Harbor, ME
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Website: nps.gov/acad/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Being one of the first everyday to see the sunrise over the water.
This collection of islands around Bar Harbor, Maine have a very diverse makeup of lakes, beaches, and mountains. Sailing around the property makes for some truly breathtaking New England scenery, and the proximity to lobster dinner is no turn off either.
Sequoia
Closest City: Visalia, CA
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Website: nps.gov/seki/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Hugging General Sherman, the largest tree in the world.
Life in the city can create some disconnect with nature, especially when trees are cut down to make way for new structures, but when you want to reconnect with the woods, there aren't many as magical as those in Sequoia National park. Climb up Moro Rock and you will find yourself surrounded by some of the oldest and most gigantic woods in the world. A spiritual feeling, unless you have nightmares of Ents, in which case, the trees that are named after generals will give you no relief.
Zion
Closest City: Springdale, UT
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Website: nps.gov/zion/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Hiking through the Subway passage of the Kolob Terrace.
Zion is the perfect combination of the beautiful layered rock formations of Arches and the Badlands, with the lush greenery of Olympic. It features some of the best climbing in the country and hundreds of little nooks and secret waterfalls that make its many trails as endlessly explorable as they are unforgettable.
Everglades
Closest City: Florida City, FL
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Website: nps.gov/ever/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Taking an airboat ride at sunrise.
The Everglades is one of the most important and fragile ecosystems in all of America and has even been named a wetland of "international importance." The National Park was made to protect the southern 20 percent of the original Everglades from being drained by developers. The park remains an incredible vantage point to see some of the rarest species (36 protected by law) in all of America, including some wading birds that cannot be seen anywhere else.
Denali
Closest City: Healy, AK
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Website: nps.gov/dena/index.htm
Coolest Feature: The constant view of America's largest mountain.
The entirety of Denali is larger than the state of Massachusetts. There is one road that cuts through the park, and at any given time, there are likely to be more bears than people (this is where the Herzog documentary Grizzly Man was filmed). This is true wilderness in perhaps the last great frontier of America.
Death Valley
Closest City: San Bernardino, CA
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Website: nps.gov/deva/index.htm
Coolest Feature: The moving rocks at Racetrack Playa.
The largest national park in the lower 48 states, Death Valley is a beautiful wasteland where an enormous lake once was. It's the hottest and driest park in the U.S., and its dips below sea level make its salt plain-ravaged rocks some of the most interesting around. Walking through Lake Badwater is almost like being on another planet, which may be why George Lucas filmed his Star Wars Tatooine scenes here.
Yosemite
Closest City: Mariposa, CA
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Website: nps.gov/yose/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Climbing the epic rock El Capitan, and looking out over the tunnel view.
The most visited National Park in America has also been a fundamental push for the Park Systems in general, with its historic birth arising after being designated a park by President Lincoln. It has also been an instrumental location for the popularity of rock climbing, based out of the Camp 4 walk-in campground. Its broad range of features, from skiing, fishing, camping, and trails, can make it pretty congested in the summertime. But once you've found some space all your own, it's not too hard to see why it's so popular and important.
Grand Canyon
Closest City: Fredonia, AZ
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Website: nps.gov/grca/index.htm
Coolest Feature: One of the greatest views in the world.
Perhaps the one that first comes to mind when thinking of National Parks (tied perhaps, with Yellowstone), there's a reason that the Grand Canyon is so iconic. It is often considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the awe of it can only really be experienced in person. Taking a hike down to the banks of the Colorado River is a bit like walking into a painting; taking a ride down the rapids, like being in a movie.
Hawai'i Volcanoes
Closest City: Hilo, HI
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Website: nps.gov/havo/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Standing feet away from an active volcano.
The Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park features Kilauea, the world's most active volcano, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive volcano. It is one of the only places in America where you can stand on hours old rock (the floor is actually lava) and see fresh lava. The park gives scientists insight on the formation of the Hawai'ian Islands and is a truly one of a kind experience.
Yellowstone
Closest City: Cody, WY
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Website: nps.gov/yell/index.htm
Coolest Feature: Seeing Old Faithful for the first time.
The world's very first national park is centered on the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent (it has entrances in three states), and features many geothermal features, like geysers and hot springs. The entire park was formed from the volcanic rock of the Caldera, which is the largest remaining, nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone, and therefore home to some of the best animal and bird watching in the world.