The Best National Parks in America

From coast to coast, a tour of the best national parks in America offers unparalleled views of some of the world's most remarkable scenery—including vast canyons, rugged peaks, old-growth forests and sun-dappled glaciers.

Montana's Glacier National Park puts the glacier-carved peaks of the Rocky Mountains on vivid display. During your journey through the park, you can explore hidden mountain lakes, picnic in vast alpine meadows and drive the high-elevation Going-to-the-Sun Road across the spine of the Rockies. One of the least developed parks in the lower 48 states, the majority of Glacier National Park is miles from the nearest man-made structure or road.

A land of cascading waterfalls and wooded hollows, Shenandoah National Park encompasses 200,000 acres in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The park's rolling mountains attract hikers, mountain bikers and rock climbers from all over the world. Start your journey on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile scenic route that follows the crest of the mountains to hundreds of hiking trails, picnic areas, scenic overlooks, waterfalls and fishing access sites.

There is no place in the world like Bryce Canyon National Park. In the arid Utah desert, this park's otherworldly landscape is dominated by spire-like hoodoos—towering rock formations sculpted by eons of erosion—that cast their eerie shadows across the land. Bryce Canyon is also home to some of the darkest, clearest night skies in the United States, making it perfect for stargazing.

A wilderness of nearly 3,500 square miles atop a geothermic hot spot, Yellowstone National Park is perhaps the quintessential American park. It was the country's first national park, and today it offers endless miles of hiking trails, fishing streams and scenic driving routes. It’s also home to an incredible abundance of wildlife, from timber wolves and American bison to grizzly bears and American bald eagles—making it an unbeatable destination for photographers, as well as anyone else with a love for the outdoors.

The rock-strewn beaches and glacier-sculpted peaks of Maine's Mount Desert Island feel like they belong to another century. This diverse landscape is now protected as Acadia National Park, easily one of the best national parks to visit if you want to get away from the modern world. Yet for all its seeming isolation, Acadia National Park couldn't be easier to get to with Bar Harbor, Maine, just a few miles away. For the park's best view, hike to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the Atlantic Coast.

From ancient, towering sequoia and redwood trees to the iconic profiles of El Capitan and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park is easily one of America's most iconic national parks. If you love the outdoors, Yosemite is one big playground, home to enough hiking trails to keep you busy for a lifetime. Go rock climbing at Tuolumne Meadows, kayak on the Merced River, fish in the park's high mountain lakes and ride horseback in Yosemite Valley—the possibilities are endless. During 2020, all visitors will be required to make day-use reservations to enter the park—so plan ahead before you hit the road.