When life brings trouble and the small boundaries of your town or city feel as if they're closing on you, there will always be a place to find solitude. For some, solitude may be a quiet coffee shop or a library downtown. For others, solitude calls from within the core of our shockingly beautiful world. Thankfully, America's National Parks are home to some of the most breathtaking views you'll ever see, and you don't even have to leave the country! Get a map, pack a bag, and start your adventure:
1. Glacier National Park, Montana
Montana: pure, clean, and absolutely beautiful. You can almost feel the difference of the air as it fills your lungs with peace and a sense of complete restoration.
2. Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska
Alaska may be cold, but it makes up for it in beauty. Without many roads or trails, the wild rivers and glacier-carved valleys of Gates of the Arctic National Park call to the most curious of adventurers.
3. Big Bend National Park, Texas
With miles upon miles of dirt trails, Big Bend is an off-roader's paradise. Also, it's absolutely stunning and completely unexpected considering it's in Texas.
4. Acadia National Park, Maine
If you've never been to the East Coast, put it on your list. The tranquility of Acadia National Park will leave you breathless and begging for more.
5. Arches National Park, Utah
One of my personal favorites and one of the coolest states ever. If you're going to Utah, go to every National Park in the state. It's worth it, trust me.
6. Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
This park is unlike anything you've ever seen... Sand dunes and mountains? Say no more, I'm there.
7. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Can you imagine waking up to this view and being able to hike these peaks?
8. Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Dramatic landscapes of spires and uniquely layered rock formations give South Dakota a reason worth visiting.
9. Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Dive into the deepest lake in the United States or just sit back in your tent with a cup of coffee and appreciate all the beauty that Oregon has to offer.
10. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Again, Utah is amazing. Climb, hike, bike, appreciate.
11. Yosemite National Park, California
Yosemite is definitely one of the more well known National Parks, and for a good reason. When you're here, you'll feel a connection to the Earth that can only be experienced in pure, raw, nature.
From the Redwood Forests to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was not made for you and me. You and I were made for this land: to curate, appreciate, and keep pure. It's time to embrace your wanderlust: pull out your hammock, take a photo, and appreciate the world that you have in front of you today, because one day it may be gone.
