As an outdoors fanatic, I feel there is nothing comparable to visiting and hiking through a national park. Luckily, there are so many national parks across our beautiful nation with exquisite scenery for all to enjoy. With this article, I would like to give you my opinion on the top ten national parks in the United States to visit.
Today, there are 59 National Parks; each is unique and spectacular in their own way. Last year, the National Park Service recorded over 307 million visitors to the 59 parks. The most popular parks, as measured by most visitors, are the Great Smokey Mountains NP, Grand Canyon NP, and Rocky Mountain NP. If you can only visit one or two of these gorgeous parks, you can visit the best of the best.
10. Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands is a spectacular park located near Moab. Unfortunately, it does not offer many hikes in the Island in the Sky, but you can hike throughout the needles in the Maze. To get the best view of the canyon, you must drive through Island in the Sky. From here, you can see a canyon, within a canyon, within another canyon! You can also see a road on the canyon floor, Shafer Canyon Road. While it is amazing to be at the bottom, this is one of America’s 10 scariest and most dangerous roads.
9. Olympic National Park
Olympic NP is the most popular of the parks in Washington, as seen by the largest population of 3,263,761 people visiting in 2015. It is an 82.5-mile drive from the Seattle’s city center. Now, Olympic National Park is very unique in that it has three different ecosystems contained in its 1,442 square miles of outdoor heaven. You can choose to walk on either the Rialto or Kalaloch beach alongside the Pacific Ocean, or you can hike in Olympic Mountain range between glaciers! If either of those still doesn’t encourage you to visit, you can also hike through the Olympic National Forest, composed of 628,115-acres of varied landscapes surrounding the national park. If you would like to experience these three environments, hike through Ruby Beach, Sol Duc Falls, and Lake of Angels. Ruby Beach is a very easy hike, and is only 0.5 miles round-trip. It has been argued by many to be the best beach in the park. Sol Duc Falls is only 1.6 miles round-trip, and offers views of the some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world! The Lake of Angels is hidden away deep within the national park, and is an 8-mile round-trip hike. It offers one of the most exquisite outlooks of the park through the everlasting views of glaciers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, and rich marmot and mountain goat populations.
8. Sequoia National Park
As the second national park to be established, Sequoia National Park offers the rare beauty of the largest trees in the world. To see the largest tree in the world, one should hike the 0.8-mile Sherman Tree trail. If you would like to wander through dozens of sequoias, the Soldier Loop offers beautiful views.
7. Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone was the first national park to be established. Located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, the park is notable for the Old Faithful Geyser, which erupts water and steam every 44 to 125 minutes. The park was named for the iconic yellow stone canyon formed by the Yellowstone River. A few of the most popular hikes are Uncle Tom’s Trail, Trout Lake Trail, and Fairy Falls Trail.
6. Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon is one of the most beautiful and awe-struck places in the world. When you visit for the first time, seeing the hoodoos will make you think it was Mars. A beautiful trek within the canyon is the Queens Garden Trail. The best way to experience it is to descend Sunset Point and ascend Sunrise Point because it is much more steep at the former than the latter.
5. Arches National Park
The National Park Service couldn’t have made a better name for this national gem. Arches National Park is also located near Moab, and has over 2,000 natural stone arches. The most famous arch, as seen in most advertisements in Utah, is Delicate Arch. This hike is 3 miles round-trip, and should be done closer to sunset to get the perfect sundown glare off the red stoned arch. At the top, you can go under the arch and see the vast valley of behind.
4. Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park holds the iconic view of the Teton mountain range. Located just 10 miles south of Yellowstone, Grand Teton offers over 200 hundred miles of hikes ranging from easy to strenuous difficulty. The most popular hike is the Hidden Falls Trail, which goes through the Cascade Canyon. On the way, you are more than likely to encounter moose, deer, and grizzly bears.
3. Zion National Park
Not only is Zion the most spectacular National Park in Utah, but also it is considered by many to be the best National Park in the United States, and in the world! The park is located in southwestern Utah, and offers beautiful scenery of red cliffs. If you wanted to hike one trail, I highly encourage hiking to observation point. This trail is 8-miles round-trip. From the top, you capture the most stunning view of the valley. The hike is not fear inducing like Angels Landing, and does not require you to be 4 feet deep in water as in the Narrows.
2. Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park was the fifteenth National Park to be established. The canyon is so vast, and one cannot see the Colorado River from the top of either rim. The best time to visit is in April-May and September-October due to the low crowds, perfect temperature around the 70s, and lowest accounts of rainfall. The most popular hike is to hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim.
1. Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park was the third National Park to be established. Personally, I believe it is the most beautiful landscape in the world. The prime time to visit is in May due to the low crowds, perfect temperature around the 70s, and waterfalls’ peak in water volume. The most admired hikes are Glacier Point, Half-Dome, and up to Vernal Falls.
