Every year, multitudes of visitors are going to the National Parks in the United States to enjoy its scenic views. The National Park Service recorded over 320 million visits in all the country’s national parks in 2019. With its diverse landscapes ranging from picturesque canyons and expansive deserts to green valleys and snowy mountain peaks, visitors can choose from wide arrays of beautiful sights in the country.
Visitors can choose from the 63 national parks in the United States that are all worth visiting—make sure there’s enough gas in your cars. All kidding aside, we have compiled ten of the best national parks that you will surely love to visit.
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (12.5 Million Visitors) – Tennessee and North Carolina
Averaging about 12.5 million visitors annually, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the country’s most visited national park. Located within the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee, it’s famous for so many things, including its waterfalls, wildlife, and foggy mountain. If you want to have the best experience, you should come and visit during autumn, and you will witness the tree’s vibrant display of its colorful foliage.
2. Grand Canyon National Park (5.9 Million Visitors) – Arizona
The second most-visited national park in the country, the Grand Canyon National Park, is among the world’s natural wonders— credit to its picturesque vastness. With the canyon’s immense and breathtaking sight, visitors will surely indulge in taking pictures. At times, people spent days hiking on the canyon walls and rafting down the Colorado River.
3. Rocky Mountain National Park (4.7 Million Visitors) – Colorado
With its 415-square-mile expanse, the Rocky Mountain National Park is full of wildlife such as elk, moose, bighorn sheep, bats, and many more—from a safe distance, just to be sure. Visitors can explore the canyon’s many hiking trails. The park also offers several scenic drives for visitors who want to see the flower-covered meadows and alpine forests, and more—just not sure if credit cards are accepted.
4. Zion National Park (4.5 Million Visitors) – Utah
Utah’s first national park is the Zion National Park. However, Utah also has other national parks, including Canyonlands, Arches, and Bryce Canyon. The impressive canyons are shaped with dramatic canyons and cliffs, which visitors will surely have a great time sightseeing. Visitors will also relish climbing, biking, hiking, and stargazing at night.
5. Yosemite National Park (4.4 Million Visitors) – California
Known for its towering granite formations of the Half Dome and El Capitan, along with the wildlife and waterfalls and old sequoias, Yosemite National Park is one of the oldest national parks in the United States — credit to Mother Nature. Make no mistake; even if it’s one of the oldest, it is still truly breathtaking no matter how many times you’ve come to visit the park. The best time of the year to see the full form of the waterfalls is in spring, though the park is open all year round.
6. Yellowstone National Park (4 Million Visitors) – Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho
In 1872, Yellowstone National Park became the world’s first national park. Many different scenic sights can be found in the park, including wildlife, lake, and waterfalls. Hydrothermal attractions such as the Grand Prismatic Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Old Faithful geyser are all picturesque sights to watch. Interestingly, the Yellowstone caldera is the biggest in Northern America. So, better get your cameras ready!
7. Grand Teton National Park (3.4 Million Visitors) – Wyoming
Grand Teton National park has a degree of exceptional beauty, well known for its jagged peaks. Visitors can enjoy hiking, boating, mountaineering, and fishing in its alpine lakes and lush valleys. Wildlife such as elk, bison, moose, and beavers roam around the park.
8. Acadia National Park (3.4 Million Visitors) – Maine
Either traveling on foot in a 158-mile hiking trail or by a car in a 27-mile historic road—make sure to fill in the gas — visitors can have the opportunity to explore the vastness of Acadia National Park all day long. Most of the park is atop Mount Desert Island, where visitors can find the beautiful Park Loop Road and scenic trails perfect for bird-watching.
9. Glacier National Park (3 Million Visitors) – Montana
In Glacier National Park, mountains, lakes, glaciers, and meadows fill the scenic landscape. Visitors must not forget to go to the iconic Going-to-the-Sun road. However, due to the weather during winter, the road is closed. It’s typically open in June or July. The wildflowers in the summer are a sight to behold—much credit to nature.
10. Olympic National Park (3 Million Visitors) – Washington
Visitors can find several unique landscapes and ecosystems such as a rocky Pacific coastline, temperate rain forests, and high mountain peaks, including Mount Olympus, in the Olympic National Park, which spans nearly 1 million acres of land. Popular activities in the park include hiking, stargazing, and boating, among others.
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