Arguably the best idea America ever had was our national parks system. More than 300 million people visit every year, pouring over $35 billion into the national economy. You should be one of them! Many parks offer free entrance days — for some, every single day is a free entrance day — and if you want to go all out, an $80 annual pass gets you and a friend unlimited access to all the national parks for the entire year.
But which park to visit? There are currently a whopping 60 national parks in America. To help narrow the playing field, we have thusly ranked what are, per to National Parks Service’s 2017 data, the 25 most-visited.
Now, it should be noted that America’s least-visited national parks are often the least-visited not because they are uncool, but because they are geographically inconvenient for most Americans to reach (like Virgin Islands National Park, or Alaska’s Denali). By the same token, Great Smoky Mountains National Park wins “most-visited” year after year on a technicality (basically, people drive through it a lot just to get from Point A to Point B). But while it is widely known that there is nothing journalists love more than to put things in numerical order according to how good they are, we do not love it enough to do 60 things. We will be doing 25 things.
Did we rank the parks according their uniqueness, or photogenicness, or diversity of flora and fauna, or for the level of adventure contained therein? Yes. We ranked them according to which ones are the best. Let’s begin.
5. Death Valley National Park
California, Nevada
This park marks the lowest point in the western hemisphere — 282 feet below sea level. The eerie sailing stones of Death Valley move on their own, dragging themselves across the desert floor according to forces (ice panels and wind) invisible to our eye. And while you might not necessarily expect it from a place with a name like Death Valley, this park can, in certain spring seasons, foster massive striking explosions of wildflowers. A must-see is Zabriskie Point, from which you can view some of the most stunning and colorful rock formations in California. And we are once again in prime star-gazing territory — expect to see all arms of the Milky Way when you reach Harmony Borax or the peerless Ubehebe Crater.
4. Sequoia National Park
California
The iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree is no more, but we’ve still got General Sherman — the biggest tree in the world, weighing in at 275 feet tall and 60 (60!) feet wide. We’ve also got the underground stalactites and stalagmites of the Crystal Cave system. This is a park where you go to be fully immersed in nature; most of it isn’t accessible by car, only by horseback or on foot. Speaking hypothetically, if you were looking for a place to take mushrooms for the first time, hypothetically, and wanted to watch extremely large trees twist and breathe, then this would not be a bad place. Hypothetically. You might also spot a black bear or two. Those are real.
3. Yellowstone National Park
Wyoming, Montana, Idaho
Oh, y’all wanted a twist? Number 1 in your hearts it may remain, but according to our algorithms, Yellowstone is Number 3. To be clear, we have the utmost respect for Yellowstone — we made a massive travel guide about it and I nearly died testing its best hiking trails. Imminently beautiful in all weather and all seasons, Yellowstone boasts peerless geological features you’ll find nowhere else. It’s also perfectly accessible to all manner of folks — many of the park’s most iconic attractions can be seen on a scenic drive.
2. Grand Canyon National Park
Arizona
There’s a whole mess of things you should not do when visiting the Grand Canyon, but there are many, many more things you should do — that rising number of activities is why this park just barely edged out Yellowstone. You should take one of those Grand-Canyon-via-Las-Vegas tours. You should try out that rad new zip line they have there now. You can even (if you’re experienced!) hike the canyon itself from one end to the other, which will take you a couple of days. You can raft some of the world’s most challenging rapids on the Colorado River. Or just take in the view from the Skywalk observation deck.
1. Yosemite National Park
California
If the top spot wasn’t going to Yellowstone then surely it was going to Yosemite. It simply has everything. There’s cultural stuff like the Yosemite Music Festival and the Sierra Art Trails. There’s El Capitan, the largest slab of granite in the world, which doesn’t necessarily grab you as superlatives go, until you see it for yourself. There’s Half Dome, and Glacier Point, and the tallest waterfall in North America. There’s Tunnel View, from which vantage point you can see almost all the park’s highlights simultaneously. You can climb, you can hike, you can stargaze, you can swim in the Merced River — or, better, rent a raft and float your way down.
h/t to Thrillest.com and Kastalia Medrano
