Terlingua, Texas, doesn’t have a lot of people. The tiny settlement (population 100ish) is literally a ghost town, where a handful of homes and businesses mingle with a cemetery and the stone ruins of a late 1800s mining camp. It’s dusty, hot as hell, and about 240 miles to the nearest Whole Foods. And yet, I fell in love with Terlingua on my�� first visit. The locals were friendly, the beer was cold, the food was good, and the place is just eight miles from Big Bend National Park, which protects a million acres of desert, mountains, and the Rio Grande. Add in the mountain biking at Big Bend Ranch State Park and the incredibly dark, starry sky that blankets the whole area every night, and you have a fantastic gateway town.

Terlingua isn’t the only burg with an ideal mix of charm, culture, and adventure. Below I’ve picked my favorite gateway towns in the U.S. Some are well-known destinations, while others still qualify as sleepy, but they all sit next to world-class national parks.

Bryson City, North Carolina

More than 12 million people visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park every year, and most of them access it on the west side through Gatlinburg, Tennessee. But Bryson City (pop.: 1,500), on the eastern North Carolina side of the park, offers a mellow experience void of water parks and mega resorts, in a less-busy corner of GSMNP. The serene Lake Fontana and the trails that extend from its shoreline sit right out the small city’s back door.

���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park: The majority of the north shore of Fontana Lake is inaccessible by car, making for a peaceful experience. The 33-mile point-to-point traces the edge of the lake, delivering hikers to isolated backcountry campsites, waterfalls, and fly fishing on streams that rush to join the reservoir.

���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� the Park: The Nantahala River is 20 minutes south of town, offering a popular class III run loaded with wave trains and views of the narrow Nantahala Gorge. Rent duckies and rafts from (from $39). Mountain bikers, head to in Nantahala National Forest, with 40 miles of flowy singletrack and the occasional view of Lake Fontana.

Where to Eat: Bryson City’s food scene has blossomed in recent years. I like The Rice Wagon, which serves Hawaiian-inspired dishes outside the Mountain Layers brewery every day. Get the Kalua pork with rice and macaroni salad.

Where to Stay: There are a few inexpensive motels on the outskirts of town, but your best bet is to find a tucked into the woods surrounding Bryson City.

Where to Get Gear: has hiking gear as well as a taproom with local beer. They also run shuttles for hikers exploring the North Carolina side of the park and Nantahala National Forest.

Jackson, Wyoming

It would be an egregious oversight to leave out Jackson, so I’m not going to fight it. The outpost receives plenty of attention, but consider the bonafides: This cute-rustic Wild West town sits at the base of the Tetons, with Grand Teton National Park so close that you can ride your bike to it via a multi-use path. Yellowstone National Park is just 2.5 hours away, and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is 20 minutes north, while the local fave, Snow King Resort, drops right into downtown.

���ϳԹ��� Inside Grand Teton National Park: Wake up early and get after the 20-mile long , which traverses two canyons, passes two backcountry lakes (Lake Solitude and Holly Lake) and delivers views of Mount Moran, Mount Woodring, and Rockchuck Peak from the top of 10,700-foot Paintbrush Divide.

���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� Grand Teton National Park: Raft the Snake River Canyon, stacked with eight miles of Class I to III rapids and scenery that oscillates between sheer gray rock walls and gentler slopes peppered with stands of evergreens. runs half-day trips from $105 a person. Or ride the six-mile section of the Jackson Hole Multi-Use Pathway that runs through the , where elk, bison, and wolves roam through expansive grasslands.

Where to Eat: Creekside Market and Deli has fresh grab-and-go sandwiches and boozy slushies that hit the spot on a hot afternoon. If you’re looking for an upscale dinner, has French-inspired dishes like cassoulet and mussels and fries.

Where to Stay: Rooms in Jackson can get pricey, but the is a refurbished motor lodge with tons of outdoor space, including a swimming pool, with large rooms from $271 a night.

Where to Get Gear: has bike rentals (from $55), and has hiking and climbing gear, if you’ve forgotten anything.

Grand Lake, Colorado

Estes Park soaks up most of the attention (and visitors), but the town of Grand Lake (pop.: 410) sits on the quieter western side of Rocky Mountain National Park, boasting Gold Rush charm with a fraction of the crowds. The Grand Lake Boardwalk, built in the early 1880s, connects shops and restaurants, while the 400-foot-deep Grand Lake borders town, with a public beach just a block from downtown.

���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park: The backcountry lakes on the east side of the park are packed, but Lake Verna, a 34-acre pool at 10,200 feet in elevation, flies under the radar. Hike 6.6 miles on the , passing through aspens and pines while looking for moose and elk in East Meadow, a grassy field bisected by East Inlet Creek. The lake itself is known to be home to a healthy, and hungry, population of brook trout, if you want to bring a fly rod.

���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� the Park: Grab a paddleboard from ($30 an hour) and paddle the canal that connects the windier Grand Lake to Shadow Mountain Reservoir, a 1,346-acre lake that’s more protected and user friendly for paddleboarders. The 10,000-foot Shadow Mountain dominates the east side of the lake.

Where to Eat: Casual steak houses and BBQ joints have long been the mainstay in Grand Lake, but One Love Rum Kitchen is spicing things up with Caribbean fare and classic, rum-based “boat drinks.” Get the coconut rum chicken and wash it down with the Painkiller cocktail.

Where to Stay: sits on the border of Rocky Mountain National Park, with a large deck overlooking Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain and Mount Craig. Snag one of their recently renovated cabins, the originals of which were ordered from the Sears and Roebuck catalog more than 100 years ago, back when you could buy DIY home kits from the department-store catalog (from $164 a night).

Where to Get Gear: has everything from paddleboards to puffies (and SUP pumps if you forget yours), as well as rentals like bear canisters and kid carriers.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Can someone even separate Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park? The town of 5,000, which sits on the eastern edge of Mount Desert Island, is flanked by Frenchman Bay on one side and Acadia (New England’s only national park) on the other, with trails leaving directly from downtown. Yachts and lobster boats speckle the harbor on one side of town, while rolling mountains dominated by hardwoods rise on the other. In between is a vibrant downtown full of lobster shacks and boutique shops.

���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park: You can’t visit Acadia without climbing the , which rises more than 1,000 feet in just under a mile up the side of Champlain Mountain. It’s a full-contact adventure as you scramble over boulders and ascend a series of iron rungs and ladders up the granite face of Champlain. From the top, you can see all of Frenchman Bay below.

���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� the Park: Kayak the Porcupines, a chain of four islands in Frenchman Bay, for the beauty and a chance to see seals in the water and bald eagles nesting in the trees. runs half-day trips with beach-combing breaks on the islands (from $67 per person).

Where to Eat: Seafood is it. Lobster rolls are ubiquitous, but start with the one at , which is served with mayo on a grilled brioche bun.

Where to Stay: blends high-end safari tents with an airy lodge complete with local taps and an onsite outfitter service. There’s plenty of lawn space for games and a pool, too (from $339 a night).

Where to Gear Up: , in the heart of Bar Harbor, has kayaking, hiking, and limbing gear if you need to pick up last-minute equipment.

Terlingua, Texas

There’s Texas, there’s West Texas, and then there’s Far West Texas, a region tucked between the Chisos Mountains and the Rio Grande that is so remote, it makes Montana feel like the suburbs. Terlingua (Pop.: 110ish), is the unofficial capital of Far West Texas, but don’t expect a lot of hustle and bustle. The roads are mostly dirt, and the town is as much historic mining ruins as active businesses. But you’ll find a bike shop, nice people, and a vibrant food scene, all sandwiched between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park.

���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park: Hike the , which is short (just 1.6 miles round trip) but delivers you to the edge of the Rio Grande, where the canyon’s walls rise 1,500 feet above the water. After the hike, drive to the , where you can soak in a 105-degree pool, still right next to the Rio Grande.

���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� the Park: Big Bend Ranch State Park has more than 200 miles of singletrack and dirt road open for mountain biking. Pack plenty of water (remember: at least two liters per person), start out at dawn to avoid the heat of the day, and pedal the 57-mile , which will take you through slopes of sparkling crystals to the edge of a real-life oasis, with a small waterfall dropping into a tight gorge with a pool big enough for plunging.

Where to Eat: A food-truck scene has popped up in recent years, so there are more options in Terlingua than ever before. Or head to Long Draw Pizza for the Terlingua Spur pie, which is part fajitas/part pizza. Get a six-pack of beer from the Terlingua Trading Company, and sit on its front porch mingling with locals and tourists alike. The Starlight has excellent food, live music, and history: for years this restaurant had no roof, hence the name.

Where to Stay: The last time I was in Terlingua, I pitched a tent near the historic cemetery among the mining ruins in the middle of town. These days you can rent a “Bubble” from , with see-through walls and its own hot tub (from $299 a night). They have nice campsites (from $45 a night) and tear-drop-shaped Lotus tents, too (from $129 a night).

Where to Get Gear: offers bikes, gear, and guided adventures all over the Big Bend region.

Port Angeles, Washington

Sandwiched between the Salish Sea and the million-acre Olympic National Park, Port Angeles (pop.: 20,000) is part harbor town and part mountain town, offering the best of both worlds. The Olympic Mountains rise to 5,000 feet from the edge of one side of town, while you can see Canada, less than 20 miles across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, on the other. The place has attracted boat builders, commercial fishermen, and mountain bikers and surfers alike. From downtown, you can catch a ferry to Canada, or hop on the 60-mile and pedal or run a piece of it (or all of it) through�� Olympic National Park.

���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park: Go deep into Olympic by backpacking a 37-mile out and back on the to Blue Glacier, through a rainforest thick with old growth that rises from a floor of moss and ferns. The hike culminates in a view of the 1.7-square-mile Blue Glacier, its crevasse-cut expanse dominating a valley between gray-rock peaks on the edge of the white-capped Mount Olympus.

���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� the Park: Kayaking the Strait of Juan de Fuca is a veritable safari, as you’re looking for bald eagles flying above and harbor seals in the calm water surrounding you. Kayakers often see river otters, as well as colorful starfish that cling to the rocky coast. runs regular half-day trips (starting at $89 per person)

Where to Eat: Next Door Gastropub is a staple of the community. Get the fish and chips with Alaskan cod, or the poutine with a fried egg. Or both.

Where to Stay: The is a replica of the first president’s home, Mount Vernon, built on a lavender farm overlooking the strait. Classic bed-and-breakfast hospitality meets one of the best views on the Olympic Peninsula (from $360 a night, breakfast included).

Where to Get Gear: has everything from climbing gear to local guidebooks. And yes, bikes and kayaks, plus tubes, pumps, paddles, PFDs…and all the little things you might’ve forgotten from home.

Copper Harbor, Michigan

Isle Royale National Park is not easy to get to. The park is made up of more than 450 islands in the middle of Lake Superior, hours from the mainland. You can catch a three-hour ferry ride from Copper Harbor, located on the edge of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, but you might not want to leave Copper Harbor, as it has one of the most vibrant mountain-bike scenes in the Midwest, not to mention welcoming Upper Peninsula hospitality.

���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park: Because of the three-hour ($160 per adult, round trip), Isle Royale isn’t a “day trip” kind of place. Try to book a room at (from $245 a night) and spend a couple of days exploring the island. You can rent canoes from Rock Harbor Marina (from $23 for a half day) and paddle some of the fjord-like inlets along the coast of the island. On land, hike the four-mile , which forms a lollipop loop near Rock Harbor and is packed with epic views of Lake Superior and the rocky shoreline of the island.

���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� the Park: Don’t come to Copper Harbor without a mountain bike. More than of purpose-built trail covers this nook of the Keweenaw Peninsula, offering a smorgasbord of backcountry bliss, tech features, and rhythmic undulations. The three-mile delivers on the name’s promise.

Where to Eat: Harbor Haus offers German-inspired upscale fare with killer views of the lake. The whitefish is pulled fresh from the water you’re staring at from your table.

Where to Stay: has motel rooms and cabins two blocks from Lake Superior (from $105 a night).

Where to Get Gear: has bikes (rentals from $40) and kayaks, tours, shuttles, and more.

Whitefish, Montana

Is Whitefish a ski town or a gateway town? Both. Sure, Whitefish Mountain Resort rises from the edge of downtown, but Glacier National Park is just 27 miles away. Hell, nestled up against the 3,300-acre body of water of the same name, Whitefish is also a lake town with its own community beach. Oh, and it’s a progressive trail town as the community works to complete the 55-mile Whitefish Trail, a multi-use singletrack path connecting Whitefish proper with area lakes, rivers, and recreation areas.

Best ���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park: Hike the , which might be the quintessential Glacier Experience. The 12-mile point-to-point trek traverses the western flank of Continental Divide, following cliffs with the aid of cables, passing through meadows where mountain goats and bighorn sheep may appear, and offering views deep into the park.

Best ���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� the Park: Pedal the . When finished, the WT will form a 55-plus-mile loop around the community, but you don’t have to wait; there are 47 miles of singletrack on the ground now. Or head straight to , where 15 miles of singletrack are loaded with the wooden features made popular by bike parks on the North Shore of Vancouver.

Where to Eat: Bonsai Brewing Company has a knack for IPAs as well as hearty rice bowls. Get the Bowlin’ Out, with pickled veggies and hummus. On Thursdays, local DJs show up to spin their own collections of vinyl.

Where to Stay: The has lodge rooms, cabins, and campsites directly on the Whitefish Trail, also a wood-fired sauna, not to mention shuttles and rentals (from $50 a night).

Where to Get Gear: has gear for every adventure sport under the sun, as well as rentals and tours.

Fayetteville, West Virginia

This former mining town has been reborn as an adventure hub with quick access to world-class rock climbing and whitewater rafting inside the New River Gorge. The New River Gorge was named America’s 63^rd national park in only 2020, proof that this area and its deep, rugged canyon are truly amazing. The town of 2,800 isn’t much bigger than the historic square where you’ll find the majority of shops and restaurants. But just past the edge of town, the earth drops 1,000 feet to the bottom of the river thanks to millions of years of erosion, turning Fayetteville’s backyard into a playground for hikers, climbers, and boaters.

Best ���ϳԹ��� Inside the Park:�� At just 70,000 acres, the New River Gorge National Park isn’t big, relatively speaking. But the adventure is stout. Raft the 12 miles of the Lower New to see the gorge in all its glory as you try to stay in the boat while navigating big water, class IV and V waves.

Best ���ϳԹ��� ���ϳԹ��� of the Park: Just north of Fayetteville, Summersville Lake has 2,700 acres of aqua-blue water surrounded by sandstone cliffs, making it a hubbub of people paddling, swimming, and jumping from rocks into the water. offers full-day paddleboard adventures on the lake that take in the most scenic cliffs and waterfalls (from $120 per person).

Where to Eat: Pies and Pints is a cornerstone of Fayetteville. The pizzas range from traditional to weird (the Brunch Pie has scrambled eggs), but they’re always good. The selection of beer is unrivaled in the area, too.

Where to Stay: has campsites, primitive cabins, and deluxe homes situated on the edge of the canyon on an expansive property with its own restaurants, pool, and trail system (campsites from $39 a night).

Where to Get Gear: has hiking and climbing gear, as well as the local beta you need to make the most of your time in the gorge.

Graham Averill is ���ϳԹ��� magazine’s national parks columnist. He appreciates a good gateway town, but has never actually lived within shouting distance of a national park. If he had to choose one of the towns listed above to call home, it might be Port Angeles, Washington. Still his favorite is Terlingua.

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Years ago, my wife and I took a month-long road trip with our four-year-old twins to hit a handful of national parks between Colorado and California. We rolled up to the first stop, Rocky Mountain National Park, with no campsite reservation but hearts full of optimism. Surely there would be a last-minute cancellation, and we’d be able to pitch our tent with a view of the famous 14er Long’s Peak.

No such luck. We settled for a site at a nearby Jellystone RV Park, amid a fleet of RVs. It was fine—there was a putt-putt course that my kids thought was awesome—but it wasn’t the national-park camping experience we envisioned. We repeated this process across the American West, settling for lesser digs outside of parks because someone (me) didn’t make reservations ahead of time.

The moral of this story? If you want to camp in our national parks, plan ahead, now more than ever. Camping is only getting more popular, with more than 13 million overnight stays in 2022, almost a million more than the previous year, according to National Park Service data.

Don’t panic. Most National Park Service campgrounds can be reserved six months in advance on a rolling basis through the site Recreation.gov. That means if you want to camp in our parks this summer, start planning now and make your reservations this winter.

With personal experience and intel from , we’ve compiled a list of the most notoriously hard-to-book campsites in the NPS and explained exactly how to score the best sites in 2024.

1. Slough Creek Campground: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Slough Creek Campground is one of the most coveted campgrounds in the entire national-park system, booked in full 100 percent of the season, according to the recent report by The Dyrt. Blame the perfect combination of remoteness and natural beauty; this small campground sits on the edge of Slough Creek in Yellowstone National Park, in a meadow at 6,250 feet, surrounded by evergreens and with the peaks of the Northern Range rising on the horizon. It’s primitive, with vault toilets and no showers. Its proximity to the Lamar Valley makes it a hotbed of wildlife activity; bison may cruise by the campground.

Size: 16 sites for tents and small RVs (no hookups)

Season: Slough Creek is typically open for reservations from the end of June to the beginning of October. It was open from June 23 to October 8 last year.

Reserve: on a rolling basis. First opportunity will be at the end of January.

Fee: $20 per night

Best Site: There isn’t a bad site in the entire campground, and most sites will have you sleeping close to the river. Site 1 has the most privacy, while sites 5, 6 and 7 will have you pitching a tent just above the river.

Awesome ���ϳԹ���: Bring your fly rod and cast for cutthroat trout in Slough Creek, which is one of the most beloved trout fishing destinations in the country.

2. Signal Mountain Campground: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

All of Grand Teton National Park’s campgrounds require reservations, and they all fill up fast. Signal Mountain Campground sits in the heart of the park close to some of the area’s signature adventures, with spots for both RVs and tents, making it popular with families, retirees, and hardcore adventurers alike.. It also has sites that are tucked into tall lodgepole pine forests, and others with views of Jackson Lake, Mount Moran, and the Teton Range.

Size: 81 sites, tents and RVs

Season: From Memorial Day (May 27) through Columbus Day (October 14).

Reserve: Make up to six months in advance on a rolling basis. First opportunity is December 27.

Fee: $54 per night for a tent site

Best Site: Site 15, off Loop 1, has great views of Jackson Lake.

Awesome ���ϳԹ���: Hike the six-mile Signal Mountain Trail, which starts at the campground and climbs up the side of 7,727-foot Signal Mountain, offering views of the lake below.

3. Fruita Campground: Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Capitol Reef National Park gets less attention than Utah’s other national parks, but Fruita Campground stays booked 97 percent of the time. We know why: this is your chance to stay in an actual oasis. While the rest of Capitol Reef is known for its desert landscape and sandstone features, the sites in Fruita are surrounded by grass and vibrant fruit trees (peaches, pears, apples, and apricots) planted by pioneers in the 1880s. You can pick ripe fruit in season from any tree with a “U-pick” sign on it ($2 per pound). You’ll also have great views of towering sandstone canyon walls and easy access to the Fremont River.

Size: 65 sites, tents and RVs

Season: Open for reservations March 1 to October 31, then first come/first serve November 1 to February 28.

Reserve: . That means Nov. 1 for a March 1 campsite, and so on. This one opens earlier than many other campgrounds, so keep that in mind.

Fee: $25 per night

Best Site: Sites 31, 33, and 36 back up to the Chestnut Orchard, which has pears and multiple varieties of apples.

Best ���ϳԹ���: From the campground, hike the three-mile out-and-back , which climbs up the Waterpocket Fold into the mouth of Cohab Canyon.

4. Piñon Flats Campground: Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Park is a cool destination no matter what time of year you show up, and Piñon Flats puts you on the edge of this natural phenomenon, with impeccable views of the 700-foot dunes. The campground is especially popular during the annual peak flow of in early summer (typically starting in late May), when snowmelt fills the creek basin, creating a temporary tubing run with wave surges tubers can ride. Even aside from this seasonal adventure, Pinon Flats Campground offers a majestic overnight, with some sites shaded by juniper trees and others offering incredible views of the dunes rolling toward the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. There are no RV hookups, but the place has potable water, dishwashing stations, and flush toilets. (No showers.)

Size: 88 sites; tents and small RVs

Season: Pinon Flats is open April through October

Reserve: on a rolling basis. First opportunity to reserve a site is Nov. 11.

Fee: $20 a night

Best Site: Loop 1 has the best views of the dunes. Site 38 is a great van site with shade from adjacent juniper trees, and site 26 offers the same for tent campers.

Awesome ���ϳԹ���: Hike the straight from the campground heading towards High Dune, the tallest on the horizon, for a 2.5-mile out-and-back with a stop to cool off at Medano Creek.

5. Lower Pines Campground: Yosemite National Park, California

Lower Pines Campground puts you in the middle of Yosemite Valley, within walking distance of the stores and services in Curry Village. It’s smaller than the other campgrounds in Yosemite National Park and has incredible views of El Capitan and Half Dome. Many sites are also tucked into the ponderosa pine forest and are more spacious than other campsites in the valley, offering a good sense of privacy.

Size: 73 sites, tents and RVs

Season: Typically open from mid-April to late October

Reserve: open for the entire month, five months in advance on the 15^th of each month at 7 A.M. Pacific time. Confused? For a reservation during Memorial Day (or any time from May 15 to June 14), you need to be ready to book a site at 7 A.M. on January 15.

Fee: $36 per night.

Best Site: They’re all good, but 37, 38, and 39 back up to the Merced River.

Awesome ���ϳԹ���: You’re gonna spend most of your time hiking Yosemite’s big attractions, but set aside a morning for biking the on a paved bike path that cruises by your campground and offers crazy-good views of the Valley’s waterfalls and monoliths.

6. Kalaloch Campground: Olympic National Park, Washington

Situated on the southwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula, Kalaloch Campground in Olympic National Park has sites on a bluff�� 40 feet above the beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A trail leads from the campground to the beach below. The lush coastal forest surrounding the campground gives you the sense that you’re camping on the planet of Endor with the Ewoks.

Size: 160 sites; tents and small RVs (no hookups)

Season: Open for reservations May 23 to Sept. 23

Reserve: for sites on the A and B loops. The C and D loop campsites will be available for reservation four weeks in advance, and the E and F loop sites will be available for reservation four days in advance.

Fee: $24 per site

Best Site: A18 and A25 will get you right on the edge of the bluff, with broad views of the ocean.

Awesome ���ϳԹ���: Obviously, you’re going to hit the beach, but bring your gravel or mountain bike to ride the 25-mile , a double and singletrack loop built with bikers in mind. The trail cruises the forest around Lake Crescent.

7. Watchman Campground: Zion National Park, Utah

The smaller South Campground actually edges out Watchman for being the most popular inside Zion National Park, but South’s reservations open up 14 days in advance—if that is what you want, you have a while to book those sites. Beware, though, that South is undergoing some rehabilitation this summer that will limit its number of available spots, which may bring you back to Watchman Campground. The campground sits near the park’s south entrance, within walking distance of the restaurants and shops in Springdale. It’s surrounded by airy sandstone walls and tucked against the Virgin River.

Size: 179 sites; tents and RVs with hookups

Season: Year round

Reserve: Grab a spot for May 24 on November�� 24 at 10 A.M. EST.

Fee: $30

Best Site: Grab a spot in the F loop, which offers quiet walk-to sites with shade thanks to pergolas (wooden shades) and the occasional cottonwood tree.

Awesome ���ϳԹ���: Pick up the three-mile out-and-back right from the campground, and hike to an overlook with views of some of Zion’s most prominent sandstone features, including the Watchman, Temples and Towers, and Lower Zion Canyon.

8. Duck Harbor Campground: Acadia National Park, Maine

A site in Acadia’s might be the toughest National Park reservation to score. The small campground is located on the rocky Isle au Haut, off the coast of Maine and only accessible by boat. The Park Service manages half of the island, while the other half is set aside for a permanent fishing village. Not only is the scene picturesque, with rugged bluffs, primitive coastline, and healthy evergreen forests, but there are only five sites, which brings the laws of scarcity into play. All the sites have three-sided lean-tos and fire rings and are tucked into an evergreen forest overlooking Duck Harbor.

Size: 5 lean-to sites

Season: May 15 to October 15

Reserve: All sites throughout the season can be at 10 A.M. Eastern.

Fee: $20 per night

Best Site: When a campground has only five sites, snagging anything of them is huge, so don’t be picky. But site 5 has quick access to the shoreline and good views of the harbor.

Awesome ���ϳԹ���: Bring your mountain bike to pedal on the 12 miles of paved and unpaved roads traversing the island. You’ll also find 18 miles of hiking trails that access rocky shoreline, bogs, and a freshwater lake.

Graham Averill, ���ϳԹ��� magazine’s national parks columnist, has been camping since he was a baby, when his family would take weekend trips into Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest. As an adult with his own family, he is still learning a few campcraft lessons, such as not to set out on a parks road trip without making site reservations.

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The beach was disorienting. There was just so much of it, spreading north and south as far as I could see: only sand, dunes, and ocean. No high-rise condos. No putt-putt courses. No boardwalk crammed with souvenir shops. It was just raw.

It was my first time in North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and I was in awe over the wild nature of the land and seascape—the exact emotion that our national park system is supposed to induce.

The park system protects many pristine beaches, long stretches of sand or secluded rocky coves just as awesome as a 14,000-foot mountain peak or 5,000-foot-deep canyon. And it’s summer, the perfect time to go to the beach. There’s no better place to do that than in a wild national park. Here are my top ten to visit.

1. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin

The sea caves of are truly stunning. Dozens of them, where Lake Superior has eaten holes in the orange and red sandstone cliffs, are scattered along the mainland of Wisconsin and the 21 islands that comprise this national lakeshore. But don’t ignore the beaches between these cliffs, which are just as spectacular. The great Meyers Beach, which is on the mainland strip of this park unit and accessible by car, is the easiest choice. But if you truly want wild sand, strike out for one of the isles that sit deeper in Lake Superior.

Several of those islands have beaches you can only reach by boat, and most are beautiful. But Lake Superior’s water temperature is notoriously cold, so my advice is to head to Julian Bay, on Stockton Island, where on sunny days a protected, shallow bay offers water temps in the 70s. The 1.5-mile-long beach wraps around the bay, giving you plenty of opportunity to find your own patch of sand with views that stretch across Lake Superior. Better yet, especially for kids, the sand “sings” when you brush it with your hand, because of the shape of the grains. It actually sounds like a seal barking.

Though you can kayak to some of the islands in this park, Stockton is 14 miles from the mainland, so consider taking a water taxi or hopping on the from Bayfield, Wisconsin ($52). The boat will dock at Presque Isle Bay. Walk the .4-mile Julian Bay Trail to Julian Bay Beach and relax. You can bring camping gear, but the ferry runs morning and afternoon service so you could just spend the day.

Logistics: There’s no entrance fee to the park. Getting around requires aquatic transportation, though.

Stay the night: Stockton has a waterfront campground with 21 sites tucked into the pines of Presque Isle Bay. ($15 a night.) Make reservations at .

2. Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia

There’s a lot of human history to be discovered on , a 36,415-acre barrier island near the Georgia-Florida border that has been both the home of a freed-slave settlement and the resort mansions of the Carnegie family. Those slaves earned their freedom by fighting for the British in the War of 1812. Meanwhile, descendants of the Carnegies still retain rights to live on the island.

The natural beauty is a mix of marsh channels, live oak forest, and wide-open beaches. There are castle-like ruins to explore and�� also plenty of wildlife to keep an eye out for—alligators dominate the interior marshes, and a herd of feral horses, descendants of a pack left behind in the late 1800s, roam the island. Almost 10,000 acres of Cumberland is federally designated wilderness. The beach is extensive, running for 17 miles along the eastern edge of the island.

Crowds are scarce because the ferry from St. Marys can only bring a maximum of 300 people over on any given day, so it’s easy to find a slice of sand to yourself if you’re willing to hike. The majority of day trippers stick to Sea Camp Beach, on the southern end of the island, less than half a mile from the ferry drop. You can rent a bike ($16 a day) and ride Grand Avenue north, or hike along the beach until you find a spot with the right amount of solitude. The waves are generally too little to surf, but perfect for swimming, reading trashy novels, and taking naps.

Logistics: Catch a from St. Marys ($40 per person). Entrance fee is $15 per person.

Stay the Night: Cumberland Island has . Sea Camp is the most developed and easiest to reach, just a half mile from the ferry dock. It has 18 sites situated in a live oak forest with plenty of shade a quarter mile from Sea Camp Beach ($22 a night). Stafford Beach is your other developed option, with 10 sites and cold showers (which is fine—it’s hot here, so you wouldn’t want a warm shower), flush toilets, and potable water. It’s a 3.5-mile hike from the ferry dock, but puts you in the middle of the island with fewer crowds and quick access to the north side of Cumberland. ($12 a night.)

3. Olympic National Park, Washington

Olympic National Park encompasses some of the most diverse terrain of any park in the country. Protecting nearly a million acres, the terrain varies from glaciated peaks to rocky beaches. There are 73 miles of coastline within the park’s boundaries, including the popular and picture-perfect Rialto and Kalaloch beaches.

But if you want a wilder experience, hike beyond these vehicle-accessed destinations and deeper into the Olympic National Park’s Wilderness Coast. Just be prepared for an arduous hike: a mix of forested paths, boulder hopping, and steep, rope-assisted trails that climb and descend tall headlands. You also have to pay attention to the tides; high tides can close out the beach.

Ozette Ranger Station, in the middle of the Wilderness Coast, is the perfect starting point. From there, you can do short, three-mile boardwalk hikes to Cape Alava or Sand Point, or begin multi-day treks 20 miles south to Rialto Beach or . If you head north,�� you’ll be inundated with tidepools full of starfish, tall cliffs with sweeping views, and more sea stacks rising from the surf than you can count.

Shi Shi itself offers two miles of hard-packed sand bookended by tall cliffs and sea stacks. It’s a popular spot, so don’t expect to have it to yourself, but you won’t find a better sunset on the West Coast. The waves are good too, and people surf here, but that means lugging your board on the hike.

Logistics: There’s a $30 entrance fee to enter Olympic. If you plan to hike the Wilderness Coast, you can arrange for a shuttle with .

Stay the Night: Get a wilderness ($8 per person per night) and you can camp in one of the traditional forested campsites adjacent to the beach or pitch a tent on the sand itself. You can build a fire on the beach below the high-tide line, but may only gather driftwood, not wood from the forest. Shi Shi Beach, 15 miles from the Ozette Ranger Station, is a popular destination for backpackers.

4. Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands

The U.S. Virgin Islands are a collection of three tropical keys in the Caribbean that range from the touristy (St. Thomas) to the culturally significant (St. Croix). Virgin Islands National Park protects more than 7,000 acres of the decidedly more rustic St. Johns, comprising roughly half of the island’s total footprint and offering a mix of lush, forested hiking trails and picture-perfect beaches.

Trunk Bay is the most famous, largely because of its natural beauty; the white sand forms a horseshoe around light blue water, islands rise from the sea just off the beach, and mountains frame the horizon. Yes, it’s crowded, but it’s worth it. The Underwater Snorkel Trail is also a great way to get acquainted with the unofficial sport of the Virgin Islands—staring at fish through goggles.

But don’t spend all your time at Trunk Bay. Hit a few of the park’s beaches to get a taste of the variety of terrain. Brown Bay has a small spit of flat sand that’s only accessible by boat or trail, offering more solitude than Trunk Bay. Maho Bay is known for an abundance of sea turtles thanks to its healthy seagrass beds, and Honeymoon Bay has two beaches split by a rocky point where several species of coral offer habitat for colonies of colorful fish. I recommend visiting as many beaches as you can while you’re on the island, and bring goggles and a snorkel. The park protects roughly 5,000 acres of coral reefs and seagrass beds beneath the surface of the clear water.

Logistics: There’s no entrance fee to the park, but Trunk Bay charges a $5 amenity fee.

Stay the Night: The privately run operates within the national-park boundaries, complete with its own beach. You can bring your own tent, but we say opt for one of the campground’s eco-tents, which have queen beds, fans, and shaded decks. (Two-night minimum; $165 per night.)

5. Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland

is a 32-mile-long barrier island that splits its zip codes between Maryland and Virginia, though most of the national seashore is located in Maryland. It is a wild expanse of land known for its maritime forests, salt marshes, and mellow interior bays.

The Atlantic side of the island is dominated by a primitive beach that stretches for miles between choppy surf and tall dunes. Oh, and Assateague also has a population of magnificent wild ponies. Legend has it that the equine are descendants of ponies that swam to shore from a sunken Spanish ship in the 1500s.

The national seashore is just a couple hundred miles from Washington, D.C., so it can be crowded, but the beach is gorgeous, and there’s a good chance you’ll build a sand castle a couple hundred yards from a pony.

Take a break from the beach and paddle the Sinepuxent Bay, a shallow sound on the inland side of the island, where you’ll have a good chance of seeing the wild ponies as they graze on the tall grass that borders the water. has boat rentals and tours (rentals start at $20, tours start at $50). is a thing on the island. In Maryland, crabbing season runs from April 1 to December 31. Only keep crabs you’re planning to eat, and only if they’re at least five inches across.

Logistics: Entrance fee is $25. Get a to explore the Over Sand Vehicle (OSV) zone ($110, valid for one year), which is 11 miles long and offers your best chance of avoiding the crowds.

Stay the night: The many camping options here range from the developed campground of —an 800-acre state park on the same island as the national seashore with 350 campsites ($27.50 a night)—to the primitive beach camping within the Bullpen area of the OSV zone ($200 for a year). Note that you must camp in a hard-sided vehicle with an approved waste-management system. Campfires are allowed on the beach below the high-tide line.

6. Redwood National Park, California

Redwood National Park is best known for protecting some of the world’s largest trees, which can rise to more than 350 feet tall. The park also encompasses 40 miles of northern California’s coast, where sandy beaches hide beneath bluffs holding old-growth spruce forest.

Gold Bluffs Beach makes for a good introduction to the coast, with miles of gray sand flanked by orange-colored cliffs. It’s a popular beach with easy road access, so you’ll need to apply for a if you’re visiting between May 15 and Sept. 15, and pay a $12 day-use fee.

Gold Bluffs isn’t your only destination in Redwood National Park. The California Coastal Trail stretches for 70 miles through the national park and adjacent public lands, connecting a number of less crowded beaches. You can visit a few gems by hiking an portion of the CCT from False Klamath Cove south to the Klamath River. The trail mostly traverses the wooded hillside above the ocean, but short side spurs lead to secluded beaches without any road access.

One of the best is Hidden Beach, where a gray-sand cove is flanked by grass-covered hills, and massive rocks jut out of the Pacific surf. A pile of driftwood has collected at the high-water mark of the beach, and small boulders are sunk into the sand. The whole scene has a misty, moody vibe that feels more Pacific Northwest than California.

Logistics: No entrance fee required, but the parking lot at Gold Bluffs has a $12 day use fee.

Stay the Night: Grab a site at which sits within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, and has 26 sites you can reserve up to six months in advance ($35 a night) with quick access to the beach below and the California Coastal Trail.

7. Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts

protects 40 miles of the coast where Massachusetts meets the Atlantic, defining the edge of New England, and is so beautiful that in the 1800s Henry David Thoreau wrote about this place: “A man may stand there and put all America behind him.” The seashore has no shortage of beaches, but Race Point, in Provincetown, offers an idyllic slice of the region.

This expanse isn’t rugged and dramatic like some of the West Coast’s beaches. Instead of tall cliffs and jagged sea stacks, you have soft sand and rolling sand dunes speckled with wispy grass. The beach itself is mellow, conducive to relaxation and the occasional nap. The sand next to the parking lot ($25 fee) in Provincetown can get crowded, but Race Point stretches for several miles around the tip of the Cape, so if you have the legs for it, keep walking until you find a quiet spot.

The thick grassland that separates the beach from the road and parking facilities gives you a more rustic vibe than a lot of more overdeveloped East Coast beaches. Spring is whale-migration season, so bring some binoculars and look for right and humpback whales cruising the channels off the coast.

Logistics: $25 entrance fee.

Stay the Night: There’s no camping within Cape Cod National Seashore, but the park has a that put you close to the park’s beaches (from $170 a night).

8. Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida and Mississippi

The beaches along the Gulf of Mexico are known for their sugar-white sand, like those found on , which protects pieces of the coast of Mississippi and Florida and islands within the Gulf. The national seashore hosts a mix of historic military forts, coastal forest, and pristine beaches.

The best sand of the lot is on Horn Island, an 8-mile-long, 1-mile-wide barrier island off the coast of Mississippi, protected as a federally-designated wilderness, and only accessible by boat. Horn is located seven miles off the coast of Mississippi, sitting in the Mississippi Sound of the Gulf of Mexico. No commercial ferries service the island, so you’ll need your own boat (or to hire a private charter) to reach it.

A sandy path connects the two sides of the island. The beach on the south side, facing the Gulf, features soft sand flanked by small, grassy dunes. The interior of the island has warm lagoons and tall pine trees with tufts of green nettles at their tips, looking like giant bonsai trees. You’ll find the occasional alligator on Horn, as well as nesting ospreys. Anglers wade into the shallow waters of the Gulf and cast for speckled trout and redfish, but mostly, you just soak in the deserted-island vibes.

Logistics: There’s no entrance fee to visit Horn Island, and you don’t need reservations to camp. But you do need a boat. There’s no regular ferry service to Horn, but you can find .

Stay the night: You’re allowed to on the beach here, as long as you stay off the dunes and any vegetation. There are no facilities and no drinking water, so bring everything you need on the boat. You can have a campfire below the high-tide line. No permits or reservations needed, but there is a 14-day maximum stay.

9. Channel Islands National Park, California

If you ever wondered what California was like before all the people showed up, take a 20-mile boat ride out to Channel Islands National Park, a five-island archipelago with craggy coastlines, rugged mountains, and remote coves where you’ll find more sea lions and seals than suntanned bodies. Santa Cruz Island is the largest within the national park, with a total of 77 miles of shoreline, and has regular ferry service. It also has the best beaches.

Start by exploring and snorkeling in Scorpion Beach, a rocky patch of land between two cliffs with clear water and underwater kelp forests. If you want a more adventurous beach, hike four miles across the island from Scorpion Beach to Smuggler’s Cove Beach, a mix of dark sand and rock tucked into a protected cove surrounded by steep headlands. You might see some sailboats anchored off the beach, but probably won’t have to share the sand with anyone.

Regardless of the beach you choose, keep an eye out for gray, blue, and humpback whales frolicking in the water near the islands in the summer and fall. You can also sign up for a to explore the sea caves that punctuate the rocky coast ($186 per person).

Logistics: Entrance to the park is free. If you don’t have a boat, from Ventura, California. It’s a 20-mile cruise to Santa Cruz. (From $31)

Stay the Night: Santa Cruz has one developed campground, , with 31 sites and fresh water. It’s just a half-mile walk from the boat landing. You can make reservations six months in advance. ($15 per night.)

10. Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina

stretches for 70 miles, protecting a string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. The park is a mix of dune-flanked beaches, meandering channels, historic lighthouses, and small, thriving towns. This is the wild Outer Banks that has attracted visitors from the pirate Blackbeard, looking to lay low from the law in the 1700s, to surfers today seeking consistent East Coast barrels.

A single highway connects most of the Outer Banks with a series of bridges, with quality beaches along the entire length of this park. But Ocracoke Beach, on Ocracoke Island, is your destination, because it’s largely undeveloped, and it’s less crowded than most other beaches in the area; the island is isolated on the southern end of the national seashore. To reach it, you need your own boat or to catch a ferry ride from the mainland.

Development is centered around the harbor on the southern end of the island, complete with a lighthouse, while the rest of the spit is left mostly untouched. Ocracoke Beach is 16 miles of sand, tall dunes, and relentless surf. Bring a board, or ($25 a day), some fishing gear, and a 4WD vehicle; sections of the beach are open to offroad vehicles with a permit.

Logistics: There’s no entrance fee to the park, but you need to catch a from either Cedar Island or Hatteras Island to reach Ocracoke ($15 one way). You can get an to drive on sections of Ocracoke Beach ($50 for a 10-day permit).

Stay the Night: Ocracoke Island has a (136 sites) with gravel tent pads situated just behind the dunes, so you can hear the waves crash as you drift to sleep in your tent. ($28 per night.)

Graham Averill is ���ϳԹ��� magazine’s national-parks columnist. He is constantly having an internal debate about whether it’s better to live at the beach or in the mountains. Right now, because it’s summer, the beach is winning.

The post The 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in U.S. National Parks appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is mostly true. Outdoor beauty, though, as found in nature, is far less subjective. I don’t think anyone has stood on the lip of the Grand Canyon, peering down 5,000 feet, and thought, Meh. With that sense of scientific objectivity in mind, I’ve developed a list of the 11 most beautiful hikes in our national parks.

This list is about grand beauty—heart-stopping vistas and otherworldly landscapes that would make even the most jaded screen-ages look up from their phones and say, “Cool.” I also considered geography diversity and a range of landscapes to highlight something for everyone. Same with difficulty—you’ll find short half-mile loops and full-day efforts.

I am ���ܳٲ������’s national parks columnist, fortunate enough to have hiked a number of these trails myself, and have dragged my kids to many. The rest of the trails haunt my bucket list for when the opportunities arise.

1. Sentinel Dome and Taft Point Loop, Yosemite National Park, California

Distance: 5.1-mile loop

I knew Yosemite National Park was gonna make this list because of the 1,200-square-mile park’s abundance of fertile valleys, dramatic waterfalls, and really big rocks. But choosing which ridiculously scenic hike to feature was agonizing. In theory, all of the best options look at the same stuff—Yosemite Valley and its granite towers—so I picked the hike with my favorite angle of that view. Tunnel View is probably the best-known vista, but it’s just a roadside overlook, so I nixed it. Half Dome is arguably the most coveted (and badass) hike and leads to banger views of Yosemite Valley. But you know what you can’t see from the top of Half Dome? Half Dome itself. So, ixnay.

Finally, I settled on the because it offers two grand but distinct views of Yosemite Valley on the same hike. I had the opportunity to include a piece of this hike during a multi-day backpacking trip through Yosemite and was awestruck. The summit on Sentinel Dome has 360-degree views of the entire park, including west where Half Dome and a large chunk of Yosemite Valley are displayed in all their glory. From the vertigo-inducing Taft Point, you’ll see El Capitan and Yosemite Falls.

The hike itself is moderate, with the only steep section coming as you approach the summit of Sentinel. It’s less crowded than Glacier Point, too.

When to Go: This year late summer or early fall is best because Glacier Point Road is closed until July for snow plowing and road rehabilitation. If you’re dying to see these views before the road opens, you can hike the 12.9-mile (one way) Pohono Trail, which climbs to Glacier Point from the Tunnel View Parking Area. It’s a journey, and you’ll get a series of breathtaking views of the Valley from Taft Point, Dewey Point, Crocker Point, Stanford Point, and Sentinel Dome.

Logistics: Yosemite is not requiring reservations to enter this summer, but you have to pay the park entrance fee ($35 per vehicle). The trailhead for this loop is off Glacier Point Road. Check the status of the road opening .

2. Precipice and North Ridge Trails, Acadia National Park, Maine

Distance: 3.2-mile loop

Do you want to walk along the wild Atlantic Ocean coastline, or take in the entire scene from above? That’s the question when visiting Acadia National Park. Ocean Path is the most popular trail, and some say the most scenic. This 2.5-mile romp along the edge of Mount Desert Island has you traversing the beaches and rock outcroppings that help define this national park. But I’m disqualifying it here because you can drive the Park Loop Road and catch most of the views from pullouts at overlooks.

Instead, climb the difficult to the top of Champlain Mountain for a bird’s-eye view of the coastline, the Atlantic, and the many forested islands that rise from the water. It’s a burly hike, climbing 1,000 feet in just .9 miles, that will have you scaling the sides of granite cliffs using metal rungs. You’ll get a variety of coastal views, and see the vast New England coastline from the top of the trail. Take the Champlain North Ridge Trail off the mountain and the views will continue.

When to Go: Summer is the most popular season, but show up in the fall, and the forest leading from the base of the mountain to the water’s edge will be aflame with red, orange, and yellow.

Logistics: Entrance fee is $35 per vehicle. If you’re planning to drive Cadillac Summit Road while visiting the park, make in advance.

3. Watchman Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Distance: 1.6 miles roundtrip

There isn’t a bad view anywhere from the rim of Crater Lake, a 2,000-foot-deep lake nestled inside the bowl of a volcano sitting 7,000 feet above sea level. It sounds like the setting for a diabolical mastermind’s secret base, but simply creates one of the most spectacular national parks in the country. The lake is considered among the most pure in the world, as the water is sourced completely from rain and snow.

The views from the edge of the volcano are one of a kind. is a little harder than “nature walk” territory—it gains 420 feet in under a mile to a historic fire lookout tower—but it gets the same kind of volume of visitors as a paved overlook trail, and the view is why. This is one situation where the hike isn’t about the journey, only the destination, because at the crest of the trail you can see the entire lake from a stone platform below the woodend fire tower. The view encompasses Wizard Island, a smaller volcano set inside a larger volcano. If you want a good view with fewer neighbors along the way, hike the 3.7-mile round trip to Garfield Peak, which takes in most of the lake from a different angle. Bonus for the Garfield Peak hike: In the summer, the hillsides are blanketed in wildflowers.

When to Go: Crater Lake is covered in snow most of the year, so summer and early fall are your best bets. Sunset is stunning, but you definitely won’t have the view to yourself.

Logistics: You’ll have to pay an entrance fee of $30 per vehicle. As of early summer 2023, portions of Rim Drive are still closed for snowplowing. The road is usually cleared by mid-July. Keep an eye on road conditions .

4. Bright Angel to Plateau Point Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Distance: 12 miles out and back

The Colorado River has carved out quite the ditch as it makes its way south across the Kaibab Plateau, and Grand Canyon National Park protects the most dramatic slice of the 277-mile-long gorge. Because this national park is so damn big, there are amazing views all over. The sights from various easy-to-access overlooks along the rim are awe-inspiring, but the views get even better, if that is possible, as you hike deeper into the gorge. A few trails drop off the rim, but for views, I like the . Based on the number of people who hike it every year, so does everyone else.

Don’t let the crowds dissuade you, though, as this hike is a life-changer, dropping 3,200 feet in six miles as it switchbacks down the side of the Grand Canyon. The views are fantastic the whole way, and you’ll walk through the vibrant Havasupai Garden, an oasis that once supported a Native American population. It’s also quite the challenge; I hiked the full Bright Angel as an out and back in my early 20s and it’s still one of the toughest hikes I’ve ever done. Most people make the full Bright Angel a multi-day hike, staying at either Havasupai Campground or Bright Angel Campground, but I wasn’t able to score a at the time.

The best vista is at Plateau Point on the edge of Tonto Plateau, roughly 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. Reach the overlook by taking a short spur trail at mile 4.5 and hiking the 1.5 miles for a front-and-center view of the inner gorge, as well as the aqua waters of the Colorado River, roughly 2,000 feet below.

When to Go: The South Rim is open year-round, but most agree spring and fall are the best time to visit because of milder temperatures. If you’re visiting in the summer, start your hike as early as possible to avoid the heat.

Logistics: You have to pay the entrance fee ($35 per vehicle). The hike begins at the Bright Angel Trailhead on the South Rim’s Desert View Drive. Bring more water than you think you’ll need as the temperature will rise as you drop deeper into the canyon. Remember, the 6-mile way down to Plateau Point is easy, but the 6-mile climb back up to the rim is hard.

5. Forney Ridge Trail to Andrews Bald, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina and Tennessee

Distance: 3.6 mile out and back

Great Smoky Mountains National Park protects 500,000 acres of the Southern Appalachians along the North Carolina and Tennessee border. The terrain is a mix of pastoral valleys with historic homesteads and steep, rugged peaks rising to 6,000 feet above sea level. This region is a temperate rainforest, with a lush canopy and dense woods, so long-range views can be tough to find. That’s one of the reasons I love , which ends at Andrew’s Bald, a high-elevation pasture once used to graze livestock, giving the 5,906-foot mountain an above-treeline vibe. Hike Forney Ridge Trail from the Clingman’s Dome parking lot and you’ll travel through a thick forest until reaching the bald proper, where several acres of tall grass offer long-range views of the southern mountains of the park and Fontana Lake. I’ve hiked this trail a couple of times over the years and I’m always amazed to be the only person on the path. Clingman’s Dome can be a zoo of people, especially in the summer, but most of those people stick to the concrete lookout tower and never venture on the actual trails.

When to go: You can hike the Smokies year-round. In the winter you’ll have the park more or less to yourself, and in the fall, the forest blazes with color. But knock out this hike in June and early July and you will find the Rhododendron and flame azaleas in full bloom.

Logistics: The hike begins at the parking lot for Clingman’s Dome, a concrete lookout you will want to spend a few minutes climbing. There’s no entry fee to enter Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but you have to purchase a parking tag ($5) to park at any trailhead.

6. High Dune, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado

Distance: 2.5 miles out and back

Great Sand Dunes National Park is wild, encompassing 30 square miles of off-white mounds of sand within the Rocky Mountains. These are the tallest dunes in North America, rising up to 741 feet. The sheer volume of sand here makes for other-worldly photo opportunities.

There are no established hiking trails throughout the dune field, but most visitors head towards , a 693-foot “peak” on the first ridge beyond the main parking lot here). From the top of High Dune, you can see the rolling hills of sand spread across the landscape, all flanked by the 13,000-foot Sangre de Cristo Mountains. You might feel like you’re in a vast desert, but in the spring and early summer, the hike actually begins with a stream crossing, as Medano Creek runs wide and several inches deep with the snowmelt. Pack an innertube in your car. The crumbling sands send waves down the creek that you can tube, and access is a short walk from the parking lot.

When to Go: The dunes can be covered in snow in the winter, and the sand can get really hot in the summer. Spring and fall are your best bets, but if you do show up in the summer, cool off in Medano Creek.

Logistics: Entrance fee is $25 per vehicle. You can park near the visitor center.

7. Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Distance: .5-mile loop

I know, all the great sandstone arches are across the street in Arches National Park, right? Wrong. The 258,000-acre Canyonlands has plenty of fascinating sandstone features throughout, and while isn’t the largest natural bridge in the region (it’s 27 feet across), it’s perched on the edge of a cliff, 1,200 feet above Buck Canyon. As a result, the natural bridge provides the perfect frame for peering into (and photographing) the belly of Canyonlands.

Looking through the arch, you can see Washer Woman and Monster Tower, two distinct Wingate formations that are popular with climbers, the White Rim Trail (a classic multi-day mountain-bike route), and off in the distance, the La Sal Mountains. The walk is an easy .5-mile lollipop loop, which makes it extremely popular, but also a great option if you’re toting along children. My wife and I took our twins on this hike when they were age four. They probably had more fun scrambling on the sandstone outcroppings that surround the trail, but Liz was pretty pleased with the family photos of us at the arch. So everyone wins.

When to Go: Any time is a good time to visit Canyonlands, but summer is hot and crowded, and winter can be snowy and empty. Spring and fall can offer ideal weather and fewer crowds. Regardless of the season, show up at sunrise, and the red cliffs below the arch practically glow as the sun hits the sandstone.

Logistics: Entrance fee is $30 per vehicle. While Arches has brought back timed-entry reservations, you don’t need them to visit Canyonlands. The Mesa Arch Trailhead is located in the Island in the Sky district, off Grand View Point Road.

8. Highline Trail, Glacier National Park, Montana

Distance: 12 miles, one way

Glacier National Park is packed with scenery. Hidden Lake might be one of the prettiest in the country, Going-to-the-Sun Road lives up to all the hype, and yes, as the park name suggests, there are glaciers too. Set in that context, at Glacier National Park makes our cut because of the accumulation: it’s not one vista that makes this trail so damn beautiful, it’s the collection.

The highlights start right out of the gate as you traverse along a narrow ledge half way up the side of a cliff, peer back over Going-to-the-Sun Road below, and catch long-range views of Mt. Cannon, Mt. Oberlin and Heavens Peak to the west. The next few miles deliver you into pocket forests and meadows full of wildflowers in the lush area known as the Garden Wall. The wildflowers are nice, but the views deep into the park are even better, and they just keep coming as you climb to Haystack Pass and begin your descent towards Granite Park Chalet, a backcountry lodge with its own views. Take the spur trail to Grinnell Glacier Overlook, and climb a mile to the Continental Divide to see the teal lake at the bottom of the Grinnell Glacier, where Grinnell Falls tumbles over a rock wall.

A forested bowl below the cirque surrounding Upper Grinnell Lake holds a series of alpine lakes. This is arguably the best view on the trail, and some would say in the park as a whole. Backtrack to the Highline Trail and it’s a mile to Granite Park Chalet, and then four miles through mostly forested terrain to the Loop, where you can take the free shuttle back to Logan Pass.

When to Go: Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed from October to early June, so you’re relegated to late summer and very early fall for this hike.

Logistics: Highline Trail starts at Logan Pass, off Going-to-the-Sun Road. This summer, you have to make advance to drive the road between 6 A.M. to 3 P.M. daily ($2). If you didn’t make a reservation four months in advance (when the majority are released), you can roll the dice and try for a slot 24 hours in advance. You’ll also have to pay the entrance fee of $35.

9. Glacier Gorge Trail to Sky Pond, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Distance: 8.5 miles out and back

Rocky Mountain National Park is full of high-elevation peaks and backcountry alpine lakes, and the 9.5-mile out and back to shows you a lot of both. There are more popular lake hikes in RMNP, and certainly easier lakes to reach, but the remoteness of Sky Pond is part of the draw, as is the water itself, mirroring the granite cirque that surrounds it.

On the hike, you will pass the 30-foot Alberta Falls as they drop through a gorge on Glacier Creek; then traverse the shores of Loch Vale, a small lake at 10,190 feet with views of 13,000-foot Taylor Peak and Taylor Glacier on the horizon; and end at Timberline Falls, rushing 100 feet over a granite cliff. Towards the end of the hike, a mandatory rock scramble leads you to the Lake of Glass, which sits beneath a trio of granite peaks (the Sharkstooth, Taylor Peak, and Powell Peak). You think you’re done, but you’re actually hiking to the even prettier lake, Sky Pond, on the other side of those peaks. Sky Pond is surrounded on three sides by sheer granite walls, which descend directly to the edge of the lake.

When to Go: Considering the elevation, summer or early fall is your window. It’s a long, difficult effort, so start early if you can.

Logistics: The hike starts at Glacier Gorge Trailhead on Bear Lake Road. Between May 26 and October 22, you have to ($2) to visit Bear Lake Road between 5 A.M. and 6 P.M., which will give you a two-hour window to enter the road. You’ll also need to pay the $35 entrance fee to the park.

10. Harding Icefield Trail, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Distance: 8.2 miles out and back

There are glaciers, and then there’s the Harding Icefield, a frozen tundra that stretches for 700 square miles connecting 40 separate glaciers, which act as drains. This giant, changing ice cube is the central feature of Kenai Fjords National Park, and the largest icefield in the United States. Mountain peaks, called nunataks, rise from the ice. It’s a tough hike to reach the edge of the , climbing 3,000 feet in just over four miles, but the massive expanse of ice isn’t the only reason to tackle this journey.

The views throughout the trail are outstanding, from the cottonwood forests and meadows in the first portion of the adventure to the Cliffs Overlook at mile 2.4, which shows the Icefield above Exit Glacier. Even the view back towards the trailhead, where the wide Exit Creek bisects the green Outwash Plain, is stunning. Continue across patches of snow to the end of the trail at a rocky outcropping hovering over the edge of the Harding Icefield. A massive expanse of snow and nunataks, black against the white icefield, stretches towards the horizon.

When to Go: The upper portions of the trail can be covered in snow into July, so aim for late summer, and check before your hike.

Logistics: Park at the end of Herman Leirer Road, the only road in Kenai Fjords National Park. There’s a visitor’s center with restrooms at the parking lot. Entrance to the park is free.

11. Hole-In-the-Wall, Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington

Distance: 3.4 miles out and back

You want landscape diversity? Olympic National Park has landscape diversity. This million-acre park in Washington covers a variety of ecosystems, from glaciated peaks to lush rainforest to wild coastline. You can’t go wrong with any hike inside the park, but the coast, where Washington hits the Pacific Ocean in an abrupt line of rock and forest, is gorgeous. There are 70 miles of coastline to choose from, but I like the hike along to the Hole-in-the-Wall, a large sea stack just off the beach with a small arch forming in its flank.

The hike is a beach walk along a stretch of black sand peppered with big rocks and ghost-white driftwood. Start at Rialto Beach Trailhead, seeing forested islands off the coast to the south, and head north as sea stacks rise from the water beyond the breakers and an impossibly green forest edges the beach to your right. After two miles you’ll hit Hole-in-the-Wall.

When to Go: Summer is your best bet if you’re looking for warm temps and the chance to get in the water (the ocean will still be cold, though). If you time your arrival for low tide, you can scramble up the sea stack and explore the small arch. There’s also a primitive trail that climbs an outcropping on the forest side of the beach, offering a panoramic view of the sea stack, beach and ocean to the south.

Logistics: Entrance to the park is $30 per vehicle. Park at the Rialto Beach Trailhead and walk north.

Graham Averill is ���ϳԹ��� magazine’s national parks columnist. In his early twenties, with no training and very little hiking experience, he thought it was a good idea to hike Bright Angel Trail down to the Colorado River and back on the same day. It wasn’t.

The post The 11 Most Beautiful Hikes in U.S. National Parks appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

There’s nothing better than rolling up to an incredible panorama in one of our storied national parks. The following views, of high-desert mesas, moss-cloaked redwoods, vast mountain ranges, and more, have something to stoke the inner wonder of just about everyone.

I’ve visited every national park in America, and some the most awe-inspiring experiences in each are the stunning overlooks. So I’ve selected a list of my favorite vistas in all 63 parks, with a keen eye for easy access and geological diversity. Of course, I threw in a couple of leg-busting treks and arm-churning paddles for those among us who like to sweat to earn their views, too.

Acadia National Park, Maine

Cadillac Mountain Summit

When a national park institutes a vehicle-reservation system, it can feel like a giant red flag to head elsewhere in search of solitude. Not so with Acadia’s famed Cadillac Mountain, which can get quite crowded. From October through early March, this granite dome receives the first rays of sun in the continental U.S., and view-seeking visitors can gaze out at a smattering of wooded islets dotting Frenchman Bay as the sky lights up in hues of rose and coral.

Best Way to Reach This View: Don a headlamp for the predawn pedal 3.5 miles up to the 1,530-foot summit. Or hike the 2.2-mile (one-way) Cadillac North Ridge Trail, with an elevation gain of approximately 1,100 feet. For a hiking route up the North Ridge Trail, check out .

Arches National Park, Utah

Fiery Furnace Overlook

The next time you’re in Arches National Park, skip the masses at Delicate Arch and instead drive west to the labyrinth of striated red-rock pinnacles at Fiery Furnace, a scenic pullout that overlooks Utah’s La Sal Mountains. Serious hikers who want to get up close and personal with this vermillion jumble of rock need to nab a day-hiking permit ($10), or vie for the very popular ranger-guided tour ($16), bookable a week in advance.

Best Way to Reach This View: Motor the 14 miles north from the entrance station and follow the signs to the viewpoint. For a hiking route of the Fiery Furnace Loop—a valuable resource, as the Park Service warns visitors of the dangers of getting lost in the landscape—check out .

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Big Badlands Overlook

Take a morning to enjoy a drive on Badlands Loop Road via the park’s northeast entrance and pull off at the first signed viewpoint, Big Badlands Overlook, for a sweeping panorama of the eastern portion of the park’s Wall Formation. Geology enthusiasts will marvel at the clay-colored stripes of the Oligocene-era Brule Formation and the charcoal gray of the Eocene-era Chadron Formation.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the town of Wall, take Highway 90 southeast for 20 miles, then turn south on Route 240 and continue for another five miles. The overlook is located just past the northeast entrance station.

Big Bend National Park, Texas

South Rim Viewpoint

Big Bend is a park that defies Texas landscape conventions, encompassing the verdant Chisos Mountains as they rise over 7,000 feet from the Chihuahuan Desert below, and the South Rim Trail is the best way to experience the majestic scenery. The southern tip of this 12.9-mile loop is where the viewpoint lies, with a vista of sprawling arid hilltops that spill into northern Mexico.

Best Way to Reach This View: Start at the Chisos Basin Visitor Center. At the fork, head either southwest toward Laguna Meadows or southeast toward the Pinnacles (the steeper pick). Expect an elevation gain of 3,500 feet and about six and a half hours to finish the entire thing. For a hiking route of the South Rim Trail, check out .

Biscayne Bay National Park, Florida

Boca Chita Key Lighthouse

One of the most scenic keys, Boca Chita is also one of the most interesting, home to a fascinating history of lavish parties thrown by wealthy entrepreneurs in the early 1900s. Legend has it that an elephant was once brought to the island for a wild soiree. These days the raucous festivities have died down, but the 65-foot lighthouse and its observation deck still offer a pretty swell view of shimmering Biscayne Bay, mangrove-lined lagoons, and the hazy Miami skyline.

Best Way to Reach This View: Book a guided boat trip with the Biscayne National Park Institute for an expert-led journey through the keys, with a stop at Boca Chita. Call in advance to find out whether a Park Service employee will be around to open the observation deck.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

Painted Wall Overlook

If you make it to Black Canyon and don’t want to dirty your hands on the 1,800-foot scramble down into the maw of its craggy cliffs, make a beeline for Painted Wall Overlook, which peers out at the tallest cliff in the state (a whopping 2,250 feet from river to rim). If you’re lucky, you might even spot a few intrepid climbers scaling the face of dark gneiss and rose-tinted pegmatite.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the South Rim Campground, drive or bike five miles north on Rim Drive Road (closed November through April) until you reach the parking lot for the overlook; from there it’s a five-minute walk.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Sunrise Point

With its many-layered view of crumbling Technicolor hoodoos and a singular limber pine tree with roots akimbo, Sunrise Point is a fantastic place to start a day in Bryce Canyon. From here, you’re at a fantastic jumping-off point for exploring the rust-colored sandstone of Bryce’s namesake amphitheater via the Queen’s Garden Trail.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the park’s visitor center, it’s just 1.2 miles to the Sunrise Point parking lot. The walk to the lookout is another half-mile farther and is both pet- and wheelchair-friendly.

Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Grand View Point

There’s a little something for everyone in this area of the park (Island in the Sky), whether you’re simply craving thoughtful moments gazing at the panorama at Grand View Point, or want to immerse yourself even more amid the natural surrounds with a mile-long cliffside stroll to a second viewpoint (Grand View Point Overlook) with even more jaw-dropping scenery, followed by class-two scramble if you’re so inclined. Whichever you choose, you’ll be wowed by the amber and crimson mesa tops of the Canyonlands as you gaze down at White Rim Road and the churning Colorado River.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the Island in the Sky Visitor Center, head 12 miles to the end of Grand View Point Road for the initial viewpoint. It’s an easy amble to the second viewpoint, though unpaved.

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Panorama Point Overlook

Easily overlooked in favor of crowd-pleasing hikes to Chimney Rock and Cassidy Arch, Panorama Point is at its viewpoint best when the sun starts to set and the stars twinkle into being. The highlight is the cathedral-like red-rock towers that comprise the park’s famous Waterpocket Fold Formation, a 100-mile-long wrinkle in the earth’s crust.

Best Way to Reach This View: Panorama Point is a mere 2.5 miles west of the Capitol Reef Visitor Center. From its parking lot, it’s just 0.1 mile to the viewing area.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

Temple of the Sun

It’s tough to pick the most notable view in a cave-centric park that actor Will Rogers once called “the Grand Canyon with a roof over it,” but Carlsbad Cavern’s Temple of the Sun, with its mushroom-like stalagmite surrounded by thousands of spindly stalactites, takes the cake. Accessible via a ranger-led tour or a self-guided jaunt along the wheelchair-friendly Big Room Trail, these miraculous natural limestone sculptures are a bucket-list-worthy detour on any road trip.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the natural entrance, it’s 1.25 descent to the Big Room via a paved pathway. Alternatively, you can drop deep into the cavern via an elevator, and then make our way to the Temple of the Sun.

Channel Islands National Park, California

Inspiration Point

In spring, tiny Anacapa Island bursts into bloom, and Inspiration Point is the best place for photographers and flower aficionados to admire the display of brilliant orange poppies, pale island morning glories, and canary-yellow sunflowers. Because the point faces west, head up to see the sun dip into the Pacific.

Best Way to Reach This View: Book a day trip to the islands with Island Packers, keeping an eye out for migrating gray whales en route. Inspiration Point is located at the halfway point of its namesake 1.5 mile loop, a flat route that begins at the Anacapa Visitor Center.

Congaree National Park, South Carolina

Weston Lake Overlook

Years ago, we named Congaree’s Boardwalk Loop Trail one of the best wheelchair-accessible hikes in America, and Weston Lake Overlook is a phenomenal place to soak up the park’s shady expanse of old-growth hardwood forest. It’s also a great spot to birdwatch–keep your eyes peeled for the prothonotary warbler, American woodcock, and red-headed woodpecker.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the Sims Trail, branch off on the 4.4-mile Weston Lake Trail (marked by yellow blazes) and continue 2.4 miles along the wooden planks to the lookout.

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Watchman Overlook

Featuring one of the most spectacular views of Wizard Island, a volcanic cinder cone at the western end of Crater Lake, Watchman Overlook and its eponymous observation station are must-see sites on any trip to this southern Oregon park. Look out for lilac-tinted phlox and delicate yellow buckwheat blossoms in the summertime. When you reach the summit, it’s everything you’d hope for: a 360-degree view of the deep sapphire tarn.

Best Way to Reach This View: Head out from the Watchman Overlook parking lot. You’ll ascend 413 feet to the observation station and encounter a series of switchbacks near the top. The 1.6-mile out-and-back takes about an hour to complete.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Brandywine Falls

Tucked away between the urban centers of Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga Valley is a locally renowned national park full of lichen-splotched sandstone ledges, riverside biking paths, and picturesque waterfalls, of which Brandywine Falls is the most famous. Fall is a spectacular time to visit, when the 60-foot-tall cascade is surrounded by a fiery collage of foliage. Hikers who want more of an outing can stretch their legs on the 1.5-mile Brandywine Gorge Loop to take in bright red sugar maples against the smoke-hued ravine.

Best Way to Reach This View: Though there is a designated parking lot for the falls, it’s often full, so plan to arrive before 10 A.M. or after 4 P.M. for a spot. From there, the upper viewing point is just a few hundred feet away via a boardwalk trail.

Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada

Zabriskie Point

Catching the sunrise at Zabriskie Point is the stuff of photographers’ dreams. Undulating ripples of golden and umber badlands stretch out all the way to Badwater Basin, a staggering 282 feet below sea level. In the distance, 11,049-foot Telescope Peak (the highest in the park) rises like an apparition as the morning’s first rays paint the summit of Manly Beacon in honeyed tones.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, within the park, drive five miles south on Highway 190 to the viewpoint.

Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Wonder Lake

With only one byway through its 4,740,091-acre wilderness, Denali is a place where it pays to spend a little extra time exploring. Wonder Lake is about as close as you can get to the High One (as Native tribes refer to North America’s tallest peak) without donning a pack and making that arduous trek, and it’s the best spot to nab a photo of Denali reflected in a pool of mirror-clear water. Pro tip: Plan ahead and book a campsite at Wonder Lake Campground to enjoy dreamy morning vistas and evening ranger programs.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the park entrance, drive 85 miles west along the 92.5-mile-long Park Road.

Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

Fort Jefferson Rooftop View

An enormous structure built with 16 million bricks, Fort Jefferson was a key defensive structure during the Civil War, used to protect Union shipments heading to and from the Mississippi River. Nowadays it’s the defining feature of Dry Tortugas National Park. From its cannon-dotted rooftop, you can spot shallow reef systems and admire the sandy beaches and endless aquamarine ocean.

Best Way to Reach This View: Take the daily from Key West to Garden Key, home to Fort Jefferson; entrance to the fort is included in the price of your ferry ticket (from $200). Head up to the uppermost tier during a guided ranger tour or on your own.

Everglades National Park, Florida

Anhinga Trail Covered Observation Deck

In a mostly flat park full of sawgrass slough, slow-moving brackish water, and tangles of mangrove trees, choosing a memorable view in the Everglades is a tricky task. Wildlife is the real showstopper, and along the Anhinga Trail, animal-savvy guests have a high chance of spotting purple gallinules, great blue herons, nesting anhingas, and the park’s most notorious resident—the alligator. Take a break in the shaded observation deck (and don’t forget the binoculars).

Best Way to Reach This View: The 0.8-mile (round trip) paved Anhinga Trail starts and ends at the Royal Palm Visitor Center. It is wheelchair accessible.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Aquarius Lake 1, Arrigetch Valley

Rising out of the treeless tundra, the towering granite fins of the Arrigetch Peaks, in northern Alaska, look more like gods than monoliths. It’s a view worthy of the arduous journey to get to these reaches of the park, an area sometimes called the Yosemite of Alaska. The experts at Alaska Alpine ���ϳԹ���s offer guided trips (from $6,000), or if you’re fine seeing the razor-sharp summits from a plane window, Brooks Range Aviation (from $785) can arrange flightseeing tours.

Best Way to Reach This View: Visitors headed to the Arrigetch Peaks will do so via bush plane, landing on a gravel riverbank. Then it’s an eight-mile hike to set up camp in the valley below the peaks.

Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri

Luther Ely Smith Square

Gateway Arch is a park rife with human history, from the once massive Native city of Cahokia to the famed Dred Scott court case, which hastened the Civil War when the Supreme Court judged that no Black people were entitled to citizenship. The best vantage point from which to take it all in is Luther Ely Smith Square, which, in addition to boasting a sky-high view of the iconic chrome arch, overlooks the historic Old Courthouse.

Best Way to Reach This View: The square, a downtown St. Louis greenspace, is located between the Old Courthouse and the Mississippi River.

Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Margerie Glacier

Flip through any traveler’s photos from Glacier Bay, and you’re likely to see snaps of the icy, serrated teeth of the Margerie Glacier, dramatically calving into the Tarr Inlet from the Fairweather Mountain Range. Stay on the lookout for harbor seals and playful sea otters on recently separated icebergs.

Best Way to Reach This View: Book a ($262.44) for the best access to this rapidly changing river of ice.

Glacier National Park, Montana

Swiftcurrent Lake

The Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park is such a coveted road-trip stop that the Park Service instituted a new vehicle-reservation system for it this year. The most striking panorama of Grinnell Point, Mount Wilbur, and Angel Wing—all visible from the —is worth any extra entry-permit effort.

Best Way to Reach This View: Lace up your boots for an easy 2.7-mile hike that circumnavigates the lake. Better yet, book a room at Many Glacier Hotel so you’ll have the view all to yourself when the day crowds disperse.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Desert View Point

Sure, Mather Point steals most of the attention when it comes to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, but I prefer Desert View, near the park’s eastern boundary, for its peaceful campground and dearth of visitors. Plus, the site’s famous watchtower, designed by Parkitecture maven Mary Colter, was inspired by the Ancestral Puebloan peoples of the Colorado Plateau, and it makes a fantastic focal point when snapping photos of “the big ditch.”

Best Way to Reach This View: For the most scenic route, head 23 miles east along Desert View Drive from Grand Canyon Village.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Jenny Lake Overlook

Go early to skip the Grand Teton’s throngs and park at Jenny Lake Overlook to admire second-to-none views of craggy Cascade Canyon and the razor-like protrusions of igneous granite that rise sharply from its depths. From here, visitors can take in the sheer enormity of the Teton Crest, with outstanding photo ops of Mount Moran and Teewinot Mountain. If you’re up for a hike, try the seven-mile Jenny Lake Loop, which offers even more epic lake scenery, as well as potential sightings of moose and bald eagles.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the town of Moose, within the park, head nine miles north on Teton Park Road to the lake.

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Mather Overlook

Nearly every national park has a Mather Overlook, named after the first director of the National Park Service, and at Great Basin, in eastern Nevada, his namesake viewpoint offers a grand perspective of 13,000-foot Wheeler Peak, the second highest in the state. Flanked by ancient bristlecone pines, which can live up to 5,000 years, the mountain is split dramatically in two, with the breathtaking Wheeler Cirque crumbling into a sepia-stained bowl beneath the prominent summit.

Best Way to Reach This View: This is an overlook that can only be accessed between June and late October due to hazardous conditions that close roads in winter. From the eastern park entrance, head west along the 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. A pullout for the overlook is about halfway.

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

High Dune on First Ridge

Though it’s the most popular day-hiking objective at Great Sand Dunes, in southeastern Colorado, the trek up to High Dune is sure to leave even the most seasoned hiker huffing and puffing. With a lofty elevation of over 8,000 feet, and the effort required to plod uphill against the drag of sand, be prepared for burning calves and bring plenty of water for the 2.5-mile slog to the summit. The view from the top is truly spectacular, however, with awesome sights to the�� towering Sangre de Cristo Mountains–home to ten fourteeners.

Best Way to Reach This View: There are no trails in the entire park, but you’ll see the High Dune from the main parking lot. Cross Medano Creek and then start making your way up to the top, logging an elevation gain of 700 feet. For most hikers, getting up and back takes two to four hours.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee

Charlies Bunion

The four-mile (one way) hike to Charlies Bunion is one of the most thrilling in Great Smoky Mountains, due to the sheer number of iconic sights along the way. You’ll be wowed by rolling, verdant mountains and wend through northern hardwood forests and past rhododendron shrubs before topping out at 5,565 feet.

Best Way to Reach This View: Park at Newfound Gap, on the Tennessee–North Carolina state line, then hitch a left onto the Appalachian Trail and proceed to the summit. For a hiking route up Charlies Bunion, check out .

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Salt Basin Dunes

Ask any ranger in Guadalupe Mountains National Park where to watch the sun set over the “Top of Texas,” and they’ll tell you the remote Salt Basin Dunes, in the park’s northwestern corner. Made of bright white gypsum, this sandy expanse showcases the unbelievable prominence of conifer-topped Guadalupe Peak, once a sprawling coral reef when the Delaware Sea covered a large swath of America roughly 275 million years ago.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the Pine Springs Visitor Center, it’s a 47-mile drive to the Salt Basin Dunes parking area; from here, hike a mile and a half to reach the actual dunes.

Haleakala National Park, Hawaii

Puu Ula Ula Summit

Much like Acadia’s Cadillac Mountain, you’ll need a special timed reservation to take in the sunrise atop Haleakala’s 10,023-foot summit (reservable up to 60 days in advance), but after 7 A.M., day-use visitors can enjoy the show as well. From this incredible vantage point—the highest on Maui—you can enjoy top-down views of the huge, richly colored crater, as well as the Big Island if the weather’s clear.

Best Way to Reach This View: The drive to the top from the Summit District entrance takes up to three hours and sees a change in elevation of 3,000 feet, so get ready to rise early and be fully awake before you attempt the narrow, winding road.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

Kilauea Overlook

If you’re in Hawaii and eager to see some lava, head for this park’s Kilauea Overlook, located near the southern end of the Big Island. A hike will allow you to take in the dramatic aftermath of the site’s 2018 eruption and subsequent summit collapse, but if you’d rather not work up a sweat, park at the viewpoint’s lot at sunset and stand in awe of the otherworldly pink glow emanating from the bowels of the earth.

Best Way to Reach This View: Trek the flat, 2.5-mile (one way) Crater Rim Trail, which can be accessed from a handful of popular tourist spots along Crater Rim Drive.

Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

Hot Springs Mountain Pavilion

Much of the joy of a visit to this national park is relaxing in the town’s historic Bathhouse Row. If, however, you’re willing to get in a bit of exercise on your spa-cation, there are some sincerely stellar views to be had of this quaint Ouachita Mountains community—and the hike to this pavilion is at the top of my list. (Many also buy a ticket and ride a 216-foot elevator to the top of Hot Springs Tower for expansive vistas of the surrounding Diamond Lakes area after reaching the initial viewpoint.)

Best Way to Reach This View: Take in the stately architecture of thermal-bath palaces on the Grand Promenade, then ascend the 0.6-mile Peak Trail, just off the promenade, until you reach the pavilion, which faces south.

Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana

Lake View Beach

Right next to the park’s Century of Progress Homes, a gaggle of experimental houses left over from the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, is Lake View Beach, which gazes out from the southern tip of Lake Michigan. On a fair-weather day, visitors can make out the right angles of the Windy City’s high-rises, but at sunset, the sky turns to breathtaking shades of fuchsia and the waves crashing along the sandy shore feel more like an ocean than a Great Lake.

Best Way to Reach This View: It’s 55 miles from the center of Chicago to the town of Beverly Shores. Look for the parking area dedicated to the beach.

Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

Scoville Point

Named some of the best 100 miles of trail in the entire national park system by , the day hike to Scoville Point showcases this region’s boreal forest at its best. Not only does the path run parallel to the shoreline for near constant views of Lake Superior, it also boasts some striking scenery. Hunt for moose munching among stands of balsam fir, and at the end of the trek, feast your eyes on rocky islets dotted with conifers, a trademark of Isle Royale’s archipelago.

Best Way to Reach This View: Though there’s more than one way to arrive at the point via the Stoll Memorial Trail and then the Scoville Point Trail, the easier (and shaded) way is to amble adjacent to Tobin Harbor to the tip of the peninsula.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Keys View

Named after the Keys family, who built and maintained one of the most successful homesteads in Southern California’s arid Joshua Tree desert, Keys View is a thrilling destination for road-tripping travelers who want to feel as though they’re standing at the edge of the known universe. A 500-foot, fully paved loop allows guests to savor a vista of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, Coachella Valley, and Salton Sea.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, drive 21 miles south to the terminus of Keys View Road.

Katmai National Park, Alaska

Brooks Falls

Most travelers to Katmai National Park are there for one thing and one thing only—grizzly bear viewing—and the boardwalk overlook at Brooks Falls is perhaps the best spot in the U.S. to watch these 700-pound mammals fish. You won’t be disappointed.

Best Way to Reach This View: Following a brief, ranger-led bear orientation, take the 1.2-mile (round trip) Brooks Falls Trail to a wooden platform overlooking a roaring waterfall, which, if you’re lucky, will give you the experience you came for—ursine creatures hungrily snatching salmon from the air. For a hiking route to Brooks Falls, check out .

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Aialik Glacier

It takes effort to get out to Aialik Glacier (typically a two-hour boat ride, followed by three miles of kayaking), but along the way, you can search for wriggling sea otters, playful Dall’s porpoises, spouting humpback whales, and soaring bald eagles. Once face to face with this moving sheet of ice, the most rapidly calving in Kenai Fjords, paddlers have the opportunity to watch and listen for “white thunder,” the sound huge hunks of ice make when they crash into the sea.

Best Way to Reach This View: I used Kayak ���ϳԹ���s Worldwide for my adventure to Aialik Glacier (from $489; trips available mid-May through early September), based in Seward. You’ll first take a water-taxi trip south to Aialik Bay, a fantastic way to spot all kinds of wildlife, before suiting up at a beach and sliding into your kayak. Expect to paddle for three hours.

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Evolution Lake

This one’s for all my backpacking brethren. As a predominately wilderness-designated area (meaning that trails can only be used for hiking and horseback riding, and human development is extremely minimal), Kings Canyon is a mecca for trekkers who’d rather don a pack for dozens of miles than motor around to car-friendly overlooks. The lake is a sparkling cobalt gem flanked by glacier-polished granite peaks. One thing’s for certain–you’ll find pristine solitude when you arrive.

Best Way to Reach This View: The lake can be accessed via the 211-mile John Muir Trail, a 36-mile loop departing from Bishop, or a pack-animal trip out of Muir Trail Ranch.

Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska

Great Kobuk Sand Dunes

Kobuk Valley often rounds out the list of least-visited national parks, but there’s a small landing strip situated at the edge of its most noteworthy geological feature, the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, that makes this far-out park accessible for anyone who can tolerate bush planes.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the small town of Kotzebue, hop onto a flightseeing day tour with Golden Eagle Outfitters, or splurge on a 12-day hiking and packrafting trip with Alaska Alpine ���ϳԹ���s that starts and finishes in Fairbanks.

Lake Clark National Park, Alaska

Turquoise Lake

Flanked by 8,000-foot peaks and a colorful array of tundra plants like crowberry and reindeer lichen, Turquoise Lake is a quintessential example of an outrageously teal, glacially fed tarn. It’ll take a bit of extra effort to get there (compared to commercial-flight-accessible Port Alsworth), but expert guiding services offering kayaking and hiking trips will handle all the logistics for you, so you can relish the extraordinary ridges and ravines of the Alaska Range.

Best Way to Reach This View: There are no roads in the park. You’ll have to take a small plane in to reach the lake. We suggest going on an outfitted trip, again with .

Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

Cinder Cone Summit

After a hamstring-busting two-mile ascent to the top of Cinder Cone, in Northern California’s often overlooked Lassen Volcanic National Park, hikers have a chance to view one of the most eye-catching geological features in the entire park system. The aptly named Fantastic Lava Beds surround the park’s incredible painted dunes, a series of warm-toned hills of oxidized volcanic ash. Grab a site at Butte Lake Campground to revel in marvelous night skies, just a short jaunt from the trailhead.

Best Way to Reach This View: Take Highway 44 about 24 miles from the park’s northwest entrance to a six-mile dirt road that leads to the Butte Lake Day Use Area. Cinder Cone Trailhead is located near the boat ramp.

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Drapery Room

Home to the longest known cave system in the world, Mammoth Cave, in central Kentucky, is not a park that’s typically recognized for its naturally sculpted cave formations (like those found in Carlsbad Caverns). However, guests who embark on the ranger-led Domes and Dripstones tour can witness remarkable stalactites and stalagmites, plus wavy drapery-style limestone formations that look like a canopy on a princess’s four-poster bed.

Best Way to Reach This View: You’ll have to sign up for a tour at the visitor center and be able to descend and climb back up a series of stairs.

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Cliff Palace Overlook

No visit to Mesa Verde is complete without a trip to Cliff Palace Overlook, which offers a majestic view of the largest Ancestral Puebloan dwelling in the park. With over 150 rooms and 21 kivas (ceremonial spaces), this site was thought to be a vibrant gathering place with a population of roughly 100 people. You’ll see and learn about 800-year-old stone structures. Ranger-guided tours are also available for a closer glimpse of Ancestral Puebloan architecture.

Best Way to Reach This View: Head down Chapin Mesa to the six-mile Cliff Palace Loop and pull off at the designated parking area.

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Myrtle Falls

The imposing face of 14,410-foot Mount Rainier, the most glaciated peak in the lower 48, looms perfectly above the idyllic cascade of Myrtle Falls, creating a postcard-worthy photo op for passing hikers. Along the hike in, learn about the park’s remarkable wildflower displays and try to spot purple penstemon, crimson paintbrush, and porcelain bear grass from the path.

Best Way to Reach This View: Take a 0.8-mile stroll (round trip) along the Skyline Trail, located in the park’s popular Paradise area.

National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa

Pola Island Trail

Near the tiny village of Vatia, on the northern shore of Tutuila Island, the forested 0.1-mile Pola Island Trail boasts a jaw-dropping view with minimal effort. Park in the shade near a sign marking the well-worn, easy path, then hop over a boulder-strewn beach to soak up incomparable views of ragged Pacific coastline, swaying palm trees, and the craggy cliffs of Pola Island, one of the park’s most important nesting sites for seabirds like boobies and frigates.

Best Way to Reach This View: To reach the trailhead, drive past the last house at the end of the road in Vatia. The road then turns to dirt, and you’ll come upon a small parking area. You’ll see a sign for the short trail leading to the beach.

New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia

Long Point

Yes, you could drive up to New River Gorge’s namesake bridge for kickass views, but my favorite photo op of the famous roadway lies at the end of the 1.6-mile (one way) trail to Long Point. Not only will visitors here get to meander through a forest of hemlock, beech, and white oak, but they’ll also glean outstanding glimpses of rafters floating down the New if they time their outing just right.

Best Way to Reach This View: The Long Point Trailhead is off of Gateway Road, about two miles from the town of Fayetteville.

North Cascades National Park, Washington

Sahale Glacier Camp

One of the most memorable things about North Cascades (apart from its generally crowd-free hiking trails) is its plethora of hanging glaciers, strung between high alpine summits. The moderate 3.7-mile (one way) trek to Cascade Pass will wow you with sensational panoramas of granitic cliffs plunging into Pelton Basin, but for a real showstopper, plan an overnight backpacking trip and continue up the broad shoulder of Sahale Mountain, pitching a tent at Sahale Glacier Camp and enjoying its bird’s-eye view of the Triplets, Mount Baker, and Mount Shuksan.

Best Way to Reach This View: You’ll reach the starting point for the Cascade Pass Trailhead at the end of Cascade Pass Road. For a hiking route to Sahale Glacier Camp, check out .

Olympic National Park, Washington

Rialto Beach

Consult a tide chart before heading out, then motor over to Rialto Beach, on the northwestern shoreline of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. There you’ll find enormous driftwood logs, rocky sea stacks, and bold surfers braving the chilly Pacific Ocean. If you feel like stretching your legs, an easy three-mile (round trip) walk along the coast will bring you past tidepools crawling with life to Hole in the Wall, a volcanic outcropping with a natural arch that’s perfect for pictures.

Best Way to Reach This View: The beach is about 75 miles from Port Angeles. Once you reach Olympic, you’ll be on Highway 101, the road that goes around the park. Exit onto La Push Road and drive eight miles. Then turn onto Mora Road, and after about five miles you’ll find the parking lot for the beach.

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Kachina Point

Though the park is best known for its logs of crystallized conifers, Petrified Forest is also home to some seriously colorful painted-desert hills. At Kachina Point, located just outside the 1930s-era Painted Desert Inn, the rich reds and tangerines of these undulating knolls are on full display. After a quick photo break, be sure to check out Hopi artist Fred Kabotie’s gorgeous murals on display inside the inn.

Best Way to Reach This View: The point is located about two miles from the north entrance of the park. Stroll on the accessible trail behind the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark to the overlook.

Pinnacles National Park, California

Condor Gulch Overlook

Pinnacles is a funny little sleeper park that’s often overshadowed by California’s celebrity public lands like Joshua Tree and Yosemite, but anyone who’s ventured into the park’s golden breccia spires knows that they’re a worthy road-trip destination. Condor Gulch Overlook gives guests a chance to enjoy an up-close view of the park’s famous pinnacles on a well-worn, family-friendly path. Bring your binoculars and try to spot an endangered California condor.

Best Way to Reach This View: The overlook is one mile from the Bear Gulch Nature Center.

Redwood National Park, California

Tall Trees Grove

When in Redwoods, it’s necessary to make a pilgrimage to Tall Trees Grove, a stand of old-growth sempervirens that protect the tallest trees on earth. Don your hiking shoes for a 4.5-mile (round trip) moderate hike around a lush forest of mossy coastal redwoods that’ll have even the grinchiest people believing in fairies. The whole hike takes around four hours.

Best Way to Reach This View: First reserve a free for an access code to the area’s restricted road to the Tall Trees Trail. It’s an hour drive, parts of which are on a narrow and winding dirt road, from the park visitor center to the trailhead.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Mills Lake

On my first-ever trip to this national park, ���ϳԹ��� writer Brendan Leonard told me that if I only made it to one lake inside the park, it had to be Mills Lake, and boy, was he right. Start at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead and hike 2.6 miles—past rushing waterfalls and huge granite boulders—before dipping your toes into the frigid snowmelt of Mills Lake, which overlooks the dramatic northern crags of Longs Peak.

Best Way to Reach This View: Head south on Bear Lake Road for about eight miles and park at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead. Ascend the trail from there to Mills Lake. Arrange a vehicle reservation (or free park shuttle) if you’re traveling between May and October. For a hiking route to Mills Lake, check out .

Saguaro National Park, Arizona

Wasson Peak

When you’ve had enough of Saguaro’s thorny, many-armed cacti from the vantage point of your car window and you’re ready to get your heart rate up, head to the commanding summit of 4,688-foot Wasson Peak, the tallest in the park’s western section. Keep your eyes peeled for petroglyphs as you ascend past saguaro, ocotillo, and prickly pear cactus. Once you reach the top, give yourself a high five and look out across the urban breadth of Tucson all the way to the park’s eastern Rincon Mountain District.

Best Way to Reach This View: Park at the Kings Canyon Trailhead and then expect a strenuous four-mile hike (and nearly 2,000 feet of elevation gain) to the summit.

Sequoia National Park, California

Bearpaw Meadow

Bearpaw Meadow is one of those miraculous, only-in-the-parks vistas that dreams are made of, and getting there is an adventure all its own. You’ll be treated to soul-stirring views of the imposing granite domes and summits of the remote Sierra Nevada. Set up your tent at Bearpaw Meadow’s backcountry campground, or, if you’re feeling spendy, get a glamping tent and dinner at High Sierra Camp.

Best Way to Reach This View: From the park’s iconic Crescent Meadow area, which hosts a grove of towering old-growth sequoias, hike for 11.4 miles to Bearpaw Meadow along the High Sierra Trail, taking in inspiring views of Moro Rock, the powerful Kaweah River, and the Great Western Divide.

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Hazel Mountain Overlook

Rise before dawn and cruise along Shenandoah’s winding, 105-mile Skyline Drive to admire profound sunrise views from this east-facing overlook. An unusual outcropping of ancient granite makes the perfect ledge from which to enjoy Virginia’s rolling pastoral hillsides as the sky turns from apricot to bright blue.

Best Way to Reach This View: Enter the park at the Thornton Gap Entrance Station. The overlook is at mile 33 on Skyline Drive.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

River Bend Overlook

The large stone shelter at River Bend Overlook, in eastern North Dakota, makes for a picturesque family portrait, with a backdrop of shrub-speckled badlands and a U-shaped swerve in the serpentine Little Missouri River. It’s a vast and gorgeous view out onto the river valley.

Best Way to Reach This View: Enter the north unit of the park on Scenic Drive. The overlook is about eight miles in. Park and walk up a short trail to the viewing deck. For a closer look at the park’s iron-impregnated sandstone and wavering grasslands, hop onto the 0.8-mile Caprock Coulee Trail and saunter away from the automobile crowds.

Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands

Cruz Bay Overlook

So much of Virgin Islands National Park, on the island of St. John, is about appreciating the scenery beneath the waves. But the Cruz Bay Overlook, on the moderate Lind Point Trail, is a great stopover between snorkeling trips. Pull off at the signed viewpoint for a commanding look at the boat traffic sailing to and from gorgeous Cruz Bay, the island’s main port. If you’re looking for a little more exercise, continue on to Solomon Beach for a secluded white-sand oasis.

Best Way to Reach This View: The Lind Point Trail starts just behind the park visitor center and ends at Honeymoon Bay or Solomon Bay. A spur off the trail leads to the Cruz Bay Overlook.

Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

Kabetogama Lake Overlook

Whether you’re just driving through Voyageurs or you’re renting a houseboat for the entire family, this wheelchair-accessible overlook on the edge of enormous Lake Kabetogama will provide a fantastic cross section of the area’s natural wonders. Tiny islets are freckled with boreal forest. White and red pines intersperse with fir and spruce trees. And the distant, mournful call of a loon can often be heard at dusk.

Best Way to Reach This View: It’s an easy 0.4-mile trail to reach the overlook. The trailhead is at the third parking area on Meadowood Drive near the Ash River Visitor Center.

White Sands National Park, New Mexico

Roadrunner Picnic Area

In the heart of White Sands, the Roadrunner Picnic Area offers guests a cozy resting place, surrounded by a vast expanse of glowing white gypsum dune fields. The site’s futuristic picnic tables, complete with corrugated metal awnings to protect against ferocious wind and sun, are a fabulous spot from which to enjoy and explore this New Mexico park as the sun sets beyond the Organ Mountains.

Best Way to Reach This View: The picnic area is located about six to seven miles on the main road from the fee station.

Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Rankin Ridge

The historic fire tower atop Rankin Ridge dates back to 1956, and though visitors are not permitted to climb it, it sits on the highest point in Wind Cave (5,013 feet) and makes for an excellent photo backdrop. You’ll look down at the park, which is home to some of the last preserved mixed-grass prairie in the country.

Best Way to Reach This View: From Custer, take Route 16A East for 6.5 miles and turn south on Highway 87. After 13 miles, look for an access road leading to the trailhead. It’s a short and easy half-mile hike through fragrant ponderosa pines to the top.

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, Alaska

Root Glacier Trail

Brave the bumpy, winding McCarthy Road all the way to the once thriving mining community of McCarthy and cross the footbridge to get to Kennecott, a historic town that serves as the center for all things Wrangell–St. Elias, including the majestic trail along the colossal Root Glacier. Bring your bear spray and go it alone, or hire a guide to learn more about the site’s copper-mining past. Spoiler alert–you can also book a crunchy crampon trek atop the glacier. Either way, you’ll be treated to awesome views of Mount Donoho and the 6,000-foot-tall Stairway Icefall.

Best Way to Reach This View: The Root Glacier Trail starts in Kennecott, and about 1.5 miles in you’ll reach the glacier. If you plan to walk on the glacier, hire an experienced guide and wear crampons.

Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming

Artist Point

Named for its proximity to a famous oil painting by 19th-century painter Thomas Moran, Artist Point is the most stunning place from which to gaze at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its mighty waterfall. That being said, it does get crowded in summer months. If you fancy a short hike with similarly epic vistas, amble along the signed trail to Point Sublime (2.6 miles round trip) for an even better glimpse of the canyon’s multicolored walls.

Best Way to Reach This View: For a hiking route to Artist Point, check out .

Yosemite National Park, California

Glacier Point

After a yearlong closure in 2022 for road rehabilitation, travelers can once again drive to Glacier Point and see the broad panoramas of Half Dome, Nevada Fall, and Mount Hoffman. Wander around the accessible, paved pathways near the gift shop or hitch a ride onto a portion of the Panorama Trail for a similar view, sans the crowds at this very popular park.

Best Way to Reach This View: Drive 13 miles on Wawona Road from Yosemite Valley, then turn onto Glacier Point Road at the Chinquapin intersection. Hikers: Start at the Four Mile Trailhead in Yosemite Valley. It’s a strenuous 9.6 mile (round trip) hike to the point.

Zion National Park, Utah

Canyon Overlook

Canyon Overlook, in Zion’s eastern section, is one of the most impressive low-effort, high-reward hikes in the country. The reward is a breathtaking view of the cathedral-like golden spires of Towers of the Virgin, in the park’s main canyon.

Best Way to Reach This View: Park near the tunnel on the eastern side of the Zion–Mount Carmel Highway, then take a series of stairs and sandstone slabs for a mere 0.5-miles (one way) until you reach the lookout on the edge of the cliffs.

As our 63 Parks columnist, Emily Pennington, visited and wrote about every single national park in the U.S. She’s also the author of the recent book Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks.

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At about 4:30 P.M. on Sunday, a patrolling law enforcement ranger came across an unexpected sight: Olympic National Park’s Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge, engulfed in flames, just weeks before the popular spot was expected to reopen for Memorial Day weekend.

Clallam County Fire District 2 and Port Angeles Fire Department quickly responded to the incident, attempting to extinguish the fire. But the fire ultimately caused a complete loss, leaving the lodge a pile of wreckage.

The Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge closed its doors to visitors in March after the park received about $11 million dollars to fund a renovation project that was intended to replace the building’s roof, upgrade plumbing, and overhaul the HVAC system. But now park officials are unsure whether or not there will be a Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge at all.

Built in 1952, the Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge quickly became a staple destination for hikers, who came to dayhike the popular trails on adjacent Hurricane Ridge. The weekend’s fire not only devastated of the property, but it also shocked the nearby community Port Angeles, where locals have always revered the structure.

“We just want to wrap our arms around the park and as a community say, ‘How can we help? How can we get this historic and iconic building back?’” Tommy Farris, owner of Olympic Hiking Company told the .

Sen. Maria Cantewll (D-WA) said in a statement that she is committed to bringing the lodge back to life, no matter what it takes: “I am working with [Interior] and the National Park Service to make sure this historic lodge is rebuilt.”

The cause of the fire is currently unknown; Acting Deputy Superintendent Roy Zipp said the park was still in the process of gathering the facts. A National Park Service structural fire investigator began evaluating the smoldering structure yesterday, and a federal fire investigator will begin an investigation into the incident sometime this week.

No one was inside the lodge at the time of the incident, and no injuries have been reported at this time.

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Long ago, when my brother, Ted, arrived in Yosemite at 18, reporting for volunteer trail work, he thought: This is it. This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.

My friend Karen Eckrich Tyler says that a winter vacation to Yellowstone National Park was the best trip her family ever took. They stayed in the classic Old Faithful Inn, in Wyoming, and beheld geysers, went cross-country skiing, saw eagles, heard the cry of wolves, and marveled at buffalo walking side by side, pawing the snow in search of sustenance.

“Our grumpy teenager did not want to go,” she says. “And even he said he loved it.”

On my first visit to Yosemite, California, one summer in the 1980s, I sat in the back seat of the Mustang my friend and I had hitched a ride in, my head swimming from the driver’s cigarette smoke, the heat, and the sight of towering walls I’d somehow presumed to come climb. That autumn, friends and I hiked and climbed in the moonscape of Joshua Tree, in Southern California, beside stretches of wildflowers. I later camped in Acadia, on the coast of Maine; and as a weekend traveler then living in Boston, welcomed the sound of birdsong and gentle waves.

Visiting a national park, or any of the run by the National Park Service, is a memory you keep and a joy worth sharing. Next Saturday, April 22, admission is free to all of the parks—which include national historic sites, national seashores, national preserves, national monuments, and —to mark the start of , a nine-day celebration that encourages visitation to more than 85 million acres maintained by the Park Service.

“Entrance fees will be waived on April 22, 2023, to kick off the celebration and to encourage everyone to enjoy their national parks,” reads the NPS Celebrations and Commemorations page. “Also discover what the National Park Service does through our programs and partners to preserve natural and cultural heritage and provide recreational opportunities.”

This year has seen designation of two new national monuments—Avi Kwa Ame in Southern Nevada, and Castner Range, near El Paso, Texas—and Camp Hale, near Leadville, Colorado, was added last fall. Park units extend beyond the continental U.S., which includes Alaska, to Hawaii and into the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

There are numerous ways to take advantage of discounts at the various park units. The Park Service offers five free visitation days annually. This year’s dates are:

• �����Գܲ����� 16—Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• April 22—The first day of National Parks Week
• August 4—Great American Outdoors Day 
• September 23—National Public Lands Day
• November 11—Veterans Day

The Park Service also offers free or discounted programs for U.S. military members and families, veterans, and Gold Star families; U.S. citizens or residents with disabilities; and fourth-grade students through the school year and ensuing summer, as part of the Every Kid ���ϳԹ��� program. Seniors can buy a lifetime pass for $80—just don’t lose it, as a friend of mine did last week, because they cannot be replaced (i.e., you have to buy it again). An annual pass for seniors is just $20. Check out all the passes’ details .

You can also to score free admission—just know that it is heavy-duty work, with 250 hours of service required. Volunteers can teach history and culture, do scientific research, aid in plant and forest stewardship, help build and maintain trails, and take on other jobs in parks across the country and the U.S. territories.

During National Park Week, the Western National Parks Association is giving a 20 percent discount at all WNPA-managed stores to those in its Park Protector program, whose $25 annual membership supports education, research, and community events.

Our parks may have their issues, from overdevelopment and the distraction of air tourism to increasing crowds (many parks, however, remain quiet). But I can’t imagine having missed seeing places like Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado—where I was awakened, twice, in my sleeping bag atop a large boulder by a mouse chomping on my hair—or Shenandoah, in Virginia, where my husband and I enjoyed a sunny hike among rustling green oak and hickory with our younger son when it was his turn to go off to college.

I remember my father, also named Ted, once saying of Alaska, which was the only state in the U. S. that he’d never been to, “I’d just like to see those sights before I die.” His words gave me a shiver, but he did go to the wilds of Alaska, on a rainy fishing trip, and showed us all pictures when he came home. He died very unexpectedly soon after.

Victoria Carter, a contributing writer for ���ϳԹ���, recalls that her parents raised her and her brother with family hikes, bike and ski trips, and campouts. Every summer they took road trips to national parks, she has written: “My parents made sure my brother and I knew that the magic of this country exists first and foremost in the land itself.” She is still taking those trips. So am I.

Alison Osius is a travel editor at ���ϳԹ���. Prior to beginning the job last year, she’d visited over a dozen of our national parks, and various national seashores and forests. She has learned much about our multitude of parks since, and wants to see more.

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Ski in the morning, hike through an old-growth forest that same afternoon, then camp on the beach at night. Welcome to Olympic National Park, one of few places on earth boasting such a wide range of ecosystems. Most park-goers find themselves asking not what to do here but how much they can cram into their visits.

The choices are copious and depend on your preferred setting and mode of exploration. You can wander the temperate rainforest or some 70 miles of coastline, paddle lakes and spend time at tidepools, backpack to more than 100 wilderness campsites, or head straight for the park’s rugged and remote crown jewel, 7,980-foot Mount Olympus. Don’t be fooled by its modest elevation; the peak is home to many large glaciers, including the three-mile-long Hoh Glacier, and requires an 18-mile approach, mountaineering skills, and a Class 4 scramble to the summit.

Like many U.S. national parks, Olympic has a complicated history, but over the years, attempts have been made to right a few wrongs, some of which predate the park’s formal establishment in 1938. In the early 1900s, the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams were built on the Elwha River to supply hydropower to the nearby town of Port Angeles. However, their construction flooded the traditional homelands of the Lower Elwha Klallam, violated the tribe’s treaty rights, and decimated salmon populations by blocking their migratory upstream route.

In 1992, Congress passed the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act, which, nearly two decades later, resulted in the largest dam-removal project in U.S. history. Tribal members and others showed up to celebrate in T-shirts emblazoned with “It’s about Dam time!” Today, the Elwha again runs free.

More recently 2018, in a quirky case, the National Park Service teamed up with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service to relocate mountain goats via helicopter from Olympic National Park to the North Cascades, over 100 miles away. Mountain goats aren’t native to Olympic National Park. A dozen were introduced here by a sporting club in the 1920s.

Over time the goats proliferated to a population of over 1,000, trampling rare and indigenous plants and disrupting natural ecological processes. The goat-relocation operation has attempted to restore the park to its original goat-free state while also supporting dwindling goat populations in their native North Cascades habitat. If you’ve ever wanted to watch a pair of goats fly off into the sunset, .

What You Need to Know Before Traveling to Olympic National Park

You can drive around the park but not through it

Unlike many national parks, Olympic contains no through roads. Ninety-five percent of the park is federally designated wilderness, in which motorized traffic is prohibited. The primary way to access different entrance points is via Highway 101, which roughly circumnavigates the park; however, those roads into the park essentially dead-end in 10 to 15 miles. , keep your fuel tank topped off, and if you intend to visit the deep interior, plan to get there on your own two feet.

Plan to BYO Bear can

Due to its abundant wildlife, Olympic has stringent food-storage regulations at its various wilderness campsites. Bear wires are available to hang food at many backcountry campsites, but for those without—including in the Enchanted Valley, High Divide Royal Basin, and the entire Wilderness Coast—you must have a Park Service–approved bear canister. (And no, Ursacks don’t make the cut. ) You can borrow a bear canister for free from the Port Angeles, Quinault, or Hoodsport Wilderness Information Centers, but their supply can run out on busy weekends and, unfortunately, they can’t be reserved in advance, so bringing your own may be your best bet. Consult the Park Service’s to know what’s required where you want to camp.

For coastal hiking, carry a topo map and a tide chart

Several of the park’s coastal trails are only passable at low tide, so it is very important to time any beach hikes to avoid getting trapped or cliffed out when the water’s high. Tide charts can be downloaded from the or obtained in person at . If you’re unsure how to use them with a topographic map, ask a ranger for help in advance.

How to Get to Olympic National Park

There are multiple entrance points on all sides of the park, and most visitors tend to access them with a car. If you’re starting your drive in Seattle, count on a drive of at least two to three hours. And while you can motor around the south end of Puget Sound to reach the Olympic Peninsula, why sit in all that traffic when you could instead? For destinations on the western side of the park, such as the Hoh Rain Forest and any of Olympic’s Pacific coastline, plan on a four-plus-hour trip from Seattle (whether you go by ferry or land).

Some parts of Olympic are also accessible by bus. The Dungeness Bus Line provides service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) to park entrance points like Port Angeles or Sequim, where you can then connect to the Clallam Transit System bus to reach other park destinations along Highway 101.

Port Angeles, home to the —the only park visitor center that’s open year-round—is also accessible by ferry from Victoria, British Columbia.

The Best Time of Year to Visit Olympic National Park

As with many national parks, summer is its prime season, but Olympic’s biodiversity and ample lowlands make for plenty to see and do any time of the year.

Spring

Washington is called the Evergreen State for a reason—and Olympic National Park shines at its ever-greenest each spring after the lush forests have spent the winter soaked with rain. (The Hoh Rain Forest, notably, receives about 12 feet of rain annually.) Plus, come spring, the park’s waterfalls are at peak runoff. Many of the park’s trails are at lower elevations than other popular hiking meccas in Washington State, making them a great option for those seeking training hikes or backpacking trips in preparation for summer. Just be sure to pack your raincoat, every outing.

Summer

Summer offers myriad recreational opportunities at Olympic: hiking, climbing, cycling, camping, backpacking, paddling, and more. And while rain is at a minimum this season, crowds are at a maximum. Western Washington is a land of weekend warriors, so visiting popular areas and campsites on weekdays never hurts when possible. During peak hours, plan on one-to-two-hour wait times to see sites such as Hurricane Ridge or the Hoh Rain Forest, as parking is limited and the Park Service meters traffic; smart travelers will plan to hit these areas first thing in the morning or late in the evening. (And thanks to the park’s northern latitude, daylight hours are long in the summer; close to the solstice, there’s light in the sky from 5 A.M. to nearly 10 P.M.)

Another option to avoid the masses is to hike into the park from trails in adjacent wilderness areas. You’ll still need a wilderness camping permit to spend the night within the park’s boundaries, but if you—like me—are bad at planning, you can pitch a tent sans permit in park-adjacent wildernesses such as at Marmot Pass (in the Buckhorn Wilderness) or Lower Lena Lake (in the Brothers Wilderness), then traipse your way into Olympic on foot for a day visit.��

Fall

Yes, even rainforests have stunning autumn foliage: big-leaf maple, vine maple, red alder, and other deciduous trees provide an eye-popping contrast to the verdant mosses and ferns of Olympic. Plus, summer crowds usually dissipate by late September, so it’s easier to find solitude. Fall also provides some unique wildlife-viewing opportunities: It’s mating season for the —the largest unmanaged herd of elk in the Pacific Northwest—so keep an ear out for their haunting bugles, which sound like a cross between a creaky metal gate and a trumpet. At the Salmon Cascades overlook on the Sol Duc River, you can see coho swimming upstream and leaping en route to spawn. Or watch sockeye spawn in the Quinault River come November and December; a good sighting spot is at Big Creek, about six miles northeast of Lake Quinault on North Shore Road.

Winter

Much of the park consists of lowlands that primarily receive rain, not snow, in the winter, making them possible to enjoy year-round. If it’s snow sports you’re after, though, remains open on weekends all season long (as long as the road is open), with opportunities for cross-country, alpine, and backcountry skiing, snowboarding, tubing, snowshoeing, and more (see the Snow Sports section below).

Where to Stay in Olympic National Park

Lodging inside the park

Several options exist within park boundaries, each with its own charms and access points. is located on the Pacific coast, with various accommodations ranging from rooms and suites (from $280) to oceanside cabins (from $300). In addition to a location near the park’s beaches, this lodge is also a good choice for those interested in visiting the Hoh Rain Forest.

Farther inland, on the south side of the park, is the beautiful (from $304), built in 1926 on the shore of its eponymous lake. Open year-round, it’s an ideal base camp for lake adventures or exploring the known as the Valley of 10,000 Waterfalls.

Two seasonal options exist on Lake Crescent, on the north side of the park, near Port Angeles: the turn-of-the-century (open late April through November; from $164) and the rustic (open late May to September; from $91), which will make you feel like a kid at scout camp all over again.

Slightly deeper into the park is the (open late March through October; from $244), with quaint cabins and riverfront suites tucked into the woods. There’s no cell service or Wi-Fi at Sol Duc, so plan to enjoy an unplugged respite, complete with soaking opportunities in three mineral hot spring pools and one freshwater pool.

Nearby Lodging

With so many towns along Highway 101, there are countless choices near the park. Of them, the town of Forks is one of the most popular; not only was it made famous by Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling vampire-romance series, Twilight, but it’s also a quaint destination with quick access to beloved park beaches like Second, Third, and Rialto. Prefer to be right on the ocean? You can’t beat the (open year-round; cabins from $135). Located on the Quileute Indian Reservation in La Push, and owned and operated by the Quileute Tribe, it offers shorefront cabins, RV sites, and motel rooms within walking distance of the national park.

Camping

Camping is available year-round at Olympic. Many campgrounds are first come, first served, but summer reservations can be made at for the Fairholme, Kalaloch, Mora, Hoh Rain Forest and Sol Duc campgrounds ($25-60/night), or by phone (888-896-3818) for the ($40-50 for RV sites; $25-30 for tent camping). The park also boasts (including many on the beach); overnight permits are required but up to six months in advance. Dispersed camping outside designated backcountry campsites is prohibited in Olympic National Park.��

What to Do in Olympic National Park

Backpacking, Day Hiking, and Trail Running

You’ve heard of the PCT, but have you heard of the PNT? The is a 1,200-mile corridor connecting Montana’s Glacier National Park to the Pacific coast. About 130 miles of the route passes through Olympic along its extensive Pacific coastline, from the Hoh Indian Reservation to Cape Alava, just south of the Ozette Indian Reservation. Hiking portions of the PNT is a wonderful way to escape the crowds and enjoy the remote interior of the park.

Consider checking out the 19-mile (typically snow-free by late July and through September) or the nine-mile Ozette Triangle (sometimes also called the Cape Alava Loop), which connects forested boardwalk trails with a three-mile stretch on the beach. Both make for awesome backpacking routes if you can get . If not, tackle them as glorious done-in-a-day adventures.

Want to get up close and personal with a glacier? Hike the 18-mile (one way!) Hoh River Trail to the foot of Blue Glacier on the flanks of Mount Olympus.

As far as day hikes go, a few favorites include those to Sol Duc Falls (1.6 miles round trip), Hole-in-the-Wall from Rialto Beach (3.4 miles round trip), Moose Lake (8.2 miles round trip), and Shi Shi Beach to Point of Arches (8 to 10 miles round trip; check your tide chart beforehand, and be aware that this hike also requires an additional $20 to access). For other great trails to hike or run, and a searchable database of trip reports, visit the , which lets you refine your search results with all kinds of filters, including kid-friendly and wheelchair-friendly.

Surfing

This is adventure surfing. You reach Shi Shi Beach only by a two-mile hike through the rainforest, carrying your board and earning a one-of-a-kind backcountry surfing opportunity and an unforgettable view of a line of sea stacks. Make it a day trip, or get a camping permit You start at the Shi Shi Beach trailhead on the Makah Reservation. Be sure to purchase an additional from the Makah Tribe.

The water is cold year-round, so bring a well-insulated wetsuit, and beware of the many riptides and rocks.

Lake Activities

Olympic is home to several large lowland lakes that are accessible year-round. From May to September, you can rent canoes, kayaks, paddleboats, or stand-up paddleboards at the Log Cabin Resort on Lake Crescent or at the . In July and August, Lake Quinault Lodge—located on the lake on the Quinault Indian Reservation—offers at daybreak, afternoon, or sunset.

With few exceptions, most fishing in Olympic National Park is catch and release. The Park Service works closely with eight Native tribes to develop harvesting regulations to support indigenous fish while also providing recreational fishing opportunities for visitors.

Snow Sports

Come winter, all that rain down low is snowfall up high. With a summit elevation of 5,240 feet, Hurricane Ridge sees an average annual snowfall of more than 400 inches. It offers and is a beautiful area for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Ranger-led snowshoe hikes are frequently available in the afternoons; inquire at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.

Hurricane Ridge is also home to a small, family-oriented ski and snowboard area—one of only three areas within a national park. (Bonus: holders won’t have to buy a lift ticket.) Also known as Hurricane Ridge, it features two rope tows and a Poma lift, backcountry access, and ski and snowboard lessons, as well as a . You can rent downhill skis or snowshoes at the visitor center. If it’s snowboard rental you’re after or want to rent your skis in advance, swing by in Port Angeles before entering the park.

Parents of young kids can bring a sled or tube to the free Children’s Snowplay Area just west of the visitor center. (For older kids and kids at heart, the park encourages sliding at the formal tubing park instead.)

From December through March, the ski area is open on weekends and Monday holidays, as long as Hurricane Ridge Road is open. Call 360-565-3131 or follow to check the road status.

Cycling

Since all but five percent of the park is designated wilderness, there aren’t a ton of places within park borders to ride a bike. One exception is the four-mile, partially paved Spruce Railroad Trail, which runs along the north side of Lake Crescent. It offers a scenic respite from the Highway 101 traffic on the south side of the lake. Need to rent a bike? The Log Cabin Resort can hook you up.

Just north of the park, the 135-mile, runs from the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend all the way to La Push on the Pacific coast. More than half of the route is on a designated non-motorized path (with more segments being added each year), making it a fantastic way to tour the peninsula on two wheels. Additionally, the 25-mile Olympic ���ϳԹ��� Trail, composed of singletrack and double track open to mountain bikers, hikers, and equestrians, paralleling the paved, rail-grade stretch of the ODT between the Elwha River and Lake Crescent.

All park roads are also open to cyclists. Gluttons for pain won’t want to miss the chance to ride up to Hurricane Ridge. If pedaling in traffic isn’t your thing, join on the first Sunday of August each year, when the road closes to all motor vehicles, giving cyclists an opportunity to tackle the 40-mile ride from Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge and back with ample space.

Stargazing

With a location far from major cities and without many roads through the park’s interior, Olympic boasts incredible stargazing opportunities—as long as it’s not cloudy out (never a sure bet in the Pacific Northwest, but your best odds occur in summer). On a clear night, the Milky Way is spectacular, and the Andromeda Galaxy is also often visible with the naked eye. For a professional tour of the stars, check out .

Wildlife and Tide-Pool Viewing

The park’s coastline is home to three national wildlife refuges: Copalis, Flattery Rocks and Quillayute Needles. All are closed to the public to help protect fragile wildlife populations. (Even if you come in by sea, regulations prohibit getting within 200 yards of them). So while it’s not possible to set foot on the refuges’ hundreds of offshore islands, reefs, and rocky outcroppings, many species can be viewed with binoculars from beaches such as Shi Shi, Cape Alava (on the Ozette Triangle), Rialto, Second, Ruby, and Kalaloch. Watch for everything from whales and puffins to elephant seals and sea otters. And spend time exploring the coast’s many vibrant tide pools.

Tree Hugging

Some of the most famous trees in Olympic are found in the Hall of Mosses in the Hoh Rain Forest. But if you’re driving the whole peninsula loop, you might also want to ogle the world’s largest Sitka spruce, located on the (aptly named) Big Spruce Trail by Lake Quinault; the world’s largest red cedar, known as , between Forks and Kalaloch; and, at Kalaloch Beach, the , a famous thousand-year-old Sitka spruce whose roots form a cave beneath it.��

The Best Places to Eat and Drink Near Olympic National Park

As the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula, Port Angeles is your best bet for a wide variety of cuisine. But there are a few gems along the Highway 101 loop: Enjoy a cup of locally roasted coffee and a baked-from-scratch slice of carrot cake at the in Sequim. When you’re ready to refuel after a day of adventure, , near Lake Crescent, or Clallam Bay’s , overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, offer homey, diner-style cooking.

When you make it to Forks, stop by the to sample local craft beers and ciders and chat with residents. Farther south along the coast, the sources most of its food and beverages locally, with 100 percent of its wine offerings from Washington State. (The restaurant also serves a Tree of Life martini, using Washington-made vodka.) Top seafood picks include the Dungeness crab mac and Beecher’s cheese, classic ale-battered fish and chips, or a sourdough bread bowl full of clam chowder with bacon.

If you somehow make it all the way back around to the eastern side of the peninsula without sampling some proper Pacific Northwest seafood, stop at the , a one-of-a-kind outdoor eatery with rustic A-frame gazebos overlooking the water. Hours are limited and reservations are recommended. If you miss the saloon for whatever reason (shucks!), you can still shop at the neighboring Hama Hama Farm Store for everything from house-smoked oysters to fresh salmon to locally made ice cream.��

If You Have Time for a Detour

Mountains, glaciers, ocean, rainforest… perhaps the only thing the Olympic Peninsula lacks is a big city. But from Port Angeles, it’s just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to reach downtown Victoria, British Columbia, which feels like a bustling metropolis after time spent on the peninsula. You can bring your car onto the ferry or just walk on and explore the Canadian province’s capital city on foot. (Don’t forget your passport, enhanced driver’s license, or other travel documents.)

From the ferry landing, you can wander downtown, stroll the harbor, visit the , or (built in 1916) and admire the breakwater murals of First Nations artists along the way. Many visitors also venture out on the four-mile to have a gander at the world’s tallest freestanding totem pole— 127 feet high—at Beacon Hill, or stop at beaches along the trail such as Finlayson Point and Clover Point Park, where orca whales can be spotted offshore. And of course, pop in to a Canadian grocery store to procure some Coffee Crisp bars and All Dressed chips.

How to Be a Conscientious Visitor to Olympic National Park

Learn about the Native people who have lived on the Olympic Peninsula since time immemorial. Eight tribes—the Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Skokomish, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Makah—reside on reservations along the park’s fringes and maintain deep relationships with the land.

A great place to start your education is at the ��It offers demonstrations and talks from tribal members on everything from Makah history to basketry to fisheries management. The center is also home to hundreds of artifacts from Ozette, a Makah village that was buried by a mudslide some 500 years ago and only rediscovered in 1970 after a storm exposed impeccably preserved artifacts.

Not all tribal lands are open to the public. Be attentive to signage and closures, respect people’s privacy, do not photograph individuals without permission, and leave all rocks, shells, driftwood, and natural artifacts here undisturbed.

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On Wednesday, July 20, officials recovered the body of a climber who had been reported missing in Olympic National Park.

The climber, 38-year-old Sean Allen, had a permit to hike in the area from July 16 to 18. He was alone, and had been planning to ascend 7,639-foot Mount Mystery, 7,179-foot Hal Foss Peak, and 6,941-foot Little Mystery during his trip. When he failed to report home on the 18th, rescuers began searching for him. His body was found two days later, on the southern end of Mount Mystery, on the approach to the Del Monte ridge line. Officials believe he fell about 40 feet in his descent, likely due to poor visibility.��

Allen was a longtime climber and accomplished mountaineer, who was first introduced to the sport by his friend Chad Namolik.

“I took Sean rock climbing for his first time in the summer of 2009 at Little Baldy in Sequoia National Park, California,” Namolik wrote in an email. “I led some sport routes in the 5.7 to 5.9 range and he toproped and cleaned them. It was easy to trust him as a belayer as he was very eager and interested in learning the skills.”

Allen bought gear and committed to climb the East Buttress of Mt. Whitney with Namolik, who would lead all the pitches. “But I was feeling very exhausted up around pitch six from the climbing and the altitude; we were also getting hammered by strong winds,” Namolik wrote. “Sean wanted the summit badly so he grabbed the rack and handled his very first ever trad lead like a seasoned veteran. His drive is what got us up the peak that day.”

The two logged between 100 to 150 pitches over their years of climbing together, completing classics such as Epinephrine, in Red Rock, Nevada, Monkey Off My Back, on Monkey Face in Smith Rock, and Open Book, at Tahquitz Rock, California.

“He was very calm in the mountains and on the rock, and that helped me to stay calm as well,” writes Namolik. “He never rushed me, which is one of my favorite things about our partnership. He was always very positive about our goals together.”

Born on the small Caribbean island of Antigua, Allen moved with his family at a young age to Vista, California. At the age of 26, he moved to Sequoia National Park, where he worked as a server at Bearpaw High Sierra Camp. Later, he moved with friends to Port Angeles, Washington to work as a server at Lake Crescent Lodge. Aside from spending a season in the Tetons, Port Angeles became his home.��

Another of Allen’s climbing partners, Russell Houghten, ran into him at Bearpaw Sequoia Camp while backpacking through the area. The two had previously met through skateboarding. The following winter, Allen introduced Houghten to climbing. “He taught me everything I know,” writes Houghten. “I’ll always remember our trip up the Nose together. We were both total wall gumbies, but we would encourage each other and sing random songs from Shania Twain to Toots and the Maytals to keep our morale high.”

Houghten also mentioned Allen’s talent for skateboarding, saying “He was a local legend in the Vista, California, skateboard scene. He was one of those people who was good at everything he tried.” Namolik also writes, “He had excellent footwork right from the very start, I think due to the fact that he was an amazing skateboarder.”

Allen met Etienne Surrette at Lake Crescent Lodge. The two became friends and, alongside Matt Winterberg and Logan Chismar, made plans to climb Mount Rainier. Surrette recalled when, at 12,800 feet, the meal Allen had eaten at Camp Muir didn’t sit quite right with him. “Sean excused himself for a moment and climbed a little above us,” writes Surrette. “Somewhere beyond the freezing figures of me and Logan, in the predawn darkness among the stars and the ice, Sean was experiencing his own forces of nature. He came back completely calm with a full blue bag saying something like, ‘That was bad,’ before clipping back in.” Surrette wrote how Allen never complained; he kept pushing forward.

Allen climbed up to 5.12 and enjoyed big-wall aid climbing and mountaineering. Some of his many summits include 19,347-foot Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and 30 peaks in Olympic National Park, including Mt. Deception (7,788 feet) and Mt. Constance (7,756 feet). His favorite crags were Joshua Tree, Idyllwild, and Red Rocks. He is missed by his partner, family, friends, and the climbing community.

A page on has been set up in his memory.

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The Great American Road Trip may promise national parks galore, but driving’s not the only way to visit America’s best idea. Numerous Amtrak stations lie within two hours—or closer—of the country’s top national park getaways. Some stops offer hiker shuttles, other visits require rental cars, and parks like Glacier and Gateway Arch let you stroll from the platform to the park entrance.

To inspire your train-to-park getaways, we pored over Amtrak routes, stations, schedules, and logistics. The result? This—the ultimate Amtrak-to-national-park loop, because there’s no better way to see the country than on a long train ride. The cross-country itinerary (and back again), which starts at about $1,200 total for train tickets (coach fare, as of July 2024), includes 12 national parks, eight days of train travel, and specific instructions for getting from platform to park at each stop. If you have time to do it all at once, it’s the trip of a lifetime. Or pick off one park at a time; they’re all worthy.

Stop 1: Olympic National Park | Port Angeles Gateway Transit Center

From station to park: under one hour

Visit the snowy, sawtooth ridges and old-growth rainforests of Olympic National Park via Amtrak’s Thruway bus, which takes ticketed travelers three and a half hours from the Seattle Amtrak station up to Port Angeles, Washington, the gateway to some of the Pacific Northwest’s wildest landscapes.

Grab the Clallam Transit System’s ($1.50) from the Gateway Transit Center to��one of Olympic National Park’s most popular destinations, Lake Crescent. The 40-minute bus ride leads to East Beach, just steps from the Lake Crescent Lodge and the trailhead up the steep switchbacks of the .

For a more flexible visit, grab a rental car from Enterprise or Avis (around $100 per day) in Port Angeles. Both are a few blocks from the station; from there, it’s around 20 miles up to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, the starting point for traversing numerous scenic .

Stop 2: Crater Lake National Park | Klamath Falls Station

From station to park: under one hour

Cobalt-blue Crater Lake is the next stop on your national-park train loop. You have two transport options from the closest station, Klamath Falls, roughly 45 miles from the Crater Lake National Park Village Visitor Center. The seasonal ($40 roundtrip; includes park entrance fee) holds 25 people and runs two-hour tours through the park from July to September (it’s been closed for the past two seasons due to COVID-19 and does not have a reopening date listed).

For off-season visits, go the rental-car route. Enterprise is one mile south of the Klamath Falls Station, and the Rim Village Visitor Center is another hour to the north. From the visitor center, you can join popular hikes like the 3.5-mile , or grab a bite or room at .

Train from Port Angeles: 16 hours; one transfer

Stop 3: Yosemite National Park | Merced Station

From station to park: two hours

Reach Yosemite National Park’s plunging waterfalls, soaring sequoias, and awe-striking Half Dome via Amtrak’s Merced Station in central California. From the station, take the Highway 140 Bus up to the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center and the Yosemite Valley Lodge, where you can reach to Yosemite Falls, Mirror Lake, and the Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point. If you purchase tickets to Yosemite through Amtrak (an additional $20), the YARTS bus fare is included.

Like at Crater Lake and Olympic National Parks, you can also rent a car via Budget or Enterprise in Merced. Both facilities are a 30-minute walk from the station; it’s another two hours driving from here to reach the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.

Train from Klamath Falls: 12 hours, 35 minutes; two transfers

Stop 4: Channel Islands National Park | Ventura Station

From station to park: 10 minutes, plus one- to three-hour ferry

Further down the national-park-packed West Coast is a��string of five unspoiled and biodiverse islands known as the “Galapagos of North America.” To access Channel Islands National Park, take Amtrak to Ventura Station, just beyond Santa Barbara, then grab an Uber or taxi for the five-mile trip over to Ventura Harbor dock, where NPS-licensed concessionaire vessels depart (trips start at $60). The Channel Islands ferry ride is anywhere from one to three hours, depending on your island of choice. Expect craggy coastal scenery and potential whale sightings along the way.

For the quickest day-trip option, head to Santa Cruz, the largest of the Channel Islands. Its 16 hiking trails, including the two-mile from Scorpion Beach, where Island Packer Cruises lets passengers off, showcase a dazzling palette of Pacific coast scenery.

Train from Merced: six hours; one transfer

Stop 5: Saguaro National Park | Tucson Station

From station to park: under 30 minutes

Make your way inland, from Ventura to San Diego, then San Diego toward Amtrak’s Tucson station, for a quintessentially southwest U.S. stop: Saguaro National Park. Giant saguaros dot this rugged desert expanse, with some cacti standing up to 45 feet tall. The park is split into two, with one section east of the city, and one west. This, plus lack of public transit, means rental cars are the easiest way to get around. Enterprise is just over one mile north of the Tucson station; ZipCar is also available throughout the city.

Eastern Saguaro National Park’s Rincon Mountain Visitor Center and the western side’s Red Hills Visitor Center are each 15 miles from the station. Both portions of the park offer their own sky-high-cacti beauty, but for a truly immersive and humbling experience, admire the scenery and soaring saguaros on the 17-mile in Saguaro National Park East.

Train from Ventura *: Ventura to San Diego (5 hours, 21 minutes; direct), San Diego to Tucson: 16 hours, 35 minutes; one transfer

*(Note: Amtrak does not offer a straight route from Ventura to Tucson; you must book each leg separately)

Stop 6: Big Bend National Park | Alpine Station

From station to park: one hour

Next stop along the southern U.S. border: the stark desert, deep canyons, and glittering night skies at Big Bend National Park. Alpine Station in western Texas is the closest Big Bend train stop. Rent a car through local agency ; when scheduled in advance, they’ll deliver vehicles to the Amtrak station.

It’s a surreal and remote one-hour drive from Alpine down into the heart of Big Bend National Park, where hikes like the dramatic five-mile lead to views across the Chisos Mountains and beyond.

Train from Tucson: 10 hours, 20 minutes; direct

Stop 7: Hot Springs National Park | Little Rock Union Station

From station to park: one hour

Continue eastbound for a serene dip or forested stroll at , accessible via Arkansas’ Little Rock Union Station. The park’s 26 miles of hiking trails and namesake hot springs are a one-hour drive from the Amtrak stop at Union Station.

Rental cars are ideal for getting from points A to B and beyond, whether that’s a stroll along the three-mile or a soak at the century-old . Enterprise is a one-mile walk from the Little Rock Union Station.

Train from Alpine: 26 hours, 46 minutes; direct

Stop 8: Gateway Arch National Park | St. Louis Gateway Station

From station to park: 10 minutes

Enjoy a warm Midwest welcome as you enter St. Louis, Missouri, where awaits just minutes from Gateway Station. This is one of the country’s smallest national parks—a superlative that promises seamless car-free navigation. From the centrally located Gateway Station, stroll 30 minutes to hit the park by foot. Or, for a quicker trip, ride the St. Louis Metro ($1) ten minutes from the nearby Civic Center, to the Lacledes Landing Metrolink Station, next to the park.

Once you’ve reached Gateway Arch National Park, catch the tram to the top of the 63-story arch, visit the onsite museum, or board a , which offers a leisurely Mississippi River paddleboat tour.

Train from Little Rock: 7 hours, 45 minutes; direct

Stop 9: Shenandoah National Park | Charlottesville Amtrak Train Station

From station to park: 30 minutes

Head further east to enjoy the undulating forests and rocky peaks of Shenandoah National Park, accessible from the Charlottesville, Virginia, Amtrak station. Shenandoah’s signature attraction, the 105-mile that follows the park’s portion of the Appalachian Trail, is most easily enjoyed by car. Enterprise is two miles from the Charlottesville train station; use rideshare or Charlottesville Area Transit Bus Route 10 ($1.50 for 24 hours) to get there.

Beyond Skyline Drive, trails abound near the park’s southern terminus (closest to Charlottesville), including the ten-mile circuit hike, which features sweeping mountain vistas with brief portions along the famed AT.

Train from St. Louis: 34 hours; two transfers

Stop 10: New River Gorge National Park and Preserve | Charleston Station

From station to park: one hour

En route from Charlottesville to Charleston, West Virginia, Amtrak weaves right through New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The park alone has three Amtrak stops: Hinton, Thurmond, and Prince. Each stop is a few blocks from the New River. Prince in particular is close to top park attractions like the dramatic Thomas Burford Pugh Memorial Bridge, one mile away from the train platform.

But public transportation and ride-share options are scarce near these in-park train stops. A rental car is the most seamless way to fully enjoy the expansive 70,000-acre —whether you’re whitewater rafting or hiking through deep canyons. To go the rental-car route, take the train just north of the park to Charleston’s Amtrak station, where Enterprise is a one-mile walk from the tracks.

Train from Charlottesville: 6 hours, 30 minutes; direct

Stop 11: Cuyahoga Valley National Park | Cleveland Station

From station to park: 30 minutes

Head back west-bound to explore the winding gorges and forest-fringed waterfalls in northeast Ohio’s , just outside of Cleveland. Rent a car to easily access Cuyahoga Valley’s top attractions; Hertz is a one-mile walk from the station, and the park is 30 minutes driving to the south.

See Cuyahoga Valley by foot, with hiking trails like the two-mile , which twists beneath towering sandstone cliffs. Or, grab yet another train, the , to see the entirety of the park, from bald-eagle nesting sites to the crooked Cuyahoga River.

Train from Charleston: 30 hours; one transfer

Stop 12: Glacier National Park | East Glacier, West Glacier, or Whitefish Stations

From station to park: under one hour

To close the cross-country train loop, continue westward toward the sky-high peaks and teal lakes of Glacier National Park. The park has three Amtrak-station options. East Glacier Station, used from April to October, is the closest option. It’s walking distance from East Glacier Park Village, Glacier National Park Lodge, and the Mount Henry and Autumn Creek East trailheads.

West Glacier Station, open year-round at the southern end of Going to the Sun Road, is two miles south of the Apgar Visitor Center, with Lake McDonald just beyond that. summer West Side hiker shuttle provides transportation between West Glacier Station and Lake McDonald Lodge and the Village Inn in Apgar; seats must be booked in advance (fares from $6 to $14, depending on route).

Whitefish, Montana, located just east of Glacier, is your best option for a rental car, ideal for full flexibility when exploring the park, or if you’re visiting in the off season. The closest Enterprise is a ten-mile drive south; take an Uber or taxi to get here. You can also book your own transportation through companies like , which offers transit from Whitefish to Glacier National Park and other area attractions ($120 from Whitefish to West Glacier).

Train from Cleveland: A 40-hour, one-transfer ride completes this Amtrak-to-national-park adventure (although to fully close the loop, it’s another 20 hour, one-transfer train ride from Glacier National Park to Port Angeles’ Gateway Transit Center.) If you’re ready for a splurge after weeks of NPS adventuring, upgrade to a private ($900 for up to two adults), with two beds, shower and restroom facilities, and complimentary onboard meals.

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