The United States of America attracts tourists from around the world with its natural wonders. One such place was inaugurated in 2020, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia. This national park drew the attention of tourists and adventurers towards the US national parks and made them wonder exactly how many national parks there are in the USA. So, the answer is 63. Here is the US National Parks map, along with the information on where these are located.
All of these 63 national parks have breathtaking views, and each one is paralleled to none in terms of mesmerizing views. Famous American writer Wallace Stegner said, “National Parks are the best idea we ever had.”
But in this article, we are going to talk about the top 15 US national parks and what they have for you!
1. Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park tops our list of top 15 US national parks because it laid the foundation for having national parks in a country as it was the world’s first national park. It was established in 1872. It showed the path of keeping wildlife safe and provided visitors with the chance to relax in the lap of the mother of nature.
Yellowstone National Park is located in the state of Wyoming, mostly, but it also extends to Idaho and Montana. It hosts around 4 million tourists every year, making it the second most visited place in the US after the Great Smoky Mountains.
It has jaw-dropping flora and diverse fauna that stun visitors. Yellowstone is decorated by nature with wildflowers and lodgepole pines. It is home to 300 species of birds, five species of amphibians, 16 fish species, 67 mammal species, and six species of reptiles. The most notable wildlife is elk, wolves, grizzly bears, and bison.
You can visit Yellowstone National Park from May to September, while the peak visiting month is July. There, you can enjoy hiking, boating, rafting, lodging, and camping. But don’t forget to check their website before visiting for updates.
2. Haleakalā national park
Haleakalā National Park is located in Maui, Hawaii. It is known for its mesmerizing geological features, which awe the visitors. Out of the world, the volcanic wonderland is surrounded by forests. The greenery of the forest adds soul to this volcanic wonder.
The Koh-e-Noor of haleakalā NP is haleakalā carter, which extends as long as the eye can see. The haleakalā Carter is a volcano that has a lunar-like surface to give you the impression that you are in another world.
This US national park quenches your thirst for nature when you see the sunrise and sunset above the clouds. Nature paints different colors from its palette into the haleakalā canvas during sunrise and sunset.
Apart from sightseeing, flora and fauna are rare here. It has around 400 species of native herbs, silversword, geraniums, a variety of shrubs, small woody trees, and ferns.
The most popular and worth-seeing fauna are the Hawaiian goose Nene, Hawaiian Petrel, Hawaiin honeycreepers, and Hawaiian hoary bat.
Most popular outdoor activities include sunrise and sunset viewing, stargazing, hiking, biking, cycling, and camping.
3. Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is mountainous, with alpine lakes, waterfalls, and ancient granite cliffs. Some of the most popular places are Yosemite Valley, El Capitan, and the Half Dome. Most people like to visit Yosemite from April to October. So, during the peak season, you need to reserve your entry to avoid overcrowding.
Most of the main activities in this US national park, like camping and lodging, are arranged at Yosemite Valley, but during the peak season, it is often challenging to park the car, so the best option is to use shuttle buses.
You can find around 1450 species of flora, including giant sequoias and ponderosa pine. It is also home to Wildlife like mule deer, marmot, squirrel, bobcats, and black bears.
Some of the best activities are hiking, waterfall visits, climbing, camping, rock climbing, rafting along the Merced River, and fishing, to name a few.
4. Arcadia National Park
One of the most soul-refreshing US national parks is Arcadia National Park, which is located on the east coast of the USA. The weather of Mount Desert Island is unpredictable, so you need to be well-prepared when you visit Arcadia National Park. Most of the adventurers aim to see this out-of-the-world place from May to October.
One of the most picturesque trips is on the Park Loop Road, where you can see scenic beauties like Sieur de Monts and the WILD GARDEN of Arcadia. This paradise has only one sandy beach, known as sand beach, which is well-crowded and the busiest place.
Here, you can enjoy different outdoor activities like hiking, camping, boating, swimming, stargazing, tide pooling, cycling, visiting historical places, and birdwatching. Four campgrounds are available for visitors, but if you don’t like to camp, you can go to the lodges and hotels available near Bar Harbor.
You can also watch wildlife here as it is home to diverse wildlife like red squirrels, white-tailed deer, beavers, American black bears, foxes, and many small rodents. Here, you can also find peregrine falcons, common loons, bald eagles, blackburnian warbeles, harbor seals, whales, dolphins, and American monks.
Another feast to your eyes is different types of flora such as wild lily of the valley, goldthread, starflower, blue bead lily, bunchberry, wild blue iris, various trees (oak, birch, maple, beech, sycamore, pine, hemlock, cypress, and cedar.), aquatic flora (horned bladderwort, common arrowhead, rockweed, and fragrant water lily), black crowberry, pitch pine and sheep laurel.
5. Grand Canyon National Park
Located in northwest Arizona, this park protects the Grand Canyon, which is 280 miles majestically massive and about one mile deep in the Colorado River Gorge. Grand Canyon National Park is divided into parts: south and north rims.
A single trip to Grand Canyon National Park gives you a chance to visit the Mighty Five National Parks, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, Zion, and Canyonlands.
This US national park ties your bond with nature when you watch the sunrise from Mather Point and takes you to paradise via rafting the Colorado River to witness the sky’s small beads in the night. Other popular activities like helicopter tours and mule rides make this park even more beautiful.
You get a good chance to see fauna like bighorn sheep, coyotes, and condors. This park has a lot to offer to tree huggers as well, like cactus, pinyon pine, and desert shrubs.
6. Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is located in Wyoming, so if you’re visiting the Yellowstone National Park, consider stopping at this majestic mountainous place. Sharp mountain peaks and clear lakes make it one of the most recognizable US national parks.
Grand Teton National Park preserves massive peaks of the Teton range of 40 miles, which also includes a popular cathedral group. The most exciting activities at this USA National Park are driving on the roads to reach gorgeous scenic points, water sports at the crystal clear lake, and camping at the campgrounds.
The hike is categorized into two types: more challenging background trails into the mountain range and easier front country trails in the valley. The best season for hiking and camping is late spring to early fall, while water sports are most enjoyable during winter. Some other notable activities are boating, wildlife tours, fishing, and photography.
For wildlife tours, you can see bald eagles, elks, moose, and black bears. Also, you can see wildflowers, alpine trees, and sagebrush.
7. Zion National Park
Zion National Park, also known as Zion Canyon, is one of the most visited national parks in the USA and one of the Mighty Five national parks. This wonderland is in southwestern Utah’s red rock country. This national park has several exciting and worth-seeing sights; Navajo is the most famous attraction, a sandstone rising above several thousand Virgin River’s north fork.
The Narrows is also another wonder of this US national park, which opens into the slot canyon when adventurers hike in ankle-deep water. In this utopia, you can enjoy outdoor activities like dreamy hiking, photography at picturesque places, wildlife seeing, photography of flora, birdwatching, and canyoneering.
Zion National Park helps 1000 species of different plants flourish. It also supports herbaceous plants, grasses, cottonwood trees, wildflowers (Indian paintbrush, columbine, and choripora), manzanita, yucca, sagebrush, scrub oak, ponderosa pine, and juniper. The most prominent fauna of Zion National Park are ringtail cats, mountain lions, mule deer, foxes, coyotes, owls, California condors, collared lizards, and desert tortoises.
8. Rocky Mountain National Park
As the name suggests, Rocky Mountain is a mountainous national park with long hikes, crystal clear lakes, and majestic mountain scenery. Many adventurers visit Rocky Mountain National Park for its long hiking trails, water sports, and picturesque drives. Activities like fishing, climbing, and camping also attract visitors. During the road trip to Rocky Mountain, the park is only two hours of drive away from Denver. There are many famous US national parks that are approximately a half-day or full-day drive away. These parks include Mesa Verde, black canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Mighty 5.
The elevation at this US national park changes the temperature, which makes different types of areas such as alpine, riparian, subalpine, montane, and tundra. Each type of area has its own diverse flora and fauna. Flora at Rocky Mountain includes trees like pine, fir, aspen, and spruce, shrubs like wild rose and rocky mountain maple, and wildflowers such as moss campion, Indian paintbrush, and penstemons.
Elevation changes have made this nature’s wonder home to different animals like mule deer, elk, black bears, moose, bighorn sheep, white-tailed ptarmigans, golden eagles, and prairie falcons.
9. Olympic National Park
In the heart of the Pacific Northwest, Olympic National Park attracts nature lovers and explorers with its diverse ecosystem, unprecedented hiking, and scenic beauty. This US national park is like a magnet for hikers as adventurers around the world visit it for hiking. The rainforest is known for ancient trees, which are covered in ferns and moss, creating a magical environment. Lush green tall trees on the beautiful trail make a canopy where sunlight reaches the land in the form of a golden torch filtering from the trees’ branches. The golden torch grants a lovely shine to the plants.
The Olympic National Park has around 10 trails for hiking, which should be on every hiker’s bucket list when visiting this park: Hurricane Hill Trail, Shi Shi Beach, Marymere Falls, Hoh River Trails, Sol Duc Falls, Klahhane Ridge Trail, Royal basin, lake Quinault loop, Ozette loop, and mount storm king.
The Pacific coast is also a must-visit, where you can see the beach meeting the dramatic cliff. Enjoyable activities at the Olympic National Parks are camping, beachcombing, kayaking, and tidepooling.
Plants like mosses, hemlocks, and giant ferns grow in the Olympic National Park. Animals like elk, black bears, and sea otters would be your hosts at this park.
10. Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park’s special characteristics include a beautiful blend of alpine meadows, spectacular lakes, carved valleys, melting glaciers, and human culture. Every Nature lover has to go to the Sun Road on their bucket list, and it is also found here.
Glacier National Park has 762 lakes, but 10 must be on your wishlist: Two Medicine Lake, Lake Mcdonald, Bowman Lake, Swift Current Lake, St. Mary Lake, Hidden Lake, Redrock Lake, Avalanche Lake, Lake Josephine, and Grinnell Lake.
You can enjoy exciting activities like hiking, rafting, kayaking, biking, wildlife viewing, boating, guided tours, photography, horse riding, fishing, and camping.
This US National Park has wildflowers like glacier lily, arctic lupine, moss campion, monkey flower, and bracted lousewort. You can witness wildlife like lynx, mountain goats, grizzly bears, wolverines, bighorn sheep, hawks, ducks, beavers, elk, coyotes, muskrats, and hawks.
11. Arches National Park
If you’re a true adventurer with a keen interest in photography, your bucket list can’t be completed without Arches National Park. It is located in southeastern Utah and has about 2000 sandstone arches, which are sculpted over a millennium by water and wind.
It has the most popular arches, like landscape and delicate, which compel photographers and hikers to visit Arches National Park. This national park has diverse but unique animals, such as lizards, desert cottontails, golden eagles, and coyotes.
Although the weather of the arches has scorching heat because of its arid environment, you will find plants like prickly pear, yucca, juniper trees, and sagebrush. The most prominent activities for visitors are stargazing, hiking, photography, driving on scenic roads, rock climbing, backpacking, camping, biking, canyoneering, and horse riding.
12. Bryce Canyon National Park
The US national park Bryce Canyon has the world’s most significant number of hoodoos, which are basically stone towers with irregular shapes. Bryce Canyon does not have any canyons, but it has a number of amphitheaters, and visitors like to hike through these amphitheaters to have a closer look at hoodoos and see colorful rock spikes.
Even though Bryce Canyon is the smallest of the mighty five national parks, it receives about 2.6 million visitors a year. Due to the mild climate, it is overcrowded from May to September, but you can still avoid the crowds by visiting during the off-season months (October to April) or going for hikes early in the morning.
Some of the famous activities that you can enjoy at this US national park are ranger programs, horseback riding, and stargazing. At Bryce Canyon, you will be a guest of fauna, such as owls, squirrels, and mule deer. The flora of Bryce Canyon National Park includes bristlecone pine and ponderosa pine.
13. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
If you are a true national enthusiast, Great Smoky Mountains National Park must top your bucket list. It is the most biodiverse national park on the list of US national parks. The elevation varies in the Great Smoky Mountains, plus the abundance of rain makes it an excellent habitat for almost all types of wildlife and plants.
If you are not a fan of rain, you should visit it from September to October, as during these months, you will have less humidity and cooler weather. It is the busiest and most crowded national park during the summer months, which means you will not be able to enjoy most of the famous places during this time. Therefore, you should visit it during the fall.
The misty mountains and lush green forest make this US National Park the most picturesque and the best for scenic drives. Also, the summer months are the best time for nature lovers to visit the great smoky mountains as the birds cheerfully sing during this time. During your hike, you can see animals like deer, black bears, and salamanders.
14. Death Valley National Park
The name of this US national park frightens the expected visitors because it seems like the nature of this place is unforgiving and formidable. Death Valley is notorious for its ruthless climate and scorching heat, which makes it the hottest place on Earth. Another dangerous trait of this place is the absence of water.
The valley’s reputation is ramshackle because of the severe experiences of early explorers. Despite its inedible status, it has a lot of out-of-the-world places, such as Mesquite flat dunes, Badwater Basin, and Golden Canyon.
Some of the precautionary measures that you can take before visiting Death Valley are staying hydrated and protecting against the intense sun by wearing loose and light-colored clothes and hats. Also, don’t forget to wear sunscreen. The most important precautionary measure is not to hike during the hottest time of the day and know that cellular phones do not work in some parts of the park.
No one can think of any plants or wildlife growing here, but astonishingly, it has different plants like creosote bushes, Joshua trees, and wildflowers of various colors, and animals like the desert tortoise, lizards, coyotes, kit foxes, and bighorn sheep.
15. Everglades National Park
Another is the US National Park, which has a confusing name. So, you must be wondering what it is exactly. Everglades are a swampy grassland covered with slow-moving water. Southern Florida is the best example of the Everglades. At this point, a large part of US subtropical wilderness is preserved by Everglades National Park. This US National Park is the 10th largest in the USA. Due to the dry winter, it is most visited by travelers between November and April.
The most liked activities are driving on the main road of the park, wildlife watching, Airboat tours, canoeing, birdwatching, and nature walks. Plants like sawgrass, mangrove trees, bromeliads, grasses, orchids, and cacti. Animals like alligators, crocodiles, snakes, raccoons, river otters, and opossums can be seen during the wildlife tour.
