Stunning national parks and wilderness areas in North America
Stunning national parks and wilderness areas in North America
Lists by region
National Park in United States
Zion National Park
Red rocks, epic hikes and nature's beauty
A deep red canyon cuts through southwestern Utah. Walls rise over 2,000 feet above the Virgin River. Hikers can wade up the river itself on the Narrows trail. The water is knee deep and cold so dress for it. Shuttle buses carry travellers along the main canyon road.
National Park in United States
Grand Canyon National Park
Epic Vistas, Timeless Adventure
Standing on the rim feels like looking at a giant painted wall. The canyon is 277 miles long and up to a mile deep. You can walk the Bright Angel Trail for a short way below the rim. Mather Point is a popular lookout for sunrise and sunset.
National Park in United States
Yellowstone National Park
Geysers, wildlife and untamed wilderness
In 1872 Congress created this park as the first national park in the world. Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes. You can sit on a bench and watch hot water shoot over 100 feet high. Bison, wolves and elk roam the Lamar and Hayden valleys.
National Park in United States
Rocky Mountain National Park
Majestic Peaks and Untamed Wilderness
This park straddles the Continental Divide in northern Colorado. Trail Ridge Road climbs above 12,000 feet across open tundra. You can pull over at overlooks to watch marmots and pikas. Elk bugle in the meadows of Moraine Park each September. Snow often closes the road by mid October.
National Park in Canada
Banff National Park
Majestic Peaks and Turquoise Lakes
Fine rock powder from glaciers turns Lake Louise a glowing turquoise. Peaks and a wide glacier fill the view above the far shore. You can paddle a canoe across the water or hike a trail along the lake. Moraine Lake nearby sits in a ring of ten sharp peaks.
National Park in United States
Acadia National Park
Rugged Shores, Sunrise Peaks, Wild Beauty
Thunder Hole is a narrow rock inlet where waves slam in with a loud boom. Spray can shoot up to 40 feet in rough seas. Drive the Park Loop Road to stop at pink granite cliffs and forested ridges. John D. Rockefeller Jr. paid for 45 miles of carriage roads that bikers now use.
National Park in United States
Yosemite National Park
Nature's Grand Cathedral
The roar of Yosemite Falls fills the valley in late spring. Melting snow sends water down 2,425 feet in three drops. You can walk an easy path to the base of the Lower Fall. El Capitan rises 3,000 feet above the valley floor nearby. Mist cools your face on warm days.
National Park in United States
Grand Teton National Park
Stunning Peaks and Wildlife Wonders
At dawn, photographers gather at Mormon Row to shoot old barns beneath the peaks. Homesteaders built these wooden barns in the early 1900s. You can drive Teton Park Road and stop at Jenny Lake for a boat ride. The Grand Teton peak rises 13,775 feet above sea level.
National Park in United States
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
Where two nations preserve wilderness
A long blue lake crosses the border between Alberta and Montana. Boat tours cross the line and stop at a ranger station. You can then hike back to the village on the Waterton Lakeshore Trail. Rotary clubs from both sides pushed to create this peace park in 1932.
National Park in United States
Glacier National Park
Crown of the Continent
Cold wind and the smell of pine drift over Lake McDonald. Its clear water shows rocks in red, green and blue. You can drive the Going to the Sun Road past waterfalls and cliffs. The road crosses Logan Pass at 6,646 feet above sea level. Mountain goats often graze near the visitor centre.
National Park in United States
Olympic National Park
Untamed Wilderness, All in One
The Hoh Rain Forest has maples and spruces draped in thick green moss. It gets about 12 feet of rain each year. You can walk the Hall of Mosses trail in under an hour. Then drive to Ruby Beach to see sea stacks off the shore.
National Park in United States
Bryce Canyon National Park
Hoodoo Wonderland and Starry Nights
Paiute legend says the stone spires were once people turned to rock by Coyote. Thousands of these hoodoos fill the bowl called Bryce Amphitheater. You can hike the Navajo Loop Trail down among the orange towers. Skies here are dark, so the Milky Way is easy to see at night.
National Park in Canada
Jasper National Park
Untamed Wilderness and Starry Skies
Spirit Island is a tiny wooded island near the far end of Maligne Lake. Boat tours cross the long blue lake to reach the view. Mountains and glaciers ring the water on every side. Jasper is also a Dark Sky Preserve where stars shine over town.
National Park in United States
Arches National Park
A Desert Wonderland of Stone Arches
A deep salt bed under the park buckled the rock above it. Wind and water then carved more than 2,000 stone arches. You can hike three miles round trip to stand beneath Delicate Arch at sunset. The arch is 52 feet tall and glows deep red in evening light.
National Park in United States
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
Home of the Giant Sequoias
Go in late spring or autumn for mild days and fewer cars. The General Sherman Tree is the largest tree on Earth by volume. A paved trail leads down to its trunk, which is about 36 feet wide. Kings Canyon nearby is more than a mile deep in places.
National Park in United States
Mount Rainier National Park
A Majestic Volcano and Wild Beauty
Rainier stands so tall that it looks like a white island floating over Seattle on clear days. It is an active volcano covered by 25 named glaciers. You can walk loop trails at Paradise with wildflowers at your feet. The peak rises about 14,400 feet above sea level.
Nature Reserve in United States
Big Cypress National Preserve
Florida's wild swamp wilderness experience
This freshwater swamp sits just north of Everglades National Park and covers over 700,000 acres. Dwarf cypress trees and sawgrass prairies spread across the flat wet ground. You can drive Loop Road and spot alligators and wading birds from your car. Panthers still roam the preserve but few people ever see one.
National Park in United States
Death Valley National Park
Otherworldly Extremes and Silent Beauty
Heat shimmers over the white salt flats at Badwater Basin. It is 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America. You can walk out onto the crunchy salt and look up at the mountains. Zabriskie Point at sunrise glows gold over folded badlands.
National Park in United States
Canyonlands National Park
Epic Canyons and Untamed Wilderness
The Island in the Sky mesa feels like the deck of a ship above the canyons. Cliffs drop more than 1,000 feet to the White Rim bench below. You can drive to Grand View Point and look out over rivers and red rock. The Green and Colorado rivers meet far below in the park.
National Park in United States
Denali National Park
Wild Alaska’s peaks and wildlife
North America's tallest peak, at 20,310 feet, rises in the centre of this park. A single road runs 92 miles through tundra and river valleys. Buses carry you in past grizzlies, caribou and Dall sheep. Clouds often hide the summit so a clear view is a treat.
National Park in Costa Rica
El Yunque National Forest
Tropical rainforest paradise in Caribbean
Come in spring, when rain falls a little less often in this rain forest. La Mina Trail follows a stream to a 35 foot waterfall with a plunge pool. You can swim in the cool pool at the base. Tiny coquí frogs sing loudly all night in the forest.
National Park in United States
Mesa Verde National Park
Ancient Cliff Dwellings and Rich History
Visit from late spring to early autumn, when ranger tours of the cliff dwellings run. Cliff Palace is the largest dwelling with about 150 rooms. Ancestral Pueblo families built it in the rock alcoves more than 700 years ago. Tours climb tall wooden ladders into the old rooms.
National Park in United States
Mammoth Cave National Park
World's Longest Known Cave System
Cool damp air and deep darkness fill the passages underground. More than 420 miles of the cave have been mapped, the longest known on Earth. You can join a ranger guided tour past huge domes and tight canyons. The air stays near 54 degrees all year, so bring a light jacket.
National Park in Costa Rica
Manuel Antonio National Park
Jungle, Wildlife and Stunning Beaches
This small park sits on Costa Rica's Pacific coast near the town of Quepos. Short trails lead through rain forest to white sand beaches. White faced capuchin monkeys and sloths often rest in the trees above. Playa Manuel Antonio has calm water for swimming and snorkelling.
National Park in United States
Redwood National Park
Home of the World’s Tallest Trees
Coast redwoods once covered about two million acres along the Pacific. Logging cut down most of them before parks were created. You can walk quiet paths beneath trunks wider than a small car. Roosevelt elk graze in open meadows near Prairie Creek. These coast redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth.
National Park in United States
Valley of Fire State Park
Fiery Red Rocks and Ancient Art
Red Aztec sandstone formed from shifting dunes about 150 million years ago fills this park. It covers about 45,938 acres and is 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Atlatl Rock has petroglyphs that are easy to reach. The park opened in 1934 and is the oldest state park in Nevada.
National Park in Guatemala
Tikal National Park
Lost Mayan City in the Jungle
Maya builders raised stone temples here over more than a thousand years. Temple IV rises about 230 feet above the jungle floor. You can climb a wooden stair to the top before sunrise. Toucans, parrots and howler monkeys call from the trees at dawn. Tikal became a World Heritage Site in 1979.
National Park in United States
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Otherworldly volcanic landscape on Earth
Lava poured from a long crack in the ground over the past 15,000 years. The last eruption came about 2,000 years ago. You can walk black lava fields and crawl through cool lava tube caves. Apollo 14 astronauts trained here in 1969 to practice for the moon.
Nature Reserve in Costa Rica
Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves
Mist, Wildlife and Cloudy Magic
Local guides lead night walks through the forest with soft red torches. Tarantulas, sleeping birds and tiny frogs show up in the beam. By day, you can cross hanging bridges high in the treetops. Resplendent quetzals, bright green birds with long tail feathers, nest here each spring.
National Park in United States
Voyageurs National Park
Watery wilderness of northern Minnesota
More than a third of this park is water, like a maze of lakes. Fur traders called voyageurs once paddled these lakes in birchbark canoes. You can rent a houseboat or paddle a canoe to quiet islands. Northern lights sometimes glow over the dark water in winter.
National Park in Costa Rica
Arenal Volcano National Park
Lava Trails, Rainforest and Epic Views
A near perfect cone rises above Lake Arenal in northern Costa Rica. The volcano erupted almost nonstop for decades until it went quiet in 2010. You can hike old lava flow trails and cross hanging bridges. Hot springs near La Fortuna warm the evenings after a long hike.
Nature Reserve in United States
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Pristine lakes, untouched wilderness paradise
Come between late May and September, when the lakes are free of ice. More than 1,000 lakes link together through short trails called portages. You can paddle a canoe for days and never cross a road. Loons call across the quiet water at dusk. Moose wade the shallows.
National Park in United States
Great Basin National Park
Ancient trees, caves and starry skies
Nevada's desert surrounds this park like a sea around an island. Wheeler Peak rises to 13,065 feet above the sagebrush and juniper. You can walk among bristlecone pines that have stood for thousands of years. Lehman Caves has cool limestone rooms with rare shield formations.
National Park in Costa Rica
Tortuguero National Park
Wildlife and Waterways Adventure
Local rangers guide small groups onto the beach at night in turtle season. Green turtles come ashore to lay eggs from July to October. Guides use red lights so the turtles are not scared. Lights and cameras are not allowed on the beach. The black sand beach stretches for about 22 miles.
Nature Reserve in Mexico
Calakmul Biosphere Reserve
Ancient Maya Ruins in Pristine Jungle
Howler monkeys roar through the damp jungle at dawn, a sound that carries for miles. Toucans and ocellated turkeys move among the trees. You can climb the pyramid called Structure II and see forest to the horizon. It rises about 148 feet above the ruins of an ancient Maya city.
National Park in Dominica
Morne Trois Pitons National Park
Volcanic wonders in pristine rainforest
Go in the drier months from February to April for better trail conditions. The hike to Boiling Lake takes six to eight hours round trip. It crosses the Valley of Desolation with steam vents and yellow streams. Emerald Pool nearby is a short walk to a small waterfall.
National Park in Costa Rica
Corcovado National Park
Costa Rica’s Wildest Rainforest Frontier
The Sirena ranger station is a remote base deep in the Osa jungle. Tapirs, scarlet macaws and four kinds of monkeys live in the surrounding forest. You can hike in along the beach or fly to a small airstrip. Jaguars also roam the park but are rarely seen.
National Park in United States
Katmai National Park
Bears, salmon and volcanic wonders
In 1912 the Novarupta volcano had the largest eruption of the 20th century. Ash filled a nearby valley now called the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Brown bears gather each July at Brooks Falls to catch leaping salmon. You can watch from wooden platforms right above the river.
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