In 1872, our country made a sagacious decision to begin preserving incredible nature environments with the designation of Yellowstone National Park. Presidents in years to come would continue to designate areas as National Parks, setting them aside for preservation of their natural wonder, until there are now 58 national Parks today. Having been to, read up on, or drooled over pictures of the National Parks, I decided to create a list of my top ten favorite national parks.
After only a short spell of research, however, I realized that the list would have to expand to include a First Team – All National Parks and a Second Team – All National Parks, and even the lists felt limiting. To round out this compilation, I created a list of my top five underrated National Parks.
First Team – All National Parks
1) Olympic National Park
I first visited Olympic National Park in the fall of 2012. Conifers that stretched to the sky and took three people stretched arm to arm to encompass, the ebb and flow of mountain peaks, the proximity to the pacific ocean and the Puget Sound, and the proportionally small number of people in the area make for an outstanding piece of preserved nature.
2) Grand Teton National Park
The almost ethereal feeling in relationship with the Grand Tetons is difficult to explain. While the peaks of the Front Range are improbable, Jenny Lake and the Yellowstone River frame the picturesque landscape in such an inexplicably beautiful manner to make the Grand Tetons a true natural wonder.
3) Acadia National Park
I have never been to this park (kicks himself). Still, I have heard such glowing reviews of this place that I would love for this to be the next park I visit, which is probably why I ranked it so high. My best friend and college roommate went to graduate school in Maine, and I never visited him (kicks himself harder).
4) Denali National Park & Preserve
I have never been to this park (the self-flogging is getting out of hand). Alaska. Grizzly Bears. Elk. Moose. Wolves. Deer. And a healthy menagerie of ecological diversity. ‘Nuh said.
5) Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone earns its top five ranking for being arguably one of the most ‘wild’ national parks in the contiguous United States, despite having the 4th highest number of visitors at 3.2 million in 2013.
6) Theodore Roosevelt National Park
This park receives an average of 600,000 visitors a year, making it a much less frequented park than the ‘big name’ parks, which is part of the reason I love it. The cottonwoods along the Little Missouri River. The junipers along the cuts and ravines in the topography. This park wins major points with me for being a quiet park, which I frequent to sit along the river and read.
7) Rocky Mountain National Park
By a wide margin, this is my most hiked and most summited park. I have spent four summers in this park and will always find something new and engaging every time I return.
8) Redwood National Park (the last three in quick succession)
Iconic and beautiful.
9) Voyageur National Park
Paying respect to arguably the most beautiful National Park in the Midwest.
10) Everglades National Park
Paying respect to a park with an intriguingly different array of ecological diversity. Canoeing through the Everglades. Crocodiles, rattlesnakes, Burmese pythons, wild hog, will make for an engaging emersion into this environment. The Everglades rounds out this list as the third park in my top ten that I have not visited (what started as kicking himself has become self-flagellation).
Second Team – All National Parks
1) Mount Rainier National Park
2) Yosemite National Park
3) Canyonlands National Park
4) Great Smoky Mountains National Park
5) Glacier National Park
6) North Cascades National Park
7) Zion National Park
8) Sequoia National Park
9) Isle Royale National Park
10) Great Sand Dunes
Top Five Underrated National Parks
1) Theodore Roosevelt National Park
2) Voyageur National Park
3) Canyonlands National Park
4) Isle Royale National Park
5) North Cascades National Park
After only a short spell of research, however, I realized that the list would have to expand to include a First Team – All National Parks and a Second Team – All National Parks, and even the lists felt limiting. To round out this compilation, I created a list of my top five underrated National Parks.
First Team – All National Parks
1) Olympic National Park
I first visited Olympic National Park in the fall of 2012. Conifers that stretched to the sky and took three people stretched arm to arm to encompass, the ebb and flow of mountain peaks, the proximity to the pacific ocean and the Puget Sound, and the proportionally small number of people in the area make for an outstanding piece of preserved nature.
2) Grand Teton National Park
The almost ethereal feeling in relationship with the Grand Tetons is difficult to explain. While the peaks of the Front Range are improbable, Jenny Lake and the Yellowstone River frame the picturesque landscape in such an inexplicably beautiful manner to make the Grand Tetons a true natural wonder.
3) Acadia National Park
I have never been to this park (kicks himself). Still, I have heard such glowing reviews of this place that I would love for this to be the next park I visit, which is probably why I ranked it so high. My best friend and college roommate went to graduate school in Maine, and I never visited him (kicks himself harder).
4) Denali National Park & Preserve
I have never been to this park (the self-flogging is getting out of hand). Alaska. Grizzly Bears. Elk. Moose. Wolves. Deer. And a healthy menagerie of ecological diversity. ‘Nuh said.
5) Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone earns its top five ranking for being arguably one of the most ‘wild’ national parks in the contiguous United States, despite having the 4th highest number of visitors at 3.2 million in 2013.
6) Theodore Roosevelt National Park
This park receives an average of 600,000 visitors a year, making it a much less frequented park than the ‘big name’ parks, which is part of the reason I love it. The cottonwoods along the Little Missouri River. The junipers along the cuts and ravines in the topography. This park wins major points with me for being a quiet park, which I frequent to sit along the river and read.
7) Rocky Mountain National Park
By a wide margin, this is my most hiked and most summited park. I have spent four summers in this park and will always find something new and engaging every time I return.
8) Redwood National Park (the last three in quick succession)
Iconic and beautiful.
9) Voyageur National Park
Paying respect to arguably the most beautiful National Park in the Midwest.
10) Everglades National Park
Paying respect to a park with an intriguingly different array of ecological diversity. Canoeing through the Everglades. Crocodiles, rattlesnakes, Burmese pythons, wild hog, will make for an engaging emersion into this environment. The Everglades rounds out this list as the third park in my top ten that I have not visited (what started as kicking himself has become self-flagellation).
Second Team – All National Parks
1) Mount Rainier National Park
2) Yosemite National Park
3) Canyonlands National Park
4) Great Smoky Mountains National Park
5) Glacier National Park
6) North Cascades National Park
7) Zion National Park
8) Sequoia National Park
9) Isle Royale National Park
10) Great Sand Dunes
Top Five Underrated National Parks
1) Theodore Roosevelt National Park
2) Voyageur National Park
3) Canyonlands National Park
4) Isle Royale National Park
5) North Cascades National Park