A Ranking of Every US National Park I've Visited

Ranking all the US national parks I’ve been to (39 out of ~60) wasn’t on the top of my list of things to write, but nostalgia and missing home pushed it up in priority. Road tripping and camping (or even better lodging) at national parks with my family are some of the best memories I have from growing up, and I’m very thankful to my parents for helping me grow a strong love for nature and the world around me from a young age, and for taking my sister and I to so many lovely places.

My opinions are of course my own, and my rankings are based off the national parks I’ve been to (but I’ll be sure to update this post over time), what I found most appealing about the park, the overall feeling the park gave me, and my personal taste. You are totally allowed to disagree and debate, and if you’re not familiar with the national parks, I’d like to think you might also have a new place added to your travel list by the end of this read.

39. Guadalupe Mountains / Texas

There wasn’t too much about this park that stood out to me, but I’m glad I saw it.

38. Pinnacles / California

There is nothing wrong with Pinnacles that led it to second-to-last place in my book, it simply is just not as extraordinary as many of the other parks. There isn’t an abundance to see, but the drive in is good. Established in 2013, it’s also one of the newest national parks.

37. Wind Cave / South Dakota

I’m just not big on caves. From an impartial standpoint I think this cave must be really neat to those who like caves. I appreciate it for what it is.

36. Great Basin / Nevada

I don’t love Great Basin, but like Pinnacles, I think it’s nice for what it is, but it just doesn’t feel as special as many of the other parks I’ve been to. I do think it shows a softer side to Nevada that is often looked over.

35. Petrified Forest / Arizona

Petrified Forest is very unique, even if it might not look particularly intriguing at first glance. They might just look like tree stumps, but these fallen trees are actually fossils that lived in the Late Triassic Epoch, nearly 225 million years ago. There’s not a ton to do at this park, but the fossils here are obviously very interesting to learn about.

34. Theodore Roosevelt / North Dakota

This national park is in the middle of nowhere in western North Dakota, but I kind of like that it feels like no mans land. The 30-something mile paved loop road is a must, and there’s plenty of wildlife to see. Especially prairie dogs!

33. Badlands / South Dakota

Badlands has some really trippy landscape that you might not expect in South Dakota. I don’t remember much about this park, but I do know that I liked it.

32. Lassen Volcanic / California

I visited Lassen Volcanic when I was in elementary or middle school, and I wasn’t a big fan of the strong smells coming from the mud pots and hot springs, the poorly maintained bathrooms and on site camping facilities, and the national park in general.

Looking back I think I was being too harsh with my judgement, and I’d probably really like it if I returned. I now have better knowledge of the park too, and was amazed to find out that Lassen Volcanic is the largest plug dome volcano in the world.

31. Great Sand Dunes / Colorado

Another national park I don’t remember too much about, other than generally liking it. I know it was the first national park we stopped at on our road trip that summer, and I remember thinking it was so awesome that there were places like that in the United States. Before this trip I thought sand like this only existed in African countries.

30. Carlsbad Caverns / New Mexico

Still not a big fan of caves, but this one is my favorite I’ve been to! I like that you’re free to enter part of the cave on your own through the natural entrance, and the limestone is stunning.

29. Shenandoah / Virginia

Shenandoah is a pretty national park that is home to part of the Blue Ridge Mountain. I’d love to visit in autumn one day, when this national park seems to really shine.

28. Hawai’i Volcanoes / Hawai’i

I didn’t get to properly explore this park because the majority of it was still closed when we visited in 2018, because of an earthquake and explosions coming from the Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Despite this, flying out of the Big Island and over the national park, and seeing the lava and fire below was so cool, and I look forward to returning.

27. Black Canyon of the Gunnison / Colorado

I think Black Canyon is an underrated park! There are more impressive rocks in the states, but I like how moody and dark these canyon and peaks are.

26. Death Valley / California & Nevada

Death Valley is the lowest and hottest point in North America. It’s a very unique place, with a diverse mix of badlands, salt-flats, sand dunes, canyons, mountains, and valleys. This is also one of the hottest places in the world, and home of the highest recorded temperature in the world. I visited in December, and it was still very warm so definitely avoid it in the summer months.

25. Haleakalā / Hawai’i

Haleakala is a must visit if you’re going to Maui, and worth the trip. It was beautiful, but I preferred other parts of Maui more like the Road to Hana.

24. Joshua Tree / California

I’ve visited this national park a couple times, and have some really nice memories from my stays. The trees are iconic, and native to the Mojave Desert, but I think the most remarkable thing about this park are the stars at night.

23. Saguaro / Arizona

Saguaro preserves the Sonoran Desert and lots of flora and fauna, including the huge Saguaro cacti. When visiting Saguaro it initially might look like an Arizona highway, but after going on a longer drive and hike through the park I actually came to like it quite a bit.

22. Channel Islands / California

The Channel Islands are great as long as you don’t get seasick. There are eight islands in California’s Channel Islands, but only five of them are protected and a part of the national park system. These are San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Anacapa. I’ve only visited Santa Cruz Island, and what I liked the most were the colorful wildflowers growing along the jagged cliffs, and the deep blue of the Pacific surrounding it.

21. Mesa Verde / Colorado

Mesa Verde was created in 1906 to preserve the place of the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived there from 600 to 1300 CE. The park now protects over 5,000 archaeological sites, with the most famous being the Cliff Palace (pictured below). It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with about a dozen other national parks), and really well preserved. The park was quite hot when I went, but the sites are very moving.

20. Kings Canyon / California

Kings Canyon is a picturesque park that is perfect for forest lovers, like myself. Despite often getting overshadowed by its neighbor Sequoia, I think both forests are super.

19. White Sands / New Mexico

White Sands was just established into a national park less than a year ago, but I visited while it was still a national monument. I think it’s well deserving of its new title, and the white of the sand looks remarkable against the blue of the sky.

18. Sequoia / California

This is where it gets really tough because all the following parks are absolutely incredible (all the ones prior are pretty incredible too). This park protects the Giant Forest, where you can find trees like the General Sherman which is the largest tree in the world. Pictures don’t do it justice, and you have to make a trip out to see them in person. Although Sequoia is known for having some of the thickest single stem trees in the world, they also have 240 caves in the park.

17. Rocky Mountain / Colorado

Rocky Mountain is beautiful in the summer, and everything about the park is great from the hikes to the drives through the park. I really enjoyed it, but I was also half asleep the entire time I was there because my family and I spent our nights at the nearby Stanley Hotel. Between the ghost stories we were told, all the spooky things that happened during our stay, and learning that Stephen King wrote ‘The Shining’ in the hotel, I was honestly more than a bit frightened my entire stay.

16. Zion / Utah

I feel kind of strange about ranking Zion at the bottom of Utah’s ‘Big 5.’ Truthfully, I think Zion would be higher up on my list if the days we had spent there weren’t so painfully hot. What I appreciate about Zion (aside from its beauty) is that it’s a great introduction to Utah, and the inside of the park is made so accessible with their great shuttle system. There’s a plenitude of hikes for every fitness level, and I’d love to go back sometime soon and hike the Narrows.

15. Arches / Utah

Besides the arches, the colors at this park are unreal. I’ve seen one of the best sunsets in my life at this park, and the entire park is so photogenic. These natural arches are so captivating, and came to be after millions of years of erosion.

14. Grand Canyon / Arizona

There’s not too much I can say other than the Grand Canyon really does live up to the hype. I was there years ago with my whole family and proudly became a junior ranger.

13. Acadia / Maine

Acadia’s most well known landmark is the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, which is surrounded by ocean, forest, and rock. Although there are not a lot of “must dos” here, the entire park just feels so charming and whimsical I can’t help but put it high on this list. This park really captures the best of New England and I think this would be a brilliant park to visit in the fall.

12. Yellowstone / Wyoming, Montana & Idaho

America’s first national park! It’s very easy to see why it’s such a popular national park since it has a number of stunning features. The geyser Old Faithful was tremendous to see, and so were all the geothermal areas like the Grand Prismatic Spring (pictured below). There’s also Douglas-fir forest, high waterfalls, and plenty of trails to explore. Yellowstone really has a little bit of everything, and the only drawbacks are the crowds in the warmer months, and the grizzly bears, which are amazing, but scare me.

11. Crater Lake / Oregon

I visited Crater Lake when I was a kid, but I still can recall how thrilling it felt looking at this lake for the first time. The lake practically glimmers, it’s so wonderfully blue and entrancing, and how it came to be is so interesting! It lies in the caldera of a volcano that collapsed about 7,700 years ago, and as a result it has no inlets or outlets for water flow so the water is only replenished through rainwater. It’s also the deepest lake in the United States.

10. Capitol Reef / Utah

Capitol Reef is normally seen as the national park in Utah with the least to offer, but I don’t think that’s fair. This entire park felt so special to me, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I think it had to do with the park’s rocks feeling so ancient, and this park felt a lot moodier and quieter than the other Utah parks. Also the general store has tasty homemade pies so don’t miss out on that.

9. Olympic / Washington

I have great memories from Olympic. It’s a park with a very diverse ecosystem that includes pine forest, shoreline, mountains, alpine slopes, and rainforests. The Quinault Rainforest and Hoh Rainforest are the wettest areas of the continental United States.

Side note, the Olympic Peninsula is also where the Twilight series takes place (however none of it was actually filmed here) and my sister and I had a great time pointing out the spots mentioned in the books. We also got to visit Forks, Washington and order Bella’s Mushroom Ravioli from a local restaurant and had a fantastic time. There’s also a small Twilight welcome center (which was also fantastic) and the staff offered us cake since it was Edward’s birthday that day. Amazing, I know.

8. Canyonlands / Utah

I love Canyonlands, it’s such a remarkable park. There are epic aspects to the park including the canyons, mesas, pinnacles, and arches. It reminds me a lot of the Grand Canyon, and the views from this park are some of nature’s finest.

7. North Cascades / Washington

In 2019, North Cascades had less than 40,000 visitors making it one of the least visited national parks in the United States. This makes no sense to me as it’s such a lovely park, and just a couple hours from Seattle. The scenic drive in along North Cascades Highway to enter the park is one of the most breathtaking drives I’ve ever been on, and the entire park is incredible and so underrated.

My entire time in the North Cascades was such a peaceful and happy experience and although it’s not my very favorite park, I think it’s my number one recommendation for visiting. Go in the summertime for snow covered mountain ranges, forests, lakes, and more. Diablo Lake is especially pretty with its milky turquoise color, and if you’re lucky you’ll see some mountain goats!

6. Redwood / California

This national park and joint state park protect almost half of all remaining coastal redwoods. The California Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and easily reach heights of over 300 feet. This park has one of the prettiest coastlines in California, and the entire park is so nice and tranquil.

5. Bryce Canyon / Utah

Bryce Canyon is known for its hoodoos, which are tall thin rocky spirals that protrude from dry terrain. They’re colorful, made of sandstone, and my time hiking around the canyon is very memorable, but I also remember some of the hikes being a little too narrow for comfort. I recommend the Navajo Loop Trail and Queens Garden Trail which are both manageable and absolutely gorgeous. I’d love to return in the wintertime to see the wonderful orange of the ‘fairy chimneys’ mixing with white snow.

4. Mount Rainier / Washington

I’m running out of words to describe these parks, but believe me, Mount Rainier is radiant. The 14,000+ foot active volcano that the park is named after is quite a sight, and there’s something to entice every visitor.

I can suggest the Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls trail for an easy to intermediate hike, but if you’re up for a challenge you’ll be rewarded with wondrous sights if you try the Skyline Trail. John Muir, a founder of the Sierra Club, and well-known environmentalist even stated that this hike bestowed, “the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I ever beheld in all my mountain-top wanderings.”

3. Grand Teton / Wyoming

I think Grand Teton is just as phenomenal as its neighbor Yellowstone, and has a ton of heart. We saw so much wildlife here including elk, moose, and bison, and even wild horses! Wyoming is home to the nation’s second largest wild horse population, and it really is magnificent to see horses running around wild and completely free; I’ve really never seen anything like it. The natural wonders here including towering Tetons and gleaming lakes. Plus there’s also historical sights inside the park including the historic settlements Mormon Row and Menors Ferry.

2. Glacier / Montana

Montana has heavenly nature, and Glacier National Park is no exception. Pristine mountains in an alpine setting with an abundance of flora and fauna, plus glacier lakes and spring meadows, are what makes this entire park so captivating.

Inside the park, the Going-To-The-Sun Road is one of the most spectacular scenic drives in the country, and has many pull-outs for people to truly take in the beauty. The drive into the park is out of this world too. Much of Glacier closes in the colder months, so summertime makes for a perfect trip.

1. Yosemite / California

I don’t think this is a surprise for anyone who knows me. I love Yosemite. I mean- what a place. It has it all. It can get congested, but only because it’s so awe-inspiring. This is the park I’ve visited the most, although I haven’t been in over five years now, and I’ve been lucky enough to have gotten to explore during all four seasons. I think late autumn is the most brilliant time of year here (but perhaps avoid holiday weekends), and it’s best to avoid summers so that crowds don’t spoil your trip.

Each of my stays here have been memorable in their own way from my first visit with my family when I was six years old to visiting in winter for my Tia and Uncle’s wedding. I think my favorite trip overall had to have been when I was twelve. My Tia and Uncle took me to the park and we hiked the iconic Half Dome together, and even though it was a 20+ mile challenge (we started the hike at our overnight site and I was already tired by the time we reached Vernal Falls), I loved every minute of it, including the switchbacks and cables ascent, and would gladly hike it again tomorrow.

I’m not a Yosemite expert, but some easy to moderate hikes I can recommend for your visit include: Little Yosemite Falls, Vernal Falls, Mirror Lake, Yosemite Valley Loop, Inspiration Point, and Glacier Point. I’d also check out the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, Camp 4, Curry Village, and The Ahwahnee Hotel to learn about the park’s history and culture. Take the time to view landmarks like Half Dome and El Capitan. Upon entering be sure to take the Tunnel View entrance towards Wawona on Highway 41 and park in the lot for gorgeous views of the Valley.

For seasoned visitors you can venture deeper into Yosemite and spend some time in the Tuolumne Meadows section of the park (something I still haven’t done yet) to enjoy a quieter and more rugged area of the park.

Still on my list:

American Samoa, Big Bend, Biscayne, Congaree, Cuyahoga Valley, Denali, Dry Tortugas, Everglades, Gates of the Arctic, Gateway Arch, Glacier Bay, Great Smoky Mountains, Hot Springs, Indiana Dunes, Isle Royale, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Mammoth Cave, Virgin Islands, Voyageurs, Wrangell-St. Elias

Thanks for reading!

Let me know what your favorite park is in the comments below.

Thanks to NPS, Canva & Pixabay for free photo usage.

A Ranking of Every US National Park I've Ever Visited