Best National Parks In The USA In 2025
This definitive list ranks the crown jewels of America's public lands, curated for adventurers, families, and nature lovers. Our rankings balance iconic grandeur with unique experiences, evaluating parks on criteria like scenic diversity, wildlife viewing, accessibility, recreational variety, and overall visitor impact. We've considered geological wonders, ecological significance, trail quality, and the balance between popularity and solitude. Whether you seek the raw power of deep canyons, a...
Top Ranked
The world's first national park, Yellowstone is a sprawling wilderness atop a volcanic hotspot. It's famed for its otherworldly geothermal features like Old Faithful geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring,...
Grand Teton's dramatic, jagged mountain range rises abruptly from the valley floor, creating one of the most photogenic skylines in America. The park offers exceptional wildlife viewing, with moose, b...
Yosemite is the cathedral of American wilderness, renowned for its monumental granite cliffs like El Capitan and Half Dome, and spectacular waterfalls such as Yosemite Falls. The iconic Yosemite Valle...
These twin parks protect some of the world's most immense trees and deepest canyons. Sequoia is home to the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume. Kings Canyon features a glacial v...
This park offers a front-row seat to the primal forces that shape our planet, home to two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Visitors can drive Crater Rim Drive, hike across...
Where the Mojave and Colorado deserts converge, Joshua Tree presents a fantastical landscape of twisted Joshua trees, massive granite monoliths, and gardens of spiky cholla cactus. It's a world-renown...
Olympic's defining feature is its remarkable ecosystem diversity within one park. It protects a wild Pacific coastline with sea stacks, the lush Hoh and Quinault temperate rainforests, and the alpine...
Arches contains the world's highest density of natural sandstone arches, with over 2,000 documented. The iconic Delicate Arch is a symbol of Utah, best seen at sunset. The park's landscape of fins, sp...
A global icon of geologic time, the Grand Canyon's immense scale and layered colors are unmatched. The South Rim offers the most accessible and famous viewpoints, while the North Rim provides a cooler...
Zion is a masterpiece of Navajo sandstone, featuring soaring cliffs, narrow slot canyons, and emerald pools. Iconic hikes define the experience: the thrilling chain-assisted ascent of Angels Landing a...
As America's most visited national park, the Smokies offer free admission and vast accessibility along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. It preserves the world's best examples of deciduous temperat...
Acadia is the premier East Coast national park, where mountains meet the sea. Visitors can summit Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the U.S. Atlantic coast, for the first sunrise in America. The...
Known as the 'Crown of the Continent,' Glacier boasts rugged mountains, pristine forests, and stunning glacial-carved valleys. The engineering marvel Going-to-the-Sun Road provides breathtaking access...
This park encapsulates the grandeur of the Colorado Rockies, with over 60 peaks above 12,000 feet. Trail Ridge Road, one of America's highest continuous paved roads, offers easy access to fragile alpi...
Bryce Canyon is a forest of stone, a series of massive natural amphitheaters filled with thousands of intricate, colorful limestone spires called hoodoos. Hiking trails like the Navajo Loop and Queens...
