The US has more than 400 national parks that span more than 80 million acres of land. That’s just insane! In this best US National Parks, I cover parks that I plan to check out this year. From Wyoming to Colorado to New Mexico, my best US National Parks is all over the map.
What I found interesting when researching the best US National Parks are these fun facts:
- 327,516,619 recreation visits
- Three parks had more than 10 million recreation visits:
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- 50 percent of total recreation visits occurred in 27 parks (7 percent of all parks in the National Park System)
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Credit Cards to Bring to these Best US National Parks
With most of your time spent outdoors, you want to bring cards that have high earn rates in non-bonus category. In addition, you may also want to bring a card with a high earn rate on restaurants and grocery stores.
The Citi Double Cash and AmEx Blue Business Plus are ideal cards for your non-bonus category spend. Citi Double Cash cardmembers earn 2% cashback on all purchases. You earn 2x AmEx points on all purchases with the AmEx Blue Business Plus.
For dining and grocery stores, look no farther than the AmEx Gold. Cardmembers earn 4x points on dining and US grocery stores with the AmEx Gold.
Grand Teton National Park
Amongst the 300,000+ acres of Grand Teton National Park, you find both the Teton Range and Jackson Hole. Among the many interesting things about Grand Teton National Park is that it’s only 10 miles south of Yellowstone National Park. This park hosted more than 3.4M people in 2019 and you can see why from the pictures.
Best Ways to Get to Grand Teton National Park
The closest airports to the park are Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA), and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). Of the three, Salt Lake City Airport offers the most nonstop flights for travelers across the U.S.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Just a shade over 75 miles northwest of Denver Internationationl Airport is Rocky Mountain National Park. The park, host to 4.7M visitors in 2019, has 355 miles of hiking trails, scenic drives rising to 12,000 feet in elevation, wildlife watching include bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, camping at one of five campground sites, fishing on more than 50 lakes, and horseback riding. Writing this has my mind blown on everything there is to do!
Best Ways to Get to Rocky Mountain National Park
Denver International Airport (DEN) is likely the best airport to fly into. After landing, you drive the 75 miles to Rocky Mountain National Park as there is no public transportation between the airport and the park.
Yellowstone National Park
Established in 1872, Yellowstone is the world’s first national park hosting 4M visitors in 2019. Sprawling more than 2 million acres, visitors can see hydrothermal features including Old Faithful Geyser, hike 1,000 miles of trails, bike 49 miles of park roads, ride horses, and fish.
Best Ways to Get to Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone Regional Airport (COD), Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN), Billings Logan International Airport (BIL), Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA), and Yellowstone Airport (WYS) are airports you can fly into to access the park.
Bus service from Bozeman, MT to West Yellowstone, MT is available all year. Bus service from Idaho to West Yellowstone is limited to the summer months. Commercial transportation from Bozeman, MT to Gardiner, MT is available during the winter and summer seasons. Commercial transportation to the park from Cody and Jackson, WY is available during the summer months.
Yosemite National Park
Rock climbing Half Dome and El Capitan are two of the more recognizable things to do at Yosemite National Park. If you’re not an experienced rock climber, other things to do include seeing the Giant Sequoia tree grove in Yosemite, camping at one of 13 campground sites, hiking 750 miles of trails, biking 12 miles of paved bike paths, stargazing, birdwatching, fishing, horseback riding, and skiing. In 2019, Yosemite National Park hosted 4.5M visitors.
Best Ways to Get to Yosemite National Park
Fresno-Yosemite International (FAT), Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH), Stockton Metropolitan Airport (SCK), Oakland International (OAK), Sacramento International (SMF), San José International (SJC), San Francisco International (SFO), and Reno/Tahoe International (RNO) are airports to fly into to get to Yosemite National Park.
Amtrak provides a combination of train and bus service to Yosemite Valley. Greyhound provides bus service to Merced, where you can transfer to YARTS to continue to Yosemite Valley.
White Sands National Park
Only about 600,000 visitors visited White Sands National Park in 2019. My assumption the number of visitors is much less than other parks is because this park is less well known. When you visit White Sands National Park, you can camp at 10 camping sites, bike 16 miles of trails, drive the eight-mile scenic drive through a gypsum dune field, hike five trails, and sled.
Best Ways to Get to White Sands National Park
El Paso International Airport (ELP) is likely the closest commercial airport to White Sands National Park. There is no public transportation that currently serves the park so you need to have a car to access the park.
Common Best US National Parks Questions
What are the most beautiful national parks?
Having never visited these parks in person, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park are the most beautiful national parks based on the pictures. The most beautiful national park I’ve visited is Grand Canyon National Park.
How many national parks are in the US?
There are 419 national parks in the US that contain 84 million acres of land.
What is America’s most visited national park?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the most visited national park hosting 12.5 million visitors in 2019. Rounding out the top five are Grand Canyon National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion National Park, and Yosemite National Park. All in all, these parks may be busier than other parks when you visit.
What are the must see national parks?
The most visited national parks include Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Acadia National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Olympic National Park, and Glacier National Park. In short, you likely can’t go wrong with any of these parks.
What are the best national parks on the east coast?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Lincoln Memorial, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Natchez Trace Parkway, and Natchez Trace Parkway are some of the most visited national parks on the east coast.
Where can I find the best national parks in the USA map?
Check out this best national parks in the USA map to help you navigate to the National Park map of your choice.
Conclusion on the Best US National Parks
Researching these best US National Parks makes me want to get on the road asap! If you’re into the outdoors, you’ll have your hands full with all of the things there are to do.
Which parks make your best US National Parks list? Do you have a favorite US National Park? Please let me know in the comments or by sending me an email pointswithq@gmail.com.
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