9 Best National Parks to Visit in Winter

Sure, Yellowstone and Banff are beautiful in summer, but also crowded. For solitude and snow, consider a winter visit to a US or Canadian National Park, whether you are looking for dramatic landscapes to capture by photo or conquer by foot. Just remember to plan ahead as some amenities are limited and four-wheel drive may be required; trade your hiking boots for snowshoes or skis and enjoy. By Fodor's Editors

Seasonal Highlights: Yellowstone can be the coldest place in the continental United States in winter, with temperatures of -30°F not uncommon. Still, winter-sports enthusiasts flock here when the park opens for its winter season the last week of December. Plus there's nearby Jackson Hole ski resort. Snowmobiling is an exhilarating way to experience Yellowstone; it's also controversial: there's heated debate about the pollution and disruption to animal habitats.

Top Activities: snow coach tours, skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling

Seasonal Highlights: Mt. Rainier is a major Nordic ski center for cross-country and telemark skiing. Although trails are not groomed, those around Paradise are extremely popular. If you want to ski with fewer people, try the trails in and around the Ohanapecosh–Stevens Canyon area, which are just as beautiful and, because of their more easterly exposure, slightly less subject to the rains that can douse the Longmire side, even in the dead of winter. Deep snows make Mt. Rainier a snowshoeing pleasure. The Paradise area, with its network of trails, is the best choice.

Top Activities: cross-country skiing, telemark skiing, snowshoeing

Seasonal Highlights: Unlike Utah's other national parks, Bryce Canyon receives plenty of snow, making it a popular cross-country ski area. The park's 2½-mi Fairyland Ski Loop is marked but ungroomed, as is the 5-mi Paria Loop, which runs through ponderosa forests into long, open meadows. Snowshoes are provided for free during ranger-led snowshoe hikes. You can snowshoe on the rim trails, but the Park Service discourages their use below the rim.

Top Activities: snowshoeing, cross-country skiing

Seasonal Highlights: Hurricane Ridge is the central spot for winter sports. Miles of downhill and Nordic ski tracks are open late December through March, and a ski lift, towropes, and ski school are open 10 to 4 weekends and holidays. Tubing areas for adults and children are open Friday through Sunday across from Hurricane Ridge Lodge.

Top Activities: downhill and Nordic skiing, tubing, snowshoeing

Seasonal Highlights: The beauty of Yosemite under a blanket of snow has long inspired poets and artists, as well as ordinary folks. Skiing and snowshoeing activities in the park center on Badger Pass Ski Area, California's oldest snow-sports resort, which is about 40 minutes away from the valley on Glacier Point Road. Here you can rent equipment, take a lesson, have lunch, join a guided excursion, and take the free shuttle back to the valley after a drink in the lounge.

Top Activities: ice-skating, skiing, and snowshoeing

Seasonal Highlights: Explore the beauty of winter in the Canadian Rockies, whether observing deer and elk on the roadside, or in an active adventure. Lake Louise Mountain Resort is Canada's largest single ski area, with skiing on four mountain faces, 4,200 skiable acres, and 113 named trails—and that's only one of the three ski resorts in Banff.

Top Activities: downhill skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing

Seasonal Highlights: Winters are mild at lower desert elevations, and it's a wonderful and solitary time to see Zion's canyons. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are best experienced in the park's higher elevations during the winter, where snow stays on the ground longer. Inquire at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center for backcountry conditions. Snowmobiling is only allowed for residential access.

Top Activities: cross-country skiing, snowshoeing

Seasonal Highlights: Each winter, the popularity of snowshoeing in the park increases. It's a wonderful way to experience Rocky Mountain's majestic winter side, when the jagged peaks are softened with a blanket of snow and the summer hordes are nonexistent. You can snowshoe any of the summer hiking trails that are accessible by road; many of them also become well-traveled cross-country ski trails. Backcountry skiing within the park ranges from gentle cross-country outings to full-on telemarking down steep chutes and glaciers. Only on the west side of the park are you permitted to snowmobile, but you must register at Kawuneeche Visitor Center before traveling up the unplowed section of Trail Ridge Road up to Milner Pass.

Top Activities: downhill and Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling

Seasonal Highlights: Almost as large as the entire state of Connecticut, Jasper is the largest of the Canadian Rocky Mountain national parks. Within the immense area are more than 300-kim (186 mi) of trails, groomed and natural, making Jasper one of the largest cross-county ski areas in Canada. Marmot Basin is a great downhill option if Banff's resorts are too crowded.

Top Activities: cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, downhill skiing, snowboarding