Hi,

I'm from Montreal. I love nature and just breathtaking views. I see that there are a lot of beautiful national parks in the USA, the one I'm most familiar with is the Grand Canyon. However out of all the national parks, which one is easiest to visit by plane (closest to airport)? Do all of them need driving a car? And which ones have closeby amenities (hotels, lodges, restaurants, etc.)? And which ones are the most spectacular?

I know, a lot of questions, but still... I imagine myself walking on trails, bridges, or boat rides, and admiring the beauty of nature and breathtaking views. Then hopefully the hotel or facilities would be close by, and even better would allow to sit outside on some terrace or balcony and enjoy some of these spectacular views, and of course some food options around. Kind of like a vacation in nature?

I don't know if that's even a possible experience/request and if it could be done in a good budget? Thanks.

Most of the kinds of National Parks you describe are not very near airports if by near you mean a 10 minute taxi ride.

Many of them do have hotels/lodges/resturants in them where you could sit and enjoy the spectacular scenery.

That said, you could take a tour through many of the parks where you fly to a city, and go with a group. Alternatively you could fly to Las Vegas, and rent a car or take a bus to Grand Canyon or Zion where you could do what you describe.

Glacier, one of the more remote parks, is also one of the easiest to visit without a car since it has an Amtrak station, but no airport.

The Everglades is easy to visit from Miami or Naples on a guided tour. And Miami itself has a couple of national parks within easy striking distance if you like water.

Similarly, Virgin Islands National Park is probably the easiest park in the entire system to visit by plane. You land in St. Thomas, taxi to the ferry, then to St. John, and it's particularly easy to get around there without driving. There are loads of hiking trails.

If you are thinking about the great national parks of the west, I think that's harder. You can fly into Jackson, WY (now nonstop from NYC on JetBlue, I think), which sits on the outskirts of Grand Teton National Park, and I suspect you can get tours that go into the park from there.

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This sounds just like Glacier National Park--it's got trails, bridges and boat rides. There are several lodges in the park with some being pricey (Many Glacier Lodge) and some being more budget-friendly (Swiftcurrent Motor Inn or Rising Sun Motor Inn).

As Doug mentioned, you can take Amtrak to Glacier NP and there is a hikers shuttle bus (including transportation from the train station) to various points within the park and there are Red Bus Tours through the park too. So while we found having a car to be an advantage, it's possible to see this park without a car. http://www.glaciernationalparklodges.com/red-bus-tours

Grand Canyon South Rim - fly to either Flagstaff or Phoenix, then take a paid shuttle to the park. There are restaurants and lodging inside the park.

Rocky Mountain - fly to Denver, then take a paid shuttle to Estes Park. There's a free shuttle from Estes Park that connects with 2 free shuttle routes within the park, but much of the park is not served by the shuttle system. Lodging and restaurants in Estes Park, nothing inside the park itself. I believe there are some tours that drive around some areas of the park.

Yosemite - I believe there is bus service to the park and shuttles within it but others have more experience with that than I do. Definitely there are restaurant and lodging options inside the park.

Both Zion and Yosemite are quite easy to do without a car, but getting to the actual parks is almost impossible without a car. That's the difficulty of going to visit national parks. Unless you want to visit those that are within metro areas, you will need to drive at some point. Or just take a guided bus tour (these certainly exist and in some ways have advantages because tour companies reserve blocks of rooms in national park lodgings that are difficult to get into otherwise).

Not true about Yosemite, Doug. There is public transportation to Yosemite Valley via Amtrak (train/bus) or Greyhound/YARTS. Somewhat cumbersome but definitely not almost impossible.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisi...sportation.htm

There are also shuttles that go from Vegas to Zion or St. George to Zion. It's not cheap but it will get you there.

https://www.aztecshuttle.com/st-geor...national-park/
https://www.stgeorgeexpress.com/schedule

All parks are best visited by car.

Zion (my favorite national park), Brice, and Death Valley are easily visited from Las Vegas.

Spectacular Valley of Fire State Park is also near Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon is also often visited from Las Vegas.

If you like mountains, Rocky Mountains NP is a short drive from Denver, and there is much scenic beauty in Colorado that is not contained within the boundaries of a national park.

Denver is also convenient for visiting Arches and Canyonlands in Utah.

HTtY

Denver is also convenient for visiting Arches and Canyonlands in Utah.

Salt Lake City would be more convenient.

If you fly into Fresno airport, visiting Yosemite without a car is very simple. You can now take the YARTS bus from Fresno to Yosemite Valley.

http://yarts.com/routes-and-schedule...semite-valley/

If you fly into San Jose, you can take Amtrak to Merced and then the YARTS from there - longer ride, but easy to do.

> which ones are the most spectacular?
Of the 58 national parks I've been to, the three most spectacular for me (note the last two words) are Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon. Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Canyonlands, Zion, Sequoia, and Olympic; also have a degree of "wow!"


I imagine myself walking on trails, bridges, or boat rides, and admiring the beauty of nature and breathtaking views. Then hopefully the hotel or facilities would be close by, and even better would allow to sit outside on some terrace or balcony and enjoy some of these spectacular views, and of course some food options around. Kind of like a vacation in nature?

Yosemite, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, or Sequoia would all allow this. As other have noted, Glacier has the advantage of being near a rail station, and one COULD get to Yosemite via bus.

I hate to ask this, but wouldn't a train ride from Montreal to Jasper on VIA Rail allow you to do this without even leaving your country?

Wow thank tou so much for the replies and info, I will go through all the details and make a decision.

I imagine myself walking on trails, bridges, or boat rides, and admiring the beauty of nature and breathtaking views. Then hopefully the hotel or facilities would be close by, and even better would allow to sit outside on some terrace or balcony and enjoy some of these spectacular views, and of course some food options around. Kind of like a vacation in nature?

Maybe off the wall, but you've pretty well described an Alaska cruise, provided you resist the overhyped excursions. Pick one that includes the Canadian part of the Inside Passage (i.e. departs from Vancouver rather than Seattle.) You could do a round-trip cruise that includes Glacier Bay, provides access to Misty Fjords NP outside Ketchikan; or you could do a one-way cruise that also includes both Misty Fjords and Glacier Bay NPs, then ends in Seward, where you can visit Kenai Fjords NP, walk to a glacier, see lots of wildlife, do the whole thing without a car, and with a very comfortable waterfront hotel room with a balcony, one that moves through ever-changing, but always beautiful, scenery. Order room service, plop in a chair on the balcony, and watch the forest and the mountains slide by.

Cruises are very budget-friendly, the food and beverage options are endless, and, provided you work a little at getting away from the throngs in the ports of call (really not that hard) you can have your nature/wilderness experience with all the mod cons.

Thanks Gardyloo, I never thought of a cruise.

Acadia is an easy first np to visit. LL Bean buses can take you to most places. You don't need to stay in park and reserve lodging a year in advance like Yellowstone.

I'm bookmarking because I'm interested too.

I really love the National Seashore on Cape Cod...lovely, bike paths through dunes and pine forests, great beach, good birdwatching, etc.