Favorite National Park
 

What is your favorite national park? Canadian National Parks count too. What is your favorite trail in these parks? What national park is your favorite in the west, in the east, and overall? I am not planning a trip but just wondering.

I've been to over 200 sites that are administered by the National Parks Service, as well as five national parks in Canada. My personal favorite is Yellowstone, with Yosemite and the Grand Canyon almost tied.

The Grand Teton

Yellowstone, Arches, Zion, Yosemite, Capitol Reef are probably my top 5 US National Parks...probably in that order too. I've probably been to all the major national parks of the west.

Jasper and Banff in Canada are my favorite "mountain" parks....they even beat out Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Parks in my book.

To many trails to mention.

Utahtea

Rocky Mountain NP is my favorite. I find the scenery the most gorgeous in the U.S. I haven't been to Jasper and Banff yet.

Asdaven: What's up with all the "what's your favorite" this or that? Compiling a list?

I have just come back from the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks - loved them!!! I am now looking to go to either Glacier, Bryce or Zion with my husband and 2 teenage sons - would love opinions on which one of these you like best and why

Without a doubt...

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park!

East of the Mississippi it is Sleeping Bear Dunes NP with Isle Royale a close second.

West of the Mississippi I would have Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Volcanoes tied.

Tetons/Yellowstone by far as #1, I consider them a tandem.
Yosemite # 2
These 2 are far superior to anything in the lower 48. Grand Canyon Glacier both very nice but pretty much day trips for the average traveler. , Rocky Mt Park nice but again a day trip .

Bryce and Capitol Reef for canyon parks.
Yellowstone for a park like no other.
Yoho in Canada.

Favorite trails: McArthur Lake in Yoho and
the Whaleback in Yoho.

Zion and Bryce. We love to camp and I have such great memories of tent camping with my kids at these locations...very safe and family-friendly!

Yosemite is #1
Arches for red rocks
Hubby likes Kings Canyon best
Yoho in Canada
Very fond memories of Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains even though it's very crowded now.

North Cascades-It has spectacular scenery but none of the tourist development most parks have.
Glacier, Arches, and Canyonlands are close seconds.

Big Bend.
M

Good Opinions- In response to MicheleNYC's post, I am just seeing what is everybody's favorite national park and which ones are worth a visit that I haven't been too. Keep up all the good opinions!

Fort McHenry, in Baltimore... home of the star-spangled banner. A tiny gem of a park in the middle of an industrial area of Baltimore. It's on a point in the harbour, and one of the most amazing things is to watch people sail by, stop the boat, and sing the Anthem... or to be inside the star fort and see people be overcome with patriotism and sing the anthem. Very moving!

I been to Fort McHenry, very cool. I live right in Maryland. I like to take the watertaxi to it. But, my thread is more about national parks with natural scenry rather than historic sites. Sorry, if I didn't make that clear in the beginning. But, Fort Mchenry is a nice place if you like historic sites.

You didn't say it was about nature... And it's got a great trail around the perimeter along the water. Isn't there history in these other parks... like Mt. Rushmore, Canyon de Chelly, Alcatraz?

You asked about favourite national parks... period. Not all national parks have sweeping views, scenic overlooks, and lots of land. Not everyone likes wide open spaces. Some of feel more comfortable in small spaces with street lights and street signs.

The Grand Canyon! The "hush" is awe inspiring.

Okay, it dosen't have to be about nature. I guess I was just thinking that Ft. Mchenry was a national historic site and not a national park. That's alright. Mesa Verde is another historic one I like, but also has scenery.

I really should get back to Fort McHenry, it is only 20 miles from me. Does it have any trails? I can understand your point as it is a important historic site and is interesting to see a War of 1812 era Fort. It is a good place to go see if you live in the area or are vacationing in Washington DC or Maryland. Anotherwards, if you can't get out of the area.

For mountains: Glacier - just beautiful - or North Cascades. Yosemite was great 40 years ago, but just overrun in the summer now.

For water: Biscayne (Florida) - sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, even glass-bottom boat trips. And most people don't even know it's there!

Yosemite: Tuolumne Meadows and the High Sierra as well as the valley.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area/Seashore.

-Bill

The Tetons and Bryce Canyon. Volcano's was pretty interesting because it is what it is, but nothing beats the Tetons.

Sequoia.

Gotta love those big trees. I want my ashes scattered in the Giant Forest.

Fort McHenry is a national monument and historic shrine. It has a walk that circles the park along the water. On a nice day, there will be lots of sailboats, as well as commercial vessels. It's a little gem of a park, right on the edge of a very urban area with commerical docks, a dense neighbourhood, I-95 and train-tracks. Part of its charm is the green space it offers to the neighbours.

I was on the Patriots of Fort McHenry Board for a number of years before i moved to the UK, so know the place quite well.

Superintendents of this park have gone on to head Arches National Park and Glen Canyon.

mountain parks, jasper in alberta, then glacier, then rainier

desert/canyon parks canyonlands, then arches then capitol reef

honorable mention Denali, great smokies, yellowstone

Close to home: Cape Cod National Seashore - 43,000 acres of shoreline in Massachusetts (with 40 miles of beach).

Haleakala - Kula, Maui ... AWESOME; Denali - Alaska ... AMAZING!

We have visited many and find they're all such amazing spots. Whether it's a canyon or a mountain, or a historic monument ... I'm glad they've been preserved...

Fairfax- On the topic of historic forts, have you been to Fort Washington National Historical Park in Maryland and Fort Necessity in Pennsylvanna? Fort Necessity isn't much but a row of sticks but still is the interesting site of a French and Indian War Battle. Fort Washington I have not been to yet, but I think it is similar to Fort Mchenry.
Crefloors- The Tetons are amazing, one of the most beautiful national parks I have seen yet. Did you hike some of the Cascade Canyon Trail? That hike is just incredible. Second to the Teton, it would be a tie between Yellowstone and Yosemite, Yosemite for the scenry and Yellowstone for the interesting geothermal features, the wildlife, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls which I consider the most scenic place in Yellowstone.
Again thanks for your opinions-

I have been to Fort Washington... it's pretty interesting. Not been to the one in PA.

Our citizens vote on this issue each year by their attendance- the best vote!
The long time only champion by almost three times the vote of the the runner-up is the undefeated, undisputed defending champion- The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Yes, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park attracts the largest number of visitors annually of any national park but a lot of that has to do with the fact 60 percent of the nation's population lives within a 500 mile radius (or one day drive) of the Smoky Mountains."

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/nphtml/gsmhome.html

Utahtea

The Great Smokey Mountains are awesome. But, they are a 500-600 mile drive from my house which makes it a long one day car trip. Have not been there in a while, probably last time I was there was 6-7 years ago.

asdaven: well, my dad, older brother, and I, hiked up to Amphetheater Lake, and being that I was about 13 at the time, I will have to say that was one of the most miserable days of my life!!!! LOL The trail was all switch backs and as I'm sitting on the side of the trail catching my breath, some SMART people rode by on horseback. We got caught in a raging thunder and lightning storm on the way back down, and my brother had an argument with a moose about exactly who's trail it actually was. The moose won by the way. :D

Where is Amphetheater Lake? It sounds familiar.

Fairfax- I went to Fort Mchenry, it was very neat. I saw a lot more than I saw the first time. I walked the path around the water, I couldn't figure out where the Fort Mchenry Tunnel and the Harbor Tunnel went under the water. But it was neat seeing the big huge ships coming in and out. I saw the film on Fort Mchenry and it was very moving. At the end of the movie, the curtains open automatically so you could see the fort and they sung the National Anthem right where it was made. The fort was cool to climb down into the "saferooms" and where they stored gunpowder and amunition. Very, very interesting. I would highly recommend if you were visiting the Washington-Baltimore area. Out of all the sites in Baltimore, I would say Fort Mchenry is the best and a must see. Fairfax, have you been to Anteitam and Gettysburg battlefields?

I am so glad you had the chance to go! The film is really interesting, and when the curtains open, if the big 30' x 40' flag is flying, it is awe-inspiring. If you took the path around the fort, out by the wetlands, that's where the Fort McHenry tunnel enters the water. The wetlands were created by the earth from the tunnel. Although the two tunnels come out on the north side at the same place, the Harbor tunnel comes out on the south side a couple miles to the south of the FOMC tunnel.

I have been to both battlefields, and they're interesting. My greatx3 grandfather was the Commisary General for the Confederate Army. My family's land grant in the US was what's now Fairfax County.

Right now, I am living and working in Wales, where I am having a brilliant time exploring the ring of castles that follow the coast. I am lucky enough to be working in a 12th century castle, once owned by William Randolf Hearst. WAY COOL!

I have a question, when I say the film, the small flag was flying, but later in the day, the big one was flying, why wasn't the big one flying all along. Fairfax-Have you ever seen the illumination at the Anteitam Battlefield where they light up 23,000 to 24,000 candles to honor the soldiers who died in the battle?