National Parks?
 

We're interested in visiting some national parks. In the U.S., which are your favorites? Which have great scenery and are good for seeing wildlife? Any hotels to recommend? Thanks for any guidance you can give me!

there are so many great ones, its really hard to say. I'm tempted to mention one in Alaska, cause that's where I've seen the most wildlife.

But if I had to pick one, I'd go with Yosemite. Its incredibly beautiful. We did see a bear there, and other wildlife. And, well, I'm a fan of Ansel Adams, so seeing those almost iconic views that he photographed was just amazing.

On the other hand, the next one I hope to visit is Yellowstone, in conjunction with the Grand Tetons.

My favorites include these usual top ones - all have great scenery.

Grand Canyon / any of the hotels on the rim. Great scenery. Saw lots of big horn sheep & a few condors, but didn't see much other wildlife

Zion / many hotels in the town of springdale, UT. Lots of mule deer, but little other wildlife

Bryce / Bryce Lodge. One or two chipmunks

Yosemite/ Yosemite Lodge. Deer, but no other big wildlife to speak of.


Yellowstone - don't know hotels - more wildlife here

Everglades. Any hotel in Miami or Naples area. Lots of alligators.

Yosemite, of course.

Of the 43 U.S. national parks I've visited, my three favorites are Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon.

> Which have great scenery and are good for seeing wildlife?

Best combo for these two criteria are Yellowstone / Teton OR Glacier NP. You could visit all three in two weeks in August, and see more scenery and wildlife than you could ever want. Note, however, that this is the height of tourist season as well, so making advance reservations would be a must.

My personal favorites for the combo of great scenery and wildlife are Yellowstone and the Tetons. If you have the time to throw in Glacier,as Paul suggested, even better. There are other amazingly beautiful Parks (we've been to many and keep adding more) but, in my opinion, none that offer the "bang for your buck" so to speak that Yellowstone and the Tetons do in such close proximity.

We love Yellowstone so much that we've been 3 times, in 3 seasons and went to the Tetons on 2 of those trips (skipped Tetons in the winter). Besides the abundance of wildlife in YS, we enjoy the variety of scenery. You have geysers, hot springs, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, vast meadows, other thermal features, Yellowstone Canyon, etc. All sorts of hikes from easy strolls to all or multi day.

Have enjoyed our visits to all the other Parks mentioned here as well as some not listed, but it's Yellowstone and the Tetons that call us back and those will be the first Parks we take our grandson to.

We saw lots of buffalo and huge elk in Yellowstone, also a fox, and wolves (from a distance). Folks are very nice and will let you use their spotting scopes if you are interested.
Several moose in The Tetons. I really wanted to see a bear, but none in either place. We went in mid-August.

Be sure to reserve early!

For scenery, I would vote for Yellowstone-Tetons. Like Floridafan says, more bang for your buck because they are so close together.

Zions is also beautiful, but quite hot and we went at the end of September!

My favorites are Yellowstone and Denali for wildlife and scenery.

If you have an appreciation for interesting geology and some great hikes then head for Arches, Canyonlands, Death Valley, Zion and Bryce.

I can actually say I haven't been to one I didn't like, but Yosemite, while beautiful, had way too many people and cars for my likes.

Thanks for all this great information. Looks like Yellowstone might offer the best combo of what we're looking for. If we did that one, how many days do you think would be about right for staying there?

What month? That would be key as to which ones might be best for that time of year. Your probably to late for this year as lodging would be difficult. Even a lot of next year would already be somewhat iffy.

sprio, at this point I don't even know what year, just eyeing potential trips. Would like to go when the weather is nice and not snowy, so probably summertime.

Last two weeks of June then would get my vote for Yellowstone/Tetons.

Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, Olympics for August

Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands
April/May or October

Yosemite or Sequoia 1st 2 weeks of June

Everglades, Dry Tortugas, Biscayne Nov thru Mar

Glacier Mid-July thru Sept

Guadalupe and Carlsbad-1st week of November

Big Bend-March

Death Valley-Dec thru March

Glacier in Sept

If we decided on Yellowstone, what would the weather be like in that area in September?

I've only been in winter but I believe weather in September can be highly variable. Some of the park lodging will start to close http://www.yellowstonenationalparklo...ates-2247.html Visitor numbers will be less. There's excellent wildlife viewing information on the YNet forums.

You would probably get to see the elk rut, which would be awesome. Just don't get

Patty, I didn't know that some of the lodging shut down for the season. Thanks for the link.

spiro, that does sound awesome.

As far as length of stay, we spent 4 nights but that was with much of the park inaccessible. In a different season, I would spend a week and split that between a few locations.

Okay, thanks. I didn't realize how extensive the park is and that people stay in multiple areas.

If you go to Yellowstone, you also must visit Grand Teton NP which is adjacent to it on it's southern border. It would be a shame to miss the Tetons. The town of Jackson is fun to explore too.
Grand Teton, Glacier, Katmai and Bryce Canyon are my favorite National Parks.

A visit to Yellowstone and Tetons is a fantastic trip. We spent 8 days on our visit, flying in and out of Salt Lake. The drive from Salt Lake to Jackson WY was about 5 hrs. If you can get a flight into Bozeman MT, do that instead. You'll save at least 3 hrs.

We spent 6 nights in Yellowstone - 2 at Old Faithful at Snow Lodge, 2 at Mammoth in a cabin, 2 at Canyon in a cabin. Then 2 nights in Tetons at Signal Mountain. It's important to stay in a few locations in YNP - its a BIG park and there is so much to see. And you should dedicate a few days to the Tetons - beautiful and filled with moose!

We went in mid Sept and it was beautiful! 70's daytime, 40-50's at night. Elk rut is incredible! They were all over the grounds at Mammoth and staying there put us close to the north side of the park and the Lamar Valley, which is spectacular. Saw every type of mammal and bird you can imagine - grizzly and black bear, herds of pronghorn and bison, big horn sheep, coyote and fox everywhere, tons of elk, wolves (made me cry, I was so happy!) Eagles, osprey, trumpeter swans, grouse. Crazy!

And the park's thermal features are unlike anything else you will see. Norris and Old Faithful geyser basins are a must see. Walk as many of the boardwalks as you can - Grand Prismatic, Artist Paint pots, Black Sand Basin - all kinds of different thermal features that will blow you away.

I fell in love with Yellowstone. You will enjoy every minute of your time there.

Thanks for all this good info. I'm having fun exploring all the different hotels.

Are there organized tours you can take out to see the wildlife and thermal features, or does everyone just do it on their own? Any tours to recommend?

There are tours offered by Xanterra, the park service concessionaire http://www.yellowstonenationalparklo...o-do-7168.html and the Yellowstone Association https://www.yellowstoneassociation.org/experience and a number of other tour operators. We mostly went on our own except for the snow coach ride to/from Old Faithful which is required to get there in winter. Our wolf finding strategy was to look for a row of spotting scopes ;)

there really is only one....the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superi...telprdb5202169

"there is really only one"
This just isn't true at all

There are many many tours and many tour operators in Yellowstone

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/concessn.htm.

yes, it certainly is true as that is my opinion. do not ever tell me what my opinion is.

Then state that it is your opinion when you post it and it would be much less misleading to people that do not know how many tour providiers there are. Very commonly people put IMOP or IMHOP. There are at least 40 concessionaires. Many of which are very good or even exceptional

I know you are deciding on Yellowstone, but for future reference, IMHO there is no prettier place on earth than the High Sierras in Yosemite in late July. Tuolumne Meadows is a far cry the Valley, is another world that a faction of Yosemite visitors ever get to see. This is a very special place.

Katzgar's post wasn't about tour operators but another wilderness area (which isn't a national park).

Tuolumne Meadows is great for getting away from the crowds but IME offers far fewer wildlife sightings compared to Yellowstone.

In no particular order, and for the same reasons listed above, these are my favorites:
Bryce (because it was different from anything I'd ever seen)
Yellowstone (for the wildlife)
Glacier

Oops! Didn't mean to hit "send". I meant to add that Glacier gets my vote for excellent hiking.

Patty, in my post I acknowledged that the OP had picked Yellowstone. I was merely offering an opinion on an option for a future trip, not this current one. When many people hear of Yosemite, they aren't aware of the High Sierra part.

Thanks for continuing to add to this thread. I really appreciate all the info. I think Yellowstone would be our first choice due to the great wildlife, but I like reading about all the other parks as well for future trips.

Katzgar and Spirobulldog: you two are being sent to your room for a "timeout". You may come back when you think you can behave.

What else would one post on this forum but one's opinion?
One wouldn't post someone else's opinion.

We went to Yellowstone/Tetons 3 years ago. Both on the bucket list. We stayed in 1 night in each of 3 different lodges in Yellowstone, so as to have less travel time (Sept.). Worked well. Yellowstone's springs and geysers are. to me, "oddities"; great to see them, but once is enough. Fortunately, there's ample meadowlands, mountains and wildlife as well. Tetons are beautiful; lake view, mountain view; good hiking.

Looks like you are set on Yellowstone, a great choice. BUT, at the top of your list for next trip should be Alaska. The entire state is like a national park. To paint a picture for you, take the one mountain range that is Grand Teton NP, multiply it over and over again for as far as the eye can see and beyond, and make those ranges that meet ocean drop straight into the bluest water you have ever seen.

Tomboy,
I thought Katzgar was commenting on the previous post not the original post at the top of the page. I didn't bother clicking on the link. I thought he/she meant there was really only one concessionaire at Yellowstone. Having an opinion and having facts are two different things. I guess that he/she was referring to a particular unit with the NPS system. The link provided isn't to a National Parks but a National Forest(which I don't know if it is operated by BLM or what)

Barb, we are very interested in Alaska too. What places would you recommend that we visit there? I know the wildlife sightings would be great. Any favorite places to stay?

We have only been to Kenai Fjords/Seward, Alyeska/Girdwood, and Lake Clark/floatplane trip to fish. All fantastic for us.

We have only been to Kenai Fjords/Seward, Alyeska/Girdwood, and Lake Clark/floatplane trip to fish. All fantastic for us.