1. Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, Yosemite National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Park internationally recognized for its cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity
- Almost 95 percent of the park is designated wilderness
- Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada
Featured in The Best of California
#3 in Best Attractions in the USA
#5 in Best National Parks in the World
#11 in Best Landmarks in the USA
2. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-early Oct
Cost: $
- Largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand and Boiling Lake in Dominica
- Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration
- Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue
Featured in The Best of Wyoming
#2 in Best Attractions in the USA
#8 in Best National Parks in the World
#11 in Best Attractions in the World
#15 in Best Landmarks in the USA
#46 in Best Landmarks in the World
3. South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Grand Canyon National Park, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park
- The Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, is often considered one of the Wonders of the World
- The park received the second highest count of visitors of all American national parks after Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Featured in The Best of Arizona
#1 in Best Attractions in the USA
#5 in Best Attractions in the World
4. Trail of the Cedars, Glacier National Park, Montana
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: July-Aug
Cost: $
- Hiking trail accessible from Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park
- The .60-mile (0.97 km) path is paved and has a raised boardwalk in some sections
- Some of the cedars visible are over 80 feet (24 m) tall
- In the middle of the half loop is a waterfall that has carved through colorful rock to make a channeled stream
Featured in The Best of Montana
5. Cascade Canyon Trail, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: mid May-late Sept
Cost: $
- National park that includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the valley known as Jackson Hole
- Along with surrounding national forests, the park constitutes part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the world's largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems
Featured in The Best of Wyoming
#15 in Best Attractions in the USA
#22 in Best National Parks in the World
6. Laurel Falls Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Nov
Cost: $
- Historic trail that ascends Cove Mountain, leading past Laurel Falls, one of the most popular waterfalls in the national park, en route to the summit of Cove Mountain
- Landmarks include the falls, old-growth forest, and the Cove Mountain lookout tower
- The tower used to be a fire tower, and is only one of four remaining former fire towers in the park
Featured in The Best of Tennessee
#9 in Best Attractions in the USA
#21 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#30 in Best Attractions in the World
#32 in Best Landmarks in the USA
7. The Zion Narrows Riverside Walk, Zion National Park, Utah
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-Nov
Cost: $
- Park located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions
- The park features a variety of life zones that allow for unusual plant and animal diversity
- There are four life zones in the park: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest
- Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches
Featured in The Best of Utah
#7 in Best Attractions in the USA
#7 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
8. Emerald Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Sept
Cost: $
- Park located within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains
- The eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park
- The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra
Featured in The Best of Colorado
#21 in Best Attractions in the USA
9. Delicate Arch Trail, Arches National Park, Utah
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park
- The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park
- Delicate Arch is formed of Entrada Sandstone
- The original sandstone fin was gradually worn away by weathering and erosion, leaving the arch
Featured in The Best of Utah
#18 in Best National Parks in the World
#23 in Best Attractions in the USA
10. Ryan Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Oct-Nov
Cost: $
- Ryan Mountain is a 5,456-foot-high (1,663 m) mountain in Joshua Tree National Park
- It is one of the locations in Joshua Tree that features abundant lichen populations
- It is named after J.D. Ryan, a wealthy rancher and early mining operator in the park
Featured in The Best of California
#20 in Best Attractions in the USA
11. Gorham Mountain Loop, Acadia National Park, Maine
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Trail offering rocky coastline, Cadillac Mountain, and a panoramic view of ocean drive
Featured in The Best of Maine
#16 in Best Attractions in the USA
12. Navajo Loop and Queens Garden Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Park whose major feature is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters
- Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks
Featured in The Best of Utah
#3 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#6 in Best Attractions in the USA
#19 in Most Surreal Attractions in the World
13. Dark Hollow Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Trail in Shenandoah National Park that leads to Dark Hollow Falls, a 70 ft (21 m) cascade
- Various fauna can be viewed along the trail, including occasional sightings of black bears and timber rattlesnakes
Featured in The Best of Virginia
#97 in Best Attractions in the USA
14. Horseshoe Lake Trail, Denali National Park, Alaska
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Denali National Park and Preserve is located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America
- The park encompasses an area larger than the state of New Hampshire
- Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations
Featured in The Best of Alaska
#35 in Best Attractions in the USA
15. Badwater Basin Salt Flats Trail, Death Valley National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: mid Oct-mid May
Cost: $
- Noted as the lowest point in North America and the United States, with a depth of 282 ft (86 m) below sea level
- Consists of a small spring-fed pool of "bad water" next to the road in a sink; the accumulated salts of the surrounding basin make it undrinkable, thus giving it the name. The pool does have animal and plant life, including pickleweed, aquatic insects, and the Badwater snail.
- Adjacent to the pool, where water is not always present at the surface, repeated freeze–thaw and evaporation cycles gradually push the thin salt crust into hexagonal honeycomb shapes
Featured in The Best of California
#25 in Best Attractions in the USA
16. Moro Rock, Sequoia National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Granite dome rock formation in Sequoia National Park
- A stairway, designed by the National Park Service and built in 1931, is cut into and poured onto the rock, so that visitors can hike to the top
- The view from the rock encompasses much of the Park, including the Great Western Divide
Featured in The Best of California
#32 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#66 in Best Attractions in the USA
17. Mesa Arch Trail, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Mesa Arch is a pothole arch on the eastern edge of the Island in the Sky mesa in Canyonlands National Park
- Mesa Arch is a spectacular natural stone arch perched at the edge of a cliff with vast views of canyons
Featured in The Best of Utah
18. Myrtle Falls Viewpoint via Skyline Trail, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: July-Aug
Cost: $
- Park established in 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preserving 236,381 acres (369.3 sq mi; 956.6 km2), including all of Mount Rainier, a 14,410-foot (4,390 m) stratovolcano
- The highest point in the Cascade Range, Mount Rainier is surrounded by valleys, waterfalls, subalpine meadows, and old-growth forest
- More than 25 glaciers descend the flanks of the volcano, which is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow
Featured in The Best of Washington
#60 in Best Attractions in the USA
19. Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: Feb
Cost: $
- The Anhinga Trail is a short trail (about 0.4 miles) in the Everglades National Park
- The trail is a paved walkway and a boardwalk over Taylor Slough, a freshwater sawgrass marsh
- Abundant wildlife is visible from the trail, including alligators, turtles, anhingas, herons, and egrets
Featured in The Best of Florida
#76 in Best Attractions in the USA
20. Kīlauea Iki Trail and Crater Rim Trail, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Pit crater that is next to the main summit caldera of Kīlauea on the island of Hawaiʻi
- It is known for its eruption in 1959 that started on November 14th and ended on December 20th, producing lava fountaining up to 1900 feet and a lava lake in the crater
- Today, the surface of the lava lake has cooled and it is now a hiking destination to view the aftermath of an eruption
Featured in The Best of Hawaii
#17 in Best National Parks in the World
#68 in Best Attractions in the USA
21. Fort Jefferson Loop, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May
Cost: $$$
- National park located about 68 miles (109 km) west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico
- The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most isolated of the Florida Keys
- The archipelago's coral reefs are the least disturbed of the Florida Keys reefs
Featured in The Best of Florida
#57 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#77 in Best Attractions in the USA
22. Marymere Falls Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: July-Aug
Cost: $
- Marymere Falls is located in Olympic National Park
- The falls are accessed by a one-mile, old-growth lowland forest consisting of fir, cedar, hemlock, and alder trees
Featured in The Best of Washington
#31 in Best Attractions in the USA
23. Green River Bluff, Echo River Springs, Sinkhole and Heritage Trail, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: April-Oct
Cost: $
- National park encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world
- The cave system has formally been known as the Mammoth–Flint Ridge Cave System since 1972
- As of 2022, more than 426 miles (686 km) passageways had been surveyed, over 1.5 times longer than the second-longest cave system, Mexico's Sac Actun underwater cave
Featured in The Best of Kentucky
24. Forest Trail, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May-Aug
Cost: $
- National park located west of Juneau, with about 80% of visitors to Glacier Bay arrive on cruise ships
- The park and preserve hosts many outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, mountaineering, kayaking, rafting, fishing, and bird-watching
- Within the park and preserve there are two Tlingit ancestral homelands that are of cultural and spiritual significance to living communities today
Featured in The Best of Alaska
25. Cleetwood Cove Trail, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon
- The park encompasses the caldera of Crater Lake, a remnant of Mount Mazama, a destroyed volcano, and the surrounding hills and forests
Featured in The Best of Oregon
26. Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail, Redwood National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Complex of one national park and three state parks, containing 139,000 acres (560 km2), and featuring old-growth temperate rainforests
- The four parks protect 45 percent of all remaining coast redwood old-growth forests
- The species is the tallest, among the oldest, and one of the most massive tree species on Earth
Featured in The Best of California
27. Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Center and Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National park in the Guadalupe Mountains, whose primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern
- Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 255 ft (78 m) high at its highest point
- The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the 32nd largest in the world
Featured in The Best of New Mexico
#50 in Best Attractions in the USA
28. Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- National park that protects the landscape of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States
- The area around Stronghold Table was originally Sioux territory, and is revered as a ceremonial sacred site rather than a place to live
Featured in The Best of South Dakota
#6 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#37 in Best Attractions in the USA
29. Bristlecone Pine Glacier Trail, Great Basin National Park, Nevada
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: April-May, Oct-Nov
Cost: $
- Park that derives its name from the Great Basin, the dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains
- The park is notable for its groves of ancient bristlecone pines, the oldest known living non-clonal organisms; Lehman Caves; Wheeler Peak Glacier, below 13,063-foot (3,982 m) Wheeler Peak; and some of the darkest night skies in the contiguous United States
Featured in The Best of Nevada
30. Scoville Point via Stoll Trail, Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Isle Royale National Park is a park consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior
- Isle Royale is the fourth-largest lake island in the world
Featured in The Best of Michigan
31. Montville Nature Trail, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May-early June, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- National park that conserves an area of large sand dunes up to 750 feet (230 m) tall
- The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America
- Sediments from the surrounding mountains filled the valley over geologic time periods
- After lakes within the valley receded, exposed sand was blown by the predominant southwest winds toward the Sangre de Cristos, eventually forming the dune field over an estimated tens of thousands of years
Featured in The Best of Colorado