#1 Photo of blue sky with fluffy white clouds reflect in calm lake with mountains in the background.

Lake Clark National Park & Preserve

AK · 30,815 visitors/yr

Room to Breathe

Two active volcanoes, 42-mile glacial lake, and bears fishing roadless salmon streams you can only reach by floatplane.

#2 Northern Lights over Voyageurs National Park waters

Voyageurs National Park

MN · 199K visitors/yr

Comfortable

Four interconnected lakes form a water maze where boats replace roads through 340 square miles of boreal wilderness and scattered islands.

#3 Steep, rugged ocean cliffs extending in an island chain.

Channel Islands National Park

CA · 263K visitors/yr

Comfortable

California's Galápagos lies 12 miles offshore with 145 endemic species. Sea lions, island foxes, and rare seabirds inhabit five islands.

#4 Large mountains dotted with snow loom above a rocky meadow filled with yellow flowers.

Glacier National Park

MT · 3.2M visitors/yr

Comfortable

Twenty-six glaciers remain from the 150 that once filled these valleys. Going-to-the-Sun Road climbs past Logan Pass to the evidence.

#5 sun setting on sand dunes

Kobuk Valley National Park

AK · 17,233 visitors/yr

Room to Breathe

Six hundred square miles of sand dunes rise from Arctic tundra, carved by 15,000-year-old winds still pushing them across permafrost.

#6 View from above the trees looking down at Duncan Bay Narrows, trees, Lake Superior, and Canada.

Isle Royale National Park

MI · 28,806 visitors/yr

Room to Breathe

Remote Lake Superior island where wolves, moose, and backpackers share 165 miles of trail. No roads, no cell service—just forest camps.

#7 Brilliant blues and greens of a hot spring ringed by oranges, yellows, reds, and browns.

Yellowstone National Park

ID, MT, WY · 4.7M visitors/yr

Comfortable

The world's first national park sits on a supervolcano where half of Earth's geysers erupt on schedule and bison herds cross roads freely.

#8 salmon jumping at waterfall

Katmai National Park & Preserve

AK · 36,230 visitors/yr

Room to Breathe

Brooks Falls draws 2,200 brown bears to its salmon runs—North America's largest protected population concentrated in one watershed.

#9 Coral reef with two snorkelers diving below the surface

Biscayne National Park

FL · 512K visitors/yr

Busy

Miami's skyline floats on the horizon while you snorkel over the continental United States' only living coral reef system.

#10 Backpackers in North Fork Cascade Canyon, Grand Teton behind

Grand Teton National Park

WY · 3.6M visitors/yr

Busy

The Tetons rise 7,000 feet without foothills—granite and glaciers visible from every corner of Jackson Hole. Thirteen peaks top 12,000 feet.