Category Ranking
Best National Parks for Kayaking in Spring
Top parks for kayaking during spring, ranked by a composite of activity quality and seasonal conditions.
Updated
Channel Islands National Park
California's Galápagos lies 12 miles offshore with 145 endemic species. Sea lions, island foxes, and rare seabirds inhabit five islands.
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New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
The East Coast's deepest river gorge cuts 1,000 feet through ancient rock, with Class V rapids and 100 miles of trails above.
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Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park
Gunnison River carved North America's steepest gorge through 1.7-billion-year-old rock, with 2,000-foot walls that trap the sun.
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Canyonlands National Park
Four districts carved by the Colorado River: from Island in the Sky's overlooks to The Maze's backcountry spanning canyons larger than LA.
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Congaree National Park
The largest old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the Southeast protects champion trees you'll reach via elevated boardwalk.
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Grand Canyon National Park
The Colorado River carved through two billion years of rock to create a chasm one mile deep and 277 miles long at the South Rim.
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Big Bend National Park
Big Bend protects 1,200 square miles where the Chisos Mountains rise from desert. Over 450 bird species recorded: more than any park.
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Biscayne National Park
Miami's skyline floats on the horizon while you snorkel over the continental United States' only living coral reef system.
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Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve
Fifteen tidewater glaciers calve into a 65-mile fjord where humpback whales surface within camera range, reachable only by boat or plane.
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Mammoth Cave National Park
The world's longest cave system: over 400 miles mapped, lies beneath Kentucky's limestone plateau, explored for over 200 years.
Explore Mammoth Cave →Deciding between two parks? Compare any two side by side →