Category Ranking
Best National Parks for Kayaking in Winter
Top parks for kayaking during winter, 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.
Biscayne National Park
Miami's skyline floats on the horizon while you snorkel over the continental United States' only living coral reef system.
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.
Everglades National Park
America's largest subtropical wilderness—a slow-moving river creating sawgrass marshes, mangrove islands, and alligator habitat.
Dry Tortugas National Park
Seven coral islands 70 miles west of Key West, anchored by Fort Jefferson—a massive 19th-century fort that was never finished or fired upon.
Congaree National Park
The largest old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the Southeast protects champion trees you'll reach via elevated boardwalk.
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.
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.
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.
National Park of American Samoa
The only national park south of the equator protects volcanic peaks, coral reefs, and villages across three South Pacific islands.