#1 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.

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#2 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.

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#3 Blooming Cenizo

Big Bend National Park

TX · 561K visitors/yr

Comfortable

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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#4 A sunset creates a silhouette of a cypress tree with needle-like leaves that is shaped like an 'N'.

Everglades National Park

FL · 742K visitors/yr

Comfortable

America's largest subtropical wilderness: a slow-moving river creating sawgrass marshes, mangrove islands, and alligator habitat.

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#5 A few of the stars at night with a view of Fort Jefferson.

Dry Tortugas National Park

FL · 84,873 visitors/yr

Busy

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.

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#6 View of the Congaree River during the Fall

Congaree National Park

SC · 242K visitors/yr

Moderate Crowds

The largest old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the Southeast protects champion trees you'll reach via elevated boardwalk.

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#7 a broad stone arch with rock pinnacles in the distance

Canyonlands National Park

UT · 818K visitors/yr

Moderate Crowds

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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#8 sun rising over the New River Gorge

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve

WV · 1.8M visitors/yr

Busy

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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#9 The canyon glows orange as people visit Mather Point, a rock outcropping that juts into Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon National Park

AZ · 4.9M visitors/yr

Moderate Crowds

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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#10 Tuafanua Trail

National Park of American Samoa

AS · 22,567 visitors/yr

Room to Breathe

The only national park south of the equator protects volcanic peaks, coral reefs, and villages across three South Pacific islands.

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