#1 Saguaro flowers

Saguaro National Park

AZ · 946K visitors/yr

Very Crowded

Giant saguaros, some 200 years old and 40 feet tall, frame both sides of Tucson in the densest stands of these iconic cacti anywhere.

#2 A pink sky above gentle white buildings

Hot Springs National Park

AR · 2.5M visitors/yr

Very Crowded

Hot Springs' 143-degree thermal water flows through historic bathhouses where health seekers once shared sidewalks with gangsters.

#3 A triangular sandstone mountain overlooks green and yellow foliage. A cloudy blue sky is overhead.

Zion National Park

UT · 4.9M visitors/yr

Very Crowded

Red cliffs rise 2,000 feet above the Virgin River, where Angels Landing's chain climb and The Narrows' slot canyon wade draw crowds.

#4 'Ahinahina blooms in Haleakala crater

Haleakalā National Park

HI · 732K visitors/yr

Very Crowded

A dormant volcano where you stand above the clouds at 10,000 feet, then descend through alpine desert to rainforest in a single morning.

#5 A crowd of people sit and watch the sunset at delicate arch.

Arches National Park

UT · 1.5M visitors/yr

Very Crowded

Over 2,000 natural stone arches carved from red sandstone—the world's highest concentration—including the iconic Delicate Arch.

#6 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.

#7 White dunes in foreground with sun setting behind mountain.

White Sands National Park

NM · 702K visitors/yr

Busy

The world's largest gypsum dunefield covers 275 square miles where white sand dunes shift up to 30 feet per year and swallow ecosystems.

#8 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.

#9 Wingate Sandstone cliffs behind historic barn and farmhouse

Capitol Reef National Park

UT · 1.4M visitors/yr

Busy

A hundred-mile wrinkle in the earth where sandstone cliffs fold into hidden canyons and pioneer orchards still grow beneath Capitol Dome.

#10 A red rock landscape and plateau forest glows with the morning sun

Bryce Canyon National Park

UT · 2.5M visitors/yr

Very Crowded

Earth's densest hoodoo forest where the Navajo Loop drops you between orange spires so narrow you'll touch both walls at 8,000 feet.