By Region

National Parks in West

The West region encompasses 16 national parks spanning diverse terrain and climates. Explore them all below.

Updated

#1A crowd of people standing along a wooden boardwalk watches a geyser erupt.

Yellowstone

ID, MT, WY

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.
#2Upper Yosemite Fall and Merced River in spring

Yosemite

CA

Comfortable

Granite cliffs rise 3,000 feet, seasonal waterfalls drop half a mile, and giant sequoias reach into the Sierra sky in this iconic valley.
#3Orange sea stars on a rocky coast.

Olympic

WA

Moderate Crowds

Olympic holds temperate rainforest, 73 miles of wild coast, and glacier-capped peaks—three ecosystems most parks never combine.
#4Winter sunrise on snow-covered Teton Range

Grand Teton

WY

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.
#5A double waterfall blurs over layered rocks.

Glacier

MT

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.
#6people climbing on boulders are silhouetted against a colorful sunset sky

Joshua Tree

CA

Moderate CrowdsDark Sky

Two desert ecosystems meet where the Mojave's yuccas give way to the Colorado's slopes and granite formations split by ancient forces.
#7A steep granite slope leads from forest to a bare alpine landscape

Sequoia & Kings Canyons

CA

Comfortable

The giant sequoias here include General Sherman, the largest tree on Earth by volume, anchoring a forest where trunks exceed 30 feet wide.
#8Climber on glacier steps downward with icy crags in background.

Mount Rainier

WA

Moderate Crowds

An active volcano cloaked in more glaciers than any Lower 48 peak, Mount Rainier spawns five major rivers from ice beginning at 14,410 feet.
#9Morning light on the badlands below Zabriskie Point.

Death Valley

CA, NV

Moderate CrowdsDark Sky

Death Valley's salt flats, singing dunes, and moving rocks reward October-to-April visitors with cooler temps and wildflower blooms.
#10Redwood trees line a narrow dirt road.

Redwood National and State Parks

CA

ComfortableHidden Gem

The world's tallest trees stand in groves you can walk through on level trails, three hours north of San Francisco with a third the crowds.
#11a view of Phantom Ship and Chaski Bay

Crater Lake

OR

ComfortableHidden Gem

America's deepest lake fills a volcanic caldera with water so pure scientists use it as a baseline. The 33-mile Rim Road circles the crater.
#12Golden grasses edge a pond reflecting a snow-dusted peak

Lassen Volcanic

CA

ComfortableHidden Gem

Lassen Peak's 1914-1917 eruptions left a volcanic laboratory where boiling mudpots and sulfurous vents still reshape the ground.
#13Light falling on tree

Pinnacles

CA

Moderate CrowdsHidden Gem

Volcanic spires rise above talus caves where you can crawl through darkness on designated routes. Half of Yosemite's crowds.
#14Yellow flowers in foreground extending out along a rocky coastline to a natural arch.

Channel Islands

CA

ComfortableHidden Gem

California's Galápagos lies 12 miles offshore with 145 endemic species. Sea lions, island foxes, and rare seabirds inhabit five islands.
#15Bristlecone pine tree with a dark blue sky behind it with a bright Jupiter shining

Great Basin

NV

Room to BreatheHidden GemDark Sky

Wheeler Peak towers over one of America's emptiest parks, where marble caves and alpine lakes sit hours from the nearest traffic jam.
#16Tents set up in a wooded area.

North Cascades

WA

Room to BreatheHidden Gem

Three hundred glaciers carve through jagged peaks three hours north of Seattle, the most glaciated terrain in the Lower 48.

States in This Region

California Montana Nevada Washington Wyoming