#1 badlands bathed in pale pink and orange light from the setting sun

Death Valley National Park

CA, NV · 1.4M visitors/yr

Moderate Crowds

Death Valley's salt flats, singing dunes, and moving rocks reward October-to-April visitors with cooler temps and wildflower blooms.

#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.

#3 Rocky coastline with palm trees and a cliff beyon

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

HI · 1.4M visitors/yr

Moderate Crowds

Two active volcanoes shape terrain from tide pools to alpine desert. Walk across recent lava flows and through rainforests on ancient rock.

#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.

#5 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.

#6 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.

#7 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.

#8 '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.

#9 The sky turns hues of pink and purple over a field of Joshua trees.

Joshua Tree National Park

CA · 3.0M visitors/yr

Moderate Crowds

Two desert ecosystems meet where the Mojave's yuccas give way to the Colorado's slopes and granite formations split by ancient forces.

#10 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.