Category Ranking
Best National Parks for Rock Climbing in Summer
Top parks for rock climbing during summer, ranked by a composite of activity quality and seasonal conditions.
Updated
Grand Teton National Park
The Tetons rise 7,000 feet without foothills—granite and glaciers visible from every corner of Jackson Hole. Thirteen peaks top 12,000 feet.
Yosemite National Park
Granite cliffs rise 3,000 feet, seasonal waterfalls drop half a mile, and giant sequoias reach into the Sierra sky in this iconic valley.
North Cascades National Park
Three hundred glaciers carve through jagged peaks three hours north of Seattle, the most glaciated terrain in the Lower 48.
Mount Rainier National Park
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.
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.
Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
America's largest park holds nine of the continent's sixteen highest peaks, including Mount St. Elias, with glaciers you can drive to.
Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve
Six million acres where caribou migrations follow ancient routes and the Brooks Range rises through valleys most will never reach.
Pinnacles National Park
Volcanic spires rise above talus caves where you can crawl through darkness on designated routes. Half of Yosemite's crowds.
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
The giant sequoias here include General Sherman, the largest tree on Earth by volume, anchoring a forest where trunks exceed 30 feet wide.
Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park
Gunnison River carved North America's steepest gorge through 1.7-billion-year-old rock, with 2,000-foot walls that trap the sun.