Category Ranking
Best National Parks for Scenic Drives in Spring
Top parks for scenic drives during spring, ranked by a composite of activity quality and seasonal conditions.
Updated
Arches National Park
Over 2,000 natural stone arches carved from red sandstone—the world's highest concentration—including the iconic Delicate Arch.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Two active volcanoes shape terrain from tide pools to alpine desert. Walk across recent lava flows and through rainforests on ancient rock.
Grand Canyon National Park
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.
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.
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.
Shenandoah National Park
Skyline Drive traces 105 miles of Blue Ridge crests where 500 miles of trails drop into mountain hollows that were farmland a century ago.
Canyonlands National Park
Four districts carved by the Colorado River—from Island in the Sky's overlooks to The Maze's backcountry spanning canyons larger than LA.
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.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Trail Ridge Road crosses the Continental Divide at 12,183 feet. Below, 300 miles of trails connect glacial lakes to 14,259-foot Longs Peak.
Acadia National Park
Rocky Atlantic coast crowned by Cadillac Mountain, first sunrise in the US. Granite peaks meet the ocean through 158 miles of trails.