Category Ranking
Best National Parks for Scenic Drives in Summer
Top parks for scenic drives during summer, ranked by a composite of activity quality and seasonal conditions.
Updated
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.
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Haleakalā National Park
A dormant volcano where you stand above the clouds at 10,000 feet, then descend through alpine desert to rainforest in a single morning.
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Glacier National Park
Twenty-six glaciers remain from the 150 that once filled these valleys. Going-to-the-Sun Road climbs past Logan Pass to the evidence.
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Crater Lake National Park
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.
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North Cascades National Park
Three hundred glaciers carve through jagged peaks three hours north of Seattle, the most glaciated terrain in the Lower 48.
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Yellowstone National Park
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.
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Denali National Park & Preserve
North America's tallest peak anchors six million acres where one road separates you from wilderness and grizzlies outnumber summit-spotters.
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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.
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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.
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Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lassen Peak's 1914-1917 eruptions left a volcanic laboratory where boiling mudpots and sulfurous vents still reshape the ground.
Explore Lassen Volcanic →Deciding between two parks? Compare any two side by side →