Category Ranking
Best National Parks for Scenic Drives in Winter
Top parks for scenic drives during winter, ranked by a composite of activity quality and seasonal conditions.
Updated
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley's salt flats, singing dunes, and moving rocks reward October-to-April visitors with cooler temps and wildflower blooms.
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.
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend protects 1,200 square miles where the Chisos Mountains rise from desert. Over 450 bird species recorded—more than any park.
Arches National Park
Over 2,000 natural stone arches carved from red sandstone—the world's highest concentration—including the iconic Delicate Arch.
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.
Saguaro National Park
Giant saguaros, some 200 years old and 40 feet tall, frame both sides of Tucson in the densest stands of these iconic cacti anywhere.
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.
Joshua Tree National Park
Two desert ecosystems meet where the Mojave's yuccas give way to the Colorado's slopes and granite formations split by ancient forces.
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.
White Sands National Park
The world's largest gypsum dunefield covers 275 square miles where white sand dunes shift up to 30 feet per year and swallow ecosystems.