Crown Jewels of America

National Parks

63 PLACES

National Parks map

National Parks are the crown jewels of America's public lands -- protected by Congress for their extraordinary natural, cultural, and scientific value. From the geysers of Yellowstone to the granite domes of Yosemite, these 63 landscapes represent the best wild places left on the continent. Entry fees support maintenance, rangers, and wildlife research. The America the Beautiful pass gets you into every one.

63 places

ME1919

Acadia

Coasts

Rocky coastline, mountains, and forests on the rugged Maine coast where the Atlantic meets the wild northeast.

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UT1971

Arches

Canyons

Over 2,000 natural sandstone arches rise from the Utah desert in one of the most surreal landscapes on Earth.

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SD1978

Badlands

Grasslands

Dramatic eroded buttes and spires rise above a sea of mixed-grass prairie in the heart of South Dakota.

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TX1944

Big Bend

Deserts

Where the Rio Grande carves canyons through the Chihuahuan Desert on the remote Texas-Mexico border.

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FL1980

Biscayne

Rainforests

Crystal-clear waters, coral reefs, and mangrove shoreline — 95% water, a paradise for snorkelers and sailors.

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CO1999

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Canyons

One of the steepest, darkest, and most dramatic canyon walls in North America, carved by the Gunnison River.

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UT1928

Bryce Canyon

Canyons

Thousands of hoodoos — spire-shaped rock pillars — create an alien amphitheater of orange and red at 8,000 feet.

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UT1964

Canyonlands

Canyons

The Colorado and Green rivers carve a labyrinth of mesas, canyons, and buttes in a remote Utah wilderness.

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UT1971

Capitol Reef

Canyons

A 100-mile wrinkle in the earth — the Waterpocket Fold — creates a remote canyon landscape few visitors reach.

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NM1930

Carlsbad Caverns

Deserts

An underground world of massive chambers and millions of bats beneath the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico.

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CA1980

Channel Islands

Coasts

Five islands off the coast of Southern California, teeming with wildlife and ancient Chumash heritage.

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SC2003

Congaree

Wetlands

The largest old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the US — a cathedral of towering cypress and tupelo.

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OR1902

Crater Lake

Volcanic

The deepest lake in the US fills the caldera of an ancient volcano with impossibly blue water.

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OH2000

Cuyahoga Valley

Forests

A green oasis between Cleveland and Akron where the Cuyahoga River winds through historic towpaths and waterfalls.

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CA, NV1994

Death Valley

Deserts

The hottest, driest, and lowest national park in North America — a vast and beautiful extremity of the Mojave.

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AK1917

Denali

Alpine

North America's tallest peak rises above tundra, glaciers, and boreal forest in the remote Alaska Range.

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FL1992

Dry Tortugas

Rainforests

A remote cluster of islands accessible only by boat or seaplane, home to a 19th-century fort and pristine coral reefs.

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FL1934

Everglades

Wetlands

The largest subtropical wilderness in the US — a slow-moving river of grass flowing to the Florida coast.

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AK1980

Gates of the Arctic

Tundra

One of the most remote places on Earth — vast tundra and jagged peaks north of the Arctic Circle, with no roads.

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MO2018

Gateway Arch

Forests

The 630-foot stainless steel arch frames the Mississippi River as a monument to westward expansion.

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AK1980

Glacier Bay

Alpine

Massive tidewater glaciers calve into an Alaska fjord where ice is retreating to reveal brand-new land.

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MT1910

Glacier

Alpine

Ancient glaciers carved this Montana wilderness of turquoise lakes, wildflower meadows, and jagged peaks.

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AZ1919

Grand Canyon

Canyons

One billion years of Earth's history exposed in a mile-deep canyon carved by the Colorado River.

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WY1929

Grand Teton

Alpine

Jagged granite peaks rise abruptly from the flat Jackson Hole valley floor without foothills — iconic and dramatic.

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NV1986

Great Basin

Deserts

Ancient bristlecone pines, limestone caves, and glacial Wheeler Peak rise above the Nevada sagebrush steppe.

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CO2004

Great Sand Dunes

Deserts

The tallest dunes in North America rise 750 feet from the San Luis Valley floor against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

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TN, NC1934

Great Smoky Mountains

Forests

The most visited national park — ancient mountains wrapped in a perpetual blue haze of moisture and biodiversity.

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TX1966

Guadalupe Mountains

Deserts

The world's finest Permian fossil reef exposed at the surface, rising above the West Texas desert.

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HI1916

Haleakalā

Volcanic

A massive shield volcano on Maui whose summit cradles a crater the size of Manhattan, above the clouds.

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HI1916

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes

Volcanic

Active lava flows, steam vents, and craters on the Big Island — one of the most geologically alive places on Earth.

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AR1921

Hot Springs

Forests

Thermal springs flow from the Ouachita Mountains into historic bathhouses in the oldest federally protected reserve.

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IN2019

Indiana Dunes

Coasts

Sand dunes, wetlands, bogs, and beech forest on the southern shore of Lake Michigan.

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MI1940

Isle Royale

Forests

A roadless island wilderness in Lake Superior where wolves and moose coexist in a classic predator-prey relationship.

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CA1994

Joshua Tree

Deserts

Two desert ecosystems meet where the Mojave and Sonoran collide — named for the otherworldly trees that define the landscape.

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AK1980

Katmai

Volcanic

Brown bears gather to catch sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls in an Alaska wilderness shaped by a cataclysmic 1912 eruption.

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AK1980

Kenai Fjords

Alpine

Tidewater glaciers, sea otters, and puffins line a fjord-carved coastline where the Harding Icefield meets the Gulf of Alaska.

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CA1940

Kings Canyon

Forests

One of the deepest canyons in the US cuts through the Sierra Nevada beside groves of ancient giant sequoias.

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AK1980

Kobuk Valley

Tundra

A remote arctic valley with migrating caribou herds, surprising sand dunes, and the Kobuk River — no roads in or out.

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AK1980

Lake Clark

Alpine

A remote Alaska wilderness where active volcanoes, glaciers, coastline, and boreal forest collide in a landscape few see.

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CA1916

Lassen Volcanic

Volcanic

A hydrothermal wonderland of steaming fumaroles and boiling mud pots surrounding a peak that last erupted in 1915.

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KY1941

Mammoth Cave

Forests

The world's longest known cave system — over 400 miles of passages — beneath the rolling Kentucky karst hills.

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CO1906

Mesa Verde

Canyons

Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings perched in canyon walls — the best-preserved ancient ruins in North America.

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WA1899

Mount Rainier

Alpine

A massive glaciated stratovolcano towers over Washington state, ringed by wildflower meadows and old-growth forests.

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AS1988

National Park of American Samoa

Rainforests

Tropical rainforest and coral reef in the heart of the South Pacific — the only US national park south of the equator.

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WV2020

New River Gorge

Forests

Ancient river, dramatic gorge, and the longest steel arch bridge span in the Western Hemisphere in Appalachian West Virginia.

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WA1968

North Cascades

Alpine

The American Alps — one of the most rugged and remote mountain ranges in the lower 48, with over 300 active glaciers.

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WA1938

Olympic

Rainforests

Three distinct ecosystems in one park: glacier-capped peaks, temperate rainforest, and wild Pacific coastline.

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AZ1962

Petrified Forest

Deserts

Ancient logs turned to crystal over 225 million years lie scattered across a painted desert in northeast Arizona.

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CA2013

Pinnacles

Volcanic

Volcanic spires, talus caves, and California condors soar above the chaparral hills of the central coast range.

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CA1968

Redwood

Forests

The tallest trees on Earth — ancient coast redwoods — stand in misty groves along the Northern California coast.

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CO1915

Rocky Mountain

Alpine

Trail Ridge Road crosses the Continental Divide at 12,183 feet through alpine tundra and glacier-carved valleys in Colorado.

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AZ1994

Saguaro

Deserts

The iconic saguaro cactus — which can live 200 years and grow 40 feet tall — defines the Sonoran Desert landscape.

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CA1890

Sequoia

Forests

Home to the largest trees on Earth by volume, including General Sherman — a 36-foot-wide giant sequoia over 2,000 years old.

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VA1935

Shenandoah

Forests

Skyline Drive winds 105 miles along the Blue Ridge crest through Appalachian forest and misty valley views.

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ND1978

Theodore Roosevelt

Grasslands

The painted badlands of the Little Missouri where a young Roosevelt came to grieve and found a lifelong love of conservation.

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VI1956

Virgin Islands

Rainforests

Coral reefs, white sand beaches, and tropical forest on St. John — two-thirds of the island is protected parkland.

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MN1975

Voyageurs

Forests

A water-based wilderness of interconnected lakes and boreal forest on the Minnesota-Canada border, best seen by boat.

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NM2019

White Sands

Deserts

Vast gypsum dunes — the world's largest — glow brilliant white against the San Andres Mountains of New Mexico.

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SD1903

Wind Cave

Grasslands

One of the world's longest and most complex caves lies beneath a bison and prairie dog-filled South Dakota grassland.

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AK1980

Wrangell-St. Elias

Alpine

The largest national park in the US — bigger than Switzerland — with nine of the continent's sixteen highest peaks.

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WY, MT, ID1872

Yellowstone

Volcanic

The world's first national park — a volcanic hotspot of geysers, hot springs, and the largest supervolcano in North America.

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CA1890

Yosemite

Forests

Granite walls, waterfalls, giant sequoias, and the iconic valley floor — the park that launched the conservation movement.

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UT1919

Zion

Canyons

Towering Navajo sandstone walls carved by the Virgin River create one of the most dramatic canyons in the American West.

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