The Ten Best National Parks

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then in existence and all that would be established later. The Act states "the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations…by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

I love our national parks and agree with filmmaker Ken Burns that they may well be "America's best idea." (In case you were thinking democracy was our best idea, the Greeks of Athens invented that in the sixth century B.C.E.) So in commemoration of this week's centennial of the NPS I'd like to share my list of the 10 best national parks I've visited.


1. Yellowstone. America's and the world's first national park is unique. The park is huge, and provides the best opportunity in the lower 48 to view natural America as it was before European settlement as a nearly pristine ecosystem replete with buffalo, elks, moose and wolves. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and its thundering waterfall would be a national park in its own right. The primeval wildlife combines with high mountain beauty and Yellowstone's incomparable geothermal wonders to make America's signature park like no other place on earth.

2. Grand Canyon. For the first-time visitor, the sight approaching the Grand Canyon from the south, when the chasm first comes into view, is one of the most stupefying senses of awe a human can experience. No number of pictures already viewed can do justice to or diminish the sense of awe in sighting the sheer expanse of this greatest of all gorges. As Theodore Roosevelt said, "Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American... should see." There's plenty of good hiking and rafting to be enjoyed as well.

3. Yosemite. To me, the single most beautiful spot on earth I've ever experienced is Yosemite Valley. The stark walls of granite, razor sculpted peaks and magical waterfalls juxtaposed between verdant forests and meadows and a Sierran blue sky present an unforgettable image.


4. National Mall and Memorial Parks. The National Mall in Washington, D.C. is beautiful, and stirring for every American. The Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Luther King memorials evoke the dreams of self-government and freedom that founded the nation. The Vietnam, Korea and World War II memorials are moving and somber reminders of the sacrifices made for our country. The National Archives, national museums and Smithsonian Institution units are endlessly fascinating. Every citizen should put this park on their bucket list.  

5. Glacier. The crown of the continent comprises awe-inspiring alpine vistas of the high Rockies. Forests, lakes, falls and plentiful wildlife complete the picture. You'll remember Going to the Sun Road for the rest of your life. It is the one park where my wife and I fought back tears on the day we left. See Glacier before climate change melts the last glaciers in the park.

6. Zion. This marvelous canyon is an oasis in the Southwestern Utah desert. The Virgin River has carved a seemingly impossibly narrow gorge out of the rock, creating one of the best hikes in the National Park System. Zion also boasts fantastic rock formations and a great auto tunnel. 

7. Gettysburg National Military Park. A must-see for history buffs, Gettysburg lovingly preserves the battlefield of the crucial three-day engagement that determined the outcome of the Civil War. Book a tour from a professional guide to get the most out of your visit.

8. Carlsbad Caverns. One of the world's largest and most spectacular cave systems, Carlsbad's natural underground sculptures range from the massive to the intricately diminutive. It's a fairyland of beauty that makes you wonder how much else might be hidden under the surface of the earth just awaiting discovery.

9. Hawaii Volcanoes. Nature at its rawest is on display on the Big Island of Hawaii. Lava formations, fields, and tubes you can walk through side by side with verdant tropical forest show the creative yet destructive power of vulcanism. Here you can also see the constantly erupting Kilauea and marvel at lava flows entering the sea. 

10. Glacier Bay. The beauty and power of moving ice are on display here as at no other national park. The size of the glacial wall and the thunderous roar of calving, as immense blocks of glacial ice break off and crashing into the sea are unforgettable. The scene has a primeval power I've experienced nowhere else.