Carlsbad Caverns
A cave so big you can walk in through its natural mouth, and a nightly summer bat flight.
Guide · 28 parks
Best National Parks for Wildlife
Grizzlies catching salmon, wolves in the Lamar Valley, whales off Alaska's coast. These parks deliver the best wildlife watching in the country.
Redwood
Walk among the tallest living things on Earth, then hit a wild Pacific beach.
Great Smoky Mountains
America's most-visited national park: misty ridges, black bears and wildflowers.
Channel Islands
California's 'Galápagos': five islands reachable only by boat or small plane.
Wind Cave
A labyrinth cave beneath bison prairie, with rare boxwork formations.
Badlands
Striped spires, mixed-grass prairie and one of the world's richest fossil beds.
Biscayne
A national park that's 95% water: coral reefs, shipwrecks and mangrove keys.
Congaree
Champion trees, a floodplain forest and synchronous fireflies.
Shenandoah
The 105-mile Skyline Drive along the Blue Ridge, about 75 miles from Washington, D.C.
Yellowstone
The world's first national park: geysers, hot springs and the best wildlife in the Lower 48.
Theodore Roosevelt
Wild horses, bison and badlands where a young Teddy Roosevelt became a conservationist.
Dry Tortugas
A massive 19th-century fort on a remote island 70 miles off Key West.
Olympic
Rainforest, wild coastline and glaciated peaks in one park.
Pinnacles
Volcanic spires, talus caves and soaring California condors.
Indiana Dunes
Fifteen miles of Lake Michigan beaches and towering dunes, an hour from Chicago.
Grand Teton
The most dramatic mountain skyline in the Lower 48, with moose, elk and bison below.
Rocky Mountain
Alpine tundra, elk herds and the highest continuous paved road in America.
Voyageurs
A water park in the wild sense: houseboats, northern lights and ice roads.
Everglades
A river of grass full of alligators, wading birds and mangrove wilderness.
Denali
North America's highest peak and a six-million-acre wilderness with grizzlies, moose and caribou.
Kenai Fjords
Glaciers you can walk to and fjords full of whales, puffins and sea otters.
Glacier Bay
Tidewater glaciers calving into a bay full of humpback whales.
Glacier
The Crown of the Continent: jagged peaks, turquoise lakes and the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Isle Royale
A wilderness island in Lake Superior, famous for its wolves and moose.
Lake Clark
Coastal brown bears, active volcanoes and turquoise lakes, an hour's flight from Anchorage.
Gates of the Arctic
No roads, no trails. Pure Arctic wilderness north of the Arctic Circle.
Katmai
The bears of Brooks Falls catching salmon in midair.
Kobuk Valley
Arctic sand dunes and one of the great caribou migrations on Earth.
When to go
More guides
Warm National Parks to Visit in WinterBest National Parks for Fall ColorLeast Crowded National ParksBest National Parks for StargazingBest National Parks for FamiliesNational Parks with BeachesNational Parks with CavesNational Parks with VolcanoesBest National Parks for HikingThe Most Remote National ParksNational Parks with the Best Scenic DrivesNational Parks to Visit in the SnowSummer National Parks Without the Crowds
Last reviewed October 4, 2026. Ratings are editorial. Rules and road openings change each year, so confirm on the official NPS site before you go.