Best National Park In The US?

[SWspartan]

According to the new list by the Wall Street Journal published last week, the best National Park is in fact Isle Royale, Michigan.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/best-national-park-us-not-102516950.html

Have any of you been to Isle Royale National Park? I haven't.

[tailingpermit]

Have not been but read a fascinating story about the wolf and moose population study going on there. 
 

I believe @halfmanhalfbronco went into detail about it on the other board.  

[stanfordchef]

Joshua Tree or Channel Islands. Death Valley and Great Basin are up there too. Some of the other lesser known CA ones are great too like Lassen, Pinnacles and even Redwood. 

love Yosemite but it’s too crowded anymore 

Would love to make it out to the Utah NPs at some point. 

[tailingpermit]

The one I use every week and have a lot of love for is Canaveral, love Mosquito Lagoon and the river system.  

[stanfordchef]

On 7/10/2024 at 5:17 PM, tailingpermit said:

The one I use every week and have a lot of love for is Canaveral, love Mosquito Lagoon and the river system.  

Never been. Everglades is awesome though. 

[tailingpermit]

On 7/10/2024 at 8:24 PM, Joe from Wyo said:

Never been. Everglades is awesome though. 

I thought you said you’ve been to the space coast?

Everglades is gorgeous, there’s a new lodge that was just built in Flamingo that makes things a lot more accessible.  
 

Dry Tortugas is another great one, perfect place to camp during the winter months.  

[stanfordchef]

On 7/10/2024 at 5:27 PM, tailingpermit said:

I thought you said you’ve been to the space coast?

Everglades is gorgeous, there’s a new lodge that was just built in Flamingo that makes things a lot more accessible.  
 

Dry Tortugas is another great one, perfect place to camp during the winter months.  

Meant Mosquito Lagoon. Have def been to the Space Coast. 
 

would love to go to the Dry Tortugas sometime. 

[Slapdad]

Big Bend is a great NP…so isolated. 

[halfmanhalfbronco]

On 7/10/2024 at 6:11 PM, tailingpermit said:

Have not been but read a fascinating story about the wolf and moose population study going on there. 
 

I believe @halfmanhalfbronco went into detail about it on the other board.  

It's on my bucket list.

[smltwnrckr]

On 7/10/2024 at 5:13 PM, Joe from Wyo said:

Lassen, Pinnacles and even Redwood. 

Three of my favorites. Tho don't go to pinnacles in the summer. 

[smltwnrckr]

 

Yosemite Valley in the winter Is my favorite to visit. Until the kiddos, the wife and I went ever winter. The main lodge (not the ahwahnee, but the smaller lodge) has a little bar/restaurant with a big fire in the middle where you can cook smores while drinking a beer. Small crowds. Beautiful.

The one I want to go back to, as I only made it there once so far, is Badlands. Honestly the only place in my adult life to take my breath away. But I only got to drive through it. I want to spend some time there. We'll see if it ever happens. 

[NorNevLifer]

I haven’t been to a ton of NPs, but so far my top 3 have been:

1. Glacier NP, MT - Specifically the experience on the Going-to-the-Sun Rd. Truly spectacular.

2. Redwood NP, CA - Surreal being surrounded by those natural giants.

3. Zion NP, UT - So cool having those massive canyon cliffs so close to you on either side (which it bumped it over Yosemite onto the podium for me).

 

[halfmanhalfbronco]

West is best...

[utenation]

On 7/10/2024 at 6:13 PM, Joe from Wyo said:

Would love to make it out to the Utah NPs at some point. 

Obviously I’m happily biased with Utah. 
 

Only California and Alaska have more national parks. 

[happycamper]

The coolest national park I've been to is also the one people consistently rank as the worst - Congaree National Park in South Carolina. 

It is by far the most unique national park I've been to. It's a bottomland swamp old growth forest, and it is the only one left in North America. There's nothing like it in the west - nowhere else has that climate. There's nothing like it in the East - every other bottomland old growth forest got clear-cut. 

We visited in late October. It may be the park that is most dependent on seasonal conditions. It constantly floods - if it is flooded, there's not a lot you can see barring having a kayak and some massive stones. It is probably the most mosquito-ridden park even including the Alaska parks, so if you go at peak mosquito season it's a nightmare. We lucked out and went during a dry time when all of the trails were open and during a "light" mosquito time (I am not as big a dumbass as I look so we all were wearing long pants and sleeves. We were noticeably more comfortable than anyone wearing less clothes). 

The park is incredible. Cypresses everywhere with their weird little stumpy roots popping up. There were MASSIVE banana spiders everywhere , glistening in the sun. Tons of wildlife- snakes, turtles, salamanders, even saw a couple otters. Because it's a bottomland, the paths (when not flooded) are very flat and sandy - my 2 kids, 8 and 6 at the time, had zero problem with a 7 mile hike down further to the old growth pines. The trees are incredibly massive, I have only seen something like that in Olympic national park (obviously it didn't compare to redwoods national park). 

Every complaint I've seen about the park is... petty. wah wah I went when it was flooded and I didn't have a boat so I didn't see a lot. Yeah no kidding. Go to yellowstone in the winter without crampons and yer gonna have a bad time. wah wah there were mosquitos. so.... wear clothes lol. wah wah the "scenic view" of the biggest trees in the continent of their species wasn't impressive. 

Anyway. If you like the outdoors and can plan, visit Congaree. The mountainous/forested East Coast national parks are nice, but they all feel like an imitation of what we have in the West - anything they do, we have, and better. But not Congaree. We're planning on camping in Florida to hit up its 3 natties in December, I have to imagine the Everglades is gonna rock my world. We visited the Pantanal during the dry season and Ibera and they both blew me away so maybe I just have a thing for how alive swamps are. 

[B_Lootz]

For me, my favorite has always been Glacier. Just breathtaking and majestic all the way around. Going to the Sun road with its vistas, the weeping wall, all of it is so gorgeous. The backcountry hikes away from the crowds are just spectacular.

I would rank my next favorites as follows-

Carlsbad Caverns

Black Canyon

Capitol Reef, specifically the Waterpocket fold section down to the Burr trail switchbacks.

Great Basin- Partial to this one since it’s the closest NP to my home.

Everglades- for the wildlife.

Redwoods

 

My to-do list

Big Bend

Acadia

Dry Tortugas

Yosemite (still can’t believe I haven’t been, yet)

Olympic

The ones in Alaska

Arches would probably be on my list of favorites, but it was overcrowded 20 years ago. It was a total circus show the last time I went a few years back.

[Bison]

Grew up in Estes Park where Rocky Mountain National Park is located at so I'll vouch for my hometown NP.

[StealthLobo]

My favorite is still Haleakala. The sunrise is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And later in the day when the clouds dissipate, it looks like you could be on Mars.

[azgreg]

One of the things me and Mrs. azgreg are looking forward to doing during retirement is visiting as many of the major National Parks as we can.

[WYO1016]

Yellowstone is top of the list, but you have to get off the main roads and do some hiking to see the truly spectacular stuff.

One that doesn't get enough love that I think is amazing is Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. How that ever got there still boggles my mind. Just the sheer size of that gigantic pile of sand is something you have to see to believe.