The National Park Service (NPS) manages 63 national parks, and thanks to their preservation, most of us in the United States have at least one in our backyard. California, Colorado, Alaska, and Utah have the most national parks within their borders.
When it comes to viewing unique wildlife, the national parks offer the opportunity to view species in their natural habitats. And certain parks even offer budding paleontologists the chance to study fossil beds of the North American fossil record.
So, as the weather warms up and we start to hit the road for spring and summer travel, where should you head?
Read More: Watch a Mischievous Wolf Pup Run Off with a Park Sign In Yellowstone National Park
1. Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is a 310,000-acre park located as little as 8 miles from Yellowstone National Park's closest point in Wyoming. It was one of the first parks that Emily Hart visited, a travel blogger who has spent the past decade visiting all the national parks before she turned 40.
Bison in Grand Teton National Park.
(Image Credit: Dennis MacDonald/Shutterstock)
Each time she visits a new park, she stops by the visitor’s center and talks to the park rangers about how best to spend the time she has in each park.
Explore All OptionsAt the Grand Tetons, Hart usually visits for three nights, camps in Colter Bay, and hikes the park. She also loves to swim and kayak on Jackson Lake.
“Grand Teton is so special because the peaks are so dramatic and it’s surrounded by water,” Hart told Discover.
2. Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park is a remote national park around 70 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida. According to Hart, it feels a lot more remote than it actually is because it can only be reached by boat or seaplane.
And because you have to take transportation to get there, it’s never too crowded. On the island is Fort Jefferson, where construction began in 1846, and it was used as a federal prison during the Civil War, according to the NPS.
Today, it’s also known for its beautiful beaches and stunning snorkeling.
“It just feels really different from any of the other parks,” Hart told Discover.
3. Denali National Park
Dall sheep in Denali National Park
(Image Credit: davidhoffmann photography/Shutterstock)
For wildlife viewing, Hart says that Denali National Park in Alaska is a must-see. For the more remote parts of the park, you’ll have to take a bus tour, which Hart enjoys because the drivers help spot wildlife, namely the park's ample grizzly bears.
The park's wide array of wildlife includes moose, caribou, Dall sheep, and wolves. And as the summer turns into fall, opportunities to see the aurora borealis, or the Northern Lights, increase.
Read More: Here Are the Best U.S. National Parks to See the Northern Lights — and No, They Aren’t All in Alaska
4. Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Herd of wild horses in Teddy Roosevelt National Park
(Image Credit: Alicia Marvin/Shutterstock)
Our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, was a champion of the wild, and this park, named after him, speaks to why. Its rugged natural beauty is uncanny, with the Badlands of North Dakota. There is a 36-mile scenic drive that loops around the park, and one of the largest concentrations of petrified forests in the country.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is also a great choice for wildlife viewing because it’s less visited, according to the NPS.
Look out for bison, bighorn sheep, bobcats, mule deer, and the park's population of wild horses.
5. Katmai National Park
Katmai National Park in Alaska is famous for grizzly bears. Each year, salmon swim upstream through the park’s boundaries, making it an ideal spot for bears to fatten up before winter. Many of the bears congregate around the Brooks Falls in an effort to catch salmon, said Lydia Weigel, a full-time traveler and blogger who has visited all but four of the national parks and aims to complete her goal by the end of 2026.
“There’s a viewing platform, so visitors can walk right up and (safely) watch the grizzly bears catching salmon under the waterfall,” Weigel told Discover. “It’s just amazing.”
6. Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park in Montana is Weigel’s favorite of all the parks. “It’s like no place on Earth,” she said.
Young bull moose in Glacier National Park.
(Image Credit: Paula Cobleigh/Shutterstock)
The Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is 50 miles in length and crosses the Continental Divide, is so beautiful that for travelers like Weigel, it’s hard to believe their eyes.
Along the road, the panoramic alpine views are dramatic, spanning valleys, glaciers, and waterfalls. This is a busier park, and in previous years, reservations were recommended far in advance. Still, the wildlife viewing, hikes, and drives make it a worthwhile visit.
7. Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of California, is a series of islands that are isolated and, as a result, boast unique flora and fauna that aren’t found anywhere else. Weigel explained that there are miniature foxes. These foxes are small because of island dwarfism and are called island foxes, related to the mainland gray fox. They are adorable and worth seeing.
The 9,500-acre San Miguel Island is also home to a large number of seals and sea lions that are making a comeback after nearly being hunted to extinction, according to the NPS. The island boasts five species of pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) on its remote 27-mile coastline.
Channel Islands National Park miniature fox.
(Image Credit: BlueBarronPhoto/Shutterstock)
Read More: Los Angeles Beaches Could Join the National Park System — With Endangered Species in Mind
8. Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park in Florida is also ideal for wildlife viewing. Just driving in, you’ll see tons of American alligators as well as bird life. Weigel recommended a ranger-led wet walk where you walk out into the water to view the alligators. If you're lucky, you may also see an American crocodile. She also enjoyed the cypress dome, where the water is clear, and the area is surrounded by tall cypress trees.
Other ranger-led tours showcase over 360 bird species, including the endangered wood stork, snail kite, roseate spoonbill, bald eagles, and flamingos, according to the NPS.
Everglades National Park alligator.
(Image Credit: Nelson Struck/Shutterstock)
9. Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park in Southwestern Colorado is an absolute gem, said Weigel. The park is home to the famous cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived there from 600 A.D. to 1300 A.D. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cliff palace shows how this community prospered and then disappeared after migrating south and east 700 years ago.
Mesa Verde National Park.
(Image Credit: Stephen Moehle/Shutterstock)
A ranger-led cliff-dwelling tour showcases sites like the exceptional Step House on Wetherill Mesa, which includes 27 Pueblo rooms and three kivas, or ritual rooms. You can also visit the Long House, a huge Pueblo village with 150 rooms and 21 kivas.
10. Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park in South Dakota is home to fossil beds galore. Not only is the national park beautiful and worth a visit on its own, but for those interested in paleontology, there’s also much to see. In all national parks, 84 distinct animal species have been identified in the North American fossil record, and most are located in the Badlands, according to the NPS.
The geologic deposition of the Badlands, with the uppermost formation called the Sharps Formation, took millions of years to form and consists of rocks stacked on top of one another, resembling a layered cake.
Read More: 5 U.S. National Parks with Fascinating Features
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article references information from the National Park Service
- This article references information from the National Park Service: Dry Tortugas
- This article references information from the National Park Service: Theodore Roosevelt
- This article references information from the National Park Service: Going-to-the-Sun Road
- This article references information from the National Park Service: Paleontology in the White River Badlands
- This article references information from the National Park Service: San Miguel Island
- This article references information from the National Park Service: Bird Species List
- This article references information from the National Park Service: Step House
- This article references information from the National Park Service: Geologic Formations: How Badlands Buttes Came to Be
