Have you ever dreamed of visiting all of the U.S. National Parks? Us too! We achieved our goal of visiting all 63 U.S. National Parks in August of 2023!
Read on to learn a bit about our journey to visit all the National Parks, as well as a summary and some of our rankings of the different parks!
Our Journey to Visit all of the U.S. National Parks
When we began our careers as Traveling Physical Therapists in the US in 2015, we were inspired to see more of our beautiful country. Having grown up in Virginia and traveled very little, we had not explored much of the U.S. At this point, we had actually never even been to a National Park before!
We went to our first one in 2016, Acadia National Park in Maine, while we were on a Travel PT contract working near Boston. This sparked an idea to try to visit ALL of the U.S. National Parks as a way to see more of our country, especially its diverse natural beauty.
Our journey to visit all of the national parks started off slow and was definitely more of a “long term goal,” because we took all of our Travel PT contracts on the east coast from 2015-2018 where there are not as many National Parks. So in this time we only visited Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, and Shenandoah National Parks. It wasn’t until we actually stopped working full time as Travel PTs in 2018 (semi-retired) and started traveling more on our own for fun that we really began venturing out across the U.S. to see more of the parks. Between 2019-2023 is when we made it to the remaining 60 National Parks!
In 2019, we set out on our first ever cross-country road trip, visiting a lot of national parks through the middle of the country along the way. Then in 2020, we took a grand 8-week road trip circling the outer edges of the country and visiting 28 different national parks. In 2021, we took a Travel PT contract in Hawaii and were able to go to all of the Hawaiian National Parks, followed by another road trip toward the end of the year to visit a few more we hadn’t gone to in the lower 48. In 2022, we were able to take a travel therapy contract in Alaska for three months, where we pulled off visiting all eight Alaska National Parks (which was no small task)! We also were able to make a trip to one of the most remote national parks, American Samoa, at the end of 2022 on our Around the World Trip. Then in 2023, we made it to our final three national parks: Virgin Islands, Dry Tortugas, and finally, Isle Royale!
It was ironic that our final three national parks were actually some of the closer ones to home for us near the east coast. But, each of them had their challenges to reach. Of course you have to fly to the Virgin Islands, which wasn’t much of a challenge, but we just had to plan the right time for that trip on its own.
Then, Dry Tortugas actually took us two attempts, the first being in January 2022 when we drove all the way to Key West during our road trip to Florida to see all the FL National Parks, only to have our ferry cancelled with no option to reschedule for weeks, and the second being our successful visit in February 2023.
Our final national park, Isle Royale, was actually the most challenging for us to reach. It took us three tries! First in 2020, we attempted to go during our road trip, and the ferry was cancelled due to COVID. Then in 2022, we scheduled another visit on our way back from Alaska. When we arrived at the ferry, we found out it was delayed due to weather, and it was ultimately cancelled with no option to rebook for several days. Finally in 2023, we were successful in visiting via ferry, although due to weather we actually got stuck on the island an extra night because the ferry could not come back to get us, ha! But at least we made it, and it was a memorable ending to our national park journey!
Throughout this journey, although the goal was to see all of the National Parks, it really allowed us to see almost all of the U.S. as a whole. Visiting the National Parks guided us to parts of the country (including territories) that we may have otherwise never visited. While there is still always going to be more of the massive country to see and explore, we felt like we have gotten such a great overview of the country by visiting all of the national parks (and along the way, all 50 states too).
We learned how diverse the country truly is, from white sand beaches, to glacier covered mountains, to vast canyons, and the most interesting rock formations in the deserts. Each National Park had something unique to offer, and we enjoyed exploring each one of them and learning about the natural diversity as well as the history in different parks.
Ranking the U.S. National Parks
When we started this journey, we started making a list of our top favorite national parks. At first, it wasn’t too challenging to rank what our favorites were when we had visited only ones in the lower 48. But once we made it to Alaska, we realized that it was going to be nearly impossible to accurately rank them because they are all so unique.
Which national park is the “best” would depend on many factors. Are we just talking landscapes (if so, what’s your favorite type of landscape? mountains? beaches? canyons?); or are we comparing activity options, level of crowdedness, ease of access, weather, or any number of other factors? Ultimately, any list ranking the national parks is going to be extremely subjective and will have a lot to do with the conditions when the visitor was there.
With that said, we have come up with what we would consider our Top 10 Favorite U.S. National Parks:
- Kenai Fjords
- North Cascades
- Glacier
- Katmai
- Wrangell St. Elias
- Grand Teton
- Lake Clark
- Rocky Mountain
- Denali
- Yosemite
Honorable Mentions:
- Glacier Bay
- Zion
- Yellowstone
- Grand Canyon
- Virgin Islands
- Gates of the Arctic
- Mount Rainier
- Bryce Canyon
- Kings Canyon
- Arches
It’s worth noting that probably one of the most beautiful national parks we’ve ever been to was not in the U.S. but in nearby Canada, and that was Banff. If Banff was a U.S. National Park, it would absolutely be one of our top parks. But, even though it’s one of the most stunning places we’ve ever seen, it does get extremely crowded in the summer, so it loses some points for that. But alas, it’s not part of the U.S., so this is just a fun little aside.
These are our Least Favorite U.S. National Parks:
- Gateway Arch
- Cuyahoga
- Congaree
- Wind Cave
- Voyageurs
Our Favorite U.S. National Parks
When you take a closer look at our favorite National Parks, a major trend is huge mountains. To us, mountains are the most stunning natural sight. Plus, our favorite outdoor activity is hiking, so our favorite parks allowed for great hiking opportunities. If you add in glaciers, which are probably the most spectacular geographical feature on earth in our opinion, it’s a winner for us. The majority of our favorite parks had both stunning mountains and glaciers. Some of our favorites are highlights due to the wildlife viewing opportunities as well.
Here’s a summary of why we love these Top 10 National Parks so much:
1. Kenai Fjords National Park (Alaska): We were able to visit this park several times, viewing various different features. We took a boat tour and saw a plethora of wildlife including whales, orcas, seals, sea lions, puffins, and more. We toured through beautiful fjords. We also got to view the most epic glacier calving from the boat which is something we’ll never forget. Additionally, we hiked among the mountains, got up close with Exit Glacier, and hiked up to the seemingly endless Harding Ice Field. It is just a magical place with so much to see and experience.
2. North Cascades National Park (Washington): This park is extremely underrated in our opinion. It was the closest thing we’ve seen to the stunning Canadian Rockies within the U.S. We have only had the opportunity to visit this national park once so far, but just in that one visit we knew it was one of our favorites. The glacier covered mountains, turquoise lakes, and beautiful fields of wildflowers in the summer captivated us and will stand out for a long time in our memories. Until we went to Alaska, this was our #1 favorite National Park and still is in the lower 48. We look forward to going back to explore more of this park in the future.
3. Glacier National Park (Montana): This park is really neck and neck for the top spot. It’s absolutely iconic with views everywhere you look. Again, we are obsessed with mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and alpine lakes. You cannot go wrong. The drive along the Going to the Sun Road is one of the most beautiful drives we’ve done anywhere in the world. We also got to see some wildlife including mountain goats and marmots. When we went in 2020, we were actually only able to access half of the park due to closures, and even still it is one of our favorites. We look forward to returning again to explore more.
4. Katmai National Park (Alaska): Here we had one of the most memorable experiences of our lives: viewing dozens of coastal brown bears (grizzly bears) up close in their natural environment, catching salmon right out of the river. You would be hard pressed to find a more unique experience anywhere in the U.S. On top of this, the park itself is beautiful, surrounded by gorgeous clear water, in the remote Alaskan wilderness. The journey to get there via small propeller plane and float plane was also an experience in itself with scenic views along the way. This should be a bucket list journey for any outdoor enthusiast (or really, anyone at all).
5. Wrangell St. Elias (Alaska): This is the largest national park in the U.S. and boy is it stunning! The snow and ice capped mountain views are endless. By far our favorite part of this park was getting to do a self guided tour, walking directly on the ice of Root Glacier, and viewing the stunning blue pools up close. We’ve now trekked on several different glaciers around the world, but this was our first and only (so far) experience with the unique blue pools. We also got to experience the history of the Kennecott Mining Town at the entrance to the park. We camped just outside the park near the small town of McCarthy and had a very unique experience there, celebrating the 4th of July with visitors and locals. Because the park is so massive, we only just scratched the surface, and we would enjoy going back to see the other side of the park and maybe do a flight-seeing tour to experience more of its grandeur.
6. Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming): Visiting this park was one of our first experiences with massive, towering mountains and glaciers, and we were in complete awe from the moment we arrived. The Tetons truly are grand and so unique. In addition to the stunning mountain and glacier views, we experienced beautiful alpine lakes and waterfalls (very refreshing after miles of hiking). We also had many wildlife viewing opportunities, including moose and elk. This whole area is absolutely stunning, and we look forward to visiting again one day!
7. Lake Clark National Park (Alaska): This is another underrated, and very little known, park in our opinion. We had a unique experience here, getting to fly in to the remote park via float plane, landing directly on the lake itself. Then, we went with a guide and a small group to fish along the lake and river for fresh Alaskan salmon (of which we caught dozens!). During our fishing expedition, we also saw about a dozen grizzly bears who joined us nearby in the water hoping to catch fish as well. In addition to these incredible wildlife experiences, the park itself is absolutely gorgeous, surrounded by mountains and turquoise waters. This day was definitely one we will always remember!
8. Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado): Much like Alaska, Colorado itself is a beautiful state, where even outside the national parks the landscapes are awe-inspiring. Within Rocky Mountain National Park is no different. We loved the scenic drives through the park, such as on the amazing Trail Ridge Road. We also went on several different hikes through the towering mountains, with many waterfalls and lakes to be discovered. This was yet another park with breathtaking mountains and alpine lakes, which are right up our alley when it comes to our favorite National Parks.
9. Denali National Park (Alaska): Denali mountain (also known as Mount McKinley) is the tallest mountain in North America, which is an impressive accolade and even more impressive to see in person. Since it’s so massive, it creates its own weather systems, and the top of the mountain is actually obscured from view much of the time. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to view it multiple times since we were in Alaska for three months. Our first visit to the park was via a flight-seeing tour where we flew in a small propeller plane around the top of the mountain. This was an incredible experience with the most stunning views which we will never forget. Regrettably, we did not land on a glacier on this tour, but we would love to go back and do it again in the future with a glacier landing because we seriously can’t get enough of glaciers. Our second visit to the park, we drove in on the entrance road to catch some views of the surrounding mountains. Due to a road closure preventing us from going deeper into the park, we were actually not able to see Denali itself from inside the park because it was blocked, but we viewed it on several other occasions from afar. Within the park, we were able to visit the sled dog kennels which was a unique experience as well, plus we had some wildlife sightings including a moose.
10. Yosemite National Park (California): There is a reason that this is one of the most well known and popular national parks in the U.S. It definitely lived up to the hype for us, despite being somewhat crowded. Yosemite has incredible mountains with some of the most amazing views, such as the iconic, post-card worthy Tunnel View. We loved getting to view the famous El Capitan, Half Dome, and the many waterfalls in the park. We went on several amazing hikes and enjoyed several lakes within the park. We’d love to go back and experience more of this iconic park in the future!
Summary
When it comes to the U.S. National Parks, it’s really not a competition about which one is the best. As I mentioned, ranking them is extremely subjective depending on your personal preferences, as well as the weather, time of year, and other factors when you visit.
For us, we found that our most favorite national parks were the ones with gorgeous mountains, glaciers, and alpine lakes, as well as the ones with the best wildlife viewing opportunities.
But that’s not to say that we also didn’t love the ones with unique rock formations and canyons in the deserts of Utah and Arizona, volcanoes in Hawaii, and gorgeous beaches in Florida and the Virgin Islands. All of the national parks have something unique to offer, as well as various activities and ways to experience them.
We encourage you to get out and start exploring the U.S. National Parks if you haven’t already! In addition to the 63 that are currently designated as National Parks (as of April 2024), there are over 400 different sites included within the national park system (from monuments, to historical sites and more). We still have much to explore via the national park system, and many that we’d love to go back to!
If you’ve already begun your journey to visit the U.S. National Parks, let us know in the comments what are some of your favorites and least favorites (and why). We’d love to hear from you!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 