Explore America's National Parks, Monuments & Historic Places

From the iconic landscapes of Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon to historic landmarks, national monuments and scenic protected areas, National Parks Explorer helps you discover the best of America's public lands. Browse our growing collection of destinations, compare park types, explore official visitor information and use the filters below to quickly find places by name, state, country or category. Whether you're planning your next road trip or simply exploring from home, your adventure starts here.

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63 places found

National Park

Acadia National Park

Maine United States

Acadia National Park brings together some of the most beautiful landscapes on the Maine coast, combining granite mountains, rocky shorelines, forests, lakes, islands, and sweeping views across the Atlantic Ocean. Located primarily on Mount Desert Island, Acadia offers a distinctive national park experience where mountain adventures and coastal scenery are never far apart. Cadillac Mountain is one of Acadia’s best-known destinations, providing expansive views across Mount Desert Island and the surrounding coastline. Park Loop Road connects many other popular attractions, including Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Jordan Pond, and numerous scenic overlooks. Travelers who explore beyond the main loop can discover quieter sections of the park, including the Schoodic Peninsula. Hiking is one of the most popular things to do in Acadia National Park. Trails range from relaxing walks around lakes and through forests to steep mountain routes with dramatic ocean views. The historic carriage road system provides another way to experience Acadia and is popular with walkers, cyclists, and horse-drawn carriage tours. Visitors can also enjoy wildlife watching, photography, paddling, boating, stargazing, ranger programs, scenic drives, and guided experiences. Acadia is particularly appealing because it can feel different with every season. Summer attracts visitors for hiking and coastal recreation, while fall transforms the forests with classic New England foliage. Sunrise and sunset, changing tides, fog, and shifting coastal weather continually reshape familiar landscapes. Nearby Bar Harbor is the primary gateway for many visitors and offers a wide selection of hotels, inns, vacation rentals, restaurants, shops, cruises, and tours. Additional accommodations can be found throughout Mount Desert Island and surrounding coastal communities. Whether Acadia is the centerpiece of a Maine vacation or part of a longer New England road trip, allow enough time to experience both its mountains and coastline. Exploring beyond the busiest attractions reveals a national park filled with quiet forests, historic roads, rocky coves, island views, and unmistakable Maine character.

National Park

National Park of American Samoa

American Samoa United States

National Park of American Samoa protects tropical rainforests, volcanic mountains, coral reefs, beaches, and centuries of Samoan culture across three islands in the remote South Pacific. Located on Tutuila, Taʻū, and Ofu, it is one of the most geographically isolated national parks in the United States and offers an experience unlike any park on the mainland. Tutuila is the easiest part of the park for most visitors to explore. Mountain trails climb through lush rainforest to viewpoints overlooking the island’s dramatic coastline and Pago Pago Harbor. The Mount Alava area provides one of the park’s classic hiking experiences, while the northern coastline around Vatia reveals steep volcanic ridges and views toward offshore Pola Island. The islands are home to remarkable tropical wildlife. Flying foxes can sometimes be seen moving above the forest canopy, while colorful birds, marine life, and coral ecosystems add to the biodiversity. Snorkeling provides an opportunity to experience the protected environment below the surface, particularly where clear water and healthy reefs create favorable conditions. Ofu offers some of the park’s most beautiful coastal scenery, with a remarkable beach backed by steep volcanic mountains and coral reef habitat just offshore. Taʻū provides an even more remote experience, with rainforest, cliffs, trails, and landscapes deeply connected to Samoan history and tradition. Samoan culture is an essential part of the national park experience. The land remains closely connected to local villages and families, and visitors should respect local customs, communities, and traditions while exploring. There are no traditional national park lodges. Hotels and other accommodations are available elsewhere in American Samoa, primarily on Tutuila, while options on the Manuʻa Islands are much more limited. Whether you hike through tropical rainforest, snorkel above a coral reef, watch flying foxes, explore a remote island, or learn about fa‘a Samoa—the Samoan way of life—National Park of American Samoa offers a rare combination of natural beauty and living Pacific culture.

National Park

Arches National Park

Utah United States

Arches National Park is one of Utah’s most recognizable desert destinations, protecting a remarkable landscape of more than 2,000 documented natural stone arches along with towering pinnacles, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and sweeping views across the Colorado Plateau. Located just outside Moab, the park combines iconic scenery with hiking, photography, scenic drives, and classic Utah desert adventures. Delicate Arch is the park’s most famous landmark and one of the defining symbols of Utah. Visitors can view it from designated overlooks or hike across open sandstone to experience the arch at close range. Elsewhere, the Windows Section provides relatively easy access to several impressive formations, including North Window, South Window, Turret Arch, and nearby Double Arch. Devils Garden offers another concentration of remarkable geology. Trails lead through sandstone fins and arches, including Landscape Arch, one of the longest natural arches in the world. Other popular stops along the park road include Balanced Rock, Park Avenue, and viewpoints overlooking the surrounding desert and distant mountains. Hiking is one of the best things to do in Arches National Park, but visitors can also enjoy photography, stargazing, scenic driving, ranger programs, and guided experiences. More adventurous travelers can explore selected areas with authorized guides or combine Arches with rafting, mountain biking, off-road tours, and other activities available around Moab. There are no hotels or traditional lodging facilities inside Arches National Park. Nearby Moab provides an extensive selection of hotels, vacation rentals, campgrounds, restaurants, shops, outfitters, and guided tours, making it the natural base for most visitors. Arches also combines easily with nearby Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. Whether you are planning a short visit to see Delicate Arch or several days of hiking and exploring around Moab, experiencing the park at different times of day reveals constantly changing colors, shadows, and perspectives across its extraordinary sandstone landscape.

National Park

Badlands National Park

South Dakota United States

Badlands National Park protects one of South Dakota’s most unusual landscapes, where sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, canyons, and colorful rock formations rise abruptly from one of America’s largest protected mixed-grass prairies. Located east of the Black Hills, the park combines dramatic geology with wildlife, fossils, hiking, scenic drives, and exceptionally open views across the Great Plains. Badlands Loop Road is the easiest introduction for first-time visitors. The scenic route connects overlooks, trailheads, and changing geological formations, making it possible to experience much of the park by combining short walks with scenic stops. Sunrise and sunset are especially rewarding as low light brings out layers of red, yellow, gray, and orange in the eroded landscape. Hiking provides a closer look at the Badlands. The Door and Window trails offer relatively short routes into the formations, while the Notch Trail delivers a more adventurous experience with steep terrain and expansive views. Visitors can also explore less-developed areas and prairie landscapes away from the busiest viewpoints. Wildlife is another major reason to visit Badlands National Park. Bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, pronghorn, and other animals inhabit the grasslands surrounding the rock formations. The park is also internationally important for its fossils, preserving evidence of ancient mammals that lived here millions of years ago. Other things to do include photography, birdwatching, scenic driving, camping, ranger programs, fossil exhibits, and stargazing beneath remarkably dark South Dakota skies. Cedar Pass Lodge provides seasonal accommodations and food near the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, while additional hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, and visitor services can be found in communities surrounding the park and in Rapid City. Badlands combines naturally with Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, Custer State Park, and other South Dakota destinations. Whether you spend several hours driving the loop or stay longer to hike, watch wildlife, and explore at sunrise and sunset, the park offers far more than a quick roadside view.

National Park

Big Bend National Park

Texas United States

Big Bend National Park protects one of the largest and most remote wilderness landscapes in Texas, where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the Chisos Mountains and the Rio Grande curves along the border between the United States and Mexico. Vast desert views, deep river canyons, mountain trails, wildlife, and exceptionally dark night skies make Big Bend a destination that rewards travelers willing to journey far from major cities. The Chisos Mountains rise dramatically from the surrounding desert and form the heart of many Big Bend adventures. Chisos Basin provides access to several popular hiking trails, including routes toward the Window and Lost Mine Peak. Higher elevations offer cooler conditions and completely different plant and animal communities from those found on the desert floor. Santa Elena Canyon is one of the park’s most recognizable landscapes. Here, the Rio Grande cuts between enormous limestone walls that rise sharply above the river. A scenic drive through the western side of the park leads toward the canyon, with overlooks, historic sites, desert trails, and geological formations along the way. The Rio Grande provides another way to experience Big Bend National Park. Depending on river conditions, visitors can paddle through remote canyons by canoe, kayak, or raft. Guided river trips are available through authorized outfitters and can range from shorter excursions to multi-day adventures. Hiking, backpacking, birdwatching, horseback riding, photography, scenic driving, camping, and soaking in historic hot springs provide additional things to do. After sunset, Big Bend becomes one of America’s outstanding stargazing destinations thanks to its remote location and exceptionally dark skies. Lodging inside the park is limited, while nearby Terlingua and other gateway communities provide additional cabins, vacation rentals, restaurants, outfitters, and guided tours. Whether you come to hike the Chisos Mountains, explore Santa Elena Canyon, paddle the Rio Grande, or simply experience the silence and night skies of West Texas, Big Bend National Park is best enjoyed with enough time to appreciate its enormous scale.

National Park

Biscayne National Park

Florida United States

Biscayne National Park protects a remarkable marine landscape just south of Miami, where clear waters, mangrove shorelines, subtropical islands, coral reefs, and historic shipwrecks create one of America’s most distinctive national park experiences. With approximately 95 percent of the park covered by water, Biscayne is best explored by boat, kayak, paddleboard, snorkel, or scuba gear. Biscayne Bay forms the heart of the park. Its shallow waters support seagrass beds, fish, sea turtles, rays, birds, and other marine life, while mangrove forests provide important habitat along the shoreline. Paddling near the coast offers an accessible way to experience this ecosystem even without traveling far offshore. Boat trips open up much more of Biscayne National Park. Boca Chita Key is one of the best-known destinations, with its historic lighthouse and views across Biscayne Bay. Elliott Key, the park’s largest island, provides opportunities for picnicking, camping, hiking, and exploring tropical vegetation away from the mainland. Snorkeling and scuba diving are among the most memorable things to do in Biscayne. Coral reefs and shipwrecks provide opportunities to discover the underwater landscape, while the Maritime Heritage Trail connects several historic wreck sites. Guided boat, snorkeling, diving, and paddling experiences can help visitors reach areas that are otherwise difficult to access. The Dante Fascell Visitor Center at Convoy Point is the primary mainland destination and provides exhibits, waterfront views, and information for planning activities. Fishing, wildlife watching, photography, camping, and ranger programs offer additional ways to experience the park. There are no traditional hotels inside Biscayne National Park. Homestead, Florida City, and the greater Miami area provide extensive lodging, restaurants, rentals, tours, and other visitor services. Whether you are planning a Miami day trip, snorkeling over a coral reef, paddling through mangroves, exploring an island, or diving a shipwreck, Biscayne National Park rewards visitors who experience it from the water rather than simply viewing the bay from shore.

National Park

Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park

Colorado United States

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park protects one of Colorado’s most dramatic landscapes, where the Gunnison River cuts through exceptionally steep cliffs, ancient rock, and narrow canyon walls. Located on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, the park combines spectacular overlooks, hiking, scenic drives, wilderness, rock climbing, wildlife, and remarkably dark night skies. The South Rim is the most accessible and popular area for first-time visitors. South Rim Drive connects a series of overlooks that reveal different perspectives into the canyon, with short walks leading from parking areas to the rim. Gunnison Point provides an impressive introduction, while other viewpoints reveal the remarkable depth and narrowness of the canyon. Painted Wall is one of the park’s defining landmarks. Light-colored bands of rock cut across its enormous dark cliff face, creating one of the most recognizable views in Black Canyon. The North Rim offers another perspective and a quieter, more primitive experience for travelers willing to make the separate drive. Hiking is one of the best things to do in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Rim trails range from relatively easy walks to longer routes with expansive views. Experienced and properly prepared adventurers can also enter the inner canyon using steep wilderness routes, while technical rock climbing provides another challenging way to experience its immense walls. Scenic driving, wildlife watching, camping, photography, ranger programs, winter recreation, and stargazing offer additional activities. After dark, the park’s remote setting and limited surrounding development create excellent opportunities to experience the Colorado night sky. There are no hotels or restaurants inside Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Montrose provides the most convenient selection of lodging, restaurants, fuel, and other services for South Rim visitors, with additional accommodations available elsewhere in western Colorado. Whether you spend several hours exploring South Rim overlooks or stay longer to hike, camp, climb, and discover the quieter North Rim, Black Canyon rewards visitors who experience its extraordinary vertical landscape from more than one viewpoint.

National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Utah United States

Bryce Canyon National Park is one of Utah’s most distinctive landscapes, famous for thousands of colorful rock spires known as hoodoos. Rather than a single canyon, the park consists of a series of natural amphitheaters carved into the edge of a high plateau, creating an extraordinary landscape of orange, red, pink, and white rock formations. Bryce Amphitheater is the centerpiece of most visits. Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, Inspiration Point, and Bryce Point provide spectacular views from above, but hiking below the rim reveals an entirely different perspective. Trails wind between towering hoodoos, natural passageways, pine forests, and sculpted rock walls, allowing visitors to experience the formations at close range. Hiking is one of the best things to do in Bryce Canyon National Park. The popular Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop trails can be combined for a memorable journey through the amphitheater, while longer routes provide opportunities to explore quieter sections of the park. Visitors can also follow the Southern Scenic Drive toward destinations such as Natural Bridge and Rainbow Point. Beyond hiking, Bryce Canyon offers photography, horseback riding, wildlife watching, ranger programs, scenic driving, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and guided experiences. Its high elevation and dark skies also make the park an outstanding destination for stargazing and astronomy. The historic Lodge at Bryce Canyon provides accommodations close to the amphitheater, while additional hotels, cabins, restaurants, and visitor services are available in nearby communities. Reservations are especially valuable when traveling during popular vacation periods. Bryce Canyon combines naturally with Zion National Park and other destinations on a Utah national parks road trip. Whether you have several hours for the major viewpoints or multiple days for hiking, photography, and exploring the high plateau, experiencing the hoodoos from both the rim and the trails below makes a visit especially rewarding.

National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Utah United States

Canyonlands National Park protects an immense landscape of colorful canyons, mesas, sandstone towers, arches, cliffs, and desert wilderness carved by the Colorado and Green Rivers in southeastern Utah. Located near Moab, the park offers a more remote and adventurous experience than many other Southwest destinations, with each district revealing a different side of the Colorado Plateau. Island in the Sky is the most accessible district and the easiest introduction for first-time visitors. A paved scenic road leads to overlooks high above the surrounding canyon country, including Grand View Point and other dramatic viewpoints. Short hikes provide access to additional scenery, while longer trails descend from the mesa into increasingly rugged terrain. The Needles offers a very different experience. Named for its distinctive sandstone spires, this southeastern district is especially popular with hikers and backpackers. Trails wind through colorful rock formations, narrow passages, open desert, and remote backcountry landscapes. The Maze is the park’s most isolated district and requires considerably more planning, time, self-reliance, and appropriate four-wheel-drive transportation. For experienced travelers, it offers one of the most remote national park experiences in the lower 48 states. There are many things to do in Canyonlands beyond hiking. Visitors can explore backcountry roads by 4WD, photograph sunrise and sunset, camp beneath exceptionally dark skies, bike designated routes, or experience the park from the water. Flatwater trips on the Green and Colorado Rivers and whitewater adventures through Cataract Canyon reveal Canyonlands from an entirely different perspective. There is little commercial development inside the park, so nearby Moab is the primary base for hotels, vacation rentals, restaurants, outfitters, rafting trips, 4WD tours, and other visitor services. Whether you spend a few hours exploring Island in the Sky or several days hiking, rafting, and traveling through the backcountry, Canyonlands National Park rewards careful planning. Its scale and remoteness make it a destination best experienced one district at a time.

National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Utah United States

Capitol Reef National Park reveals one of Utah’s most fascinating desert landscapes, where colorful cliffs, sandstone domes, narrow canyons, natural bridges, and rugged mountains stretch along the remarkable Waterpocket Fold. Located in south-central Utah, the park combines classic red-rock scenery with historic orchards, remote wilderness, scenic drives, and outstanding hiking. The Fruita district is the natural starting point for many first-time visitors. Set along the Fremont River beneath towering cliffs, this historic area preserves orchards and reminders of an early farming community in the heart of canyon country. Depending on the season, visitors may even have opportunities to experience the park’s historic fruit-growing tradition. Capitol Reef’s Scenic Drive provides an easy introduction to the surrounding geology. The paved route travels south from Fruita beneath enormous sandstone formations, while side roads lead into Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge. Hiking trails throughout this central area range from shorter walks to longer routes overlooking the Waterpocket Fold. Hickman Bridge, Grand Wash, and trails around Fruita are among the many options for exploring on foot. More adventurous travelers can discover the quieter Waterpocket District in the south or Cathedral Valley in the north. These remote landscapes offer backcountry hiking, dramatic rock formations, unpaved roads, and a much greater sense of isolation. There are many things to do in Capitol Reef beyond hiking. Scenic driving, photography, stargazing, camping, rock climbing, horseback riding, cycling, ranger programs, and backcountry exploration provide different ways to experience the park. Camping is available inside Capitol Reef, while nearby Torrey and surrounding communities provide hotels, cabins, restaurants, and other visitor services. The park also fits naturally into a longer Utah national parks road trip. Whether you spend a few hours exploring Fruita and the Scenic Drive or several days hiking through remote canyon country, Capitol Reef National Park rewards travelers who venture beyond the highway and discover the remarkable landscapes hidden along the Waterpocket Fold.

National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

New Mexico United States

Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects an extraordinary underground world beneath the rugged Chihuahuan Desert of southeastern New Mexico. More than 120 caves have been discovered within the park, but the enormous chambers and intricate formations of Carlsbad Cavern create the experience that draws visitors from around the world. The Big Room is the centerpiece of most visits. This immense underground chamber contains stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, and other formations shaped slowly by water and minerals. A self-guided route allows visitors to explore the chamber at their own pace while experiencing the remarkable scale of the cavern. For a more adventurous introduction, the Natural Entrance Trail descends steeply from the desert surface into Carlsbad Cavern. The route follows the path used by early explorers and drops more than 700 feet underground before connecting with developed cave areas. Ranger-guided tours provide opportunities to explore additional passages and learn more about the cave’s geology, history, and ecology. Wildlife adds another dimension to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. During the warmer months, large numbers of Brazilian free-tailed bats emerge from the cavern around sunset to feed across the surrounding landscape. Watching the evening bat flight can be one of the park’s most memorable experiences. Above ground, hiking trails explore canyons, desert vegetation, springs, and viewpoints across the Guadalupe Mountains and Chihuahuan Desert. Scenic driving, birdwatching, photography, stargazing, and ranger programs provide additional things to do beyond the caves. Traditional hotel lodging is not available inside the park. The city of Carlsbad provides the largest nearby selection of hotels, restaurants, fuel, and other visitor services, with additional options closer to the park. Whether you come to explore the Big Room, descend through the Natural Entrance, watch thousands of bats take flight, or combine Carlsbad Caverns with nearby Guadalupe Mountains National Park, this remarkable meeting of underground and desert landscapes makes southeastern New Mexico an unforgettable national park destination.

National Park

Channel Islands National Park

California United States

Channel Islands National Park protects five remarkable islands and their surrounding ocean ecosystems off the coast of Southern California. Rugged cliffs, sea caves, secluded beaches, wildflower-covered hills, kelp forests, and unique wildlife create an island wilderness that feels surprisingly remote despite its location within reach of the Los Angeles region. Santa Cruz Island is the largest island in the park and a popular destination for first-time visitors. Scorpion Anchorage provides access to hiking trails, coastal scenery, camping, snorkeling, and some of the park’s best-known sea kayaking opportunities. Guided kayak trips allow visitors to explore caves and rocky shorelines that reveal an entirely different perspective from the water. Anacapa Island offers dramatic cliffs, a historic lighthouse, seabird colonies, and panoramic ocean views. Santa Rosa Island combines beaches, canyons, grasslands, and longer hiking opportunities, while remote San Miguel Island provides a wilder experience shaped by strong winds and abundant marine wildlife. Santa Barbara Island, the smallest of the five, offers another isolated destination when access conditions allow. Wildlife watching is one of the best things to do in Channel Islands National Park. The islands protect species found nowhere else, including the island fox, while surrounding waters support seals, sea lions, dolphins, whales, seabirds, and diverse marine life. Hiking, camping, photography, birdwatching, snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking, sailing, and ranger programs provide additional ways to explore. There are no hotels, restaurants, stores, or rental services on the islands, so visitors must bring the food, water, and equipment they need. Most travelers begin their trip in Ventura, where the mainland visitor center and primary concessioner boat departures are located. Ventura and nearby coastal communities provide hotels, restaurants, outfitters, and other visitor services. Whether you spend a day hiking Santa Cruz Island, kayak through sea caves, snorkel in a kelp forest, watch whales during the crossing, or camp overnight above the Pacific, Channel Islands National Park offers one of California’s most distinctive coastal adventures.

Discover America's National Parks and Protected Places

Information & Disclaimer

National Parks Explorer strives to present accurate and up-to-date information collected from official and trusted sources, including the National Park Service. While we make every effort to keep this information current, information may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated or subject to change without prior notice, including access requirements, permits, reservations, operating hours, alerts, fees, road and trail conditions, weather and other visitor information.