There are many great and beautiful National Parks in the United States. While we could list hundreds that are worthy of visiting, we wanted to focus on those we believe to be the best the United States has to offer. Here is our list, and we hope you take the opportunity to visit each and explore the beauty they offer.

Grand Teton National Park

Just outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming the Grand Teton National Park has over 200 miles of trails. The area used to be home to farmers and fur trappers, but now in the park, there are beautiful prairies, lakes, and the snow-capped and jagged peaks of the Grand Teton mountain range. You can really get a great feel for the wonderful topography or the area by taking the Cascade Canyon Trail, which is 11 miles of pure beauty.

Grand Canyon

How can you have a list of the most beautiful national parks without putting the Grand Canyon on the list. In the desert, in the southwest of the United States, the Grand Canyon is not only 277 miles long and 18 miles wide, but it is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. You can hike the canyon, raft along the bottom of the Colorado River, and check out the vibrant blue waters of the Havasu Falls.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone is a 2.2-million acre national park and was actually the very first national park in the world. Besides that distinction, the park is known for its bubbling geysers and hot springs. There are very unique natural attractions at the park, and there are a lot of lakes to hike around, valleys teaming with buffaloes and towering mountains.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is located on the North Carolina-Tennessee, and the park boasts a size of 520,000 acres. In the park is one of the oldest mountain range in the Americas and a huge part of the Appalachian Trail traverses through it. This is one of the best parks when it comes to trails and hiking. There is a lot of wilderness in the area in forests, many creeks and brooks, and hard to find waterfalls with crystal clear water.

Yosemite

Yosemite Park in California is the most visited national park in the United States, and it is easy to see why. There are gorgeous waterfalls like the Bridalveil and Vernal falls and some of the most unique and beautiful rock formations of granite in the famous Half Dome and El Capitan. There is the Tunnel View Outlook, which is awe-inspiring and there are many great trails all through the park from short ones for beginners to long ones that can be a bit tough to take for those afraid of heights.

Zion National Park

Zion National Park in Utah is THE park to go to if you are a thrill-seeker. Beginning with the Angel’s Landing hike that has a totally natural 1,500-foot staircase to the Narrows, which is only 10 miles, but you have to go through the most narrow part of the canyon. In this last hike, you actually have to hike upstream on the Virgin River. Trails are aplenty and is one of the better national parks for camping as well.