Photos: Tiomax80 / CC BY 2.0 · James St. John / CC BY 2.0 · Diliff / CC BY-SA 3.0
All 63, for anyone keeping count, with the famous ones up top and the quieter ones further down.
63 places · United States
Must-seeMost first trips go to the South Rim, which stays open all year. Start at Mather Point by the visitor center, and save sunset for Desert View Drive.
Must-seeOld Faithful erupts on a predictable schedule; walk the boardwalks through the geyser basin until it goes. Give the park two or three days. The distances are long, and bison stop traffic.
Must-seeYou look up at El Capitan and Half Dome from the valley floor, and down into the valley from Glacier Point. The giant sequoias are a separate stop, at Mariposa Grove.
Must-seeCream and red sandstone cliffs box in a green river canyon, home to the wade-through Narrows and the knife-edge of Angels Landing.
Must-seeEntry is free, but a parked car needs a tag, $5 a day or $15 a week. Drive the 11-mile Cades Cove loop at dawn for black bears and deer.
Must-seeThe Teton range erupts a sheer 7,000 feet over glacial lakes and the Snake River, with no foothills to soften the view.
Must-seeStop at Lake McDonald, where the whole shore is colored pebbles. Mountain goats show up on the higher stretches of Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Must-seeTrail Ridge Road climbs over 12,000 feet, higher than any other continuous paved road in the country, and the Alpine Visitor Center lets you see the tundra up close.
Must-seeCadillac Mountain has timed entry, so book that before you plan a sunrise up there. Bike the carriage roads, then stop for popovers at Jordan Pond House.
Must-seeBalanced Rock and Park Avenue are right off the scenic drive. Delicate Arch is a hike, and so is Landscape Arch, out in Devils Garden.
Must-seeThousands of glowing orange rock spires fill a string of natural amphitheaters you can hike right down into.
Must-seeJoshua trees grow in the park's higher Mojave half, and the lower Colorado Desert half turns to ocotillo and cholla. Scramble the granite boulders at Hidden Valley and stay out after dark.
Must-seeWalk among giant sequoias including General Sherman, the biggest single tree alive, beneath the high Sierra.
Must-seeYou can drive up Hurricane Ridge in the morning and walk the Hall of Mosses in the Hoh Rain Forest by afternoon. Time Rialto Beach for low tide, when the pools under the sea stacks are uncovered.
Must-seeOne road goes in, and the park buses on it turn up grizzlies and caribou along the way. Go between mid-May and early September. That's when the buses run, and when the mountain is most likely to come out.
Must-seeWalk the Anhinga Trail for alligators and wading birds, or paddle out into the mangroves. Florida panthers live here too, and you'd be lucky to see one.
Must-seeIn July and August the meadows at Paradise, 5,400 feet up, bloom right under the most glaciated peak in the lower 48.
Lakes & rivers
Volcanoes
Forests
Canyons & deserts
Canyons & deserts
Mountains
Canyons & deserts
Caves
Canyons & deserts
Mountains
Volcanoes
Lakes & rivers
Canyons & deserts
Volcanoes
Mountains
Canyons & deserts
Canyons & deserts
Canyons & deserts
Canyons & deserts
Canyons & deserts
Caves
Canyons & deserts
Mountains
Beaches
Lakes & rivers
Canyons & deserts
Lakes & rivers
Volcanoes
Volcanoes
Canyons & deserts
Mountains
Canyons & deserts
Mountains
Mountains
Lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers
Caves
Forests
Canyons & deserts
Lakes & rivers
Canyons & deserts
Forests
Lakes & rivers
Canyons & deserts
Volcanoes
Lakes & riversOther lists that cover the same ground.
15 placesWhere to go when you want the Milky Way instead of a glow on the horizon. Time it for a new moon: a full one washes out the sky even at the darkest of these.
21 placesA summer list, mostly. Several of the high roads here close for the winter. July and August are the safe bet for driving all of them.
9 placesDon't try to fit all of this into one week. You'll spend it watching southern Utah through a windshield.
22 placesThe Park Service runs eight of these 22 caves, and most of the rest are commercial show caves at $23 to $36 an adult. If you only pay for one, make it Ruby Falls: you ride an elevator 26 stories down inside Lookout Mountain and walk to a 145-foot waterfall.