Favorite National Park to visit in the U.S.?

Mollydolly10
Mollydolly10 Posts: 431 Member
in Chit-Chat
Hi all! I live in Chicago, IL and I've never been to any of the wonderful national parks out west. I am hoping to do a long weekend (four day) trip out west with my husband sometime this spring or summer and I wanted to get some opinions on where I should go.

I'm thinking places included but not limited to: Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, etc, etc. All of these places are obviously beautiful, and I want to do some outdoorsy (but not TOO strenuous) stuff.

If you have any advice, I would really appreciate it - thank you!

Replies

  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    Grand Teton NP and Sequoia NP have been our two favorite, but we went to SNP a little off peak season, so it could get miserable with crowds.

    We went to GTNP in July, and there was mainly peace and quiet even when Yellowstone was overcrowded.

    Flights into Fresno (at least from Houston, TX) are VERY reasonable. We drove for our recent trip to Yosemite/Kings Canyon/SNP/Grand Canyon trip though.
  • bdgfn
    bdgfn Posts: 7,719 Member
    Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado) and Yosemite National Park (California)
  • motterotter
    motterotter Posts: 701 Member
    Yellowstone for the wows but Zion national park is only a few hours drive from vegas and so pretty
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Yellowstone
  • FabulousFantasticFifty
    FabulousFantasticFifty Posts: 195,832 Member
    Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island, ME
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    edited January 2016
    I took a really fun Western trip in 2014 and my favorites were (surprisingly to me) not Yellowstone...which was great too...but Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, and the Badlands. LOVED all four of those and found fantastic easy to moderate hiking at all of them, with more difficult hiking available (only did that at Mesa Verde but it was some of my fav ever).

    All of these places were simply gorgeous.

    Craters of the Moon (Idaho) isn't a NP but it's awesome as well.

    ETA - we went in mid September on weekdays and nothing (in the 4 NPs named as my faves) was busy. Yellowstone was insanely busy even then, with international tourists everywhere, but it's also huge.
  • motterotter
    motterotter Posts: 701 Member
    FabulousFantasticFifty wrote: »
    Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island, ME
    Acadia is awesome too

  • Ldenzel
    Ldenzel Posts: 91 Member
    Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado). Beautiful views and a lot of different hiking trails.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
    Zion was spectacular and so was Arches - both in Utah.
  • kchuskey
    kchuskey Posts: 882 Member
    Crater Lake is pretty sweet...


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  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Yellowstone is amazing, but, with travel from Chicago, you'll want more than 4 days!

    I also love Arches and Zions (I'm probably biased ... Utah native here, lol).

    With just 4 days, though, you might want to look for something closer to you, assuming you're driving. Badlands isn't too far. Mt Rushmore is amazing (there isn't camping right there, but Custer State Park nearby has camping). I just know that I like a bit more time at the park :smile:
  • xto951
    xto951 Posts: 8 Member
    I just went to the Grand Canyon in November. It was so much better than I expected. I also went to Valley of Fire and loved it there. I only got to do one trail and it wasn't that hard to me. I was surprised I made it to the end and back and didn't die. It was flat and sandy but a few rocks flat rocks here and there you would walk over and they had rocks you can climb up. I want to go back there and camp so I can see all of the trails. I just did the scenic ride of Red Rock.
  • Lutielu
    Lutielu Posts: 188 Member
    Zions is awesome but if you want to really see it there is hiking involved. They have easier to harder trails there. Very pretty
  • suzreen
    suzreen Posts: 2,455 Member
    I haven't visited all the ones you mentioned, but I LOVE Zion, and Bryce Canyon is truly spectacular, with good hiking. Utah feels very safe, people are pretty well behaved. In this same area of Utah, there are lots of state parks and also BLM land to explore. Somewhat near Zion, there is a really famous animal shelter that's supposed to be really cool to visit. I can't remember the name of it. Anyway, Utah, Zion, Bryce -- I highly recommend it.

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