Exploring Famous National Parks

1. Great Smoky Mountains National ParkMore than 13 million visitors went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2023. Travelers can explore its misty peaks and waterfall-filled valleys via a mountain-skimming scenic highway or by taking to 800-plus miles of hiking trails stretching across North Carolina and Tennessee. 2. Grand Canyon National ParkIn 2023, Grand Canyon National Park attracted 4.7 million people to witness one of the largest canyons on Earth, which is a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide at some points. Explore it by hiking, mule riding, or rafting in the mighty Colorado River. 3. Zion National ParkRising in Utah’s high plateau country, the Virgin River carves its way through Zion Canyon to the desert below. Zion National Park’s striking vertical topography—rock towers, sandstone canyons, and sharp cliffs—attracted 5 million visitors in 2023. 4. Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park—the world’s first national park—was visited by 4.5 million people in 2023. The vast reserve—covering 2.2 million acres in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana—has craggy peaks, explosive geysers, alpine lakes, deep forests, and a wealth of wild animals. The stars are bison, bears, sheep, moose, and wolves. 5. Rocky Mountain National ParkSweeping alpine vistas attracted 4.1 million visitors to Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park in 2023. The park contains 150 lakes and 450 miles of streams, plus ecosystems ranging from wetlands to pine forests to montane areas to alpine tundra. 6. Yosemite National Park“No temple made with human hands can compete with Yosemite,” wrote John Muir, whose crusading led to the creation of California’s Yosemite National Park in 1890. Nearly 4 million visitors came to this temple of granite cliffs and towering waterfalls in 2023. Most spent time in Yosemite Valley, a mile-wide, seven-mile-long canyon that was cut by a river and then widened and deepened by glacial action.