Several years ago, I spent 6 weeks hiking through some of the parks of the southwest U.S. My three favorites were Bryce, Arches and Grand Canyon. Rafting down the Colorado toward the Grand Canyon was awesome, as was the mule ride down to the bottom. But my favorite was Bryce, especially getting lost among the “hoodoos.” It was like being on another planet.
On a totally different note, there’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, especially hiking over the precarious broken lava to the spot where the molten lava crashed into the ocean.
I just love Monument Valley. I’ve been through it 3-4x but want to go back and spend a couple of days. Talking with a friend about it, he recommended a place with great views of it, approach it from higher up and from the north along the Moki Dugway and drop down into the valley. I’ve loved it since watching The Eiger Sanction (1975) with Clint Eastwood, especially that training scene on The Totem Pole (Totem Pole (Monument Valley) - Wikipedia; gMap Google Maps).
And in the USA unless otherwise specified…
Niagara Falls
The Florida Keys
Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
The fjords of northern Norway
Assisi, Italy
San Marino
Bavaria
The Croatian coastline along the eastern Adriatic
The Inside Passage of the Alaska Panhandle
The Columbia River Gorge
The Channeled Scablands
The Baja, Mexico peninsula, 1,000 miles long from Cabo to San Ysidro.
Many of my favorites have been mentioned already, but the Kalalau trail along the Nā Pali coast in Kauai definitely ranks with the best of them. In fact just about everything in Kauai does.
I will add Pic Paradis, the highest point on St Martin. It’s a strenuous hike (for me, anyway) going from sea-level to 1,391 feet above sea-level in a steep climb through a rain forest ecosystem. We discuss doing the hike every year, but end up doing it every other year.
Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park. Got engaged here. Was vacationing in the park for a week with my then-girlfriend and her parents. It was our last full day and I had been walking around all week with this ring in my pocket, waiting for the right moment. We hiked the mile or so up to the Hidden Lake lookout point and I figured it wasn’t going to get any better than that.
I’ve hiked and camped in Bryce Canyon Park, but my favorite Utah National Park is probably Arches, if only for Delicate Arch ( Delicate Arch - Arches National Park (U.S. National Park Service) ). They also filmed the opening scenes for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade here, and parts of Thelma and Louise and other movies. Gorgeous sights. There are supposed to be upwards of 300 arches in the park (although many are only “technically” arches). It’s amazing to me that sandstone formations could assume so many different forms around Utah – the arches of Arches, the “hoodoos” of Bryce, the monumental forms of Zion.
I agree that the Southwest US is an amazing geologic wonder of a place. I’ve been to most of the parks in that area. One park that hasn’t been mentioned is Mesa Verde, CO; and if you ever get the opportunity, take the tour through Antelope Canyon in Arizona.
TNTC. Zion, Bryce, GC south and north (north’s better), Yosemite, Shenandoah, Pictured Rock, Apostle Islands, Indiana Dunes, Everglades, Acadia, Outer Banks, Smokies, Saguaro, Crater Lake, Olympia, Mojave, Joshua Tree, Sleeping Bear, Point Reyes, and that’s just off the top of my head. So many spectacular sites.
But I had the most ‘blown away’ moments in Death Valley. From Dante’s View to Badwater to Darwin Falls to Ubehebe Crater to Zabriskie Point . . .
Many of you have mentioned parks in southern Utah. I agree, it is a spectacular area.
But no one has put in a plug for one of Utah’s state parks - Dead Horse State Park. It’s small, but has the absolute best vantage of (and ‘closeness’ to) the Grand Canyon. Some of the most exquisiteviews I’ve ever had.
I assume the “Forest” was a typo, correct? Joshua Tree is a NP.
Since people are making fairly long lists I’ll add:
[ul]
[li]the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota[/li][li]Olympics National Park in Washington[/li][li]Landmannalaugar in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, Iceland[/li][li]the John Muir trail in California[/li][/ul]
Like everyone else, I have many parks and other places that I love. But if I had to limit myself to just one for the rest of my life, I would choose Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Along these lines, Yosemite is beautiful, but it’s so crowded with tourists much of the year that I can’t really say it’s my favorite.
I think I’m going to go with Redwoods National park and the three state parks that border it. It seems to be one of the more underappreciated national parks. It of course contains redwoods, which words can’t really do justice to, but also some spectacular coastal scenery. And it’s not nearly as crowded as the more visited parks like Yosemite, and the Muir Woods, possibly because it’s a fairly long drive from any major city.
This reminds me, I have to plant my Joshua tree. My daughter and her fiance were there last year. She got her engagement ring there, and all I got were some seeds.
