Most Visited National Parks

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

I've been to 9 of those 10. My ex-husband and I did a 4 month trip of the US after he finished grad school. I don't think they had the passport program way back then, but I wish they had. I've been to so many more NPS places than that - parks, national monuments, and national historic sites. This is a very special country.

[I-DE-HO Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close I-DE-HO]

I've seen seven and I loved them all. Our country is so varied.

Phil

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I hate to say this but I do not recall ever going to any of these National Parks listed. We do plan on next year to Arcadia since we will be in the area.
So which park is the best to see.?

[JoAnn Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoAnn]

I hate to say this but I do not recall ever going to any of these National Parks listed. We do plan on next year to Arcadia since we will be in the area.
So which park is the best to see.?

Frank, I think each NP has it's own special appeal and beauty, so I don't know which one I would say is 'the best or prettiest'.

The Everglades is like no other place in the world with it's alligators, Crocodiles and so many beautiful birds. Glacier (from our most recent trip) is spectacular, the Grand Canyon is overwhelmingly beautiful, Yellowstone and it's different areas is awesome, Zion because you are at the bottom and look up and say 'wow', Death Valley because I don't know how anyone could have crossed it and it is so different, and on and on...you just have to try and see as many as possible! But get the passport in the gift shop and fill it up!

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

My favorite on the entire 4 month trip was Rocky Mountain Nat'l park. But everyone of them is very, very special.

Sue

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Frank, Acadia National Park has several parts, most of them on Mt. Desert Island, but some also on islands and also the Schoodic peninsula. As you head out towards Mt. Desert Island stop at the visitor center (the first one just past the airport) for information on the area. I would suggest doing the park loop road and perhaps a trip off that road to Mt. Cadillac. After that perhaps a trip to Bar Harbor where you might see some cruise ships (you will be overlooking Bar Harbor from Mt. Cadillac).

[Laurie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Laurie]

great photo site for national parks and more

www.terragalleria.com/index.html

amazing photos from all 58 national parks, as well as other places around the world, by photographer QT Luong - I've just spent hours looking...

[swilshire Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swilshire]

10 Most Visited National Parks (2004)
Park Unit Recreational Visits

1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park 9,167,046

2. Grand Canyon National Park 4,326,234

3. Cuyahoga Valley National Park 3,306,175

4. Yosemite National Park 3,280,911

5. Olympic National Park 3,073,722

6. Yellowstone National Park 2,868,317

7. Rocky Mountain National Park 2,781,899

8. Zion National Park 2,677,342

9. Grand Teton National Park 2,360,373

10. Acadia National Park 2,207,847

I live about an hour from #1, but haven't been there in years. In fact, I've been to numbers 6, 7, 9 and 10 since I've been to the Smokies. It's a great place, but the traffic is the pits.

Sheila

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Sheila, I know why you didn't want to meet me in Gatlinburg. The traffic was terrible!! Pigeon Forge was even worse, but I had a great time. shaggy

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Seems like traffic is always backed up in Gatlinburg-PF. One day we went to Clarksville and didn't get back until after midnight and for once the traffic was light.

[swilshire Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swilshire]

Sheila, I know why you didn't want to meet me in Gatlinburg. The traffic was terrible!! Pigeon Forge was even worse, but I had a great time. shaggy

DS12 just got a job at Dollywood for the Christmas season, leaving his parents with lots of time to hang around while he works. (He'll be Jacob in O Holy Night if any of you see it. He and another boy alternate dates. Mine is the one with the freckles. Opening day is November 4.)

I had a simple desire .... to go to the Apple Barn and buy some of my favorite apple donuts. I was about half way down the Parkway when I got into the line of traffic. Many minutes later, I was only a couple of blocks farther along, so I gave up on the donuts and formulated a new plan. I should have known better during the busiest week of the year up there, but I thought I'd be OK going a short distance on a weeknight. My daughter said the weekend football crowd was probably still there or just leaving.

Sheila

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I have been to:

1. Yosemite - several times.
2. Grand Canyon
3. Olympic
4. Zion
5. Rocky Mountain.
6. Crater Lake
7. Mount Ranier
8. Redwood
9. A few others that I can't remember.

I have also been to the following National Parks in Canada.

1. Kooteney - several times - lived just 12 miles from the entrance.
2. Banff - several times
3. Jasper
4. Yoho
5. A few others that I can't remember.

If I had to pick a favorite it would be Yosemite because of the diversity within a fairly small area. I love the mountain scenery on the eastern part of the Tioga pass.

My least favorite was Grand Canyon.

[RESORT2ME Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RESORT2ME]

Seen previously:
Everglades
Great Smoky Mountains
Volcano
Shenandoah
Mammoth Cave
Petrified Forest



Seen during Trip West:
Bad Lands
Grand Teton
Yellowstone
Glacier
Olympic
Mount Rainier
Crater Lake
Redwood
Canyon lands
Grand Canyon
Yosemite
Death Valley
Zion
Canyonlands

Some other parks yet to be seen:
Acadia
American Samoa
Arches
Black Canyon
Big Bend
Biscayne
Capitol Reef
Carlsbad Caverns
Channel Islands
Cuyahoga Valley
Denali
Dry Tortugas
Gates of the Arctic
Glacier Bay
Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Guadalupe Mtns
Haleakala
Hot Springs
Isle Royale
Joshua Tree
Katmai
Kenai Fjords
Kobuk Valley
Lake Clark
Lassen Volcanic
Mesa Verde
North Cascades
Saguaro
Sequoia / Kings
Theodore Roosevelt
Virgin Islands
Voyageurs
Wind Cave
Wrangell Saint Elias

[RESORT2ME Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RESORT2ME]

...If I had to pick a favorite it would be Yosemite because of the diversity within a fairly small area. I love the mountain scenery on the eastern part of the Tioga pass.
...

The valley camp sites were packed out on 29 and 30 September.
We found an unleveled site 16 miles out, at the Crane Flats campground. Was glad for a place, but it was terribly dry. Everything was covered with dirty dust. Porta-pottys were available, as a fallen tree had smashed the bathhouse.

I found Glacier to be amazing.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

The valley camp sites were packed out on 29 and 30 September.
We found an unleveled site 16 miles out, at the Crane Flats campground. Was glad for a place, but it was terribly dry. Everything was covered with dirty dust. Porta-pottys were available, as a fallen tree had smashed the bathhouse.

I found Glacier to be amazing.

Sorry you had a bad experience at Yosemite. We don't camp out so I can't comment on that.