National parks with great sights, fewer crowds
Since it was signed in 1906, the United States Antiquities Act has conserved millions of acres across 58 national parks.
These protected areas encompass some of the country’s most extraordinary landscapes, which has prompted growing tourism numbers in the most popular parks. Competing with throngs of tourists while visiting America’s natural wonders is far from ideal.
With that in mind, we’ve assembled a list of less crowded, yet equally scenic, alternatives to America’s most popular national parks.
If you like Grand Canyon National park, try Bryce Canyon National Park instead.
Known as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the Grand Canyon is a bucket-list destination for travelers worldwide. This recognition comes at a cost, though, with 6.38 million arrivals to the park in 2018. If you’ve already been or have some time to spare, consider heading due north to Bryce Canyon National Park.
Situated along the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, the park’s terrain has been shaped and eroded by the harsh, high-altitude elements. The resulting stone pinnacles (known as “hoodoos”), jagged formations and massive horseshoe amphitheaters are an astonishing sight to behold. Bryce Canyon’s extensive trail network is sure to satisfy any type of hiker.
Leisurely options include a portion of the 11mile Rim Trail or the 1-mile hike to Mossy Cave, which offers views of the multihued hoodoos and a waterfall before reaching the cave. More determined hikers can brave the 23mile Under-the-Rim Trail and overnight at one of eight backcountry campsites. The park’s elevation ranges between a lofty 8,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level, making for milder summer temperatures compared to the Grand Canyon.
If you like Great Smoky Mountains National Park, try Shenandoah National Park instead.
A whopping 11.4 million people visited Great Smoky Mountains in 2018. Heading six hours north along the Appalachian Mountains, hikers and drivers can find equally scenic roadways, stunning mountain vistas and epic trails at Shenandoah. Though it’s not exactly an off-thebeaten-path destination, Shenandoah’s 1.2 million visitors in 2018 are a mere trickle compared to its southern neighbor.
Spanning 105 miles between the Front Royal and Rockfish Gap entrances, winding Skyline Drive allows visitors to leisurely enjoy the park’s scenery from their car and choose from numerous trailheads for day hikes. In the heart of Shenandoah, the 1 1⁄2-mile Dark Hollow Falls Trail departs from Skyline Drive’s mile marker 50.7 and traces a magnificent series of waterfalls and cascades.
The less-trafficked neighboring trail, Rose River Loop, passes both Rose River and Dark Hollow Falls but tacks another 2 1⁄2 miles on to the trip. Shenandoah’s highest point, Hawksbill Mountain, can be reached via the Upper Hawksbill Trail. After scrambling a little over 2 miles from the trailhead off Skyline Drive, hikers are rewarded with unobscured views from the rocky summit.
If you like Yellowstone National Park, try Theodore Roosevelt National Park instead.
Yellowstone’s wealth of attractions — unique wildlife, spouting geysers, volcanic landscapes and churning rivers — are unmatched by any single national park. For similar wildlife-spotting opportunities away from the crowds, head east to the lesser-known Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which sees just 600,000 annual visitors compared to Yellowstone’s 3.8 million.
Theodore Roosevelt occupies a sizable expanse of North Dakota’s Badlands. Twenty-nine American bison were reintroduced here in 1956, with herd numbers today totaling several hundred between the park’s north and south units. For the best chance of seeing bison, make your way around the Scenic Loop Drive in the south unit, but be sure to maintain a respectable distance from the massive creatures. Fortunately, bison prefer to graze the nutritious grasslands surrounding prairie dog communities, and thus, you may spot both species.
Although there are several communities throughout the park, the prairie dog town located just off East River Road near the Skyline Vista is the most accessible.
If you like Acadia National Park, try Fundy National Park instead.
Located on Mount Desert Island along Maine’s central coast, Acadia offers the perfect mix of mountains and sea. As the only national park in New England, Acadia is a popular getaway for families and urbanites, bringing in 1.6 million visitors in 2018.
A few hours up the Atlantic coast and across the Canadian border, Fundy sees a fraction of the visitors, with approximately 368,000 entries in 2018. Fundy’s 60 miles of trails take hikers past dozens of waterfalls, through dense pine forests and along the rocky shore.
The park abuts the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the highest tides in the world. During low tide, visitors can explore tide pools along the half-mile of exposed ocean floor and marvel at striking sandstone formations created by millennia of erosion.
If you like Olympic National Park, try North Cascades National Park instead.
Known for its lush rainforest, glacial peaks and coastal landscapes, Olympic remains one of the most remarkable wilderness areas in the contiguous United States. This natural beauty is certainly well-appreciated, given that the park brought in over 3 million visitors in 2018. Meanwhile, a hardlytrafficked area of stunning, rugged wilderness sits across the Puget Sound in North Cascades.
This is one of the leastvisited national parks in the U.S., with just 30,085 visitors in 2018. The park is largely protected as wilderness, meaning there are limited facilities and minimal road access into North Cascades. Adventurers and outdoor enthusiasts will be glad to know that camping sites can be reached by hiking, horseback or boat.
The park is home to diverse landscapes, including peaks over 10,000 feet, 300 glaciers, gushing waterfalls, old-growth forests and the third-deepest lake in the country, Lake Chelan. The most popular day hike (relatively speaking) is the Cascade Pass Trail. This 7 1⁄2-mile roundtrip trail rewards hikers with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.