What’s the Best U.S. National Park?

Regular readers of Adventure Journal might be forgiven for thinking that there are but three parks in the American national park system – Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Canyon. This trio commands the lion’s share of media coverage, here and elsewhere, and not without reason.

But there are, indeed, others – 55 others, as a matter of fact. Thrown in monuments and whatnot and the number of properties goes north of 300. There’s a lot under the NPS’s brown, flat-brimmed ranger hat.

Summer, of course, is park season, and so with that in mind, and in honor of Uncle Sam’s birthday (239, baby!), let’s tackle the question.

Is there a best park? How can there be a best park? If you’ve even been to Glacier, in photo above, how could you possibly vote for any place else? But the same goes for Denali. And Canyonlands. Oi, so many phenomenal parks, and all so different. How to judge? How to pick?

Well, that’s for you guys to decide. You may select up to 10 from the list of 58, and I can’t wait to see how things shake out.

WIN SMITH SUNGLASSES JUST BY VOTING
This week, one poll participant will receive Smith Optic’s Clark sunglasses. We’ll pick the winner via random number generator (and announce it here) – all you have to do to enter is vote and leave a comment so we have your email to contact you. Must have a U.S. or Canadian address. Contest ends Sunday, July 12, at midnight PST.

Congratulations to Jim Hagar, who wins the Smiths this week!

Photo of Glacier National Park by Tom Bricker