We have completed a surprising 55 Top 10 Lists for this travel blog, so we thought now would be a good time to rank our favorites. Like most of our lists, this one is purely based on personal opinion and not number of page views. A meta-analysis of the lists revealed that Yellowstone National Park in our home state of Wyoming consistently ranks near the top of many different lists. So if you want to visit one National Park* you might do well to choose the world’s first. Another good place to start is our Top 10 from Our First 100 Blog Posts, 101-200, and 201-300. Click here (or above) to see all our Top 10 Lists.
*A reminder that of the 423 units in the National Park Service (NPS) system, only 63 are called National Parks so we tend to split our lists between those 63 and the other 360 NPS Sites
10. Top 10 of the 50 States for NPS Sites
This was one of our favorite lists to make, and surprisingly our home state didn’t even make it
9. Top 10 of the 63 National Parks for Wildlife Watching
Wildlife makes some National Parks great destinations, plus don’t miss out on our Top 10 NPS Sites for Wildlife Watching
8. Top 10 NPS Sites to See America First
When international travel is not an option, visit these lookalike spots without a passport
7. Top 10 Sand Dunes at All NPS Sites
We love climbing, backpacking, photographing, and sledding on sand dunes
6. Top 10 Museums at the 63 National Parks
Not all National Parks even have a museum, but some are really well done as are the ones in our Top 10 Museums at NPS Sites
5. Top 10 Caves at All NPS Sites
Caves are not for everyone, but wild caving tours have been some of our best park experiences
4. Top 10 of the 63 National Parks for Hiking
The easiest way to lose the crowds at a National Park is to hike for a mile or two, which is also true in our Top 10 NPS Sites for Hiking
The NPS manages 82 of the nation’s 128 National Monuments and there are some that are better than the 63 National Parks
2. Top 20 of the 63 National Parks for Photography
Ten was not nearly enough for this list, nor for our Top 20 NPS Sites for Photography
…and finally the #1 Top 10 List:
1. Top 10 of the 63 National Parks
Our highly-opinionated list does not even mention some of the most visited National Parks
Honorable Mentions
Top 10 Primitive Campgrounds at the 63 National Parks
We actually did four lists for camping, including Campgrounds (with running water), Designated Backcountry Campsites, and Dispersed Backcountry Camping
Top 10 Waterfalls at the 63 National Parks
Waterfalls are often the most visited feature in any given National Park, as is the case in our Top 10 Waterfalls at NPS Sites
We have kayaked at quite a few NPS units (including Channel Islands National Park in November 2021)
More Honorable Mentions
Many of our lists are for books and films, so here are our favorites among those:
Top 10 Movies Filmed in National Parks
These are not necessarily the best movies of all time, but they all feature great landscapes
Top 10 Non-Fiction Books Set in Multiple NPS Sites
Just had to update this list after reading Conor Knighton’s Leave Only Footprints; also check out our Top 10 Novels and Top 10 Non-Fiction Books Set in a Single NPS Site
Top 10 Guidebooks to National Parks
We’re #1! What else can we say? Planning is a fun and essential part of good travel
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