ContentsI

1 Sights

5 Eating

6 Drinking

4 Sleeping

8 Information

The Best…Lists for everything from bars to wildlife – to make sure you don’t miss out

Throughout this book, we use these icons to highlight special recommendations:

These icons help you quickly identify reviews in the text and on the map:

Don’t MissA must-see – don’t go home until you’ve been there

If you like…Lesser-known alternatives to world-famous attractions

DetourSpecial places a little off the beaten track

This edition written and researched by

Danny Palmerlee,Glenda Bendure, Ned Friary, Adam Karlin,

Emily Matchar, Brendan Sainsbury

DiscoverUSA'sBest National Parks

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Contents

Acadia 29Itineraries ..................... 30Highlights ...................... 31Acadia National Park ...32

Everglades 49Itineraries ..................... 50Highlights ...................... 51Everglades National Park ................52

Glacier 65Itineraries ..................... 66Highlights ......................67Glacier National Park .. 68

Grand Canyon 93Itineraries ..................... 94Highlights ..................... 95Grand Canyon National Park ............... 96

Great Smoky Mountains & Shenandoah 141Itineraries ....................142

Highlights ....................143

Great Smoky Mountains National Park..............................144Shenandoah National Park ..............162

Joshua Tree & Death Valley 173Itineraries .................... 174Highlights .................... 175Joshua Tree National Park .............. 176Death Valley National Park ..............185

Olympic & Mt Rainier 195Itineraries ....................196Highlights .................... 197Olympic National Park..............................198Mt Rainier National Park ............. 208

Rocky Mountain 217Itineraries ....................218Highlights ...................219Rocky Mountain National Park ............. 220

USA’s Best National Parks ................................4

USA’s Best National Parks Map .......................6

USA’s Best National Parks’ Top 15 Experiences ....................8

The Parks Month by Month ...................... 20

Get Inspired ..................25

Need to Know ...............26

On the RoadPlan Your Trip

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Yellowstone & Grand Teton 243Itineraries ...................244Highlights ................... 245Yellowstone National Park ............. 246Grand Teton National Park ............. 286

Yosemite 307Itineraries ...................308Highlights ...................309Yosemite National Park..............................310

Zion & Bryce Canyon 357Itineraries ................... 358Highlights ................... 359Zion National Park .... 360Bryce Canyon National Park ............. 380

Best of the Rest 399

The Parks Today .........416

History .........................418

Family Travel .............. 422

Outdoor Activities ....424

Geology.......................429

Wildlife ........................ 432

Conservation ............. 437

Directory ....................440

Transport ....................448

Behind the Scenes.... 452

Index ............................460

How to Use This Book .............................471

Our Writers ................. 472

Survival GuideIn Focus

p29Acadia

p49Everglades

p65 Glacier

p93

GrandCanyon

p141

Great SmokyMountains

& Shenandoah

p173

Joshua Tree& DeathValley

p195

Olympic &Mt Rainier

p217 Rocky Mountain

p243 Yellowstone &Grand Teton

p307

Yosemite

p357

Zion &Bryce Canyon

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USA’s Best National Parks

Behind those entry

kiosks lie landscapes

that are vastly

beautiful

The moment you roll up to a national park entry kiosk, you feel it. You’re entering someplace special. Maybe it’s the mountain air or the smell of the trees. Most likely, it’s because you’re about to see something big. Something indescribable. A canyon so deep you can see two billion years of geological history in its walls. Trees so massive you could fit buildings inside them. Rock formations so strange they can only be called ‘hoodoos.’

America’s national parks hold some of earth’s most spectacular scenery. A collection of superlatives, they encompass the highest and lowest points in North America. One park is home to the greatest concentration of geothermic features on the planet. Another encompasses the world’s densest collec-tion of natural stone arches. In yet another, the continent’s highest waterfall plummets over a cliff amid the greatest expanses of exposed granite on earth.

Indeed, the national parks are our greatest treasure. They protect 85,000 miles of the country’s most beautiful rivers and streams, and over 43,000 miles of our wildest shoreline. They are home to 27,000 historic structures and nearly 70,000 archeological sites. They also protect 400 endangered species – plants and animals that might very well be gone if not for the parks.

We can thank some early visionaries for their existence. The John Muirs, Theodore Roosevelts, Stephen Mathers and Horace Albrights. The conservationists and naturalists who fought to protect these swaths of land for the enjoyment of all. But the preservation of the parks today are the efforts of so many more. Since the creation of the first national park, over 2.4 million people have together logged more than 97 million work hours, without pay, to make these places better.

No wonder our skin tingles upon entry to a national park. Behind those entry kiosks lie landscapes that are vastly beautiful, histories that are inspirational, an idea that was, as novelist Wallace Stegner famously put it, America’s best.

Old homestead, Grand Teton (p286)PHOTOGRAPHER: JUDY BELLAH /LONELY PLANET IMAGES ©

4

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O C E A NP A C I F I C

Colorado R

iver

Rio

dG

rane

iMviri Rssou er

Utah

Arizona

California

Nevada

IdahoOregon

Washington

Texas

Iowa

Minnesota

Nebraska

Colorado

Oklahoma

Kansas

Wyoming

Montana

Arkansas

NorthDakota

SouthDakota

NewMexico

Flagstaff

San Diego PHOENIX

Tucson

SACRAMENTO

San Jose

San Francisco

Reno

SALEMPortland

BOISE

Spokane

Missoula

SeattleOLYMPIA

SANTA FETulsa

AntonioHouston

El Paso

Albuquerque

SanAUSTIN

Dallas

DENVER

CHEYENNE

Wichita

LINCOLN

TOPEKA

Omaha

HELENA

PIERRE

Minneapolis

BISMARCKST PAUL

CorpusChristi

KansasCity

ColoradoSprings

DES MOINES

JEFFERSONCITY

OKLAHOMACITY

CARSONCITY

RapidCity

Los Angeles

Boulder

Bozeman

LasVegas

FortWorth

SALT LAKECITY

MEXICO CITY

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100ºW

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40ºN

110ºW

130ºW

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M E X I C O

C A N A D A

1

2

3

5

6

7

8

10

11

12

15

ELEVATION

9000ft

12,000ft

16,000ft

5000ft

2000ft

1000ft

500ft

Sea Level

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4

500 km250 miles0

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120ºW111130ºW

USA’s National Parks

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A T L A N T I CO C E A N

G u l f o fM e x i c o

JamesBay

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sip

pi

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eciv

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Riv

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Florida

Alabama

Louisiana

MississippiGeorgia

Kentucky

Tennessee

Missouri

Illinois Indiana

CarolinaSouth

WV

Ohio

Virginia

Wisconsin

Pennsylvania

New York

DE

MD

NJ

RICT

VTMA

NH

Maine

MichiganNorth

Carolina

HARTFORD

MONTPELIER

ALBANY

Wilmington

RALEIGH

RICHMOND

ANNAPOLIS

Charleston

HAVANA

COLUMBIA

ROUGEBATON

NewOrleans

JACKSON

Birmingham

Memphis

Tampa

TALLAHASSEE

Orlando

Jacksonville

MONTGOMERY

ATLANTA

Savannah

Augusta

FRANKFORT

NASHVILLE

St Louis

SPRINGFIELD INDIANAPOLIS

Charlotte

Greenville

Cincinnati

CHARLESTON

Pittsburgh

COLUMBUS

Baltimore

MADISONLANSING

Chicago

Milwaukee

Detroit

Toledo

ClevelandHARRISBURG

OTTAWA

Miami NASSAU

DOVER

TRENTON

New YorkPhiladelphia

AUGUSTA

BOSTONPROVIDENCE

CONCORD

WASHINGTON, DC

LITTLEROCK

GreenBay

Burlington

FortLauderdale

KeyWest

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90ºW

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�1 Yosemite Valley, Yosemite

�2 Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier

�3 Sunset, Grand Canyon

�4 Wildlife Watching on Snake River, Grand Teton

�5 Rock Climbing, Joshua Tree

�6 Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain

�7 The Narrows, Zion

�8 Wildlife Watching, Yellowstone

�9 Sunrise, Cadillac Mountain, Acadia

�a Bryce Amphitheater, Bryce Canyon

�b Hoh Rainforest, Olympic

�c Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley

�d Paddling, Everglades

�e Cades Cove Historic Buildings, Great Smoky Mountains

�f Wildfl ower Season, Mt Rainier

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