Your Favourite National Parks (swimming, car, friendly)

[nickjs]

What are your top 3 National Parks and what makes them so special?

I'll start with mine...

1. Glacier National Park - simply stunning peaks, and vistas, the Going to the Sun road, fantastic wooden lodges, and bears!

2. Zion - swimming the rapids in the Zion narrows, exposured scrambling to the top of Angels Peak for stunning views, beautiful green lawn outside the lodge, excellent visitor centre (thats also eco-friendly)

3. Yosemite - classic views of Half Dome, El Capitan, and Yosemite Falls, the drive to the top of Glacier Point for a beautiful sunset, a bit too busy for my liking though..

So what's your Top 3?? Makes me reminisce about my time spent travelling around the National Parks last summer... Fantastic...

[ColoWeb]

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Grand Canyon, AZ
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO

[thepizzaguy]

Arches because I've hiked from the front gate to a monument call the Black Angel. 12 hours round trip. My favorite arch had to be the long, narrow and thin Landscape Arch as seen from the primitive trail.

Number 2 are the Grand Tetons, once again I've had awesome hiking in the park, and because the water level was low the time I went on this one hike, I ended up miles from the marina, off on one of the islands. It's a view you would ordinarily only get from a boat.

#3 Would have to be Yellowstone. I was lucky to witness the steam event of Steamboat Geyser a few hours after it's eruption back in April/May 2002. After listening to the loud roar for about 45 minutes, I went back to my car and it was covered with 1/4 of this ashy slop.

These are individual experiences, but they stand out the most, and the ones I remember the best. I've been to Zion, and did the swimming and walk through the narrows, Dinosaur National Park and it's peaceful seclusion.

I would like to see Acadia, Denali, Yosemite, Glacier, and Volcano before too long, and I'm sure each one will have it's own event for me that will last a lifetime.

[krudmonk]

Sequoia and Kings Canyon (essentially one) beat Yosemite, I think.

[heatwave13]

Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park--number 1

Everglades
YellowStone

[lovethewest]

Grand Teton, WY
Olympic, WA
Yellowstone, WY
Rocky Mountain, CO

I really really want to see Glacier and Yosemite. I am a huge National Park fan. I hope to visit all of them some day.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is my favorite, I just love the creek flowing along side the road with all the big rocks around, the trees, the mountain views, it's just beautiful to me. There are also what they call quit walks that are incredible.

[BacktoNE]

I'm biased.

Acadia, definitely #1

Would love to see Glaciar and Grand Teton some day. I've seen pics from friends who have traveled to both and they are breathtaking.

[Winston Smith]

Channel Islands (CA)
Redwood (CA)
Olympic (WA)

[ElkHunter]

The First National Park. Yellowstone.

Nothing like having the excitement of a grizzly sniffing at your tent straps. The Elk wandering in to camp. The moose grunting at you. Go out in a float tube and have Steel Head drag you around.