These five national parks offer outstanding hiking alongside dramatic scenery, ecological variety, and broad visitor appeal.
Yellowstone combines extraordinary geothermal scenery, wildlife, and a wide range of hiking opportunities.
The supplied roundups repeatedly highlight Yellowstone’s geysers, hot springs, wildlife, and varied activities. Its main trade-off is a less concentrated visitor experience across a very large park.We earn commission from qualifying purchases.
Yosemite pairs exceptional granite scenery and waterfalls with extensive hiking and high-country landscapes.
Lonely Planet, Forbes Vetted, Observer, Tripadvisor, and other supplied lists repeatedly recognize Yosemite’s granite scenery, waterfalls, and recreation. Crowding can affect the visitor experience.We earn commission from qualifying purchases.
Great Smoky Mountains stands out for its extensive trails, biodiversity, mountain scenery, and approachable visitor experience.
U.S. News, More Than Just Parks, Austin Adventures, Forbes, AAA, and other cited sources emphasize its scenery, biodiversity, activities, and visitation. Its distinctive strength is broad Appalachian variety.We earn commission from qualifying purchases.
Olympic offers unusually varied hiking across rainforest, alpine terrain, lakes, and Pacific coastline.
U.S. News, Lonely Planet, and other supplied roundups highlight Olympic’s rainforest, mountains, coastline, trails, and ecosystem diversity. The park’s dispersed landscapes can make logistics less convenient.We earn commission from qualifying purchases.
Grand Canyon delivers unmatched canyon scenery and memorable rim-to-river hiking with broad outdoor appeal.
U.S. News, Lonely Planet, Forbes Vetted, Tripadvisor, and other supplied roundups emphasize its dramatic canyon scenery, hiking, and visitor appeal. Terrain and desert conditions make hikes especially demanding.We earn commission from qualifying purchases.
Three independent write-ins unlock an honorable mention. The 10 strongest active mentions are shown; inactive mentions archive after 12 months. At 25 recent votes, a contender is scored for possible automatic Top 5 promotion.
No honorable mentions yet. Community suggestions appear below while they gather support.
Commercial-link disclosure: Some shopping, booking, and job-search links are affiliate links. We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases, bookings, or signups through those links, at no added cost to you. Other links are ordinary, non-affiliate links. Affiliate commissions do not determine research scores or community votes. Read our disclosures.
The five criteria create the AI baseline. The community adjustment is then added or subtracted to produce the current published score.
| Criterion | #1Yellowstone National Park | #2Yosemite National Park | #3Great Smoky Mountains National Park | #4Olympic National Park | #5Grand Canyon National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | 99 | 93 | 96 | 100 | |
| 98 | 97 | 96 | 95 | 92 | |
| 99 | 93 | 98 | 99 | 90 | |
| 92 | 91 | 95 | 88 | 92 | |
| 98 | 97 | 94 | 92 | 96 | |
| AI baseline scoreWeighted criteria result | 97.3 | 95.9 | 95.2 | 94.8 | 94.4 |
| Community adjustmentVote-share influence | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Current published scoreBaseline + community | 97 | 96 | 95 | 95 | 94 |
The five criteria create the AI baseline. The community adjustment is then added or subtracted to produce the current published score.
| Criterion | #1Yellowstone National Park | #2Yosemite National Park | #3Great Smoky Mountains National Park | #4Olympic National Park | #5Grand Canyon National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | 99 | 93 | 96 | 100 | |
| 98 | 97 | 96 | 95 | 92 | |
| 99 | 93 | 98 | 99 | 90 | |
| 92 | 91 | 95 | 88 | 92 | |
| 98 | 97 | 94 | 92 | 96 | |
| AI baseline scoreWeighted criteria result | 97.3 | 95.9 | 95.2 | 94.8 | 94.4 |
| Community adjustmentVote-share influence | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Current published scoreBaseline + community | 97 | 96 | 95 | 95 | 94 |
Choose any two contenders.
We’ll line up what matters.
Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho
California
Geothermal basin, mountains, forests, and lakes
Granite valleys, waterfalls, forests, and high country
Geysers, hot springs, wildlife, and scenic drives
Valleys, cliffs, waterfalls, and giant sequoias
Hiking, wildlife viewing, camping, and sightseeing
Hiking, climbing, scenic drives, and sightseeing
Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Spring
Yosemite Valley and its granite formations
Subjective ranking weighted toward hiking quality, scenery, and natural diversity, using the supplied expert roundups and documented park characteristics.