A Guide to the Best Campgrounds in America

Image via Complex Original

Location: Wyoming

Yellowstone is the best known and arguably the most beloved of America’s national parks. The park has amazingly diverse wildlife including grizzly bears, antelope, buffalo, and eagles. Yellowstone is home to geographical wonders like hot springs, a mud volcano, the highest altitude lake in North America, and the Lower Falls, which are twice the height of Niagara Falls. The 3,500 square miles of the park cover a variety of environments, including rivers, canyons, and mountain ranges. The highest and lowest points in the park are separated by 5,000 feet of altitude, which means you can see the kind of difference in terrain you might normally see across multiple states in the course of a day.

All of these facts and figures are a roundabout way of saying that Yellowstone provides an unparalleled experience. While many parks and attractions are built around one natural wonder or a small plot of unspoiled land, Yellowstone offers the kind of breadth of geography, animal life, and vegetation that many people don’t see in an entire lifetime. Suffice it to say, Yellowstone should be on your bucket list.

Location: Alaska

Denali might be a little out of the way for most Americans. Our readers outside of Anchorage and Juneau might have a hell of a time getting up to Alaska without substantial planning. If you do get up there, you are limited to one road that spills you out into the six million-acre reserve. You probably guessed this already, but if you can make it, it is certainly worth the trip. At the heart of Denali is Mt. McKinley, a peak that tops out at over 20,000 feet. Of course, the park offers so much more than that. Caribou, grizzlies, sled dog demonstrations, wildflowers, and glaciers are some of the sights you can see in the park. Attractions like the Savage River, the Polychrome Pass, and Wonder Lake are all as mind-blowing as they sound. What the park doesn’t have is much in the way of provisions. Makes sure your expedition is self-sufficient before you leave Anchorage or Fairbanks. Also, know that daylight last 24-hours a day between May and mid-July, so make sure you have something to cover your eyes at “night.”

Location: California

Next to Yellowstone, Yosemite is probably the most famous camping destination in America. Towering mountains, spectacular waterfalls (including one that rains down water from almost 2,500 feet), and verdant vegetation—from wildflower groves to mighty sequoias—comprise some of the most impressive scenic views in the world. Yosemite has the popularity of Yellowstone without the remoteness or square footage, and as a result, the one negative of the park is that you feel the popularity of the park in its tourism population density. Some outdoor enthusiasts refer to Yosemite as the Time Square of National Parks thanks to the ceaseless flow of tourists, particularly during peak season. Of course, when you hike trails like the 14-mile long Cloud’s Rest, thought to be among the most beautiful in the world, you don’t mind that you had to wait through traffic and wade through fellow campers to see it.

Location: Colorado

There is no feeling quite like driving down the Rocky Mountains. You’ve never felt as insignificant as you will when you watch rows and rows of huge trees slide by as you barrel down the mountains. If you are a native to the coasts or the plains and have never made the pilgrimage to this mountain range, just know that it’s true what they say: you haven’t seen mountains until you’ve seen the Rockies. You have a lot of choices regarding where and how to camp in the Rockies; with over 400 square miles of park and 300 miles of hiking trails it will be hard to get a full sense of the park even after numerous trips. Everything from the most primitive backcountry camping to the most elaborate fire-side lodges are available to you in the Rockies.

Just as there are a seemingly infinite number of campgrounds around the park (none in the park by the way), you can also find any outdoor activity you could imagine in and around the Rockies. Hiking, fishing, horseback riding, kayaking, mountain climbing, and pretty much anything else you can think of are available somewhere near the park. Of course, the one essential Rocky Mountain experience is a summit hike. There are a variety of amazing hikes that offer various altitudes and levels of strain. Some hikes will take end at over 12,000 feet, probably the closest you can get to the top of the world in the continental U.S.

Location: Northern Montana

To call Glacier National Park a hidden treasure would be absurd. The giant crags that create some of the world’s greatest beauty are hard to miss. Yet, when we think of the great natural landmarks of the American West, we have been conditioned to think first of Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Rockies. When you talk to serious outdoorsmen about Glacier, you instantly recognize a flicker of joy in their eyes. Glacier is where real campers go to camp.

A Google Image search reveals a truth that most visitors are quick to tell you: it is almost impossible to take a picture of Glacier that doesn’t look like a postcard. Mammoth mountains overlooking pristine lakes are the hallmark of the powerful beauty of Glacier. Wild flowers, mountain goats, and waterfalls punctuate the awe-inspiring beauty of the park. Though the park is a bit out of the way for most Americans, anyone who has ever been to Glacier will tell you that the park is well worth the trip.

Location: California

General Sherman, the largest tree in the world, is Sequoia’s foremost claim to fame. Walking through the groves of mammoth sequoias is an unforgettable experience, but the park has a lot more to offer besides its giant trees. If you enter the park through the Southern entrance, you are at an elevation of less than 2,000 feet. Trails like Big Baldy, which ends at a barren peak overlooking the park, lead to heights well over 8,000 feet and provide grand views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The drive up from the park entrance is one of the most scenic you’ll experience, featuring extreme change in climate and vegetation as the winding park road cuts back over itself. Well into spring, you may still need chains on your tires to get up into the mountains, and certain sites remain closed until the lower elevations reach summer temperatures into the '80s. The park and nearby Kings Canyon offer a variety of breathtaking hikes of varying distances and difficulty. The park also provides you one of the only chances you’ll likely ever have to drive through a tree, which is kind of worth the trip on its own.

Location: California

The coastal drive up California’s Route 1 through Big Sur provides the kind of ridiculous scenery that has been immortalized in car commercials and hip novels alike. The beach scenery, overlooked by cliffs, yields the sort of pictures that you will swear are photoshopped or at least heavily Instagram filtered. Sights like McWay Falls and Pfeiffer Beach are the stuff that desktop backgrounds are made of. Big Sur doesn’t offer quite the same level of seclusion that a National Park offers, as the scenery, the tourists traps, and the upscale hotels for those who would rather not rough it, all hug Route 1, but some of the campgrounds throughout this stretch will offer the kind of views that will make you forget the traffic you’ll be sitting in once you get back on the road.

Location: Maine

Despite being among the smaller of the parks on this list, Acadia is also among the most beautiful. The rocky coast of Maine is the backdrop to Acadia National Park, where cliffs meet lush forests filled with moose and beaver. There isn’t quite the variety of terrain and wildlife here that you see in other national parks, but it’s hard not to appreciate what that park has to offer. Cadillac Mountain, for example, a pink granite peak covered with lichen, is one of the first places in the United States to observe sunrise every morning.

One of the nice things about Acadia is that because it was one of the first national parks east of the Mississippi, the transition from outside the park to inside the park is less jarring than most. Rather than the traditional chintzy tourist traps that border many of America’s parks, you get the stately homes and old lighthouses of Bar Harbor and the surrounding areas. And the lobster is the cheapest you’ll find it in the country, which certainly doesn’t hurt.

Location: Utah

Many of the greatest parks in the country are remarkable because of what you’re looking down on, whether it be from the top of a mountain or from the cliffs overlooking a vast canyon. Some of the most breathtaking views in Zion come from what you’re looking up at. As you make your way through the trails that wind through canyons forged by the Virgin River, you’ll notice yourself looking sideways and upward an awful lot, as you’ll often walk through spaces between mountain walls to get to an overlook. There are still magnificent views in the park; Angel’s Landing compares favorably with any in the National Park System. It’s just that there’s something all the more magnificent about emerging from being surrounded by rock on both sides to a view that overlooks the winding paths between mountains that you’ve spent the entire day traversing. The unique geography of Zion also includes grottos and natural springs that are easily reachable via some of the trails and accessible rock walls make Zion a popular canyoneering destination.

Location: California

Three of the six tallest trees in the world are located in Tall Tree Grove inside of Redwood National Park. Some trees in the park are upwards of 2,000 years old. The tallest trees extend well over 300 feet into the sky. Don’t spend your entire trip looking at the trees because the park is known for the rhododendron that blanket the forest floor in spring and summer. Though most visitors come for the redwoods, there are a variety of rare animals that call the park home as well. The Brown Pelican, the Chinook Salmon, and the California Sea Lion are just a few of the rare species you might be lucky enough to see in the park. It’s no wonder that this region was home to Endor in Return of the Jedi, as the unique variety of flora and fauna give Redwood National Park an otherworldly feel.

Location: Virginia

The geography of Virginia and North Carolina is some of the most underappreciated in the country. Though the Appalachian Mountains aren’t quite as awe-inspiring as the Rockies, and the East Coast trees don’t reach into the heavens like they do against the Pacific, The Shenandoahs are in one of the most beautiful areas of the country. Unlike many of America’s mountainous parks, you can take Skyline Drive one hundred miles through the length of the park, all the way from Front Royal, Virginia to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Another advantage the Shenandoahs have over some of the more remote parks is a palpable sense of history. If you are spending a few days or longer in the area, you can take day trips to towns like Staunton and Charlottesville, where you’ll find charming architecture, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and a rustic spot to grab a beer. You also don’t have to look too far to find one of the Civil War parks, monuments, and museums that are spread throughout the Southern states. Most importantly, though the peaks and valleys of the Shenandoahs aren’t as awe inspiring of others the country has to offer, the natural beauty of the region compares favorably with anywhere else in the United States.

Location: Utah

Arches and Zion, with their iconic postcard-ready views, receive the lion’s share of the Utah national park shine, but that only works in Bryce Canyon’s favor. Bryce Canyon offers some of the most interesting geography in the United States. While most of the canyons you see in the southwest are vast, craggy gorges, the tree-lined, clay-like terrain of Bryce Canyon provides a unique experience. The thinner crowds at Bryce mean that if you get up early enough, and get there on the right day, you might just feel like you have your morning hike and a huge chunk of the canyons all to yourself.

The unique erosion that created Bryce Canyon (which is roughly a dozen smaller ravines) is quite different from that which formed others in the region. The result is a unique pink-orange-white set of formations (referred to as Hoodoos) that are unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Some describe Bryce Canyon as a “cave without a roof;” others call it a “forest of stone.” Your best bet is just to go see for yourself and call it whatever you like. Whether you stay in the park, at a nearby campground, or in the elaborate tourist trap pioneer town right outside the park (if you do that, check out the cowboy music and wild west show / steak dinner), you’ll likely become a fan of Bryce Canyon.

Location: Arizona

As an epicenter of American tourism, Grand Canyon National Park offers a different kind of camping experience. The park is actually rather like a small city; it has to be, as over five million visitors pass through the park every year. There are a number of motel and hotel-like lodgings that range in quality from a Motel Six to a ski lodge without the skiing. You can walk on paved paths around the rim or your can ride a mule down the Canyon to a steak dinner. There are backcountry options available; you can feel just as rugged and isolated as any park in the country if you through hike the canyon. Though this probably isn’t the park for you if you don’t like crowds, The Grand Canyon National Park is a testament to the success of the mission of the National Park Service. While some parks don’t exactly cater to a wide variety of visitors, you can enjoy a trip to the Grand Canyon no matter what kind of camping you’re looking for. One of the most challenging parts of your trip might be figuring out exactly how to approach it; the NPS’s “Things To Do” section alone will easily take you an hour to get through.

Of course, the Canyon itself is majestic, almost beyond description. The thing that strikes you every time you look out over its vastness is that it almost looks like a painted backdrop. It’s almost too much for the mind to believe that what you’re looking at is actually real. Bear in mind that if you haven’t planned your summer trip by now, you’ll likely have to stay at a site well outside the park and drive in, so make sure you get up early to beat the rush of tourists vying to experience the awe of vast emptiness.

Location: Tennessee / North Carolina

There are two ways to approach the Great Smoky Mountains, both of them equally memorable. One of them takes you through Cherokee, North Carolina, home to a Native American reservation. The other takes you through Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which is one part woodsy Americana, one part Las Vegas and home to folksy neon signs, Dollywood, and animatronic bear shows. No matter which route you take into the park, once you’re in the Smokies, civilization melts away and you find yourself overtaken by the serene layout of the park. Your car hugs mountains and riverbeds as you wind your way through the beauty of the mountains and up to peaks like Clingman’s Dome. The hanging fog that often sits over the park provides a further calming force to the conditions. Whether you’re exploring the forests, wildflowers, or mountain tops, it is easy to see why the Smokies are home to the most visited national park in America.

Location: New York

The Adirondacks offer some of the most scenic land in America that isn’t a part of the National Park System. The lands protected by Adirondack State Park take up six million acres, an area approximately the size of Vermont. Whether you stay in the heart of the mountains or on the coast of Lake Champlain, there are a variety of camping locations in the region. One of the most popular areas of the Adirondacks is Lake Placid. Thanks to their playing host to several Olympic Games, there is significant recreational infrastructure at Lake Placid, meaning all sorts of activities and lodging are available including kayaking, fishing, and mountain climbing. Across the region are so-called “Great Camps,” opulent lodging areas that were once playgrounds to the rich. Some of them are equipped with bowling alleys and libraries. Regardless of whether you stay in Lake Placid, at a Great Camp, or somewhere with more primitive accommodations, the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks offers some of the best views in the Eastern U.S.