What is your favorite American national park? ...and why?

Joshua Tree National Monument – close to where I live, and I have many fond memories of camping & exploring while in college.

I proposed to my wife there.

Yellowstone…. My family and I have beautiful memories of a magical vacation there. It changed my life. Arches and Zion…hiking the Narrows are tied for second place. Our National Parks are so beautiful. It’s a shame that more Americans do not visit them.

Always, always, always, the Grand Canyon.
Not just because I am an Arizonan (ian? whatever)
Great memories of the place; camping, hiking, s’mores…

i went to yellowstone when i was still a kid, man how awesome was that

A gentle but beautiful nominee would be the 6 million acres of the Adirondack Park. For years I had a summer house on 2.acres that abutted the six million. There are 46 High Peaks (above 4000 feet) which I know is small potatoes compared to the Western and NW parks, but still gorgeous (except for the black flies).

We also hiked down the Grand Canyon. It is awesome!

We are going to go to adirondack park one day. In the fall when the leaves have turned. Hopefully gas will get a little cheaper one day, and we will be able to travel again on long car trip vacations.

The Redwoods. The oldest trees in the world, need I say more.

Yosemite. And if you’d ever been there you wouldn’t have to ask why.

I was also going to say Yosemite, but the last few times I’ve visited there has been very little water. Its just not what it was when I was a kid. But then again, nothing is.

I’ve never been disappointed visiting any National Park and I’ve been to well over a couple of dozen of them. The Grand Canyon and the various Utah Parks such as Bryce, Zion and Arches, etc., are spectacular but my favorites are right here in California, with the mighty redwoods of Sequoia/Kings Canyon taking a close second place to the variety of marvels contained within the confines of Yosemite National Park. AC has it right…it is very special. And, it will invigorate your mind and touch your heart and you will never forget it.

Call me a traditionalist, but I’m in love with Yellowstone. Yeah, it’s overrun with tourists, but they all stay on the roads and campgrounds; if you’re willing to leave the pavement, you’ve got the place to yourself. The whole geothermal thing is absolutely magical. Amazing wildlife encounters, too. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is breathtaking. The Firehole river is straight out of Tolkien.

I would love to go to Yosemite! People who live in close driving distance from these beautiful parks have it made! We are so far from these parks . We have to plan and save for a year to be able to go . When my husband retires we will visit them all! We also want to see the giant redwoods before we die !

I can only go by the ones that I have seen, but I’m partial to Acadia in Maine. My dad cleared trails there as a young boy and I guess I’m partial to it for that reason. Second would be the Grand Canyon, with its constantly changing colors. Glacier Bay in Alaska is third for its unreal blueness.

Yosemite is beautiful.

I love most of the National Parks, and I think they all have a lot to offer, but my favorite is Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It is some of the last true wilderness in North America. It is home to the spectacular Ruby Beach, Crescent Lake, Hurricane Ridge and the only temperate rain forest in North America. Its sites are really too numerous to even list, and one could spend a lifetime exploring it.

Close seconds for me are Great Smoky Mountains National Park with astonishingly beautiful foliage, Mt. Rainier National Park, Yosemite National Park and Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument for its unique access to a volcano and the effects of eruption.

I have to agree with Marina. Olympic National Park…where you can see the beach, the mountains and the rainforest all in one day! Unbelievable! The state of Washington has some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Glacier Bay in Alaska is quite amazing also.
@Marina: did you ever see the ice caves in the Cascades? Those are a sight to see!

Yellowstone is the best! The Grand Canyon is second. The two I have yet to see that are on my list are Glacier and Yosomite.

The most beautiful one is Haleakalā National Park, Maui, Hawaii.