25 BEST NATIONAL PARKS IN USA

on today's show we're going to explore the 25 best national parks in america hi everybody i'm jd conrad i'm a tour director with american classic tours and the host of tour tv and if you love to learn about american history culture geography art architecture cuisine and especially if you love to travel you are in the right place make sure you hit the red subscribe button that sits just below the bottom right hand corner of this video [Music] while america is home to fascinating historical destinations a vibrant culture and dynamic modern cities our nation's crown jewel is our national parks now there are countless scenic places in america the united states is home to over 130 national monuments 154 areas designated as national forests 803 protected wilderness areas in fact the united states is home to 36 283 protected areas which is approximately 12 percent of our land area but of all these protected places the national parks are the most sacred we have 62 national parks they form america's natural pantheon and for an area to become a national park it must be established by an act of the united states congress now i've got something important to point out and i'm sorry but i'm gonna have to take a second and get on my soapbox you know what forget the soapbox i'll just tell you what i have to say so you know as americans i think we should be really proud of our national parks and it's not just because they're some of the most scenic places in the world it's because we as americans actually pioneered the global national park movement that's right we invented national parks in 1872 president ulysses s grant signed a bill from congress making yellowstone the first national park in the world and thank god we did that not only did we preserve our country's most beautiful places but very importantly we made them public so all americans could share them equally and no one person could hoard this splendor for themselves and because of this you can visit any of these 62 crown jewels today these parks are home to just about every type of scenic beauty imaginable dramatic mountain peaks pristine lakes rocky coastal cliffs martian like rock formations magnificent canyons towering trees gigantic glaciers desert sand dunes and even erupting volcanoes and of course these parks are home to abundant wildlife thousands of species called the national parks home from orcas to gray wolves to groundhogs okay with all that being said let's get on to today's episode wait actually wait there's one more thing i've got a quick favor to ask you all the good news is it's really easy if you could just comment in the comment section below what is your favorite national park in america we want to hear from you please comment below okay on to our list [Music] it has been said that glacier national park is the crown of the continent with over 700 miles of trails glacier is a hiker's dream this park is home to over 130 pristine lakes over a thousand species of plants and hundreds of animal species including elk lynx [Music] wolverines [Music] mountain goats and more some sites you're going to want to take in while you're at glacier include st mary's lake the grinnell glacier [Music] logan pass to medicine lake and mcdonald lake [Music] death valley is known for its extremes it is the hottest and driest place in america it receives less than five inches of rain per year and it gets really hot i mean sizzling hot it has a record high temperature of 134 degrees at 3.4 million acres death valley is also america's largest national park outside of alaska it sits in eastern california and straddles its border with nevada now if you're not super familiar with death valley you probably assume that the park takes after its name that it's full of barren rock that it's lifeless that it's full of desolate sand dunes however if you've been to the park you know that this is not the case death valley is rich with wildlife it's home to mountain lions desert bighorn sheep and wild burros death valley is also home to incredible scenery some highlights include the artist palette mosaic canyon zabriskie point the mesquite flat sand dunes the yuba heavy crater darwin falls the race track [Music] telescope peak devil's golf course and dante's view [Music] when you step foot into arches it feels like you've left planet earth and you're entering a totally new foreign planet a planet of martian landscapes of contrasting colors and unforgettable rock formations arches is in eastern utah about 230 miles south east of salt lake city and 350 miles west of denver it's home to over 2 000 natural sandstone arches it has the highest density of natural arches in the world the park is also home to hundreds of soaring pinnacles massive fins giant balance rocks the high concentration of these unique rock formations is due almost entirely to arch's very interesting geological situation sitting beneath arches national park is this massive salt bed or layer of salt that acts as like a shock absorber for the earth's surface okay so every time there's a little tremor or there's a little earthquake or something that salt bed catches the shake and stabilizes the surface the ground so the so earth's surface at arches national park never moves it never moves at all and because the earth's surface doesn't move those rock formations never break so the park's arches pinnacles standing rocks and other unique rock formations are what earth looks like when it is only exposed to wind and water erosion but protected from any movement beneath the ground [Music] rocky mountain national park sits atop the continental divide and its towering peaks are some of the tallest in the country in fact there are 60 mountain peaks within the park that are over 12 000 feet in elevation the highest of which is the majestic long's peak one of the things that stands out about rocky mountain national park is its accessibility i mean this in a couple of different ways first because of its location in northern colorado just 70 miles northwest of denver it's easy to fly to this national park from anywhere in the country secondly it's accessible in the sense that you can explore most of the park from the comfort of your car you don't have to go out on extensive or intense hikes to see the park's most scenic spots and this is thanks to the trail ridge road this road follows a path that the native americans use for thousands of years it meanders through mountains cutting through dense forests rising over 12 000 feet in elevation at kenai fjords national park oceans ice and mountains come together to create a gorgeous landscape located in south central alaska right next to the town of seward and about 125 miles south of anchorage lies this magnificent park nearly 40 glaciers flow from kenai's harding ice field which is one of the largest ice fields in the united states while in the park make sure you see the amazing exit glacier and the spectacular bear glacier these glaciers have formed the park's dramatic picture-perfect fjords wildlife thrives in the cold waters and lush forests around this vast expanse of ice kenai fjords is home to abundant marine wildlife including stellar sea lions orcas mink whales and humpback whales the park is also home to abundant plant life including some unique species such as the black crowberry the elderberry and the nuka lupine the great smoky mountain national park is america's most popular national park well at least in terms of the number of visitors it receives in 2019 smoky mountain national park received over 12 and a half million visitors twice as many visitors as the second most visited national park the grand canyon national park which received just 6 million visitors so before i got into the travel industry i remember i was always confused by the appalachian mountains i remembered hearing about the smoky mountains and then the blue ridge mountains and the appalachian mountains well all i knew about these mountain ranges was that they were in the eastern half of the united states but i didn't know were they the same mountain range what was the difference between them where are they located well to answer these questions i drew this map here as you can see the red the appalachian mountains runs down from maine well actually it goes all the way up to canada all the way down to georgia and sitting within the appalachian mountains are the blue ridge mountains which run from pennsylvania down to georgia and then sitting within the blue ridge mountains are the smoky mountains which straddle the tennessee north carolina border the name smokey comes from the natural fog that often hangs over the range and presents as large smoke plumes from a distance this fog is caused by the vegetation exhaling volatile organic compounds chemicals that have a high vapor pressure and easily form vapors at normal temperatures and pressures the park is known for its diversity of plant and animal life the beauty of its ancient mountains and the remnants of southern appalachian mountain culture smoky mountain national park is a popular destination for fishermen especially for fly fishermen [Music] white sands is america's newest national park on december 11 2019 the u.s house of representatives passed the national defense authorization act for the fiscal year of 2020 which included legislation redesignating white sands national monument as white sands national park located in southern new mexico about 90 miles from the new mexican border white sands is unlike any place i have ever been the white sands beam in the sunlight it almost feels like you're in a beautiful winter wonderland except it's warm it is an absolute sight to see if you visit white sands on your own make sure you bring a sled so you can go sledding down its beautiful sand dunes of all the national parks southern california's joshua tree is definitely the most spooky it's hard to describe what makes this park so eerie but for those of you who have been you know exactly what i'm talking about this park is home to huge boulders mystical mountain ranges and desert plains spotted with the spooky looking joshua tree this is truly one of the most bizarrely beautiful places in america located in southern california just outside of palm springs this park sits at an ecological crossroads where the high mojave desert and the low colorado desert collide [Music] glacier bay national park is home to alaska's most pristine natural beauty in 1794 when british explorer george vancouver sailed the alaska coast glacier bay actually did not exist at the time glacier bay laid beneath a dense sheet of glacial ice that was several miles wide and thousands of feet thick over the last 200 years glacier bay has been the site of one of the fastest glacial retreats ever recorded the ice has retreated over 60 miles unveiling a new bay so you can think of glacier bay as a living laboratory for several of earth's wondrous natural processes including glacial retreat plant succession and ever-evolving animal dynamics it tells the story of the last ice age the southern part of glacier bay national park where glaciers departed about 200 years ago a rain forest has taken root but further north where the glaciers have retreated more recently the land is rugged barren and thinly vegetated glacier bay national park is a unesco world heritage site it covers 3.3 million acres in southern alaska the park is named for its abundant tidewater and terrestrial glaciers numbering over a thousand in total you'll definitely want to visit glacier bay sooner rather than later because experts predict that warming trends will melt basically all of the glaciers away by 2030. [Music] rising dramatically from sea level to almost 14 000 feet in elevation this park is home to two of the world's most amazing volcanoes first we have the mauna loa this volcano has historically been considered the largest volcano on earth it is an active shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes its lava eruptions are generally silica poor and very fluid and they tend to be non-explosive mauna loa has been erupting for probably around 700 000 years and may have emerged from above sea level four hundred thousand years ago mauna loa's most recent eruption was in 1984 and no recent eruptions of the volcano have caused fatalities second we have kilau uea one of the world's most active volcanoes it is between two hundred ten thousand and two hundred and eighty thousand years old and is thought to emerge above sea level about a hundred thousand years ago this volcano erupted nearly continuously from 1983 to 2018 on may 17 2018 it explosively erupted throwing ash 30 000 feet into the air this epic park is located on the big island of hawaii its landscapes are lunar lava flows extend for miles in a rocky wasteland that looks more like moon than earth gigantic waves crash against the park's wild craggy coastline the park is home to many exotic birds such as the naine hawaii state bird and the majestic white-tailed tropic bird if you have good timing you can witness a natural firework show of lava pouring into the ocean or plumes of molten rock arching above the park's lava lakes shenandoah national park sits amidst the beautiful blue ridge mountains of virginia shenandoah is a land of scenic vistas beautiful wildflowers wooded hollows mountain streams and cascading waterfalls located just 75 miles outside of washington dc this park is known for its famous skyline drive the main park road which provides the dramatic ridgeline of the mountains shenandoah is home to a wide variety of mammals including black bear coyote [Music] foxes and more over 200 species of birds make their home in shenandoah for at least part of the year and about 30 live in the park year round including the barred owl the carolina chickadee the red-tailed hawk and the wild turkey shenandoah is one of the best places in the entire country to visit in autumn its mountainsides and rolling hills turn into a sea of orange red and yellow fall foliage so what i'm about to read to you comes from the national park services website and i think it sums up what makes big bend so special there is a place in far west texas where night skies are dark as coal and rivers carve temple-like canyons in ancient limestone here at the end of the road hundreds of bird species take refuge in a solitary mountain range surrounded by weather beaten desert tenacious cactus bloom in sublime southwestern sun and the diversity of species is the best in the country this magical place is big bend because of its remote location big bend is one of america's lesser visited national parks it sits over 300 miles directly west of san antonio on the border of mexico basically it's in the middle of nowhere making the park somewhat of a hidden gem some sights you'll want to see when you're at big bend include a ride on the incredible ross maxwell scenic drive you want to see santa alina canyon or take a hike on the south rim trail [Music] sitting in a collapsed former volcano in southwestern oregon is crater lake the deepest lake in the united states and the ninth deepest lake in the world but it's not just its depth that makes crater lake so special it's one of the most pristine lakes in the world scientists marvel at its purity there are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of the water is replaced every 250 years crater lake has inspired awe for thousands of years it was formed 7 700 years ago by a violent volcanic eruption now listen to this i thought this was so interesting so the klamath tribe of native americans have lived in the crater lake area for thousands and thousands of years and they have an oral history that goes back to the formation of crater lake their oral history describes their ancestors witnessing the collapse of mount mazama and the formation of crater lake klamath oral history tells of a battle between the sky god skell and the god of the underworld lao and mount mazama was destroyed in this epic battle creating crater lake and the thing that i find so fascinating about this is that the scientific evidence supports the oral history of the klamath so the klamath people just from word of mouth that's like a giant game of telephone going on down through centuries and centuries of generations really have you know correctly told the story of the formation of crater lake going back 8 000 years it's just amazing it's time for perhaps my favorite recurring segment of tour tv the completely useless totally insignificant but fascinating trivia factoid today's factoid is that crater lake is home to what is known as the old man of the lake now the old man of the lake is a log that has been bobbing vertically in the center of crater lake for over a hundred years the cold temperatures of the water of crater lake have preserved the wood from decomposing hence its longevity pretty fascinating right okay before we move on to the second half of our list if i could just ask you for a quick favor if you've not done so already and if you're enjoying this video make sure you hit the red subscribe button that sits just below the bottom right hand corner of this video if you're enjoying this video also please leave a like and remember we want to hear from you please comment below what is your favorite national park in america okay back to the list the thing that makes grand teton's national park so special is that it is home to in my opinion the most stunning scenic mountain range in the united states the grand tetons in fact i would go so far as to say that there is not a better photo opportunity in the entire country than this the jagged white-capped peaks of this wyoming mountain range located south of yellowstone and north of the town of jackson the grand tetons are some of the youngest mountains in the rocky mountain range the tetons are reflected by pristine lakes nearby including the breathtaking jenny lake and the snake river which runs along the teton's eastern edge the southeastern corner of the park provides some great wildlife viewing opportunities be on the lookout for beavers otters moose and more also you want to see the chapel of transfiguration and the photogenic mormon barns now a fun fact about the mormon barns they were actually featured on the cover of our 2021 tour catalog that's how beautiful we think this photo opportunity is so if you would like actually if you'd like to request this catalog there's a link in the show notes below or you can call us at 847-548-3333 with its incredible range of both elevation and precipitation olympic national park is unparalleled in its ecological diversity because of its unique geographical position on washington's olympic peninsula about an 80 mile drive west of downtown seattle olympic is home to three distinct ecosystems the first is its glaciated white peaked mountain ranges with ridgelines that are covered with gigantic ancient glaciers the olympic mountains are a sight to behold the western half of this range is marked by the peak of mount olympus which stands just about 8 000 feet in elevation olympic second region is its temperate rainforests the western side of the park is dominated by these temperate rainforests which receive over 150 inches of precipitation per year making them the wettest area in the continental united states these temperate rainforests are home to old growth forests an old growth forest is a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance and thereby exhibits unique ecological features the third ecosystem of olympic national park is its rugged sandy coastline olympics 73 miles of park coastline are an absolute treasure seemingly untouched by humans this scenic stretch of pacific coastline features towering cliffs and sea stacks rocky shores sandy beaches and tide pools acadia national park is the most scenic place in america's northeast located on maine's coast acadia national park is home to the highest rocky headlands along the atlantic coastline of the united states these dramatic coastal cliffs make for picture-perfect scenery especially in autumn i would say in my opinion acadia national park is probably the best place to visit in the entire united states to take in america's autumn fall foliage i led a group there last october and the color was stunning i'm talking sharp reds and oranges and yellows set against the backdrop of the bright blue waters of the atlantic ocean it was simply amazing make sure you go to the top of cadillac mountain for tremendous views of the park bryce canyon national park is located in southern utah about 250 miles northeast of las vegas and just about 40 miles from zion national park people really love this park and i think it's because of its intimate beauty let me explain what i mean by this bryce is known for its pinnacle-shaped rock formations called hoodoos these hoodoos congregate and bryce's canyons well technically they're not canyons they're called natural amphitheaters and when you visit bryce you can walk through these amphitheaters or walk on paths right along them so rather than looking at the park and staring at its beauty you feel like you're intimately immersed in the park's beauty because of its remote location bryce canyon national park is also one of the best places in america to stargaze on the coast of northern california lies a series of state parks and redwoods national park which are home to the tallest trees in the world the california coastal redwoods now as i mentioned a few times already in this episode i'm a tour director with american classic tours so over the last four years i've let hundreds if not thousands of travelers to the most beautiful destinations in america from cape cod to the grand canyon to the pacific northwest you name the destination i've probably led a group there and my favorite thing about tour directing is watching my travelers whom i'm leading on the tour watching them experience awe you see many times as a tour director i've already been to the destination we're visiting i know the beauty that our group is about to see but for many of my travelers on the tour it's their first time as we step over to scenic overlook sometimes you can just see the awe on someone's face as they're overcome by the sight of beauty sometimes you can hear it on the back of the motor coach as we turn around to bend and we see a new expansive overlook sometimes it gets really quiet you can hear a pin drop and the reason i bring this up the reason i went on this tangent is because more than any other place i've led a tour i've never seen a group more overcome by awe than when i led a tour to redwoods national park when you first see the redwoods you cannot help but be overwhelmed by their sheer size and beauty it's almost like a transcendental a religious sort of experience if you've never been to see the redwoods you need to go they are simply amazing they will take your breath away home to the towering sequoia trees majestic mountain ranges and scenic canyons sequoia and kings canyon are a must see these two national parks neighbor one another they sit right next to each other smack dab in the middle of central california amidst the sierra nevada mountains these two parks are jointly administered by the national park service so they pretty much act as one national park one of the things that struck me when i first visited these parks was just how remote they felt i mean i felt like i was high up on a mountain miles and miles away from civilization and that's because well i was sequoia and king's canyon are some of the most isolated remote places in america in fact of all the lower 48 states sequoia and kings canyon where they said they said further from a major highway than any other spot in the lower 48. now the thing that makes the koi in king's canyon really special is they're home to the largest trees in the world the giant sequoias now i know you're probably saying to yourself wait jd you just said the tallest trees in the world were the california coastal redwoods and i did say that the redwoods were the tallest but they're not the largest okay there's a key difference here let me explain now as we look at this graphic here you'll see the difference between the coastal redwoods and the giant sequoias the coastal redwoods like i mentioned are taller they can get up to 370 feet tall whereas the giant sequoias can only grow up to about 310 feet but the scoys are much bigger because they're thicker their bark their branches their base is thicker which means that they weigh a lot more they're also older the giant sequoias some of the sequoias are over 3 000 years old some highlights you're going to want to take in while you visit this park include the largest tree in the world the general sherman tree the second largest tree in the world the general grant tree and the tallest mountain peak in the lower 48 mount whitney which stands just over 14 000 feet in elevation [Music] the ragged ridgelines cavernous ravines and sharp spires of badlands national park are so striking that lieutenant colonel george custer described the badlands as hell with the fires burned out the unspoiled scenery of south dakota's badlands draws visitors from around the world carved over the last 500 years by a mix of wind and rain the pinnacles and gullies of the badlands continue to erode and evolve sometimes they visibly change shape within days badlands national park is also home to expansive open grasslands which provide a perfect dwelling for bison pronghorn and prairie dogs it's also one of the only places in the world where you can spot black-footed ferrets in the 1980s it was thought that the black-footed ferret was one of the most endangered species in the world but throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s black-footed ferret was reintroduced to the wild at badlands national park one more thing that i find very fascinating about the badlands is that it's home to one of the richest fossil beds in the entire world among the many fossils found in the area were extinct species that resembled the modern day rhino hippo horse and more this was my favorite though they've actually found fossils of the modern day alligator at badlands national park crazy right it's crazy to think of alligators swimming around in south dakota [Music] zion is like a piece of heaven on earth when the mormon pioneers arrived at zion in the 1860s they were so overwhelmed by its might that they named it after the old testament name for the city of jerusalem its gigantic red rock cliffs and lush green canyon floors create a stunning colorful contrast zion is located in southwestern utah about 150 miles from las vegas the park revolves around zion canyon which is 15 miles long and at certain points up to 3 000 feet deep the virgin river flows through the canyon's floor and the nice thing about zion is that a scenic drive runs right along the virgin river in the bottom of the canyon making the most scenic spots in the park very accessible while in zion you'll want to see the narrows the narrows is the narrowest section of zion canyon with a width of only 20 to 30 feet at certain points and canyon walls over a thousand feet high this is a sight to behold to hike the narrows you're going to have to get your feet wet you can wait upstream in shallow water and make your way down the canyon i highly recommend this hike other sites you want to see while you visit zion national park include angels landing the subway weeping rock and checkerboard mesa denali is alaska's most famous national park at over 6 million acres denali is larger than the state of new jersey this massive park is comprised of untouched unspoiled wilderness the cornerstone of denali national park is mount denali standing over twenty thousand feet in elevation this mighty mountain is the tallest in america and while denali doesn't rank among the tallest mountains in the world in terms of absolute elevation there's multiple peaks for example in the himalayan mountain range that are well above 25 000 feet i do think it is fair to say that denali is one of the three tallest mountains in the world how can this be well at the risk of getting lost in the details let me try to explain when you think of a huge mountain in a traditional sense what you're thinking about is not absolute elevation okay you're thinking really how far is the base of the mountain from the peak of the mountain in geography this topic is called topographic prominence in terms of topographic prominence denali ranks third in the world only behind mount everest in the himalayas and mount akinkagua in the andes but denali has more to offer than just its aforementioned peak at its lowest elevations denali is made up of dense forest landscapes it is in this region where you can see the beautiful wonder lake a region of the park that is frequented by moose at its middle elevations denali is comprised of vast rugged tundra wild blueberries and soap berries thrive in the tundra providing denali's grizzly bears with a deliciously fruity diet at its highest elevations denali is full of glaciers barren rock and snow making it a perfect abode for doll sheep [Music] [Applause] i'm sure many of you watching have been to the grand canyon before but for those of you who have not you need to go you need to see it the grand canyon is awesome and i mean that in the most literal sense when you see it for the first time it stops you dead in your tracks and causes you to pause and contemplate an absolute awe i always say though that despite all its grandeur there's something almost frustrating or exasperating about looking at the grand canyon here's what i mean the grand canyon is so vast it's probably the single most vast thing you'll see in your life it's so big that it's mind-bending literally it like puts your brain on overload it's so expansive that your brain can't comprehend what it is seeing and this overload this amazement causes unforgettable awe that you can carry with you for the rest of your life [Music] yellowstone is america's original national park it's located in northwest wyoming and it has just about everything you'd want in a national park yellowstone sits on top of a dormant super volcano it's the largest super volcano on the continent yep you heard me right most of yellowstone sits on top of a sleeping mega volcano yikes but it is because of this unique geologic location that yellowstone is home to amazing geothermal features half of the world's geysers are located in yellowstone national park and some of yellowstone's most famous geological features include the grand prismatic spring mammoth hot springs and of course old faithful yellowstone is one of the most wildly beautiful places on the planet and to explain why this is so we're introducing a new segment of tour tv yellowstone a unique and spectacular marvel home to an array of landforms and stunning scenery while in the park you want to see the grand canyon of yellowstone the yellowstone falls and the scenic hayden yellowstone is one of the best places in america to view wildlife this park is home to herds of bison badgers gray wolves bobcats the yellow bellied marmot sandhill cranes the western tiger salamanders grizzly bears and countless other species well that's it for today's edition of planet america thanks for helping us out want to be sir david attenborough you're very welcome [Music] yosemite is the perfect national park the great naturalist john muir who is known as the father of the national parks had this to say about yosemite it is by far the grandest of all the special temples of nature i was ever permitted to enter wow that's some pretty high praise located roughly 180 miles east of san francisco yosemite sits in the sierra nevada mountain range near the california nevada border yosemite is a huge park it's about the same size as the state of rhode island as you tour the park be on the lookout for its wildlife black bears mountain lions and red foxes be sure to see its famous rock formations like el capitan and half dome take in its many breathtaking waterfalls including vernal falls and the yosemite falls see its giant sequoia trees at mariposa grove and marvel at its unforgettable scenery at the point overlook when i first went to yosemite i came away thinking wow this is the most photogenic national park i've ever been to it's probably a photographer's dream there are countless small intimate scenic overlooks that are picture perfect like the one you see here so there you have it folks the 25 best national parks in america if you liked this video i'd highly highly encourage you to tune in to our 20 best places to visit the state of california it's on the screen right now just go ahead and click that video we'd love for you to join us on that exploration of the golden state

Channel: American Classic Tours, Inc.

Views: 200,963

Keywords: national parks, best national parks, usa national parks, us national parks, national park, utah national park, california national park, yellowstone national park, yosemite national park, grand canyon, redwood national park, death valley national park, best national parks usa, best national parks america, national parks america, zion national park, arches national park, grand tetons, top 10 national parks, glacier national park, kenai fjords, glacier bay

Id: E002kvUtXA8

Length: 37min 40sec (2260 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 29 2021