All 9 California National Parks Ranked

welcome to national park wild i'm eric and i'm taking a bit of a break from reviewing national parks because in a recent trip i went to all nine california national parks i've been to seven and went to the last two and in a country with so many beautiful places california is one of the most beautiful states out there so i'm going to rank the nine national parks there and see which one comes out on top before we begin i should mention that i went to these parks at different times some in summer some in late winter and in some of the parks i went to in late winter that will dampen the experience i'll make it clear when my experience greatly dampens the rating and it's just my opinion i'm not necessarily saying my opinion is correct or that the worst part is definitely the worst one it's just my opinion based on what i got to see in the parks trust me you will not agree with all of these but now that we have that out of the way let's begin coming in last place unfortunately is kings canyon national park i went in late winter so most of the stuff was closer to snow i couldn't go into the canyon and only got fleeting glimpses that said that general grant tree is beautiful the mountains and such are really nice it's a pretty place and if i go back it'll probably rank higher but for now it's here number eight is redwood national park this is one i went to this summer and just made a video on and it's very beautiful the forests are nice with large trees and bright green ferns the beaches are pretty tons of bird life saw some elk saw some fish insects it's a very nice park the only things i have against it the first thing is that it doesn't rank as high because i prefer mountains and desert to forests and beaches so the other scenery in other parks just appeals to me more the other things that you can have to drive into towns along the 101 to get from place to place here which does make the whole place feel a little less natural but it's still a really beautiful park driving through the actual park is really nice the overlooks of beaches are great some of the hikes are fantastic really nice park it would rank higher but it just doesn't quite appeal to me the same way most of the ones that are higher up do number seven is joshua tree national park one of the most popular and well respected parks it's a very beautiful desert one with some interesting bird life nice hikes like the underrated barker dam trail cool views and plenty of cacti driving through the park is really cool because there's so many it's kind of like saguaro national park my biggest issue is that the scenery is beautiful but it's kind of small scale compared to other parks it's very nice but it's not breathtaking like most of the others that are higher up but still very nice park and make sure to go to nearby mojave national preserve and savor stargazing because this park can be very beautiful at night definitely worth a visit number five is pinnacles this one out of ruffles some feathers like california condor feathers and condors are one of the main reasons this park ranks so high i think the hiking is beautiful especially through the caves is really cool the scenery is very pretty not amazing but there's a bit more mountain stuff than in redwood or joshua tree so i like that i saw deer i saw quails roadrunners many animals there's no one there really quiet park really beautiful underrated definitely worth a visit number five is sequoia national park this ranks number 16 overall in my parks which tells you how good california's are i really like this place the mountains are amazing generals highway is a beautiful scenic drive through them the hiking like togepi falls is fantastic the trees are great it can be crowded near the trees but this park is fantastic hiking is amazing wildlife's great definitely a beautiful mountain national park number four is lassen volcanic national park a super underrated place with tons of great stuff the geothermal aspects like hot springs and funerals things that you'd like see yellowstone honestly are really beautiful the mountains are also fantastic there's lakes rivers valleys mountains a lot of great scenery here the hiking is some of the best in any park i've been to the trail to the geyser basin area and lassen peak hike are fantastic i also saw a lot of wildlife deer chipmunks large birds of prey even a pika up on the peak and also some river otters in manzanita lake the scenery is really amazing here i love the views on the way up lassen peak the park is not very crowded and we went fourth of july weekend mount shasta is in the distance of lassen peak and that's a really beautiful sight probably the highlight of the park for me it's just a really amazing place underrated not many go but it's definitely worth visiting and definitely one of my favorite national parks and one of the best in california number three is death valley national park some people don't like this one they probably went in summer i went in late windsor and it was amazing the scenery is beautiful and it's one of the most diverse parks i've been to badlands mountains salt flats deserts and so much more a surprising amount of wildlife is here some really fantastic hikes the scenery is staggering canyons as well i really enjoyed this place the colors pretty quiet large so much to do and see one of my favorite national parks by far the sand dunes are possibly my favorite part so quiet untouched a really great park that must be visited number two is channel islands national park easily one of the most underrated the coastal scenery like the sea cliffs the mountains the canyons really beautiful on these volcanic islands the solitude makes this one of the most wild amazing national parks out there the wildlife is fantastic on the island you can see foxes lizards many birds in the water we saw hundreds of dolphins porpoises whales and seals and sea lions this park is underrated so much to see hiking fantastic camping fantastic solitude amazing scenery really pretty maybe not quite as beautiful as death valley overall but there's so much to do and see i just love this park and number one for me is definitely yosemite national park truly staggering scenery some of the absolute best in the country massive waterfalls and granite peaks the hiking is some of the best in any national park miss trail upper yosemite falls even lower yosemite falls in bridalveil falls really easy trails really beautiful there's a surprising amount of wildlife like coyotes and deer and many birds we even sell bats the park can be crowded sure but some of the really big trails are not super crowded at many times and hetch hetchy is also a really beautiful area with a dam and a reservoir and tunnel view is one of the most iconic views in all of the country the scenery here is just pretty much unmatched and definitely not matched by any other california park i love the rest of california but yosemite is easily my favorite and easily one of the most beautiful national parks in the entire world thank you for watching i hope you enjoyed this video comment down below your rankings for the california parks i'll continue doing recaps for national parks soon next up is crater lake followed by glacier and then yellowstone i'll see you next time you

Channel: National Park Wild

Views: 13,223

Keywords: yosemite, yosemite national park, top 10 national parks, death valley, death valley national park, joshua tree, joshua tree national park, sequoia national park, kings canyon national park, sequoia and kings canyon, channel islands, channel islands national park, redwood, redwood national park, pinnacles national park, lassen volcanic national park, lassen volcanic, americas parks, americas parks half dome, yosemite half dome

Id: aIDaEZ3xJQ4

Length: 7min 45sec (465 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 07 2021