Our Top 10 National Parks – With Kids! – Brian and Tracy … Where To Next?

The United States has some amazing National Parks – with incredible hiking, sweeping landscapes, beaches, rainforests and mountains. These National Parks are some of the most beautiful and important areas of our country. The United States has 63 national parks – we’ve visited 22 of them. We’ve found that these trips often make up some of our families best memories. We hope to visit many more in the future!

We do have some big gaps in the National Parks category though – missing Glacier, Rocky Mountain and Alaska/Hawaii National Parks – which we know would be near top of our list!

But even without them, we’ve visited some amazing parks that our kids have loved. Below – we will tell you a bit about the park, as well as where to stay and our favorite thing we did in each park!

Here are the top 10 parks we’d recommend for visiting with families!

10. Great Smoky Mountains

Stats: This is the most visited US National Park with over 12 million visitors annually. It is in close proximity to many big cities within the Midwest, with the park in-between Tennessee and North Carolina.
What do we love about it: We’ve visited the Great Smoky Mountains many times over the years, being a good long weekend destination from our home. It’s super accessible, has lots of great cabins and lodging to stay at and a variety of hikes to do in the area for different skill levels.
Where to stay: Most people stay in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge which have lots of lodging options, along with activities for the whole family. It’s a bit crowded for my liking (think – putt putt, neon signs, wax museums etc), especially in the Pigeon Forge area, but Gatlinburg is nice.
Combine with: While in the area – stop in the towns of Gatlinburg, or do a few days in Knoxville or Asheville!
Favorite activity: Waterfall hikes near Gatlinburg and evening moonshine tasting!

9. Theodore Roosevelt

Stats: This park was named after the 26th president who spent time on this land as a rancher in the 1880’s. He loved the outdoors and moved to protect more federal lands during his presidency. There is both a north and a south unit of the park, separated by an hours drive. This is one of the least visited National Parks – in North Dakota – a state which only 15% of Americans ever visit. Part of the reason is that it’s far away from major airports and also doesn’t have that much to do around it (sorry North Dakota!).
What do we love about it: It was one of the least crowded National Parks we’ve been to! It has a super easy loop drive you can do while stopping off for different hikes.
Where to stay: If visiting the South Unit, stay in the town of Medora. It’s a small town with not a ton of lodging – so you have to book early, and pay too much money for a mediocre hotel. The town is ok though, with cute restaurants and shopping.
Combine with: We visited this after checking out Western South Dakota – which was super underrated! Amazing hiking and scenery – and my kids favorite hotel – the Mt Rushmore KOA.
Favorite activity: The wild horses in the park are so beautiful. Try to find those, and then make a few stops at some easy overlook hikes. Read more HERE!

8. Grand Canyon

Stats: Grand Canyon is one of the most famous National Parks and is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World! It is 6,000 feet deep at some points and has rocks that are over 2 billion years old. It’s an enormous park!
What do we love about it: It’s honestly incredible to drive along this long, flat, boring road and then suddenly step out of your car to see the most vast canyon you’ve ever seen.
Where to stay: If you can stay in the park – do it! That way, you can easily walk out your door to sunset and sunrise – and direct hiking access. We stayed at Kachina Lodge. Otherwise – the towns of Tusayan, Valle, or even Williams could be good overnight locations.
Combine with: This is a great place to visit when also seeing Vegas, Route 66 and Sedona!
Favorite activity: Sunset and sunrise over the rim of the Grand Canyon is truly magical!

7. White Sands

Stats: White Sands was a National Monument since 1933 and ‘upgraded’ to a National Park in 2019. It’s the largest gypsum dune field in the world and the dunes can move up to 30 feet per year.
What do we love about it: It’s a huge park with not a lot of tourists. It’s super easy to find a spot all to yourself. There isn’t really any particular hike or activity to do. You kind of just do what you want! Run down the dunes, sled, get a picnic blanket out and relax!
Where to stay: Alamogordo is a town just a few minutes away with lots of hotels, restaurants and other activities in the area. It’s close enough that you could visit White Sands multiple times in a day (e.g. daytime and sunset like we did).
Combine with: Do a little road trip around New Mexico and see some other National Parks, have an alien encounter, and see the town of El Paso!
Favorite activity: Sledding down the dunes at sunset

6. Badlands

Stats: Amazing rock formations formed over the past 28-75 million years. This is another example of a super flat landscape that is abruptly interrupted by vast canyons and rock formations. This land had been inhabited by the Native Americans for thousands of years before being pushed out by westward expansion.
What do we love about it: It’s such a weird landscape! Lots of interesting hikes where you walk right amongst the rock formations surrounding you. Some of the trails are a little bit of create your own adventure style, where you kind of just wander through the badlands.
Where to stay: If you can stay in the park – do it! There are a few campgrounds and really only one hotel – Cedar Pass Lodge. It’s great to be right in the middle of everything so that you can hike early in the day and late in the evening if you visit in summer and it’s over 100 degrees! Other towns close by would be Kadoka and Wall.
Combine with: We visited Badlands during a South and North Dakota Road trip. We visited the Black Hills, Spearfish Canyon and the Needles Highway as well.
Favorite activity: The Notch Trail is a really fun trail in the Badlands where you get to walk on the ground floor and then climb up a ladder to the top.

5. Carlsbad Caverns

Stats: A huge cave system in New Mexico, consisting of the largest single cave chamber in North America. It’s biggest room is 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 255 feet high.
What do we love about it: You can reserve a time slot to enter, and walk down a lot of steep switch backs to get to the cave. It has so many unique formations and the Big Room is so enormous. The paved paths are easy to follow throughout the cave.
Where to stay: The nearby town of Carlsbad has a good variety of hotels and restaurants.
Combine with: This is a great park to visit while also doing a New Mexico road trip, including White Sands – and could go round trip from El Paso.
Favorite activity: The Big Room! Also – if visiting Memorial Day -> October, they have nightly bat viewings where thousands of bats emerge from the cave in the evening!

4. Grand Teton

Stats: The Teton mountain range is spectacular. It seems to just appear out of nowhere. The tallest mountain in the park is nearly 14,000 feet and towers over the landscape below.
What do we love about it: The mountains are incredible. Something about the scenery of this long, flat road stretching out right next to these enormous mountains is really stunning.
Where to stay: Jackson, WY is an adorable town. Just minutes from the park and packed full of cute restaurants and activities!
Combine with: You’re right next to Yellowstone, so that’s another must visit. But you could also check out Idaho, Montana or even Salt Lake City!
Favorite activity: The hike around Jenny Lake, up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point is an absolute highlight.

3. Yellowstone

Stats: Our countries first National Park, established in 1872. It sits on top of a massive caldera that erupted 640,000 years ago. It is also 2.2 million acres!
What do we love about it: Such an incredibly diverse National Park. You can see geysers, hot springs, wildlife and more in just one day. There is so much to see and do here, and the activities are so varried.
Where to stay: Ideally, you’ll have at least 4 nights in the park to explore it all. I’d recommend 2 nights in West Yellowstone, 2 in Mammoth and 1 in Lake Yellowstone if you can swing it.
Combine with: You could spend a whole trip just exploring Yellowstone. Most people will also combine with Grand Teton, but you could also visit some of Idaho, Salt Lake City or Montana!
Favorite activity: This is a hard one, since there are so many! Probably the Upper Geyser Basin hike – this includes Old Faithful, but so many more amazing features to see.

2. Redwood

Stats: Home to the tallest trees on earth (some 350ft+), Redwood National and State Parks are incredible. There are many parks along the coast of California and the state parks are just as gorgeous. Today, less than 5% of the old growth redwoods are still around – after logging harmed much of the forests.
What do we love about it: It is so peaceful here and the trees make you feel so small. The hikes are easy for kids and have lots of downed trees you can climb.
Where to stay: We stayed in Arcata the night before exploring, and Crescent City the night after our day in Redwoods. Anywhere in that vicinity gives you good access to tons of hiking.
Combine with: A California and Oregon coast road trip! Or even make it up to Washington like we did!
Favorite activity: Founders Grove Trail. This is a quick 0.5mile trail but it left an impact. This one had so many trees for kids to play on. There are better overall trails in the area, but this one is so fun.

1. Olympic

Stats: This park, in the upper tip of Washington state is a park that has it all – forests, mountains, beaches, rainforest and more.
What do we love about it: This is another incredibly diverse park. It has 70+ miles of undeveloped coastline, a mountain range, and a temperate rainforest. It’s incredibly unique.
Where to stay: Ideally, you’d have at least 3 nights to spend in the park. We had 1 night near Lake Quinault, 1 at Kalaloch Lodge on the ocean, 1 in Sol Duc Hot Springs. I’d love to add on another night in Forks or Port Angeles in order to explore more!
Combine with: We did this at the end of a California and Oregon road trip!
Favorite activity: Hoh River Trail. This trail is 18 miles long, but you can hike as much of it as you’d like. It follows a crystal clear river through a rainforest full of lush trees.

Tips for Visiting!

National Parks Pass – Consider getting an America the Beautiful Pass! This can be a great cost savings. Most National Parks cost $30+ per car load/per day. If you are going to visit more than one in a year, getting this pass for $80 is a great investment. Order ahead of time though – because they mail it to you – check it out here: American The Beautiful Pass
Picnic – Save money and time and pack a picnic. Doesn’t get much better than pulling up to one of the gorgeous overlooks in all of these parks and having a picnic. A lot of times, there are no restaurants anywhere nearby, so bringing food into the park is ideal. Just make sure to pack out all of your trash.
Maps – Print some maps ahead of time – old school! Sometimes there is spotty phone coverage, and limited signage. You’ll want to have studied the maps (especially in big places like Yellowstone) so you know that you need to drive 2 miles and pull into a tiny lot with no sign to see the things you want to visit.
Coordinate Other Activities – Some national parks you could spend a whole week. Others may be a 1 day activity (e.g. Carlsbad). There’s often lots of other cool things to do in the area though, so combine National Parks with some other activities!
Lodging – Book your lodging early. Staying in the National Parks is sometimes a bit pricey, but always worth it for the proximity to the parks. These hotels can get booked up really early though, so be planning ahead. Be strategic about where you want to stay that puts you in a good position to see everything you want to see. Some parks are enormous and you don’t want to backtrack a lot.
Protect Our Parks – Pay attention to how your elected representatives are voting. Unfortunately – there is a huge push right now to increase drilling and logging on our protected lands. Contact your representatives and tell them to save our national parks.

Check out some of our vlogs with National Parks!