Some national parks are particularly special during winter, but if you prefer shorts to heavy layers, this guide is for you. We’ve rounded up nine of our favorite national parks to visit this summer (OK, one is technically a U.S. wilderness area). Some, like Lassen Volcanic National Park, offer a less-crowded alternative to packed parks such as Yellowstone. Other parks, such as Denali and Wrangell–St. Elias in Alaska, are much easier to access and far less frigid in summer. Whether you’re after a last-minute Memorial Day weekend plan or looking ahead to August, these national parks are delightful for a summer visit.
Acadia National Park covers about 50,000 acres of land.
Photo by Romiana Lee/Shutterstock
1. Acadia National Park
Maine
After leaving New York City for greener pastures at age 39, E.B. White once said he “would rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else.” In the heart of the most forested state, where the mountains meet the country’s longest coastline and break into its highest concentration of islands, not far from E.B. White’s old Brooklin seaside farm, is the state’s only national park (it made Afar’s Where to Go list in 2022).
Wabanaki nations came in birch bark canoes and stayed (today, they call for tribal sovereignty) on Mount Desert Island thousands of years before it became Acadia National Park in the early 20th century. Visitors can’t seem to get these ever-changing seascapes out of their hearts—just look at the works of the Hudson River School artists. For me, the sounds of the crashing waves on Ocean Path past Otter Cliffs and Thunder Hole have been a part of my personal history since childhood, going back to a time before I could remember my first sighting.
Whether you are rock hopping by Hadlock Falls or catching the first sunrise from the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard at 1,530 feet on Cadillac Mountain, there’s just something about Acadia.
How to visit
- Book now: Claremont Hotel
Get comfortable on the waterfront at the luxe Claremont Hotel. Guests can access boat tours, beach cruisers, yoga on the lawn, and live music on the porch. If you prefer a chic take on the classic Maine beach cottage, consider Salt Cottages, where you can picnic, make s’mores by the fire, and play lawn games. —Anna Fiorentino
Crater Lake was formed 7,700 years ago when a tall peak collapsed. At 1,943 feet, it is the deepest lake in the country.
Photo by Anthony Secker
2. Crater Lake National Park
Oregon
Climbing the Watchman Peak, part of a 1.7-mile out-and-back trail with panoramic views of Crater Lake, my family stopped to figure out where the long cawing sound was coming from. It was a Clark’s nutcracker perched on a tree branch above. The pale gray bird with black wings buries tens of thousands of pine seeds during the summer to survive the colder months.
Crater Lake National Park is teeming with wildlife, from black bears and elk to some 84 species of songbirds and raptors. At the Watchman Trail summit, take in the stunning cobalt-blue Crater Lake, and Wizard Island in the center. (Visitors can reach the island on a boat tour, but to do so, it’s necessary to descend the steep mile-long Cleetwood Cove Trail to the dock and ascend back up at the end of the day.)
Formed by a volcano that erupted and collapsed, the 1,943-feet deep lake eventually filled with snow and rain. Rim Drive, a 33-mile loop around the caldera, is a favorite for its vistas, but note that it’s narrow and winding with tight curves.
How to visit
- Book now: Crater Lake Lodge
Though many take a day trip to the park from Eugene or Bend, spending the night at Crater Lake Lodge, overlooking the pristine and sparkling water, is well worth the time and money. —Tanvi Chheda
Related: 10 Less-Crowded Alternatives to the Most Popular U.S. National Parks
The summit of Stony Man Mountain offers a sweeping view of the Shenandoah Valley, in Shenandoah National Park.
Jon Bilous/Shutterstock / Jon Bilous
3. Shenandoah National Park
Virginia
Perched high above Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains, Shenandoah National Park became the state’s first national park in 1936. Its nearly 200,000 acres are home to black bears, brook trout, and the Shenandoah salamander. Passengers can enjoy panoramic views from some of the park’s scenic 105-mile Skyline Drive, and active visitors can explore nature with 500 miles of hiking trails.
Besides the wealth of popular hikes—Old Rag, Dark Hollow Falls, and Marys Rock—there are numerous lesser-known hikes, like the Sugarloaf Loop, where the showy white flowers of mountain laurel bloom in abundance during the summer. Or try Hazel River Falls hike, which takes visitors on a five-hour journey to a scenic waterfall in the forest.
How to visit
With the park being only 90 minutes from Washington, D.C., you can make it a day trip or stay overnight in designated campgrounds. Shenandoah also makes for a great national parks road trip, as the park is the northern endpoint of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
If you choose to sleep outdoors and stargaze, you can do so at the Mathews Arm hilly campground, Big Meadows campground and lodge, the centrally located Lewis Mountain, or Loft Mountain, the only campground in the South District.
—Adrienne Jordan
Denali (federally designated as Mount McKinley) is North America’s tallest peak, standing 20,310 feet high.
evenfh/Shutterstock
4. Denali National Park
Alaska
Spanning 6 million acres of wilderness and containing polychromatic ridgelines, boreal forest, and the tallest mountain in North America (at 20,237 feet), Denali National Park inspires awe like nowhere else.
Dubbed “The Great One” by Indigenous Athabascans, the mountain for which the protected land is named seems so tall it could poke a hole in the sky. For decades, it has lured alpinists brave enough to scale the hulking mass of granite and glacier. However, you don’t have to be a mountaineer to appreciate Denali. The national park is perhaps Alaska’s most egalitarian; there are opportunities to get outside at all activity levels.
For those who want to get close to the summit without committing to a month of climbing, there are flightseeing companies like Denali Air. Another popular and lower-elevation option for first-time visitors is to take a National Park Service school bus–style shuttle into the park. (After mile 12.5 of the Park Road, it’s the only way to access the grounds unless you’re hiking or on a bicycle.) There are two types of buses: the more flexible hop-on, hop-off option or the narrated one, where the driver crafts an itinerary for you.
How to visit
Denali National Park is roughly four hours north of Anchorage and two hours south of Fairbanks by car. If you’d rather leave the driving to someone else (the views are distracting), another option is taking the Alaska Railroad, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. It adds a couple of hours to the transit time, but the locomotive offers knowledgeable guides and viewing-dome cars that make it easy to take photos of the mountains and valleys you pass. —Bailey Berg
NPS reports that more than 1,600 species of plants can be found in North Cascades National Park.
Photo by Chloe Arrojado
5. North Cascades National Park
Washington
A walk through North Cascades National Park reveals Wizard of Oz–like landscapes, full of pink wildflowers, dark evergreens, and turquoise lakes. The lakes’ specific shade of blue can be attributed to their glaciers; there are 300-plus here, more than anywhere else in the U.S. outside of Alaska. While hiking routes such as Diablo Lake Trail and Cascade Pass Trail is the most popular way to explore the 505,000-acre park, activities like whitewater rafting and horseback riding are other ways you can explore.
North Cascades received fewer than 16,500 annual visits in 2024, making it one of the least-visited national parks in the United States. Part of these low numbers can be attributed to its seasonal operation: The park is open from late May to late September, so the warmer part of the year is the only time visitors can enjoy this underrated national park.
How to visit
- Book now: Sun Mountain Lodge
This park is about 100 miles northeast of Seattle, near the Canadian border. The camping options within North Cascades National Park include boat-in and backcountry. For those seeking more comfortable accommodations, Sun Mountain Lodge is about 1.5 hours away in Winthrop. The 50-room hotel sits on a 3,000-foot-high mountain top with panoramic views of mountains, wilderness, and valleys below. —Chloe Arrojado
Related: How to Visit the National Parks for Free in 2025
The Gunnison River flows for about 110 miles, curving around the peaks of its namesake national park.
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten/Unsplash
6. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Colorado
The history of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park goes back at least 60 million years, when a small area of land was forced upward, forming the Gunnison Uplift. Then, 30-odd million years ago, volcanoes on either side erupted, burying the Uplift under volcanic rock. The Gunnison River began flowing 2 million years ago and, over time, eroded the volcanic rock and cut a deep canyon.
For Ivan Levin, director of strategic partnerships at nonprofit National Park Trust, visiting the nearly 31,000-acre piece of land is a great summer alternative to a well-known park. “Once you arrive at Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the hard part is deciding what outdoor activity to do first—take in the views, try out a beginner rock climbing route, or hit the trails. I love hiking and checking out the local flora and fauna, so if you share the same passion and hobby as I do, then you’ll love Black Canyon of the Gunnison,” he told Afar over email.
Another recommendation from Levin: Take a night visit to the park, which was certified as an International Dark Sky Park in 2015.
How to visit
From Denver, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is about a 260-mile drive southwest. When it comes to the most accessible, family-friendly accommodation option, Afar recommends the South Rim Campground. The campground is near the site for night sky viewing and the telescope site, as well as the amphitheater. But for a more remote stay, go for East Portal or the North Rim, where campsites are spread out among piñon and juniper trees. —C.A.
Related: The 17 Best Things to Do in Colorado
The sunsets over Lassen Peak, reflected here in Manzanita Lake, are particularly gorgeous on warm summer evenings.
Engel Ching/Shutterstock
7. Lassen Volcanic National Park
California
About 4.7 million people visited Yellowstone in 2024, in search of panoramic landscapes, dramatic mountains, gorgeous lakes, and hiking opportunities. But what if you could get that experience without the crowds? According to Donald Leadbetter, tourism program manager of the National Park Service, that’s what makes Lassen Volcanic National Park so special in the summer: the ability to have an experience as grand as Yellowstone with only a fraction of the people (about 350,000 people visited in 2024).
“What I love about Lassen Volcanic is it’s a high-elevation park, so you’re at the convergence of three different ecosystems: You’re in the northern Sierra Nevada, you’re at the southern end of the Cascade Mountains, and you’re at the western edge of the elevated desert that is most of Nevada,” Leadbetter says. “So you’ve got this park where three pretty distinct ecosystems kind of come together.”
Leadbetter recommends taking two days to explore the park: one day to check out the visitor center and orient yourself in the 165-square-mile park, and the second to take a long hike like the Lassen Peak Trail or Brokeoff Mountain Trail.
How to visit
The closest large airports to Lassen Volcanic National Park are in Reno (about a 130-mile drive) and Sacramento (about a 190-mile drive). Leadbetter recommends combining a trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park with experiences in the area like Reno and Lake Tahoe. While he can’t recommend any particular private stays on behalf of the National Park Service, he recommends checking out the plentiful cabin stays in the area.
Maroon Bells is known as much for its peaks as for its fields of wildflowers.
Photo by Megan Byers/Unsplash
8. Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness
Colorado
Technically, this is not a national park but a U.S. wilderness area, but, for Afar contributor Bailey Berg, Maroon Bells is the best less-crowded alternative to Rocky Mountain National Park. Here you’ll hike in the shadow of mountains such as Castle and Maroon peaks, towering at more than 14,000 feet, as well as pounding waterfalls, ice-cold alpine lakes, and warming hot springs. Come in summer, and you’ll be rewarded with expansive fields of wild flowers, including white and yellow daisies, magenta elephant heads, and deep pink Whipple’s penstemons.
How to visit
Reservations for the several nearby campgrounds open six months in advance. For something a little cushier, Aspen is less than 20 minutes away. Try the Hotel Jerome, which has been a hotel in some form since 1889; Mollie, which opened in town in 2024; or, for modernists, Aspen Meadows with its Bauhaus-inspired suites.
At 18,008 feet, Mount St. Elias, aka Was’eitushaa, is the second-highest mountain in the country.
Photo by Neal Herbert/Flickr
9. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve
Alaska
Although beautiful in winter, it’s far easier to visit Alaska’s national parks in summer; you don’t need much heavy gear, and the super-long days give you plenty of time to explore. Wrangell–St. Elias is full of superlatives: The country’s largest national park is home to the second-highest peak in the U.S. (Mount St. Elias), a glacier larger than Rhode Island (the Malaspina Glacier), and one of the largest active volcanoes in North America (Mount Wrangell). It’s also far less-crowded than similar parks, with 81,670 visitors in 2024 versus Glacier National Park‘s 3,208,755.
How to visit
Deep inside the park is Ultima Thule, an intimate safari-style lodge accommodating 14 guests across five cabins. After a day in the park, feast on local salmon and greens grown on the property, stretch out in the yoga yurt or the sauna, and cozy up with a good book around the fire.
This article was originally published in 2023 and most recently updated on May 21, 2025, with current information. Sophie Friedman contributed to the reporting of this story.
