Top 10 Most Underrated National Parks in the USA

One of the least visited national parks in the lower 48, Great Basin offers ecosystems from sage desert at 6,000 feet to Nevada's only glacier at 13,000 feet within 30 miles. The Lehman Caves contain some of the world's largest shield speleothems, and its elevation provides among the darkest night skies in the continental US.

Most Texans don't know their state contains its highest peak — Guadalupe Peak at 8,751 feet — within a national park protecting a 265-million-year-old Permian fossil reef, one of the best-preserved on Earth. It receives only 200,000 visitors annually, making it one of the least crowded parks in the system.

The only national park in Ohio, Cuyahoga Valley protects 33,000 acres of river gorge that was so polluted it literally caught fire in 1969 — an event that helped spark the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Today it is fully restored with 125 miles of trails 30 minutes from Cleveland and Akron.

Lassen Peak, a plug dome volcano that erupted violently in 1915, is the only place in the lower 48 states where all four types of volcanoes can be seen in one park. Its hydrothermal features rival Yellowstone in geological drama at a fraction of the crowds, with fewer than 500,000 annual visitors.

Named for the president who credited these North Dakota badlands with saving his life after grief, Theodore Roosevelt National Park's otherworldly striped buttes, wild bison herds, and feral mustangs make it one of the most visually striking parks in the system, visited by only 750,000 people annually.

Split into two units around Tucson, Saguaro National Park protects the iconic saguaro cactus — which can live 200 years and grow to 40 feet tall — in a forest 3.5 million strong. Its proximity to a major city makes it the most accessible Sonoran Desert wilderness experience in the United States.

Formed from an ancient volcano tectonics moved 200 miles north from its original location, Pinnacles is one of only two US national parks where California condors can be regularly spotted in the wild. Its talus cave system creates a unique microclimate supporting bats and rare invertebrates found nowhere else.

The least visited national park in the lower 48 states, Isle Royale requires a boat or seaplane to reach — but rewards the journey with primeval boreal forest, crystal-clear inland lakes, and the world's longest-running predator-prey study between wolves and moose, ongoing since 1958.

Named for the French-Canadian fur traders who paddled these waterways, Voyageurs covers 218,000 acres of interconnected lakes near the Canadian border and is one of the best places in the contiguous US to see the Northern Lights. Its four major lakes are accessible only by boat — the most genuinely wild park east of the Rockies.

One of the least visited national parks in the lower 48, Great Basin offers ecosystems from sage desert at 6,000 feet to Nevada's only glacier at 13,000 feet within 30 miles. The Lehman Caves contain some of the world's largest shield speleothems, and its elevation provides among the darkest night skies in the continental US.

Most Texans don't know their state contains its highest peak — Guadalupe Peak at 8,751 feet — within a national park protecting a 265-million-year-old Permian fossil reef, one of the best-preserved on Earth. It receives only 200,000 visitors annually, making it one of the least crowded parks in the system.

The only national park in Ohio, Cuyahoga Valley protects 33,000 acres of river gorge that was so polluted it literally caught fire in 1969 — an event that helped spark the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Today it is fully restored with 125 miles of trails 30 minutes from Cleveland and Akron.

Lassen Peak, a plug dome volcano that erupted violently in 1915, is the only place in the lower 48 states where all four types of volcanoes can be seen in one park. Its hydrothermal features rival Yellowstone in geological drama at a fraction of the crowds, with fewer than 500,000 annual visitors.

Named for the president who credited these North Dakota badlands with saving his life after grief, Theodore Roosevelt National Park's otherworldly striped buttes, wild bison herds, and feral mustangs make it one of the most visually striking parks in the system, visited by only 750,000 people annually.

Split into two units around Tucson, Saguaro National Park protects the iconic saguaro cactus — which can live 200 years and grow to 40 feet tall — in a forest 3.5 million strong. Its proximity to a major city makes it the most accessible Sonoran Desert wilderness experience in the United States.

Formed from an ancient volcano tectonics moved 200 miles north from its original location, Pinnacles is one of only two US national parks where California condors can be regularly spotted in the wild. Its talus cave system creates a unique microclimate supporting bats and rare invertebrates found nowhere else.

The least visited national park in the lower 48 states, Isle Royale requires a boat or seaplane to reach — but rewards the journey with primeval boreal forest, crystal-clear inland lakes, and the world's longest-running predator-prey study between wolves and moose, ongoing since 1958.

Named for the French-Canadian fur traders who paddled these waterways, Voyageurs covers 218,000 acres of interconnected lakes near the Canadian border and is one of the best places in the contiguous US to see the Northern Lights. Its four major lakes are accessible only by boat — the most genuinely wild park east of the Rockies.