Top 10 National Parks You Need to Visit Before Everyone Else Does

South Carolina's best-kept secret is a floodplain forest with the tallest canopy in eastern North America. Loblolly pines stretch 170 feet high, and the elevated Boardwalk Loop trail takes you through a primeval swamp that feels like stepping back 10,000 years. Synchronized fireflies light up the forest every May. Congaree gets about 215,000 visitors per year — Smoky Mountains gets 12.1 million.

Called the "American Alps" for its 300+ glaciers — more than any other park in the lower 48. North Cascades gets just 38,000 visitors per year despite being three hours from Seattle. The reason? No cell service, minimal facilities, and trails that demand real fitness. Cascade Pass offers one of the most stunning alpine views on Earth: a knife-edge ridge with glaciers spilling into wildflower meadows on both sides.

An island archipelago in Lake Superior accessible only by ferry or seaplane. Isle Royale is the least-visited national park in the lower 48, and the only one that closes entirely for winter. The wolf-moose study here is the longest continuous predator-prey research in history — running since 1958. You can backpack the 42-mile Greenstone Ridge Trail end-to-end in four days without seeing another person.

Nevada's only national park has 5,000-year-old bristlecone pines, Lehman Caves' stunning limestone formations, and Wheeler Peak rising to 13,063 feet — all with virtually no crowds. Great Basin is also one of the darkest places in the country, with Gold Tier dark sky designation. The Milky Way here isn't a faint smudge — it casts shadows. The park gets about 150,000 visitors per year, mostly from people who took a wrong turn off Highway 50.

Home to Guadalupe Peak — the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet — and the world's most extensive Permian fossil reef. McKittrick Canyon in autumn rivals any New England foliage display, with bigtooth maples blazing orange and red against limestone canyon walls. The park gets about 243,000 visitors per year, which is remarkable given it contains Texas's literal highest point. No water, no food, no gas — just raw Chihuahuan Desert beauty.

The largest national park in the U.S. at 13.2 million acres — six times the size of Yellowstone. Wrangell-St. Elias contains 9 of the 16 highest peaks in the country and the Malaspina Glacier, which is larger than Rhode Island. The abandoned Kennecott copper mines are a perfectly preserved ghost town from 1938. About 74,000 people visit per year. For context, that's one person per 178 acres.

The Gunnison River carved a canyon so narrow and deep that parts of it get only 33 minutes of sunlight per day. The Painted Wall — Colorado's tallest cliff at 2,250 feet — is nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building. The canyon is "black" because the steep walls block most light, creating an eerie, cathedral-like atmosphere. Rock climbers consider it one of the most challenging and committing walls in North America.

All four types of volcano — shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome — exist within this single park. Lassen Peak last erupted in 1915, and the hydrothermal areas are still violently active: Bumpass Hell is a boardwalk through boiling mud pots, fumaroles, and acid pools. The park gets about 500,000 visitors — respectable, but still a fraction of nearby Yosemite. Winter buries the roads under 30 feet of snow, making it one of the most seasonal parks in the system.

Seventy miles west of Key West, accessible only by ferry or seaplane. Fort Jefferson — the largest masonry structure in the Americas — rises from a tiny island surrounded by some of the clearest water in the Western Hemisphere. The snorkeling is otherworldly: sea turtles, nurse sharks, and coral formations in water so blue it looks photoshopped. About 84,000 people visit per year. The remoteness isn't a bug — it's the entire point.

South Carolina's best-kept secret is a floodplain forest with the tallest canopy in eastern North America. Loblolly pines stretch 170 feet high, and the elevated Boardwalk Loop trail takes you through a primeval swamp that feels like stepping back 10,000 years. Synchronized fireflies light up the forest every May. Congaree gets about 215,000 visitors per year — Smoky Mountains gets 12.1 million.

Called the "American Alps" for its 300+ glaciers — more than any other park in the lower 48. North Cascades gets just 38,000 visitors per year despite being three hours from Seattle. The reason? No cell service, minimal facilities, and trails that demand real fitness. Cascade Pass offers one of the most stunning alpine views on Earth: a knife-edge ridge with glaciers spilling into wildflower meadows on both sides.

An island archipelago in Lake Superior accessible only by ferry or seaplane. Isle Royale is the least-visited national park in the lower 48, and the only one that closes entirely for winter. The wolf-moose study here is the longest continuous predator-prey research in history — running since 1958. You can backpack the 42-mile Greenstone Ridge Trail end-to-end in four days without seeing another person.

Nevada's only national park has 5,000-year-old bristlecone pines, Lehman Caves' stunning limestone formations, and Wheeler Peak rising to 13,063 feet — all with virtually no crowds. Great Basin is also one of the darkest places in the country, with Gold Tier dark sky designation. The Milky Way here isn't a faint smudge — it casts shadows. The park gets about 150,000 visitors per year, mostly from people who took a wrong turn off Highway 50.

Home to Guadalupe Peak — the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet — and the world's most extensive Permian fossil reef. McKittrick Canyon in autumn rivals any New England foliage display, with bigtooth maples blazing orange and red against limestone canyon walls. The park gets about 243,000 visitors per year, which is remarkable given it contains Texas's literal highest point. No water, no food, no gas — just raw Chihuahuan Desert beauty.

The largest national park in the U.S. at 13.2 million acres — six times the size of Yellowstone. Wrangell-St. Elias contains 9 of the 16 highest peaks in the country and the Malaspina Glacier, which is larger than Rhode Island. The abandoned Kennecott copper mines are a perfectly preserved ghost town from 1938. About 74,000 people visit per year. For context, that's one person per 178 acres.

The Gunnison River carved a canyon so narrow and deep that parts of it get only 33 minutes of sunlight per day. The Painted Wall — Colorado's tallest cliff at 2,250 feet — is nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building. The canyon is "black" because the steep walls block most light, creating an eerie, cathedral-like atmosphere. Rock climbers consider it one of the most challenging and committing walls in North America.

All four types of volcano — shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome — exist within this single park. Lassen Peak last erupted in 1915, and the hydrothermal areas are still violently active: Bumpass Hell is a boardwalk through boiling mud pots, fumaroles, and acid pools. The park gets about 500,000 visitors — respectable, but still a fraction of nearby Yosemite. Winter buries the roads under 30 feet of snow, making it one of the most seasonal parks in the system.

Seventy miles west of Key West, accessible only by ferry or seaplane. Fort Jefferson — the largest masonry structure in the Americas — rises from a tiny island surrounded by some of the clearest water in the Western Hemisphere. The snorkeling is otherworldly: sea turtles, nurse sharks, and coral formations in water so blue it looks photoshopped. About 84,000 people visit per year. The remoteness isn't a bug — it's the entire point.