Best National Parks for Camping

Acadia National Park protects the natural beauty of the highest rocky headlands along the Atlantic coastline of the United States, an abundance of habitats, and a rich cultural heritage. At 4 million visits a year, it's one of the top 10 most-visited national parks in the United States. Visitors enjoy 27 miles of historic motor roads, 158 miles of hiking trails, and 45 miles of carriage roads.

Established in 2000 to preserve, protect and interpret traditional Native Hawaiian culture and natural resources, Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail is a 175-mile corridor encompassing a network of culturally and historically significant trails. This "trail by the sea" traverses wahi pana (storied landscapes), ancient Hawaiian sites and over 200 ahupuaʻa (traditional land divisions).

The headwaters of Alagnak Wild River lie within the rugged Aleutian Range of neighboring Katmai National Park and Preserve. Meandering west towards Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea, the Alagnak traverses the beautiful Alaska Peninsula, providing an unparalleled opportunity to experience the unique wilderness, wildlife, and cultural heritage of southwest Alaska.

13,000 years ago, Alibates was used by mammoth hunters as a source of flint for tools. The colorful flint has never lost its value or usefulness in the Texas Panhandle. Learn how important this site was to the survival, commerce, and culture of the people of the High Plains.

An oasis in the desert, Amistad National Recreation Area consists of the US portion of the International Amistad Reservoir. Amistad, a Spanish word meaning "friendship," is known for excellent water-based recreation, camping, hiking, and rich cultural history dating back nearly 5,000 years. Amistad is also home to a wide variety of plant and animal life both above and below the water.

Nearly 13,000 men died on these grounds, a site that became infamous even before the Civil War ended. Their burial grounds became Andersonville National Cemetery, where veterans continue to be buried today. This place, where tens of thousands suffered captivity so others could be free, is also home to the National Prisoner of War Museum and serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.

Given its remote location and challenging weather conditions, Aniakchak is one of the most wild and least visited places in the National Park System. This landscape is a vibrant reminder of Alaska's location in the volcanically active "Ring of Fire," as it is home to an impressive six mile (10 km) wide, 2,500 ft (762 m) deep caldera formed during a massive volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago.

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, located at the northern tip of Wisconsin's Bayfield Peninsula, features 21 stunning islands, a scenic 12-mile shoreline along Lake Superior, and is located within the ancestral homeland of the Ojibwe people. Established in 1970, the park showcases picturesque sea caves, sandy beaches, and the largest collection of lighthouses in the National Park system.

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,190+ mile long public footpath that traverses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild, and culturally resonant lands of the Appalachian Mountains. Conceived in 1921, built by private citizens, and completed in 1937, today the trail is managed by the National Park Service, US Forest Service, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, numerous state agencies and thousands of volunteers.

Discover a landscape of contrasting colors, land forms, and textures unlike any other. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive rock fins, and giant balanced rocks. This red-rock wonderland will amaze you with its formations, refresh you with its trails, and inspire you with its sunsets.

Want to live on the edge? Visit a place recreated each day by ocean wind and waves. Life on Assateague Island has adapted to an existence on the move. Explore sandy beaches, salt marshes, maritime forests and coastal bays. Rest, relax, recreate and enjoy some time on the edge of the continent.