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Visiting any of our country’s national parks would make a great vacation, but with 63 of them, some are definitely more appealing than others. New research from “The Wall Street Journal” ranks them all and has come up with what they call an “unexpected winner” at number one.
- Their rankings are based on “cold, hard numbers,” in four areas: size of the crowds, quality and quantity of hiking routes, availability of campsites and access to other recreational activities like horseback riding, mountain biking, and fishing.
- So which is the best? Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park.
- The Journal describes it as: “Accessible only by ferry, private boat or seaplane, this is true wilderness: a land of moose and wolves and the drama forever playing out between them.”
- The roadless destination gets high scores for hiking and has 36 rustic campgrounds for backpackers, as well as the circa-1956 Rock Harbor Lodge loaded with “old-school charm.”
- What you won’t find there is crowds, Isle Royale National Park only had about 29-thousand visitors last year, a fraction of the 4.6-million visitors who went to Utah’s Zion National Park.
The Best U.S. National Parks, according to “The Wall Street Journal”
- Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
- North Cascades National Park, Washington
- Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, California
- Big Bend National Park, Texas
- Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska
- Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
- Great Basin National Park, Nevada
- Death Valley National Park, California/Nevada
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
- Yellowstone National Park, Idaho/Montana/Wyoming
Check out the article at Detroit Free Press