America the Beautiful

The first National Park (NP) I visited was the Grand Canyon. It was astonishing. Everything was very well organized (there is a parking lot where you must leave your car and take the park buses) and the landscape was gorgeous, all those amazing colors...

Grand Canyon

In the same trip I visited Zion and I fell in love with the NPs. I'm deeply grateful to all people that contributed to preserve these lands.

Back home, in Europe, rich people own the best spots, they own the land. Even in Canada, we tried to visit the One Thousand Islands NP and it was impossible to reach the lake front, everything was private property. 

Anyways, after the Grand Canyon we started exploring more and more the NP. So far, we already visited more than 60 different units of the National Park System, 14 of which National Parks.

I highly recommend the annual pass. You are helping the NP and you don't need to worry about entrance or parking fees, everything is included.
Some of my fav are:

- Grand Teton 

It's truly amazing. The views are spectacular. So far it's my fav NP.

Grand Teton 

Grand Teton 

Grand Teton 

Grand Teton 

Grand Teton 

- Cumberland island

This island is unique. The ruins of Carnegie's mansion makes it even more special. You can see wild horses and enjoy a white sand beach.

Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island

- Zion

It's very diverse. It has waterfalls, red land and tons of trails.

Zion

Zion

Zion

- Glacier (best time to visit it is during summer)

It's really hard to visit it during most part of the year. The weather is very severe and it makes impossible to do treks around.

Glacier

Glacier

Glacier

Glacier

Glacier

- Yellowstone ( I don't recommend the Canyon Lodge and Cabins) 

It's massive and very diverse in landscape and wildlife. You can see geysers, waterfalls and drive next to buffaloes or other animals.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone

Yellowstone

Yellowstone

Yellowstone

- Everglades

Here we could see beautiful birds and some alligators. And I saved some stubborn turtles from being run-over. Once a scout, always a scout.

Everglades

Everglades

- Virgin Islands 

This is paradise. There are small trails to gorgeous beaches, underwater trails (snorkeling) and ruins to visit. I want to move there!!

Virgin Islands

On amazon prime or netflix you can find a very interesting documentary about the NP: America's Best Idea, by Ken Burns. It is really interesting how the preservation movement in the US managed to push the idea of setting aside some of the most beautiful lands of America.