10 Best of Everything National Parks, The: 800 Top Picks From Parks Coast to Coast

by National Geographic Society, Fran Mainella (Introduction)

National parks are more than the best idea America ever had—they're our country's best playgrounds for millions of vacationers who want to enjoy recreation activities, nature and wildlife, and down-time with friends, family, or as solo travelers. This timely, idea-filled guide covers "classic" parks, national historical parks, national monuments, national battlefields, national scenic trails, and beyond. Hundreds of Top 10 lists highlight every park's best attractions—best lodges, best hikes, best star-gazing spots, best campfire meal spots. Destinations are covered by region, theme, season, and occasion. Photos, anecdotes from park rangers, and insider tips, plus traveler resources such as hotels and restaurants, make this the national parks guide travelers have long sought.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Nature, History, Reference, Outdoors

480 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2011

About the author

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic primer to help you find these protected areas that can match your adventure category. There are over 420 properties under Park Service protection.

It is slightly subjective per the several authors they used, but they made great choices. I've been to a bunch of these sites and their choices and the simple paragraph on each quickly states how/why this site belongs in its top-10 category.

Major subsections of the book include the following 9 categories:
1. Natural Wonders
- within the 9 subsections here, I liked the Rocks & Arches section
2. By Land
- There are 14 subsections here, and I liked Canyon Hikes and Epic Backpacking Trips
3. By Sea, Lake & River
- In the 10 subsections, I liked Scuba Diving/Snorkeling and the Day at the Beach
4. Seasonal Enjoyment
- Night Skies was my favorite of the seven subsections
5. Wildlife
- Ocean Life won the four subsections for me. But Birds, Quirky Critters, and Charismatic Megafauna were cool to explore.
6. Learning Experiences
- Ranger Programs won for me of the five subsections. Rangers are SO smart/dedicated!
7. Discovering History
- Lots of new stuff here: Indigenous sites; Battlefields; African American Civil Rights; Trailblazing Women, etc.
8. Sleeping and Eating
- The category of Tent Camping and another with RV can help point to great places to stay
9. Other Wonders
- Cool! "Saying "I Do"; Arts & Gardens; Urban Escapes; Under the radar parks.

This second edition probably benefited from comments on the first edition (I never read/saw that one), but you KNOW how second editions always incorporate great changes!

I like how readable this is. There is an excellent balance of pictures and text. Excellent font choices. Not crazy-artistic with layout, thus you really can READ this. Nice bold characters on important sub-sites within the place they are exploring.

The 420+ National Park Service places are comprised of:
- National Parks
- National Monuments
- National Preserves
- National Reserves
- National Lakeshores
- National Seashores
- National Rivers
- National Scenic Trails
- National Historic Trails
- National Historic Site (parks, battlefields, etc)
- National Memorial
- National Recreation Area
- National Parkway

All are listed in the appendix with their https://www.nps.gov/ specific URL

This was on the shelf at my local library. I think I need to buy a copy of this!
I'll mark this 'read' in 2025, but I did not remotely read this entire 480 page book.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, the top 10 of anything is rather subjective. This book covers many top 10 subjects. 80 to be exact.
6 authors worked on this & in the back are their personal top 10 national parks. While you may not agree with every list, this gives you some idea of what parks are known for. There's a paragraph for each park on every list that gives you some info on why the park made that particular list.

The easiest way to look up what lists a particular park has made it to is to look at the index. Otherwise, I skip some of the lists I'm not interested in to make this book more interesting for me.

Use it for fun, or use it for a trip!

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Analysis of our wonderful national parks and monuments is updated in this second edition from 2024, recently updated to include our newer parks. The book begins with the 10 best parks for landmarks and finishes with the best national parks for under-the-radar activity. Some of the other outstanding chapters include information about hiking, scenic drives, historic lodges, natural wonders, and wildlife. Altogether there are 74 chapters encouraging the reader’s interest to enjoy nature in our beautiful national parks. There are many photographs that show the natural resources and views, as well. My next trip will be Glacier National Park.

[Michelle Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful detailed guidebook offering hundreds of top 10 lists for national parks. The photography is stunning and the information is invaluable. Some of my favorites included Top 10 Caves, 10 Best Parks for Ancient Artifacts, 10 Best Parks where kids are wowed, 10 best parks for wildflower blooms and so much more!

[La-Tina Piccolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! Worth the purchase for adding to anyone's home library. Love how the sections are divided by types of park adventures. Amazing photography and an abundance of resources at the end of the book for planning your trip(s).

[Kelly Whitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not something you can read cover to cover. Also, if you use the index to just read about everything it has on one particular National Park, some of the entries are a bit repetitive.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers just about everything our national parks have to offer. Well written and intetesting.

[Denielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book to help decide which parks you want to check out based on what you want to be doing ex: bike riding or bird watching, etc.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love visiting National Parks when I travel. This book is filled with gorgeous photographs of the parks and top ten lists for various categories to help you find your next vacation spot.

[John Orman · Rating 5 out of 5]

With 9 major categories with about 10 sub-categories each, these lists can get pretty specific--wildflowers, fossils, ranger programs, civil war, and places to say "I do."

Under Geological Oddities, I hope to see the Badlands this year. I've seen White Sands and the Great Sand Dunes of CO. Never made it to Capitol Reef or Pt. Reyes, but have come close!

I also had to bypass Joshua Tree NP, which gets a mention in the Amazing Trees category. Did make it to Olympic NP and the Everglades, though.'
Of course Yellowstone rates in many of the categories, so glad I got to see it last summer. Yosemite is also mentioned many times, and I hope to hit that this summer.

I thought I had done a lot of rafting, but none of them make the "White-Water Thrill Rides" category, including my Colorado trip through the Grand Canyon.

I have done pretty good on Native American Culture, having been to Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Bandelier, Walnut Canyon, and Gila Cliff Dwellings. May see Little Bighorn Battlefield this year.

A big, glorious book loaded with information for the traveler!

[Karen! · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that takes a rather large to-do list (travelling to all of the national parks in America) and reworking it into managable bits. It is really helping me to prioritise and think of the parks differently. For instance: I love horseback riding. They have a top ten list of the best horseback riding trails. I don't know that I would have thought to go on a horseback trail in the parks. I will do that now. Also, now I know where the best waterfalls are--I am all about that.

With beautiful pictures, a great diversity of topics, and detailed information that simultaneously refrains from overwhelming the reader, I am sold.

[Deborah]

It's a pretty book and there's nothing wrong with the lists and variety, but it's pretty useless for actual travel. There's no list or index by state. Some of the titles and descriptions don't explain clearly where they are. They're not even all National Parks so a separate list of parks won't help in some cases. Some are National Monuments or National Historical Sites or National Battlefields. There is an index, but it doesn't include states.

[Dianne J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great synopsis of the amazing variety of national parks this country has to offer. The book is divided into 9 main categories and more sub-categories such as: National Wonders, Wildlife, Discovering History and more. The six authors give their top 10 favorites as well. Additionally, there is a section with contact information for all of the parks.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide to give you ideas on parks to visit. Especially if you're looking for something different. Like, family-friendly hikes, accessible trails, discovering history - science/industry, under appreciated parks, great places to camp, etc. wonderful tool and very interesting!

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love national parks and I wanted to like this book, but it is just a bunch of lists without any links to the where and the how. If you're planning to visit a park and want to know what the great things to do in the park are, this is NOT the best way to get there.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, info-packed book about all the national parks and what they have to offer. Can't wait to get my own copy for Christmas! hint, hint

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautiful guide to the best in the National Parks is a vivid reminder of what a beautiful country we all live in.

[TJ Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide to national parks. Got a bunch of ideas for future vacations!

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me want to get in the car and go. Immediately.

Why am I still here?

[juliegoonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've poured over this book for the last couple of days and it's gorgeous! All of the photography from our national parks are so beautiful! I can't wait to visit more of these wonderful parks!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs cross reference by state and maps

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the organization of the book but think maps would have helped a lot more in planning a trip

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very very nice book. Short and to-the-point. Just wish there were more beautiful photos of the national parks.

[Tamara]

Would be much easier to flip through if each park had the state where it's located listed directly underneath it.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have been even better with more photographs!