Exploring the less-traveled Capitol Gorge Trail by Gloria Wadzinski

8 Best Uncrowded Parks

Helping you find the best places to travel where you can avoid crowds and experience immense beauty is high on our daily to-do lists these days. Here are 8 national parks that we feel are some of the park service’s best-kept secrets.

Arizona: This breathtaking five-story ruin set impossibly high in the canyon walls rivals the Grand Canyon for its magnificence.

Colorado: Bring your beach chair and sled to this undiscovered national park.

California: Tired of doing laps around Yosemite’s parking lots in search of an open space? Just down the road, these two national parks offer incredible trails, alpine views and sights like the world’s largest tree.

Utah: This stunning red-rock desert oasis comes with none of the traffic you’ll find in Arches but all the beauty and a bonus: the option to pick your own fruit.

Washington: No roads lead to a picturesque, lakeside village just south of this gorgeous national park.

Kentucky: En route to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you’ll find the world’s largest _____ at this national park. Hint: it starts with a “c.”

North Dakota: With bison and elk roaming these green hills, you’ll have the animals and trails all to yourself and none of Yellowstone’s traffic.

Save Our Lands

Why is voting this November so important? Patagonia’s new film, Public Trust, shows us how our public lands like Bears Ears National Monument, Boundary Waters and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are under threat. Watch it now and #VoteTheOutdoors on Nov. 3.

Tamron Special

Next to Olympic

Dreamy Coastal Road Trip

Beautiful sandy beaches. Breathtaking rainforests. Small towns with big personalities. Find out why this area next to Olympic National Park should be on your bucket list.

Near Grand Canyon

Unexpected Green Oasis

Fall in love with this charming historic downtown in northern Arizona packed with wine tasting rooms and restaurants before heading to a stunning solitude-fueled national monument minutes away.

Next to Yosemite

Uncrowded Oasis next to the Park

Stay at this gorgeous lodge just a mile from the park's best-kept secret entrance. The Hetch Hetchy Entrance gets .5 percent of the traffic that the rest of Yosemite gets but has all of the beauty.

Photo by Kim Carroll Photography

On the Way to Grand Canyon

An Unexpected Attraction

Tour the USS Arizona Memorial Gardens and see a real piece of the USS Arizona boat house that survived the Pearl Harbor bombing minutes from Phoenix at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

In Utah

What to Pack

Headed to Utah for a getaway? Don’t forget to pack these amazing maps, along with these 16 essential items.