U.S. National Park Tier List

Tier lists are always fun and infuriating at the same time, so here's mine! This is a tier list for all of the national parks in the United States (except two that I haven't been to). Where do all of the parks rank? Let's find out!

[NationalParkWild]

I hope you enjoy the list, even though there are some controversial choices.

[BishopBeater]

I'm glad someone made a list without feeling they have to dunk on the bad parks and throwing shade at crowded/ hard to get to parks. Great video : )

[jackg]

I just think the sheer scale of Gates of the Arctic is incredible. No civilization, just amazing nature. The brooks range and the arrigetch peaks are gorgeous

[NATEG]

You definitely need to see more of Capitol Reef - it is way underrated. It has a lot of variety and unique elements. Everything from stunning cliff views, canyons, unique rock formations, and arches / bridges. Navajo Knobs is one of my favorite hikes in all of Utah. I personally enjoyed Capitol Reef more than Arches because it was a lot less crowded.

[sowososmooth]

I'm an absolutely rookie when it comes to national parks, having only been to big bend and rocky mountain national park but man am I glad to see a big bend appreciator. Beautiful park that never feels too crowded. Also the most beautiful night sky I've ever seen. Awesome park.

[Spikejou]

Great list!
Here is my list of the parks I have visited:
1. Glacier NP - Fantastic scenery and wildlife. Hikes are the best.
2. Zion NP - Jaw dropping! Love the colors, and The Narrows are the most unique and one of the most special hikes I have ever done.
3. Yellowstone - Unique and very diverse. I typically gravitate towards the northeast side (Lamar Valley and mountains) more than the thermal features. When combined with the Beartooth Highway near the northeast entrance it is truly special mountain heaven.
4. Grand Canyon - The grand views! Have done some hiking, but only a couple miles from the rim. Need to hike farther down the canyon.
5. Bryce Canyon - Only spent a short amount of time here but it impressed me a lot. I loved the intimate scale and how close a person is to the scenery.
6. Theodore Roosevelt - Local to my state and the one I visit the most often. Not the most "wow", but for sure the most peaceful and relaxing.
7. Arches - Beautiful desert scenery.
8. Grand Tetons - I highly recommend hiking into the canyons. It gives a total different experience than just driving past looking at the mountains.
9. Death Valley - Visited a couple times, both in mid summer. The extreme heat is part of the charm I like (in short bursts). Walking on the sand dunes early in the morning with the long shadows and patterns in the sand make for excellent photo opportunities.
10. Crater Lake - Visit was short and limited. The lake and colors are surreal. Went swimming in the lake too, was really cool (and cold).
11. Redwoods NP - Got a sore neck from looking up at trees in this park. The redwoods are amazing, but scenery is not as diverse as the parks above.
12. Badlands - Nice scenery, but not too special to me. The ND badlands appeal more to me.

New park I plan on visiting this year:
- Voyageurs
Repeat visits planned this year:
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Yellowstone
- Glacier
- Zion
I gravitate towards mountains and canyons.

Highest ones on my wish list:
- Rainier
- Olympic
- North Cascades
- Haleakala
- Yosemite
- Acadia (in the fall)

Sorry for the long comment - I am seriously suffering from a case of "I need to be on a hiking trail right now".

[andrewodonnell]

First of all love your videos. I just gotta advocate for Cuyahoga Valley a bit haha. Of course it can’t be anything above C tier really, but I had an amazing time there. I saw SO much wildlife it was just everywhere. Saw three beavers, one was building a dam. Saw bald eagles, a snapping turtle, snakes, deer, herons, muskrats, and more. The ledges trail is super fun, walking alongside those strangely colored rocks was unforgettable. But to me what really makes it worthy of national park status is its theme of nature reclaiming the land. There are countless of examples of this in the park. The Cuyahoga River was once so polluted that it literally caught fire. I kayaked 7 miles of it and you could never have known that from how it is today. Tons of wildlife.
The Erie Canal is another great example. Today the Erie Canal in the park is basically a long swamp with so much wildlife.
Like I said, it obviously can’t be that highly ranked compared to the other parks, but to me it might be the most underrated

[stereocilia]

As a fellow native Floridian, I was also underwhelmed by Everglades and Biscayne, especially compared to FL state parks. Bahia Honda, Honeymoon Island, Payne's Prairie and Blue Springs (Volusia) easily beat the national parks in FL in my experience. Similarly, Congaree seems like a lot of inland FL state parks with large amounts of cypress groves and boardwalks.

[kevincoates]

Finally some love for Teddy! I live in ND and it’s always great telling people from out of state that there are thousands of prairie dogs, hundreds of bison, mountain rams, Longhorns, deer, rattlesnakes, hawks, eagles, and even the occasional porcupine that you can see in just one visit! Bonus points for the landscape looking like you can make it as a background for an Alien landscape type of movie!

[justinhaberthy]

Most controversial choice imo is putting Great Smoky Mountains at the bottom. Not to change your mind, it’s your list, but which hikes did you complete there? And what season did you go in? Despite placing it in my B tier, I agree that its crowds & foggy conditions can make it tougher to enjoy. Great video.

[jymnmeier]

I've been so bust the past few months I have to catch up on your videos :) Love this video Eric and I love how you base it on your experience as well as personal preferences. After watch almost all of your biases it was fun to predict where you would place these. Great job as always !!

[walkerdawson]

You need to give Voyageurs another shot, you gotta get a canoe and do some canoe camping

[MongoBongo]

you need to go back to capitol reef again the park is astonishing but you have to bring a high clearance 4x4 vehicle and do your research as it isn't as easy to just show up and find all the good stuff do to its massive size, strange shape and ruggedness, there's only two paved roads in the whole park. if you go back make sure you do pleasant creek and keep your eyes pilled for petroglyphs they're all along the creeks canyon walls, Cassidy arch, kohab canyon, and last but not least sulpher creek the park is honestly so big there's way more to do these are just some of my favorites near the visitor center thats not even getting in to cathedral valley or the notom road area.

[DCombz]

Mammoth I think stands above a lot of your C tier picks. Cave features and fauna, fantastic tours, expansive, with a huge amount of revisit value. Very underrated gem.

Great list overall, makes this East Coast guy want to pull the trigger on going on an adventure out west.

[beccachambers]

I have been to many western national parks and gone on lots of hiking trails, I live in a very rural area next to state forests and nationals and I LOVE CUYAHOGA. I went to it for a day and enjoyed it so much… Glacier is still the best though. 😅😂 ALSO I AM ON A FRIENDS DEVICE I DO NOT OWN THIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL MINE IS SCENIC SHORTS.

[thegzak]

Though I haven’t been to anywhere near as many parks, we largely agree about the ones I’ve been to. I hadn’t ever considered Big Bend NP, thanks for putting it on my radar!

[adamsun]

The North Cascades rank as one of my top parks (beating out even the Utah Big 5 IMO!). It is the backcountry hiking that is most inviting here. Highway 20 is pretty lovely but nothing outstanding (Olympic has similar peaks in terms of grandeur, plus absolutely stunning beaches). But just taking a few days out in the wilderness - you truly get to appreciate how jagged and tremendous the mountain peaks are. The hundreds of waterfalls are a bonus.

Your ranking is really fun and I think you put some really nice underrated picks where they deserve to be! As a Canadian I will always love hopping over the border to visit Glacier from Waterton Lakes. My father wasn't too excited about Glacier when we first took a visit (he thought it would be a worse Banff/Jasper/Yoho), but it's one of his favourites now.

[malaquiasalfaro]

Glad The smoky Mountain NP was ranked so low. It is WAY overhyped, and it’s remarkably ugly due to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. People freak out and block up the road over seeing a single deer (which are not even uncommon in East TN) and sometimes people even stop IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD to just stare at barely a mountain.

[jlcastillo]

Thanks for great insight. Valuable perspective. Definitely an excellent trip planning resource.

[cooperstravels]

Just went to Shenandoah and New River Gorge. The appalachian mountain range is scenic but as you have said East best is closer to west worst. Skyline drive is nice, and the hiking was enjoyable. New River Gorge I thought had better scenery. The bridge was solid, the drive down to the river and back up was good. Some solid hikes there as well. Sunset was great. Overall they were solid but would rank them near the bottom half.