The Ultimate Guide to Hiking & Backpacking in America’s National Parks
Robert Decker10 of the Best National Parks for Backpacking Adventures
The best way to experience our national parks? On foot.
From rugged mountain passes and hidden canyons to misty forests and glacial valleys, America’s national parks offer some of the most unforgettable backpacking adventures in the world. And while every park has something special to offer, a few stand out for the kind of deep, immersive experiences that only come from lacing up your boots and heading down the trail.
I’ve spent more than 50 years exploring, photographing, and creating artwork inspired by our national parks, and I can tell you this: there’s no substitute for seeing these places up close. With 63 national parks spread across the country, choosing the “best” is impossible. But for backpackers and adventure seekers, these are some of my top picks—each one filled with beauty, challenge, and inspiration, and each one connected in some way to my National Park Posters collection.
Why backpack in the national parks?
Backpacking takes you beyond the overlooks, parking lots, and crowded viewpoints. It slows you down, pulls you deeper into the landscape, and gives you a chance to experience the parks in a way most visitors never will.
What Makes a Great Backpacking National Park?
- Scenic variety — from alpine lakes to desert canyons to old-growth forests
- Backcountry access — the ability to get beyond the crowds
- Memorable trails — routes with challenge, beauty, and a strong sense of place
- Wildness — the feeling that you’re truly out there
- Inspiration — the kind of place that stays with you long after the trip ends
Yosemite National Park: Best of the West
Ansel Adams didn’t make this place famous for nothing. Yosemite is the national park for many outdoor lovers—home to towering granite walls, thunderous waterfalls, high-country lakes, and some of the most legendary trails in America.
While Yosemite Valley draws most of the crowds, the backcountry offers a very different experience. Once you climb above the busiest areas, the park opens up into an extraordinary landscape of domes, ridges, meadows, and sweeping Sierra views.
Recommended adventure: Mt. Watkins — a rewarding route with panoramic views of Half Dome, Clouds Rest, and Yosemite Valley, often with far less foot traffic than the park’s more famous hikes.
- World-famous granite scenery
- Huge variety of routes, from moderate to demanding
- Classic Sierra backcountry experience
Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Best of the East
The most visited national park in the United States still holds plenty of quiet corners—you just have to be willing to hike a little farther. The Smokies combine ancient mountains, mossy forests, wildflower-strewn meadows, and a deep sense of Appalachian history.
This is a park that feels alive in every direction. Fog curls through the ridges, streams tumble through the woods, and wildlife is everywhere. It’s especially compelling for backpackers who love long ridgeline walks and layered mountain views.
Recommended adventure: the Appalachian Trail through the Smokies — 72 unforgettable miles that cross state lines and move through some of the oldest mountains on Earth.
- Misty high-elevation balds and ridges
- Historic shelters and Appalachian trail culture
- One of the best East Coast backcountry experiences
Grand Canyon National Park: Most Iconic
It’s grand for a reason. The canyon is far more than a breathtaking view from the rim—it’s an enormous, layered wilderness that changes dramatically the deeper you go. Every mile feels like a descent through geologic time.
Backpacking here is not casual. Heat, distance, and elevation gain make it one of the most demanding adventures on this list. But for those prepared for it, it’s also one of the most memorable.
Recommended adventure: Rim to Rim — roughly 24 miles of steep elevation change, unforgettable canyon scenery, and an experience that feels unlike anywhere else in the country. For many hikers, turning it into a two-day trek with a stay at Phantom Ranch makes it even more special.
Backpacking tip: The Grand Canyon rewards preparation. Water planning, weather awareness, and honest pacing matter here more than almost anywhere else.
Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks: Best for Thru-Hikers
Often grouped together as SEKI, these parks deliver some of the finest backcountry terrain in the Lower 48. Think enormous sequoias, granite peaks, remote passes, alpine basins, and a level of scale that feels truly epic.
If you love long miles and big mountain country, this is one of the great backpacking destinations in America.
Recommended adventure: the High Sierra Trail — a 72-mile crossing of the Sierra Nevada that culminates near Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous United States.
- Huge alpine scenery
- Excellent multi-day route options
- A dream destination for strong backpackers
Olympic National Park: Best Variety
One park, three dramatically different worlds: rugged Pacific coastline, lush temperate rainforest, and glaciated mountains. Olympic offers a level of diversity that few parks can match.
You can spend one trip wandering through moss-draped forests, another walking wild beaches lined with sea stacks, and another climbing into the high country for vast mountain views. It’s a park that keeps surprising you.
Recommended adventure: the Elwha River Trail — a 45-mile backcountry journey through old forest, along glacial rivers, and into deep Olympic solitude.
- Rainforest, coast, and mountains in one park
- Over 600 miles of trails
- A strong feeling of remoteness
Canyonlands National Park: Best for Solitude
If you love Utah’s red rock country but want to escape some of the heavier crowds, Canyonlands is hard to beat. This is a vast and rugged landscape of sandstone spires, narrow canyons, high mesas, and remote backcountry routes.
The park’s districts—Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze—each offer their own kind of adventure, but all share one thing: space. Lots of it.
Recommended adventure: the Salt Creek–Lavender Canyon Loop — a route filled with arches, rock art, canyon walls, and the kind of desert silence that makes you feel very small in the best possible way.
Denali National Park: The Wildest
No trails. No easy route markers. No neatly packaged experience. Denali is raw, huge, and untamed—a place where backpacking feels more like true wilderness travel.
This is not the park for people who want convenience. It’s the park for people who want wild country, route-finding, river crossings, and the kind of experience that demands self-reliance.
Recommended adventure: explore the Thorofare River region after careful planning, permit preparation, and route research.
- True off-trail travel
- Big wilderness energy
- A serious adventure unlike the standard national park experience
Zion National Park: Most Otherworldly
Zion feels almost unreal. Towering sandstone walls, narrow slot canyons, hanging gardens, and glowing desert light give this park a landscape that feels closer to science fiction than everyday life.
It’s a park of contrasts—lush river corridors below, high slickrock and exposed viewpoints above. Backpackers looking for something visually striking and unforgettable will find plenty here.
Recommended adventure: The Subway (bottom-up) — a route through sculpted rock, pools, and canyon passages that feels like stepping into another world.
North Cascades National Park: Best for Alpine Adventures
Think the Alps, but in Washington. North Cascades is one of the most underrated parks in the country, with jagged peaks, massive glaciers, rushing streams, and some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the National Park System.
It’s the kind of place that appeals instantly to hikers who love elevation, sweeping views, and wild alpine terrain.
Recommended adventure: Cascade Pass & Sahale Arm — one of the park’s most spectacular routes, known for jaw-dropping views and the chance to spot mountain goats along the way.
Glacier National Park: Best Natural Features
Turquoise lakes. Hanging valleys. Waterfalls. Wildflower meadows. Glacier is one of the most visually stunning parks in America, and for backpackers it offers some of the most rewarding trail experiences anywhere in the country.
This is a place where nearly every day on the trail feels cinematic. Its landscapes are dramatic, its wildlife is abundant, and its trails lead through some of the last great glacial scenery in the Lower 48.
Recommended adventure: Grinnell Glacier — an unforgettable route that delivers lakes, cliffs, and a close-up look at one of the park’s remaining active glaciers.
Honorable Mentions for Backpackers
There are plenty of other parks that could easily make this list depending on your style of adventure. A few worth considering:
- Rocky Mountain National Park for high alpine scenery and dramatic elevation
- Wrangell-St. Elias for sheer scale and true remoteness
- Big Bend for desert solitude and expansive night skies
- Joshua Tree for a different kind of minimalist beauty
- Mount Rainier for wildflower meadows and glacier views
One of the best parts of backpacking?
Every trip leaves you with something lasting—memories, stories, photos, and often a deeper connection to the place itself. That’s a big part of what inspires my artwork.
Bring the Adventure Home
Each of these parks has inspired my National Park Posters collection, capturing the beauty, spirit, and sense of adventure that makes them unforgettable. If you love exploring the wild, there’s something special about bringing a piece of that experience home with you.
Whether you’re remembering a favorite trek, celebrating a park that changed you, or dreaming about where to go next, a national park poster can keep that inspiration alive every day.
Explore the collection, find your favorite park, and start planning your next adventure.
For more than 50 years, I’ve been exploring, photographing, and creating artwork that celebrates America’s national parks. Every trail, every overlook, every hidden gem I’ve discovered has helped shape the work I create. National Park Posters is my way of sharing that passion with fellow adventurers, travelers, and park lovers who want to keep those places close.
So grab your gear, hit the trail, and let the parks—and the art they inspire—fuel your next journey.