If you’re looking for a fun destination for your next vacation, consider visiting one of the 58 national parks in the U.S. Whether you want to spend weeks exploring the 13.2-million-acre Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska or stroll through the 0.02-acre Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial Park in Pennsylvania, the U.S. national park system has a wide range of options for every vacationer.

If the phrase “national park” only makes you think about the geyser at Yellowstone or Half Dome at Yosemite, you’re missing out on many other attractions that our parks have to offer. For example, U.S. national parks include 76,000 archeological sites and 162 million museum items, like furniture, paintings, photographs and documents. Each is full of treasures just waiting to be explored.

If you’re planning your first trip to a national park, National Geographic has a great guide to help you get started. With detailed pages for all of the major U.S. parks, you can put together the right vacation to fit your needs. You can even download the organization’s app to explore parks while you’re on the go and submit your own national park photos.

Fodor’s can help focus your travel planning with its 25 national park experiences not to miss trip planner. Each experience includes a beautiful photo, helpful tips about what to expect and reviews from other travelers.

For the adventurous traveler who appreciates a challenge, the National Park Travelers Club adds a little fun to your vacation. Members of the club strive to visit every national park administered by the National Park Service and collect stamps from each. Club members can earn awards for traveling to different parks during a certain time period, such as a 150th Anniversary of the Civil War Award for visiting a national park on the date of the war anniversary, or for reaching certain milestones in number of parks visited. 

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