| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Ultimate Rocky Mountain Destinations
Disappear into Yellowstone's forgotten peaks. Bag Colorado's most exciting Fourteener. Hike Utah's unknown long trail Our field editors pick 24 epics for your Rockies life list.
Readers' Choice Mountain West Hike: Santa Maria Spring, Grand Canyon NP
Gaze into the world's most beautiful labyrinth.
Readers' Choice Mountain West: Mr. Bubbles, Yellowstone NP
Relax in an effervescent bath far from the dayhiking crowds.
Readers' Choice Mountain West Hike: West Maroon Pass, CO
Trip through kaleidoscopic color amid high-alpine splendor.
Readers' Choice Mountain West: Mills Lake, Rocky Mountain NP
Get big payoffs on an easy hike.
Readers' Choice Mountain West: The Colorado Trail
Thru-hike America's highest trail.
Readers' Choice Mountain West: Gunsight Pass, Glacier NP
See the park's famed glaciers from a high mountain pass.
Reader Essays: The Ridge of Defeat
Barrie Imhoff tempts fate in Glacier National Park.
Northern Rockies: Dawson Pass Loop, Glacier National Park
See the best of Montana without the crowds.
Watch It, Hike It: An Episode-by-Episode Guide to The National Parks: America's Best Idea by Ken Burns
Catch these highlights from The National Parks: America's Best Idea, then download maps to hike to them yourself.
America's Scariest Trails: Vanished
Lost? Murdered? When the wilderness swallows people without a trace, who's to say what happened?
National Parks Confidential: Q & A with Filmmaker Ken Burns
On the eve of his much-anticipated documentary, Ken Burns discusses the heroes and history of America's most precious wildlands–and the new challenges they face now.
Natural Wonders: Three Treks to Life-List Phenomena
Check out the world's hottest hydrothermal fumarole, Glacier's grizzlies, and a venus flytryp in North Carolina.
Perfect Substitutes: Crowd-Free Destinations
You know that the big-name parks draw big-time crowds. But each of those outdoor icons has a lesser-known replacement that offers some of the same classic features and epic scenery–and you get it all to yourself.
National Parks Hall of Fame: Best Alpine Hike
Live longer, take the North Circle Route. Glacier's highcountry views and crisp alpine air are rumored to add years to a backpacker's being.
Readers' Choice Awards 2009
Discover the best hike in every state, as voted by BACKPACKER readers. Plus: your essential gear, most desirable tentmate, worst-ever adventure movie, and our picks for the best reader-submitted photos.
Phenomenon: Glacial Relics
The Ice Age left its mark from Acadia to Yosemite. Here's scenic evidence.
Poll: What's Your Favorite National Park?
Bear Patrol in Glacier
Traverse the wildest part of the lower 48's last great grizzly hideaway.
National Parks Lifelist
The ultimate vacation in one of America's iconic parks requires the ultimate hiking plan: classic scenery, no crowds, and secret campsites. Here's how to spend a perfect week in Glacier, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Olympic, Denali, and the Great Smoky Mountains.
Denali National Park
Hike with grizzlies in this remote northern corner of Alaska's greatest park.
Yellowstone National Park
America's first national park is a playground for grizzlies, wolves, moose, and hikers (not in that order).
Olympic National Park
Explore two ecosystems in this hinterland of moss-draped forests, ancient trees, and snowcapped peaks.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Graze blueberry patches, explore swimming holes, and tag the South's high points on this sultry hike.
Grand Canyon National Park
Drop into America's belly on a little-known hike that dips in and out of four different canyons, each blessed with gurgling spring water.
Yosemite National Park
Climb classic Sierra passes, ogle granite monoliths, and camp above treeline in John Muir's second home.
Glacier National Park
Scramble up class III peaks and cross late summer snowfields on this strenuous but straightforward trip through Montana's big-mountain country.
National Parks Lifelist: Intro
America's 10 Most Dangerous Hikes - Huckleberry Mtn., Apgar Range, MT
Fatten griz for winter
Trek Newfoundland's Long Range Traverse
Coastal views, mountains, and fjords await on the Long Range Traverse in Newfoundland's Gros Morne National Park.
How Your Kid Can Save a Park
Send him out on a work trip. Let wilderness do the rest.
How to Light a Campfire in the Smokies
Trees, trees are everywhere, but sometimes there isn't a dry twig in sight.
National Park Vacation Planners: 3D Videos and Downloadable Beta
3-D hike videos, complete trip planner pdfs, our interactive ParkFinder tool, and more.
How to Score Denali's Choicest Permits
The system was rigged, says a former ranger. Here's how to beat it.
May Close-to-Home Hikes
Our map team has been hard at work plotting the coolest hikes. Check out May's selections here.
Survival Story: Surviving a Grizzly Attack in Glacier National Park
On August 25, 2005, Johan Otter and his 18-year-old daughter, Jenna, hiked right into the worst nightmare of any Glacier National Park backpacker: a 300-pound mother grizzly protecting two cubs. Here, in his own words, the 45-year-old physical therapist from Escondido, CA, shares the incredible story of their life-and-death struggle.
Adventure Guide: Glacier National Park
Explore six new routes through the most rugged, scenic, and wildife-rich mountains in the Lower 48.
Essential National Park Skills: The Ultimate Park Pass
Write your own ticket to new adventures with these 10 territory-expanding skills.
Paddling's Greatest Getaways
16 wild ways to find backcountry solitude and big-time scenery. All this, and you can bring the ice chest, too.
Phenomenon: Glaciers
Glaciers sculpt mountains, dredge valleys, and remain an unending source of fascination for hikers.
Hike Glacier National Park
Visitors to Montana's Glacier National Park can visit on the cheap or pay an arm and a leg -- but each way has its unique charms.
Hike Glacier National Park's Triple Divide Peak
The ultimate continental divide and a legendary mountaineering traverse
Backpack Alberta's Carthew Summit
Memorable panoramas of Glacier National Park's high peaks
Touched By A Grizzly
Can anyone really know what lurks in the heart of a grizzly? In the wilds of Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, Charlie Russell believes he is beginning to find out.
Expedition Planner: Glacier National Park, MT
Get more Glacier hiking ideas in our online exclusive
Glacier National Park
3 hidden hikes in our readers' favorite backpacking park
Montana, Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park
The most-studied glacier in the park lets you see global warming in action.
Alaska, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Paddle blue inlets too new for any topo.
The Global Warming Tour 2003
The ultimate guide to greenhouse adventure, featuring 8 surprising new trips, acres of virgin terrain, and a peek at the future of North American wilderness.
Cascade Pass, North Cascades National Park
The Cascade scenery on this hike can only be compared to those of the Alps.
Iceberg Lake, Glacier National Park
Some of the most classic glacier scenery is offered to all visitors of this national park.
Wild Weddings
Want a ceremony that reflects your passion for the outdoors? Here's everything you need to know to pull off a wilderness wedding.
Best Backpacking In Montana
Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Montana.
National Parks: Best Overall Park
Glacier National Park possesses scenery that'll suck the breath out of your lungs, quiet so intense you'll wonder if your ears still work, and enough wildlife to make a zookeeper drool with envy.
National Parks: Best Wildlife
Where the words "wild" and "life" take on new meaning
National Parks: Best Scenery
The greatest backpacking parks in the United States, chosen for their scenery.
Editor's Choice: Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park
Bears electrify an already incredible experience at Glacier National Park's Bowman Lake.
