Backpacker Magazine – October 2007

America's Best Campsites

Whether you are after fishing holes or skinny-dipping, Backpacker tracked down the best campsites in the country

by: Kelly Bastone

Top 5 Designated National Park Campsites
West Rim Trail, Zion, UT
Sites 4 through 8 all overlook the wrinkled, elephant-hide chasms of Great West Canyon, but try for #8: It boasts imperial views of Utah's buffest gulfs, plus water at Potato Hollow Spring. (435) 772-0170; nps.gov/zion

Death Canyon Shelf, Grand Teton, WY
Think of it as a big limestone climbers' hammock. A grass-topped ledge hugs towering cliffs with luxury-box views of the Tetons from a less-traveled western approach. (307) 739-3309; nps.gov/grte

McKittrick Ridge, Guadalupe Mountains, TX
From atop the sheer wall lining McKittrick Canyon, you can peer down at an array of hardwoods unusual for Texas. In autumn, they pulsate reds and golds. (915) 828-3251; nps.gov/gumo

Duck Harbor, Isle Au Haut, Acadia, ME
Isle au Haut's pristine topography, which features miles of trail winding through pine forest misted by the sea, is the closest thing to coastal backcountry in New England. (207) 288-3338; nps.gov/acad

Lake Ellen Wilson, Glacier, MT
Nestled between Sperry and Harrison Glaciers below Gunsight Pass, this site sits squarely in mountain-goat terrain, with views of gorgeous, glaciated (for now) valleys. (406) 888-7800; nps.gov/glac

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