The 20 Most Drivable National Parks in the US

With more than 4 million miles of pavement on US roads, travelers are faced with an abundance of scenic routes from sea to shining sea. And with 63 parks in the national park system, many of those roads zip straight through some of America’s finest landscapes. But which roads are the finest? We spent a summer driving across the country to find out. These are the most drivable national parks in the US.

The gates of Rocky Mountain National Park sit less than two hours from Denver, Colorado, making this western 415-square-mile fortress one of the most accessible parks in the country. That shouldn’t deter travelers looking for unparalleled views, though, as Rocky Mountain serves up a surreal, tundra atop America’s highest tarmac: Trail Ridge Road.

Trail Ridge Road carries drivers 48 miles west from the city of Estes Park, across the Continental Divide and into the town of Grand Lake. At 12,183 feet, the road's highest point is often a swirling dreamscape of shifting clouds, spitting snow and wandering elk.

The most popular time to visit Rocky Mountain National Park is during the elk rut from mid-September through mid-October, so plan accordingly. However, regardless of when you venture to Rocky Mountain National Park, the sky-high views are unrivaled.

There’s no stretch of American asphalt quite like Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road. The perilous, 50-mile highway in Montana tattoos a path along the bones of North America's geologic foundations, putting drivers face-to-face with death-defying views of a prehistoric glacial valley. The path here is precious, often opening by June or July and remaining fully passable for just a few months, as the snow can pack back in by October.

Going-to-the-Sun Road is an unmissable experience. Travelers who want to ditch the crowds can leave the pavement for one of Glacier’s many loose gravel roads that dot their way through unblemished wilderness — and equally impressive views — near the outpost of Polebridge, Montana, (pictured), and the Canadian border.

You won't escape the crowds at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is often open year-round due to its lower elevations and southern location on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. However, you'll still find plenty of natural beauty cruising through the heart of one of America’s most ancient mountain ranges. Autumn views here, in particular, are hard to top.

Geologists say the Appalachian Mountains are at least four times older than the Rocky Mountains. These mountains have been aged like a fine, geologic wine, leaving travelers with sweeping panoramas of soft, rolling peaks that melt into the early morning fog and glowing afternoon sunsets.

Isolated from its nearest national park neighbors by hundreds of miles, South Dakota's Badlands National Park rewards travelers on Interstate 90 with an immense moonscape that’s easily accessible by car. For road warriors making a continental crossing of the US, the park's surreal network of pinnacles, abundance of wildlife and roadside campsites make the Badlands a can't-miss destination midway across America.

Home to temperate rainforests, glaciers and rocky Pacific Northwest coastline, Washington’s Olympic National Park serves up an unequaled array of diversity among US parks. Tucked onto the lower 48’s westernmost coast on the Olympic Peninsula, this mega-park is easy to get turned around in.

Most visitors follow the famed US Highway 101 towards rocky Ruby Beach before sidetracking up Hurricane Ridge Road for a treacherous, winding drive along its cliffs and unobstructed views of the Cascade Mountains at the road’s pinnacle. Olympic's South Shore Road carries trail-happy travelers to multiple trailheads for the Quinault Rainforest Trail, where a mystic, evergreen world awaits.

A photographer's paradise, California's Yosemite National Park is renowned for first-class hiking and climbing in one of the most picturesque landscapes on Earth. Underrated, however, are the park's roads, which ferry visitors to and from trailheads. The phenomenal Glacier Point Road puts drivers face-to-face with the iconic Half Dome at Washburn Point and Glacier Point.

En route, drivers can pull off at Tunnel View, soaking in the sweeping views of Yosemite Valley that fueled Ansel Adams' dreams, before driving across the spine of the Sierras on the stunning engineering marvel that is the 9,943-foot Tioga Pass.

Pro tip: Avoid the crowds by making this drive at sunrise.

The most compact of Utah's Big Five national parks at just 55 square miles, Bryce Canyon National Park punches above its weight with an all-star caliber driving tour that carries travelers to scenic vista after scenic vista. Parking areas at Inspiration Point, Sunrise Point, Sunset Point and Natural Bridge give quick and easy access to views that are sure to make your jaw drop.

Paired with a sublime mountainous drive up US Highway 89 to the park's entrance, Bryce Canyon earns a top 10 spot among drivable national parks.

With radiator-busting temperatures, tire-puncturing rocks and a spare supply of gasoline, California's Death Valley is few people's idea of a leisurely cruise. What the park is, however, is humbling. One hundred miles outside of Las Vegas, US Highway 190 carries travelers under the shadow of the Funeral Mountains and into the heart of Death Valley. Here, the highway dances like an obsidian ribbon through the Martian landscape, making pit stops at Badwater Basin, the Mesquite Sand Dunes, Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells.

Those who survive the westward journey will soon find themselves in the relative oasis of Lone Pine, California, near the base of the Lower 48's tallest peak, Mount Whitney.

Arches National Park needs no introduction to park junkies. The 155-square-mile stretch bordering the Colorado River and Moab, Utah, houses some 2,500 natural stone arches. Rookie visitors may be surprised to learn that many of those arches, including the storied Landscape and Turret arches, are clearly visible from the road. Rock formations like the Parade of Elephants, Park Avenue and the Courthouse Towers also lie along Arches Scenic Drive, which beckons travelers off of US 191 before carrying them on towards another member of Utah's Big Five: Canyonlands.

Located in the southern reaches of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the narrow General's Highway puts drivers under the shadows of the Giant Forest. This ancient grove of sequoia and redwood trees deep in the heart of California's Sequoia National Park dwarfs even the largest vehicles on the road. Here, drivers can feel the power of some of the world's largest trees right from their seats.

Hiking trails, however, abound from a parking lot at the Giant Forest Museum. From there, the stout of heart can make a trek through the Giant Forest and the Congress Trail towards the largest tree (by volume) in the world: the General Sherman Tree.

A bewildering dreamscape of ivory sand dunes and purple, desert mountains beckon travelers about an hour and a half north of El Paso, Texas. Re-designated from national monument to national park in 2019, New Mexico's White Sands National Park is home to Dunes Drive, a 16-mile roundtrip journey through a surreal landscape that puts travelers behind the wheel on miles of hard-packed highway made of gypsum.

Spectacular herds of bison roam the byways of Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley in a park synonymous with America’s wild places. Yellowstone, located mostly in Wyoming, may be the nation’s most famous national park, and its confines are nearly unnavigable without four wheels. Yellowstone’s boundaries could encompass the states of Delaware and Rhode Island together, and its wonders are best accessed via a drive through this geologic wonderland.

At Yellowstone, traditional pit stops like Old Faithful and the Grand Prismatic Spring sit just steps from the main highway. And though you may have to jockey for a parking spot during summer months, the park remains a can’t-miss for road trippers making their way between coasts.

Situated just south of Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park is a breathtaking natural playground whose rocky spires pierce the Wyoming sky like beacons guiding the way to adventure. Grand Teton National Park is smaller than its more well-known neighbor, but for road trippers looking for trailheads and campgrounds, this park is hard to beat.

Cascade Canyon Trail, brimming with bears, moose and elk, is a perennial contender for one of the top hiking trails in America. Meanwhile, Jenny Lake Campground puts travelers on the shores of one of the continent’s most pristine, high-altitude lakes.

Nearby Jackson Hole Airport serves as a hub for flights and vehicle rentals in a jaw-dropping setting beneath the Tetons. And the town’s Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and iconic town square place a night on the town just minutes from the park gates.

Oregon's Crater Lake at sunrise will burn itself into your mind for life. The stillness of the water, loose, volcanic dust beneath your feet, and the death-defying plummet from the crater’s rim to the water below melt into an unforgettable vista. By day, the water transforms into a surreal, cerulean oval created from one of the deepest and clearest lakes on the planet.

Scenic Rim Drive brings road trippers to the precipice of the crater's edge on a 33-mile route tracing a path through geologic history and a labyrinth of mesmerizing meadows and evergreens with more than 30 pullouts for pausing to appreciate the views.

One of America's most mysterious national parks is also one of its most driver-friendly landscapes. Located just over two hours away from Los Angeles, the captivating corners of California's Joshua Tree National Park await travelers in search of desert solitude.

Park Boulevard wraps its way through miles of cholla cacti and ethereal rock formations from entrances at the outposts of Twentynine Palms or the town of Joshua Tree. Pit stops at iconic park locations like Skull Rock, Barker Dam and Hidden Valley give visitors the opportunity to stretch their legs without the strenuous hikes or daring rock climbing activities that the park is renowned for.

Unique among national parks, Redwood National Park shares its grounds with the identically named California state park. Situated along the Golden State's most remote, northern coastline, Redwood National and State Parks lay just south of the Oregon border on the legendary US Highway 101.

There, transfixing stands of towering coast redwood trees form a forested wonderland for gravel, dirt and asphalt roads that meander beneath the canopies of the tallest trees on Earth. Road trippers packing a tent can glide into one of the park's four campgrounds while keeping an eye out for a rare glimpse of the recently reintroduced California condor in the skies above.

A spellbinding sea of cacti sits on the outskirts of Tuscon, Arizona, at Saguaro National Park. There, the arms of cacti reach up to 40 feet into the desert air around a scenic loop drive where road trippers can be as likely to share the road with a roaming roadrunner, curious coyote or diminutive desert tortoise as another vehicle.

Scenic vistas and pullouts abound on this trek through one of the desert Southwest's most iconic landscapes, where the odd picnic area and campground give visitors a chance to ditch the confines of the car for a while before retreating back to Tuscon.

A Caribbean island may not seem like an obvious road trip destination, but the shores of St. John offer a remarkable escape for travelers intrepid enough to reach them. A short ferry ride from neighboring St. Thomas puts visitors on the doorstep of Virgin Islands National Park, an adventurous escape from the mainland almost entirely located on land once owned by the Rockefellers.

Jeep outfitters await travelers at the ferry terminal in Cruz Bay, and snagging one can unlock the keys to exploring the tranquil beaches of Cinnamon Bay or the jungle-encrusted ruins lining hiking trails around this mountainous paradise.

One hundred and five miles of breathtaking byway through the Blue Ridge Mountains await inside Virginia's Shenandoah National Park. Road trippers here are welcomed to a historic highway dotted with waterfalls, wildflowers and historic landmarks that lure some 1.2 million visitors to its bends each year.

Highlights include a visit to President Herbert Hoover's favorite mountain retreat at Rapidan Camp, a trip to 4,051-foot Hawksbill Summit and a taste of the region's renowned blackberry ice cream pie.