What are the best state parks/NPS units?
January 10, 2023 3:09 PM Subscribe
I'm thinking about places like Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, and Custer State Park -- places that are absolutely Official National Park caliber, but for whatever reason are not official National Parks. Any state or national park unit will do, anywhere in the US, although answers for the continental US are probably most helpful. Best if it has some of the expected amenities of a National Park too (bathrooms, park rangers, trail maps etc.)
(Obviously this is subjective and a teeny bit chatfilter BUT I am from the upper midwest where state park is usually just "you could camp here and also there's trees" so this is a real question, I was sort of astonished by the quality of these parks)
(Obviously this is subjective and a teeny bit chatfilter BUT I am from the upper midwest where state park is usually just "you could camp here and also there's trees" so this is a real question, I was sort of astonished by the quality of these parks)
My favorite is Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Avenue of the Giants is incredible, and I love camping at Burlington campground.
posted by extramundane at 3:35 PM on January 10, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by extramundane at 3:35 PM on January 10, 2023 [8 favorites]
Cape Cod National Seashore
White Mountain National Forest
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:50 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
White Mountain National Forest
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:50 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just to get the point of order out of the way, while the name “National Park” requires an act of Congress, National Monuments and all the other units administered by the National Park Service are administered exactly the same way (NPS makes a point of this). Before TFG tried to undo everything Obama did, presidential declarations under the Antiquities Act were generally assumed to be permanent without an act of Congress transferring control of the land. Here’s an older analysis from NPS on former units and how they were transferred but it predates recent shenanigans.
posted by fedward at 3:53 PM on January 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by fedward at 3:53 PM on January 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
Pedantically, Organ Pipe Cactus IS a unit of the National Park Service, which has a number of unit designations beyond "National Park" (e.g. National Battlefield, National Recreation Area, etc.).
Cahokia Mounds outside of St. Louis is one of 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the US. Looks like the interpretive center is currently closed for renovations, however.
Fayette State Park in the Upper Peninsula of MI has a historic iron smelting townsite as well as more traditional amenities like campgrounds and hiking trails.
[On preview - fedward beat me to it but the link is still good for seeing all the different types of designations under the NPS umbrella.]
posted by Preserver at 3:56 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Cahokia Mounds outside of St. Louis is one of 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the US. Looks like the interpretive center is currently closed for renovations, however.
Fayette State Park in the Upper Peninsula of MI has a historic iron smelting townsite as well as more traditional amenities like campgrounds and hiking trails.
[On preview - fedward beat me to it but the link is still good for seeing all the different types of designations under the NPS umbrella.]
posted by Preserver at 3:56 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Wupakti NM / Sunset Crater NM fit the ask. Are you looking for parks with fewer visitors? Maybe also Natural Bridges and Bears Ears.
posted by chuke at 4:06 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by chuke at 4:06 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Letchworth State Park(NY) is awesome especially if you like canyons/gorges.
Allegany State Park (NY) is also very beautiful. It also features a reservoir if you like water and watery things like boating and fishing.
Giant City (IL) is a state park nestled inside of a national forest. Full of massive wonderful rocks you can walk through and lots of great rock climbing spots. Camping there is truly magical.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 4:31 PM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
Allegany State Park (NY) is also very beautiful. It also features a reservoir if you like water and watery things like boating and fishing.
Giant City (IL) is a state park nestled inside of a national forest. Full of massive wonderful rocks you can walk through and lots of great rock climbing spots. Camping there is truly magical.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 4:31 PM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
My visits were separated by a number of years, but I think that the logs in Escalante Petrified Forest State Park were better than the ones in Petrified Forest National Park.
posted by straw at 4:34 PM on January 10, 2023
posted by straw at 4:34 PM on January 10, 2023
Valley of Fire outside Las Vegas is an essential American visit.
Anza Borrego is stunning, especially during a wildflower bloom in spring.
The iconic Dead Horse Point in Utah has been the backdrop for various film/TV shoots. Also in Utah, the San Rafael Swell should be a national park, but unfortunately it is merely BLM land. Goblin Valley State Park is on its edge, however. These Utah locations are all excellent stargazing sites due to their dark skies.
And now for something entirely different: Ecola, on the Oregon coast.
With the exception of Ecola, these would all have visitor centers, campgrounds, rangers, and the like. Ecola is pretty explicitly day use only, I think.
posted by desert outpost at 6:46 PM on January 10, 2023 [8 favorites]
Anza Borrego is stunning, especially during a wildflower bloom in spring.
The iconic Dead Horse Point in Utah has been the backdrop for various film/TV shoots. Also in Utah, the San Rafael Swell should be a national park, but unfortunately it is merely BLM land. Goblin Valley State Park is on its edge, however. These Utah locations are all excellent stargazing sites due to their dark skies.
And now for something entirely different: Ecola, on the Oregon coast.
With the exception of Ecola, these would all have visitor centers, campgrounds, rangers, and the like. Ecola is pretty explicitly day use only, I think.
posted by desert outpost at 6:46 PM on January 10, 2023 [8 favorites]
Elephant Rocks State Park and Johnson Shut-ins State Park in southeastish Missouri
posted by falsedmitri at 7:20 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by falsedmitri at 7:20 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
In 2020/2021 I visited all the state parks in North Carolina (ok, 40 of 41, dismal swamp was closed for road access repairs). What I will say about NC state parks is that they are consistent. You can book all of the campgrounds (except for one that was canoe-in access) on the Reserve America website. Each site page for the park is will have links to excellent trail maps that are formatted similarly, tell you about activities and events and also any camping availability (primitive, tent, trailer, hook up options, group camping spaces, cabins, etc). Sure the facilities will be slightly different location to location, but for the way that I formation is consistently presented about them, you won’t be misled to think there a bathroom at a trail head if there isn’t actually one, for example. And while I think NC State parks may rank low on the “grandeur” aspects, I will say that they are extremely well managed, especially those with campgrounds.
NC State forest spaces tend to be more how you describe in that it is just a space where you can camp, and not necessarily a lot of additional information or any amenities like potable water or bathrooms.
I love all the NC state parks that I visited, but I don’t know that any reach that same “caliber” metric that you’re talking about in the way the western US does. There’s something special about getting pulled in to the Smoky Mountains but it’s definitely a different experiences than staring at the Grand Cayon.
posted by raccoon409 at 8:25 PM on January 10, 2023
NC State forest spaces tend to be more how you describe in that it is just a space where you can camp, and not necessarily a lot of additional information or any amenities like potable water or bathrooms.
I love all the NC state parks that I visited, but I don’t know that any reach that same “caliber” metric that you’re talking about in the way the western US does. There’s something special about getting pulled in to the Smoky Mountains but it’s definitely a different experiences than staring at the Grand Cayon.
posted by raccoon409 at 8:25 PM on January 10, 2023
2nding Valley of Fire outside of Vegas and Giant City in southern Illinois.
thanks for the question- excited to check out the rest of the list :)
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:34 PM on January 10, 2023
thanks for the question- excited to check out the rest of the list :)
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:34 PM on January 10, 2023
Seconding Anza Borrego, and I will add that it's a Dark Sky community so the stargazing is excellent. Like, just comparing between desert parks in southern California, Joshua Tree may have more dramatic scenery, but Anza Borrego is stunningly quiet and has better stargazing.
posted by yasaman at 8:36 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by yasaman at 8:36 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
The stunning Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas is on BLM land. Alabama Hills are on BLM land.
Really, the entire states of Arizona and Utah are filthy with land that would be national parks if there weren't already so many. All those buttes around Sedona? National Forest land and some state parks. All those photos you've seen of Paria Canyon? Also on BLM land.
Maybe you could count Humboldt Redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Parks, although that might be cheating since California and the NPS have some kind of agreement to manage the redwood parks jointly.
posted by polecat at 9:00 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Really, the entire states of Arizona and Utah are filthy with land that would be national parks if there weren't already so many. All those buttes around Sedona? National Forest land and some state parks. All those photos you've seen of Paria Canyon? Also on BLM land.
Maybe you could count Humboldt Redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Parks, although that might be cheating since California and the NPS have some kind of agreement to manage the redwood parks jointly.
posted by polecat at 9:00 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
San Juan Islands National Monument.
Thanks Obama.
posted by brookeb at 9:46 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Thanks Obama.
posted by brookeb at 9:46 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Valley of Fire has a plaque (text copied from a photo; the plaque is in ALL CAPS so this is too):
VALLEY OF FIRE HAS BEEN DESIGNATED A
NATIONAL NATURAL LANDMARK
THIS SITE POSSESSES EXCEPTIONAL VALUE AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE NATION'S NATURAL HERITAGE AND CONTRIBUTES TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENT
1968
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
It's really cool. We also were randomly witnesses to a wedding because by the time we realized that's what was happening we couldn't exactly start our car and drive away without ruining the moment. (The adventure wedding officiant offered us a special "I'm doing weddings" deal, which we did not take).
I'll also second Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, because it was such an unexpected surprise (we knew to route that way on a road trip but hadn't actually researched enough to know what it was).
Kodachrome Basin is neat, and perhaps we failed to explore enough of it to be more impressed, or maybe we were just exhausted because we'd been traveling for a couple weeks, but it didn't strike us as equal to a National Park.
posted by fedward at 10:21 PM on January 10, 2023
NATIONAL NATURAL LANDMARK
THIS SITE POSSESSES EXCEPTIONAL VALUE AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE NATION'S NATURAL HERITAGE AND CONTRIBUTES TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENT
1968
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
It's really cool. We also were randomly witnesses to a wedding because by the time we realized that's what was happening we couldn't exactly start our car and drive away without ruining the moment. (The adventure wedding officiant offered us a special "I'm doing weddings" deal, which we did not take).
I'll also second Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, because it was such an unexpected surprise (we knew to route that way on a road trip but hadn't actually researched enough to know what it was).
Kodachrome Basin is neat, and perhaps we failed to explore enough of it to be more impressed, or maybe we were just exhausted because we'd been traveling for a couple weeks, but it didn't strike us as equal to a National Park.
posted by fedward at 10:21 PM on January 10, 2023
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park which includes the iconic Antelope Canyon.
posted by zsazsa at 11:03 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by zsazsa at 11:03 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, in the UP of Michigan.
And these two are kind of stretching the boundaries of the question, because really, a National Lakeshore is just a National Park that happens to be on a lakeshore, but Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are both national-park caliber.
posted by spamloaf at 6:30 AM on January 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
And these two are kind of stretching the boundaries of the question, because really, a National Lakeshore is just a National Park that happens to be on a lakeshore, but Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are both national-park caliber.
posted by spamloaf at 6:30 AM on January 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
Another endorsement from me for Valley of Fire, Dead Horse Point, and Cahokia.
The photos I've taken in Valley of Fire and Cahokia were all before I was on Flickr, but I've got a couple photos of Dead Horse point from a winter trip in 2012. (I was visiting friends; one of them is a photographer and insisted we head there to get some sunset photos.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:50 AM on January 11, 2023
The photos I've taken in Valley of Fire and Cahokia were all before I was on Flickr, but I've got a couple photos of Dead Horse point from a winter trip in 2012. (I was visiting friends; one of them is a photographer and insisted we head there to get some sunset photos.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:50 AM on January 11, 2023
Another vote for Dolly Sods in WV - though part of the charm is that is doesn't have the amenities of a National Park (nor the crowds). For a relatively small amount of land, there is an incredibly diverse range of landscapes.
posted by coffeecat at 8:14 AM on January 11, 2023
posted by coffeecat at 8:14 AM on January 11, 2023
Seminole Canyon in TX features stunning pictographs.
posted by veery at 8:59 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by veery at 8:59 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Lemme see, searching through my photos...
Watkins Glen State Park in NY is "gorges" :)
Niagara Falls State Park! There's a cave, a boat, and a restaurant with a view.
Ohiopyle State Park has yurts and lots of activities
City of Rocks State Park in NM is just really cool, not many amenities tho
Silver Falls State Park in OR where you can really go chasing waterfalls
Florida State Parks are pretty nice for camping.
posted by credulous at 12:27 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Watkins Glen State Park in NY is "gorges" :)
Niagara Falls State Park! There's a cave, a boat, and a restaurant with a view.
Ohiopyle State Park has yurts and lots of activities
City of Rocks State Park in NM is just really cool, not many amenities tho
Silver Falls State Park in OR where you can really go chasing waterfalls
Florida State Parks are pretty nice for camping.
posted by credulous at 12:27 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Grayson Highlands State Park in SW VA. The hike from the park across the balds of the mountains to the high point in VA is about 9 miles out and back, and rivals just about anything in a National Park. Stunning mountain vistas the entire way, with wild ponies, and a herd of longhorn cattle. Part of the hike is on the Appalachian Trail. The campground has W/E hookups too.
First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach is pretty damn nice too. 5-minute walk to beautiful beaches right at the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Because you are on the bay, the waves are usually minimal, making it a very kid friendly beach. And all the tourist stuff of VA Beach is 5 minutes away.
The Blue Ridge Pkwy technically is not a National Park, but it is administered by NPS.
posted by COD at 3:53 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach is pretty damn nice too. 5-minute walk to beautiful beaches right at the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Because you are on the bay, the waves are usually minimal, making it a very kid friendly beach. And all the tourist stuff of VA Beach is 5 minutes away.
The Blue Ridge Pkwy technically is not a National Park, but it is administered by NPS.
posted by COD at 3:53 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a very nice place.
posted by slogger at 11:46 AM on January 12, 2023
posted by slogger at 11:46 AM on January 12, 2023
The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a very nice place.
but a national park nonetheless. In southern Ohio, there is Hocking Hills which is more of an area rather than 1 specific park. Lots of hiking, waterfalls and the like. Because it is a series of state parks with private land in between, there are inordinate amount of cabins for rent. Also, Athens, Ohio is within easy driving distance which gives you access to a large university town with all its amenities (breweries, cultural opportunities, wide range of independent restaurants).
Going further south into Kentucky you have Red River Gorge which you can imagine is a gorge. Lots of hiking and climbing with camping and cabin rentals. There is a surprising number of treehouses for rent here.
posted by mmascolino at 4:56 AM on January 13, 2023
but a national park nonetheless. In southern Ohio, there is Hocking Hills which is more of an area rather than 1 specific park. Lots of hiking, waterfalls and the like. Because it is a series of state parks with private land in between, there are inordinate amount of cabins for rent. Also, Athens, Ohio is within easy driving distance which gives you access to a large university town with all its amenities (breweries, cultural opportunities, wide range of independent restaurants).
Going further south into Kentucky you have Red River Gorge which you can imagine is a gorge. Lots of hiking and climbing with camping and cabin rentals. There is a surprising number of treehouses for rent here.
posted by mmascolino at 4:56 AM on January 13, 2023
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posted by humbug at 3:24 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]