- Three of the top 10 best national parks for hiking are in California.
Want to experience the best trails the National Park Service has to offer? With over 44,000 combined miles to choose from, consider these national parks ranked best for hiking.
Utah-based shoe company KURU said it used the total number of trails, distance of trails, average trail rating, number of annual visitors and acreage of the park to determine the “Top 10 Best National Parks for Hiking” and narrowed down over 4,155 combined trails across 63 national parks.
The longest trail in the National Park System is the North Country Trail – spanning 4,600 miles across eight states. Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis ranked worst out of all the national parks for hiking, with only one, 2-mile-long trail.
For the second year in a row, Yosemite was ranked No. 1. It also made The Family Vacation Guide’s best national parks for you and your family to visit this summer list in 2022 and was one of the 15 most visited parks in the National Park System last year.
Top 10 national parks for hikers in 2023
- Yosemite National Park – California
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park – North Carolina and Tennessee
- Yellowstone National Park – Wyoming
- Olympic National Park – Washington
- Shenandoah National Park – Virginia
- Glacier National Park – Montana
- Rocky Mountain National Park – Colorado
- Sequoia National Park – California
- Grand Canyon National Park – Arizona
- Kings Canyon National Park – California
Which national parks have the most trails?
Choosing a park with a high number of trails is a smart option for families who hike and want to ensure “there’s something for everyone,” the company said.
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 348 trails
- Yosemite National Park: 278 trails
- Yellowstone National Park: 267 trails
- Shenandoah National Park: 264 trails
- Acadia National Park: 246 trails
- Rocky Mountain National Park: 235 trails
- Olympic National Park: 194 trails
- Glacier National Park: 154 trails
- Mount Rainier National Park: 150 trails
- Grand Canyon National Park: 133 trails
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