The West’s Best State Parks
National parks get all the fanfare, but these state parks are worthy of adoration—and your next vacation.
Please note that due to COVID-19 concerns, some attractions may be temporarily closed or operating at reduced capacity in 2021.
1 /15 Mark Skerbinek / Getty Images States of happiness
National parks, with their PBS documentaries and commemorative 25-cent pieces, grab the attention. But let’s hear it for the West’s 1,000-plus state parks, which include enough jewels to embarrass a king. These parks feature geologic marvels, skyscraping trees, endangered animals, pristine lakes and beaches, and endless opportunities to hike, camp, bird, fish, rock climb, even go sand sledding. Here are 14 state parks—and one provincial park—we’d like to introduce to Ken Burns.
2 /15 Witold Skrypczak / Lonely Planet / Getty Images Kartchner Caverns State Park, AZ
Rigged with special equipment to protect the still-living caves, Kartchner Caverns opened in 1999 and has 2.4 miles of passages. The Throne Room includes the 58-foot-high Kubla Khan column (pictured) and a 21-foot, 3-inch soda straw stalactite. The Big Room, closed from mid-April to mid-October each year as a bat nursery, has the world’s biggest display of brushite moonmilk, the sparkling white product of limestone and bat guano. $5/vehicle; $23 tour fee for Big Room or Throne Room.
3 /15 David Fenton D.L. Bliss and Emerald Bay State Parks, CA
There aren’t many more scenic spots to set up camp in California than along the forested shores of
Lake Tahoe’s deep blue water. At
D.L. Bliss and
Emerald Bay, neighboring parks on the lake’s southwestern corner, you can walk the beach, hike to a lighthouse, and visit Vikingsholm, a Scandinavian mansion built in 1929. Campsites are popular for a reason: They run along 6 miles of shoreline and up the surrounding slopes and provide matchless views of the lake and star-speckled night sky.
D.L. Bliss: $10 day-use fee; $35 camping fee. Emerald Bay: $10/vehicle; $10/tour. 4 /15 Peter Unger/Getty Images Smith Rock State Park, OR
Who has it better at
Smith Rock, the climbers or the hikers? The park is best known for its sheer volcanic walls, which have thousands of climbing trails, more than a thousand of them bolted. But hikers have the Misery Ridge Loop, a 3.9-mile hump through the climbers’ stronghold that leads to close-ups of the Monkey Face Pillar (yes, it’s uncanny) and sweeping vistas of the Central Cascades.
$5/vehicle. 5 /15 David Fenton Nā Pali Coast, Koke‘e, and Waimea Canyon State Parks, Kauai, HI
From the coastal cliffs to the cool forests to the spectacular Waimea Canyon, these
three adjoining parks in northwestern Kauai are long on emerald-clad tropical drama. The parks also harbor some of the world’s most endangered birds. Don’t miss Koke‘e’s small museum or stunning Pu‘u o Kila and Kalalau lookouts.
Free. 6 /15 Thomas J. Story Valley of Fire State Park, NV
Located 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas off Interstate 15 is
Nevada’s oldest and largest state park, a sci-fi land of red sandstone and gray limestone formations that sees more lizards than visitors. Winter, with milder temperatures, is the best time to go. Or in March and April, when indigo bushes, jimsonweed, and fiery orange globe mallow brighten the desert landscape. The park has two campgrounds and marvelous petroglyphs.
$10/vehicle; $20 camping fee. 7 /15 J. P. Greenwood Palomar Mountain State Park, CA
While Palomar Mountain is best known for its world-famous observatory, many people are drawn to its namesake state park for hiking and scenery. Lush stands of bracken ferns line the 14 miles of trails. Blooming azaleas and dogwoods brighten the forest at the 2,000-acre park 50 miles east of Oceanside. Combine the Doane Valley Nature, Weir, and French Valley Trails to hit many of the park’s highlights on a moderate 3-mile round-trip hike. $8/vehicle.
8 /15 Hansrico Photography/Getty Images Roxborough State Park, CO
Less than an hour southwest of
Denver, stunning 300-million-year-old red sandstone formations called hogbacks explode out of the ground at
Roxborough State Park. From the visitor center, walk 100 yards to the Fountain Valley Overlook and take in dramatic views of the Fountain Formation, Lyons Formation, and Dakota Hogback.
$7/vehicle. 9 /15 Wikimedia Commons user Paxson Woelber Chugach State Park, AK
More than one source has argued that if it were in any other state,
Chugach would be a national park. It certainly has the size (495,000 acres), the wildlife (grizzlies, orcas, belugas, moose, bald eagles), and the terrain (glaciated mountains, ice fields, alpine lakes, ocean shoreline) to merit serious consideration. Accessible? Parts of the park are only 7 miles from downtown Anchorage. September is an ideal time to visit, with fall colors, berry picking, and rutting moose.
$5/vehicle. 10 /15 Wikimedia Commons user Tbennert Makoshika State Park, MT
Makoshika comes from the Lakota phrase meaning “bad earth,” and the badlands here are terrific: enormous orange-and-white caprock formations, severe gullies and canyons, countless hoodoos. Set off on the 1.5-mile Diane Gabriel Trail and you’ll come upon the exposed fossil remains of a duck-billed hadrosaur. Triceratops, T. rex, and Thescelosaurus have all been found here too. The park just east of Glendive has an archery range and a challenging 18-hole disc-golf course. Free for residents, $4/nonresident.
11 /15 Wikimedia Commons user Steve Spring Bruneau Dunes State Park, ID
If the sandbox was your favorite part of preschool, you’ll love this park and its three enormous dunes—one of which tops out at 470 feet. Climb to the top, then race down the face on a rented sandboard ($15/day at the visitor center). Bruneau Dunes has plenty of camping, boating, and fishing (largemouth bass and bluegills). It also runs an observatory that offers programs every Friday and Saturday night, weather permitting, from early April to mid-October. $5/vehicle; $3 observatory fee; $20 camping fee.
12 /15 Wikimedia Commons user Thomas Shahan Silver Falls State Park, OR
The 7.5-mile Trail of Ten Falls takes you on a misty trek among ferns, wildflowers, massive Doug fir, and waterfalls, including the 136-foot North Falls and the 177-foot South Falls, both of which can be seen from behind in grottoes along the trail. By the end of this half-day hike, you’ll have a clear idea of why Silver Falls is considered the crown jewel of Oregon’s state park system. $5/vehicle; $19 camping fee.
13 /15 Wikimedia Commons user Dimitri Neyt Dead Horse Point State Park, UT
Tucked into the red sandstone landscape between Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Dead Horse Point offers one of the greatest vistas in the entire West: a landscape broken into a series of eroded terraces that resemble an even more expansive version of the Grand Canyon and that stretch down to a hairpin bend in the Colorado River. Pitch your tent atop a mesa 2,000 feet above the river. Rise early for the sunrise over the almost 13,000-foot La Sal Mountains. $10/vehicle; $28 camping fee.
14 /15 Wikimedia Commons user Steven Pavlov Sun Lakes–Dry Falls State Park, WA
It’s the greatest geological spectacle most Westerners have never heard of. During the ice age, Dry Falls was the biggest waterfall on Earth, more than 400 feet high and 3 miles across. Today, the brooding basalt cliffs tell, silently, the story of this once-mighty cascade. (The visitor center can fill in a few details.) Other park features include boating, fishing, and water-skiing on the 88-acre Dry Falls Lake at the foot of the cliffs. $10/vehicle.
15 /15 Wikimedia Commons user Joanne Merriam Dinosaur Provincial Park, AB
We know, “Canadian badlands” sounds like an oxymoron. But our nice neighbors to the north have found the striated sandstone of southern Alberta, sculpted by wind, water, and ice, to be a fantastical landscape as well as a rich deposit of dinosaur fossils. No other single site anywhere can match the more than 50 species that have been unearthed at Dinosaur Provincial Park. You can explore an interpretive trail on your own or take one of the park’s well-curated tours. No park entrance fee; $5 U.S. visitor center fee.