The New River Gorge is a rugged canyon of ancient river and Appalachian forest in southern West Virginia, and, paradoxically, one of the oldest rivers on the continent. Famous for world-class whitewater, sandstone cliffs beloved by climbers, and the soaring arch of the New River Gorge Bridge, it became a national park in 2020, protecting…
Nahanni is the stuff of northern legend, a wilderness built around the wild South Nahanni River, which plunges over Virginia Falls (twice the height of Niagara) and knifes through four towering canyons on its way through the Mackenzie Mountains. One of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites, it is a bucket-list river expedition into some…
Mount Rainier stands alone on the Washington skyline, a 14,410-foot (4,392 m) ice-clad volcano so massive it makes its own weather, ringed by wildflower meadows, ancient forests and cascading rivers fed by 25 glaciers. The most heavily glaciated peak in the contiguous United States, it is a magnet for hikers drawn to its subalpine parklands…
The Mingan Archipelago is a string of more than a thousand islands and islets along Quebec’s remote north shore, famous for its surreal limestone monoliths, giant flowerpot-shaped sea stacks sculpted by the waves of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Rich in seabirds, seals and even whales offshore, and carpeted with rare arctic-alpine plants, it is…
La Mauricie is a classic Laurentian landscape of rolling forested hills and glittering lakes in the heart of Quebec, a canoe-tripper’s paradise laced with quiet waterways and portages, ablaze with color each autumn. A scenic parkway ties together beaches, waterfalls and lookouts, making it as welcoming to a family day out as to a multi-day…
Kouchibouguac protects a gentle, sun-warmed slice of Acadian coast in eastern New Brunswick, barrier islands and golden dunes, warm lagoons, salt marshes and quiet forest along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Famous for having some of the warmest saltwater north of Virginia, its long sandspits, tern colonies and easy biking and paddling make it a…
Kluane is a land of superlatives, home to Mount Logan, Canada’s highest peak, and the largest non-polar icefields on Earth, sprawling across the southwest Yukon. Part of the largest internationally protected area in the world, it is a wilderness of towering mountains, vast glaciers and grizzly-rich valleys, where most of the park’s icy heart can…
Kejimkujik is unique among Canada’s national parks, the only one that is also a National Historic Site, honoring thousands of years of Mi’kmaw presence written into the land in ancient canoe routes and petroglyphs. Inland “Keji” is a gentle wilderness of interconnected lakes and rivers made for paddling, while a separate Seaside unit protects a…
Ivvavik, “a place for giving birth” in Inuvialuktun, for the caribou that calve here, protects a stunning stretch of the northern Yukon, from the jagged British Mountains to the Beaufort Sea. Created through the Inuvialuit land claim, it is a roadless Arctic wilderness famed for rafting the wild Firth River and for the great migrations…
The Guadalupe Mountains rise abruptly from the Chihuahuan Desert of far west Texas, a rugged, wind-scoured range built from an ancient fossilized reef and crowned by Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas. Quiet and demanding, the park hides the surprising green oasis of McKittrick Canyon amid the desert, blazing gold each fall, and offers…
