National parks are found across nearly every part of the world, protecting landscapes as varied as African savannas, Himalayan peaks, tropical rainforests, coral reefs, Patagonian mountains, European lakes, and remote island ecosystems.
This International National Parks guide is the starting point for exploring protected landscapes beyond the United States. Use the regional sections below to discover national parks by continent, then follow the individual park guides for wildlife, hiking, landscapes, conservation, travel planning, and the natural features that make each destination distinctive.
National park systems vary from country to country, so the meaning of “national park” is not identical everywhere. Some parks emphasize wilderness protection, others combine conservation with traditional land use, tourism, cultural heritage, or scientific research. What they share is a commitment to protecting landscapes and ecosystems of national or international importance.
🌍 Explore National Parks Around the World
From the grasslands of East Africa to the glaciers of New Zealand, international national parks reveal an extraordinary range of environments. Some are famous for large wildlife populations, while others protect mountains, forests, wetlands, reefs, volcanoes, or geological formations found nowhere else.
National Park Field Guide currently covers parks across Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Europe, North America outside the United States, and South America, with more destinations continuing to be added.
🦁 National Parks in Africa
Africa contains some of the world’s most celebrated wildlife parks along with mountain landscapes, deserts, wetlands, forests, and volcanic regions. Many African national parks play an especially important role in protecting large mammals and maintaining migration corridors across immense ecosystems.
Explore all of our African national parks.
Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Amboseli National Park is known for its open plains, wetlands, large elephant herds, and spectacular views toward Mount Kilimanjaro. The combination of accessible wildlife viewing and dramatic mountain scenery has made Amboseli one of Kenya’s best-known protected areas.
Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia
Bale Mountains National Park protects a remarkable highland landscape of alpine plateaus, deep valleys, forests, volcanic terrain, and important habitat for species found only in Ethiopia. The park is particularly significant for the Ethiopian wolf and other specialized high-elevation wildlife.
Kruger National Park, South Africa
Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s most famous wildlife destinations. Its savannas, river systems, woodlands, and bushveld support elephants, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, buffalo, giraffes, antelope, birds, and a tremendous variety of smaller wildlife.
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Serengeti National Park protects one of Earth’s great grassland ecosystems. The park is famous for the annual movement of enormous herds of wildebeest and other grazing animals as well as its populations of lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, and other African wildlife.
Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia
Simien Mountains National Park is a dramatic landscape of cliffs, valleys, high plateaus, and rugged peaks. Its unusual highland wildlife includes gelada monkeys, Ethiopian wolves, and Walia ibex.
🏔️ National Parks in Asia
Asia’s national parks encompass some of the world’s highest mountains as well as tropical rainforests, deserts, wetlands, volcanic landscapes, and extraordinarily diverse ecosystems.
Explore our growing collection of Asian national parks.
Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal
Sagarmatha National Park protects one of the most dramatic mountain landscapes on Earth. Located in the Himalayas, the park includes Mount Everest and surrounding glaciers, valleys, high peaks, alpine environments, and communities whose history is closely connected with the mountains.
For hikers and mountaineers, Sagarmatha represents far more than a single summit. The region contains famous trekking routes, high mountain passes, glacial lakes, monasteries, and landscapes that change dramatically with elevation.
Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
Khao Sok National Park offers a very different Asian environment. Its tropical rainforest, limestone cliffs, caves, rivers, and Cheow Lan Lake create a landscape rich in plant and animal life.
The park is a destination for hiking, wildlife watching, paddling, cave exploration, and experiencing one of southern Thailand’s distinctive rainforest environments.
🦘 National Parks in Australia & Oceania
National parks across Australia, New Zealand, and the wider Pacific protect coral reefs, alpine mountains, temperate rainforest, fjords, deserts, coastlines, and island ecosystems.
Explore our Australia and Oceania national parks.
Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Fiordland National Park protects an immense wilderness on New Zealand’s South Island. Mountains rise directly from deep fjords, while waterfalls, temperate rainforest, lakes, rivers, and remote valleys create one of the country’s most dramatic landscapes.
Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound are among the area’s best-known destinations, but much of Fiordland remains rugged and remote.
Kosciuszko National Park, Australia
Kosciuszko National Park protects part of Australia’s Snowy Mountains and includes the country’s highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko.
The landscape includes alpine and subalpine vegetation, rivers, glacial features, mountain trails, ski areas, and habitat for species specially adapted to Australia’s high country.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia
Although officially a marine park rather than a national park, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park fits naturally within our international protected-places coverage. It protects one of the planet’s largest and most important coral reef ecosystems, extending along Australia’s northeastern coast.
Coral reefs, seagrass beds, islands, marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, seabirds, and countless other organisms make the Great Barrier Reef one of Earth’s great biodiversity centers.
🏰 National Parks in Europe
Europe’s national parks protect landscapes that have often been shaped by both natural processes and centuries of human history. Alpine mountains, forests, coastlines, wetlands, lakes, caves, and Mediterranean landscapes are all represented.
Explore our growing collection of European national parks.
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Plitvice Lakes National Park is famous for a connected system of lakes, waterfalls, forests, and remarkable limestone formations.
Mineral-rich water has continually reshaped the landscape, creating natural barriers, pools, cascades, and waterways surrounded by forest. Elevated walkways and trails allow visitors to experience the lakes and waterfalls at close range while minimizing disturbance to sensitive areas.
Europe contains hundreds of additional national parks, giving us plenty of room to expand this section in the future with destinations in the Alps, Scandinavia, the British Isles, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and beyond.
🍁 International National Parks in North America
The United States may have its own dedicated U.S. National Parks section, but North America also contains extraordinary national parks in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere across the continent.
Explore North American international parks.
Banff National Park, Canada
Banff National Park protects a spectacular section of the Canadian Rockies filled with glacier-carved valleys, turquoise lakes, alpine meadows, mountain peaks, forests, rivers, and wildlife.
It is Canada’s oldest national park and forms part of the larger Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks landscape, one of the most recognizable mountain regions in North America.
Cumbres del Ajusco National Park, Mexico
Cumbres del Ajusco National Park protects a mountainous landscape just outside Mexico City. Forests, volcanic terrain, high elevations, and broad views make the park an important natural refuge near one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas.
Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National Park, Mexico
Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National Park surrounds some of Mexico’s most striking volcanic landscapes, including the towering peaks of Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl.
High-elevation forests, alpine environments, volcanic terrain, hiking routes, and cultural history all contribute to the significance of this protected area.
🦎 National Parks in South America
South America’s national parks protect extraordinary biodiversity along with some of the planet’s most dramatic mountain, rainforest, wetland, island, and coastal environments.
Explore our South American national parks.
Galápagos National Park, Ecuador
Galápagos National Park protects most of Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands, an archipelago famous for unusual species and the evolutionary adaptations that developed through long periods of geographic isolation.
Giant tortoises, marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, Darwin’s finches, sea lions, penguins, and many other species make the islands one of the world’s most important places for biology and conservation.
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
Torres del Paine National Park is one of Patagonia’s signature landscapes. Granite towers, glaciers, turquoise lakes, windswept grasslands, rivers, and rugged mountain terrain make the park a destination for hikers and wilderness travelers from around the world.
The famous W and O trekking circuits allow hikers to travel through several of the park’s most dramatic environments.
Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia
Sierra Nevada del Cocuy rises high in the Colombian Andes, with glaciated peaks, alpine lakes, valleys, páramo vegetation, and high mountain environments.
The landscape is both ecologically important and culturally significant, and access to some areas is managed carefully to protect fragile ecosystems and respect Indigenous communities.
Manu National Park, Peru
Manu National Park protects an extraordinary transition from high Andean environments down into Amazon rainforest. That enormous elevation range supports exceptional biological diversity and makes the region one of South America’s most important protected landscapes.
🐾 Why International National Parks Matter
National parks are much more than scenic travel destinations. They preserve habitat, protect water sources, conserve geological features, safeguard archaeological and cultural landscapes, and provide space for ecological processes that may be difficult to maintain outside protected areas.
Some parks protect enormous populations of large mammals. Others preserve tiny ranges for endangered species. A mountain park may protect glaciers and headwaters, while a rainforest park may contain thousands of plant and animal species within a comparatively small area.
Protected areas can also support scientific research, environmental education, local economies, and cultural continuity. Their management is often complex, particularly where wildlife conservation, tourism, Indigenous rights, traditional land use, and nearby communities intersect.
🗺️ National Park Designations Differ by Country
One important thing to remember when comparing parks around the world is that there is no single global legal definition of a national park.
Each country creates and administers protected areas under its own laws. A place called a “national park” in one country may be managed differently from a national park somewhere else. Restrictions on roads, lodging, hunting, fishing, grazing, traditional land use, camping, and commercial activity can therefore vary considerably.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature uses a global protected-area classification system to help compare conservation objectives across countries. Its Category II is generally associated with national parks, but a site’s official domestic designation and its IUCN management category are not necessarily identical.
That is why travelers should always consult the responsible park authority before visiting rather than assuming regulations are the same as those in U.S. national parks.
🥾 Planning an International National Park Trip
Visiting an international national park often requires more preparation than a familiar trip close to home. Entry systems, permits, transportation, guides, seasonal closures, wildlife rules, border requirements, altitude, weather, and local infrastructure vary widely.
Remote mountain parks such as Sagarmatha require careful consideration of altitude and trekking logistics. Wildlife parks in Africa may involve safari vehicles and strict rules about approaching animals. Island and marine parks may depend on authorized boats, while some protected areas require registered guides or restrict access to sensitive regions.
Before traveling, verify current conditions through the park’s official managing authority. Regulations and access can change because of wildfire, flooding, volcanic activity, wildlife conditions, conservation concerns, political events, or extreme weather.
🌱 Responsible Travel in Protected Areas
International parks often protect ecosystems that are both spectacular and fragile. Staying on established trails, keeping appropriate distances from wildlife, packing out waste, following fire restrictions, avoiding the collection of rocks or plants, and respecting closures all help reduce visitor impacts.
Cultural respect matters just as much. Many protected landscapes have been home to Indigenous peoples and local communities for generations or millennia. A national park designation does not erase those histories or relationships with the land.
Responsible travel means learning about those connections, respecting local rules and traditions, and remembering that conservation areas are living landscapes rather than outdoor amusement parks.
🌎 A World of Parks Still to Explore
International national parks provide an extraordinary way to understand the diversity of our planet. A traveler can move from elephants beneath Kilimanjaro in Amboseli to the world’s highest mountains in Sagarmatha, ancient rainforest in Thailand, turquoise lakes in Patagonia, coral reefs in Australia, or cascading lakes in Croatia.
National Park Field Guide will continue expanding this collection as we add new destinations, deeper park guides, wildlife features, trail information, and travel-planning resources.
Use the regional guides above as your starting point, then explore the individual parks that interest you most.
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