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Trails & Hiking

Small Sunburst Highlights Trail In Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park

Hiking is one of the best ways to experience a national park. A trail can lead beneath giant trees, along a canyon rim, through alpine meadows, beside waterfalls, across desert landscapes, or deep into places that cannot be reached by road.

National Park Field Guideโ€™s Trails & Hiking hub brings together our national park hiking guides, individual trail profiles, short walks, day hikes, and more demanding backcountry routes. Whether you want an easy trail for a few hours or a strenuous hike into the mountains, use this page as a starting point for finding the right national park trail.

Conditions can change quickly in protected landscapes, so always check current closures, weather, permits, hazards, and trail conditions with the parkโ€™s official managing agency before beginning a hike.

๐Ÿฅพ Explore National Park Hiking Trails

National park trails range from paved walks of less than a mile to routes that cross mountains, deserts, forests, and wilderness over many days. The most famous trail is not necessarily the right trail for every visitor. Distance, elevation gain, exposure, temperature, altitude, water availability, terrain, and your own experience can matter much more than mileage alone.

Our hiking guides are designed to help you narrow those choices. Some cover the best hikes throughout an entire park, while others focus on a particular trail or type of hiking experience.

If you are still deciding where to travel, start with our U.S. National Parks or International National Parks hubs and choose a park before exploring its trails.

๐ŸŒฟ Short & Easier National Park Hikes

A memorable national park hike does not have to require an entire day or thousands of feet of climbing. Many parks have shorter trails that reach waterfalls, lakes, viewpoints, historic places, beaches, unusual geological formations, and wildlife habitat.

Our guide to the Best Short Hikes in Glacier National Park Under 5 Miles is a good example. Glacier is famous for long backcountry routes, but shorter hikes can still lead to places such as Trail of the Cedars and Hidden Lake Overlook.

In Ohio, Cuyahoga Valley National Park offers an especially approachable trail network. The Ledges Trail passes distinctive sandstone formations, while the Towpath Trail combines outdoor recreation with the history of the Ohio & Erie Canal.

Even a short hike deserves preparation. Weather, heat, snow, slippery rocks, altitude, and trail surfaces can turn an apparently simple walk into a more demanding outing.

๐Ÿ”๏ธ Mountain & Alpine Hiking

Mountain parks contain some of America’s most spectacular trails, but they also introduce challenges that hikers do not encounter at lower elevations. Rapid weather changes, lingering snow, steep terrain, altitude, stream crossings, and exposed sections are all common considerations.

Rocky Mountain National Park offers everything from lake walks to strenuous alpine hikes surrounded by some of Colorado’s highest terrain.

Farther west, our Mount Rainier National Park Hiking Trails guide explores hiking around one of the most prominent mountains in the contiguous United States. The park’s Skyline Trail is particularly well known for alpine scenery, wildflowers, waterfalls, and views toward glaciers and Mount Rainier.

Washington’s North Cascades provide an even more rugged mountain experience. Explore our 10 Unforgettable Hikes in North Cascades National Park for routes through a landscape of sharp peaks, alpine lakes, forests, and glaciers.

๐Ÿœ๏ธ Desert & Canyon Trails

Desert hiking can be extraordinary, but it demands respect. Shade may be scarce, water sources may be absent, summer temperatures can become dangerous, and flash floods can transform normally dry canyons with little warning.

Our Zion National Park Trails guide includes routes ranging from gentle walks along the Virgin River to strenuous and exposed adventures. Zion’s narrow canyons also demonstrate why hikers must pay close attention to weather and flash-flood conditions.

The Best Hikes in Grand Canyon National Park require a different kind of planning. Hiking into the canyon means descending first and completing much of the climbing on the return, often while temperatures change substantially with elevation.

Other desert hiking destinations include:

Each provides a different version of the American Southwest, from saguaro forests and enormous boulders to canyon country and landscapes shaped by both natural history and thousands of years of human presence.

๐ŸŒฒ Forest, Waterfall & Appalachian Hikes

Eastern national parks offer a very different hiking experience. Forest trails can lead through hardwood woodlands, along streams, past waterfalls, across rocky ridgelines, and into landscapes that change dramatically throughout the seasons.

The Top Hikes in Shenandoah National Park explores trails among Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, including waterfall walks and demanding mountain routes. Shenandoah also contains a long section of one of America’s most famous long-distance trails, explored in our Shenandoah National Park: A Hiker’s Guide to the Appalachian Trail.

Farther south, Great Smoky Mountains National Park combines forested mountains, streams, waterfalls, historic sites, wildflowers, and an extensive trail system spanning Tennessee and North Carolina.

Because eastern forests can remain wet long after rain, hikers should be prepared for muddy trails, slippery roots and rocks, stream crossings, insects, and quickly changing mountain weather.

๐ŸŒต Hiking Among Giant Trees, Cliffs & Unusual Landscapes

Some national park trails are memorable because they pass environments found in few other places.

The Best Sequoia National Park Trails take hikers through a Sierra Nevada landscape famous for immense giant sequoias as well as mountains, rivers, meadows, and wilderness.

At Pinnacles National Park, trails weave among volcanic rock formations, steep cliffs, chaparral, caves, and habitat used by California condors.

The Cowles Bog Trail at Indiana Dunes National Park demonstrates how much ecological variety can exist along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, passing through wetlands, wooded areas, dunes, and other habitats on the way toward the lakeshore.

๐ŸŒŠ Remote & Wilderness Hiking

Some parks require considerably more planning simply to reach the trailhead.

Isle Royale National Park lies in Lake Superior and is reached by boat or seaplane. Its trails provide opportunities for multi-day wilderness travel through forests, ridges, wetlands, and remote lakeshore environments.

Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park offers a different wilderness experience. Trails near Exit Glacier provide access to a dramatic landscape shaped by ice, including the strenuous Harding Icefield Trail.

Voyageurs National Park is primarily a water-oriented landscape of lakes and islands, but hiking trails provide another way to explore northern forests and shorelines.

Remote hiking demands greater self-reliance. Transportation, weather, emergency communication, wildlife, navigation, and the consequences of an injury all require more consideration when help is far away.

๐ŸŒŽ Hiking in International National Parks

National park hiking is not limited to the United States. Some of the world’s great protected landscapes are best experienced on foot.

Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia is famous for trekking beneath granite towers, alongside glacial lakes, and through landscapes shaped by wind and ice. Multi-day routes such as the W and O circuits have made the park one of South America’s most recognized trekking destinations.

Nepal’s Sagarmatha National Park surrounds Mount Everest and contains trails through Himalayan valleys, Sherpa communities, monasteries, glaciers, and exceptionally high mountain terrain. Hiking here introduces altitude considerations far beyond those encountered in most U.S. national parks.

In Ethiopia, Simien Mountains National Park combines high plateaus, enormous escarpments, valleys, mountain wildlife, and long-distance trekking opportunities.

New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park is another celebrated hiking destination, with rainforest, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and deep fjords creating a landscape that can also receive substantial amounts of rain.

Requirements for international trails vary greatly. Some parks may require guides, reservations, permits, entrance fees, or specific arrangements for overnight trekking, so check with the responsible park authority before traveling.

๐Ÿงญ How to Choose the Right Trail

Choosing a hike by mileage alone can be misleading. A three-mile trail climbing steeply at high altitude can be harder than a relatively flat eight-mile walk. Before choosing a national park hike, consider the complete route.

Important factors include:

  • Distance: Know whether the listed mileage is one-way, round trip, or a loop.
  • Elevation gain: Sustained climbing often determines how strenuous a trail feels.
  • Altitude: High elevation can slow hikers considerably and may cause altitude illness.
  • Terrain: Rock scrambling, loose scree, deep sand, river travel, snow, mud, ladders, or exposed ledges can dramatically change a hike.
  • Exposure: Some trails pass close to steep drop-offs and may not be appropriate for everyone.
  • Water: Never assume reliable drinking water will be available along a route.
  • Weather: Heat, lightning, snow, heavy rain, wind, and flash floods can create serious hazards.
  • Season: A route that is straightforward in midsummer may require specialized skills or equipment when covered by snow or ice.
  • Permits and reservations: Popular trails and backcountry areas sometimes require advance permission.

Choose a trail that fits the least-experienced member of your group rather than treating a published difficulty rating as a challenge to overcome.

๐ŸŽ’ What to Bring on a National Park Hike

What belongs in your pack depends on the route, season, climate, and remoteness, but hikers should generally be prepared to handle delays and changing conditions.

Water and food are fundamental. Sun protection, appropriate footwear, weather layers, navigation tools, a basic first-aid kit, and some form of illumination are also useful on many hikes. Longer and more remote routes call for additional emergency preparation.

A phone can be useful for navigation, photography, and emergencies, but do not assume cellular service will be available inside a national park. Download maps or other essential information before leaving reliable service, and know how to navigate if a device fails.

โš ๏ธ Hiking Safety in National Parks

National parks are protected places, but they are not controlled environments. Heat, cold, wildlife, swift water, cliffs, altitude, falling rocks, wildfire, storms, and changing trail conditions can all present hazards.

Before starting a hike, check the park’s current alerts and weather forecast. Tell someone where you plan to go when entering remote terrain, carry enough water, and allow more time than you think you will need.

Turn around when conditions deteriorate or when the hike becomes more difficult than expected. Reaching a viewpoint or summit is never more important than returning safely.

Wildlife should always be given space. Never approach an animal for a photograph, and follow the specific food-storage and wildlife-safety rules for the park you are visiting.

โ™ป๏ธ Protecting National Park Trails

Trails make wild landscapes accessible, but heavy visitation can also cause erosion, vegetation loss, wildlife disturbance, litter, and the creation of damaging social trails.

Stay on established trails where required, avoid cutting switchbacks, and respect barriers and closures. Carry out trash and food waste rather than leaving it beside a trail. Do not carve rocks or trees, move archaeological objects, pick protected plants, or disturb wildlife.

In areas where hiking off trail is permitted, visitors should follow the park’s specific guidance for minimizing impact. Different environments require different practices, particularly in deserts, alpine tundra, wetlands, and other fragile ecosystems.

The goal is simple: enjoy the trail without leaving evidence that damages the experience for the people and wildlife that come after you.

๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ Featured National Park Hiking Guides

Start exploring with some of our current hiking guides:

๐ŸŒ„ Find Your Next Trail

Some national park experiences can be enjoyed from an overlook or scenic road, but hiking changes your relationship with a landscape. Walking gives you time to notice the transition between ecosystems, hear wildlife before seeing it, examine the geology beneath your feet, and reach places hidden from the nearest road.

You do not need to choose the hardest trail to have a meaningful experience. A quiet boardwalk through a wetland, a short waterfall trail, a desert nature walk, or a half-day mountain hike can be every bit as memorable as an ambitious backcountry trip.

Start with a park that interests you, choose a route appropriate for your experience and current conditions, and use the trail to discover the landscape one step at a time.

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๐Ÿ“š Sources & Further Reading