Most Scenic National Parks in North America

Banff National Park is one of the best and most famous national parks located in the glorious Canadian Rockies. It is known for its beautiful blue lakes and its tall and impressive snow-capped peaks. it is also known for it gondolas and its skiing. Banff National Park is very popular to foreign and local tourists because of these beautiful features. Due to its popularity Banff has lots of great hiking trails for all levels. It probably has more hiking trails than the other Canadian Rockies national parks.Despite the number of people and the popularity of the park, Banff still has an abundance of wildlife, and some people's primary intention to visit Banff is to see this abundance of wildlife.

One animal that is very abundant in Banff National Park is the elk. The elk in Banff are pretty much everywhere. They are in the town sites, on the trails, and on the roads. They spar and bugle in these areas, unaware of their human onlookers. Banff offers extraordinary elk viewing due to the large population of habituated elk. Bears are also very numerous in Banff. Black bears are very common and can be spotted in lots of different areas. People have reported daily sightings of black bears. Some have even seen two families fight. Grizzly bears are lower in number in Banff National Park and are mainly found in the back country, but still can be seen. Look for these charismatic predators on the Bow Valley Parkway. Wolves are low in number in Banff national Park but they are occasionally spotted on the Bow Valley Parkway.

Jasper National Paris the second most famous and and one of the best national parks in the Canadian Rockies. If you're looking to see the Canadian Rockies with less crowds and more wildlife, Jasper National Park is the place to be. it has the spectacular lakes and beautiful scenery of Banff with less crowds. Jasper also has great ski resorts. It has the turquoise lakes and snow-capped peaks of Banff too. And though Jasper does get a substantial amount of visitors, it has less than Banff. But due to the less number of visitors, Jasper doesn't have as many restraunts or luxury hotels as Banff. And though it has lots of great hikes, it will not have the variety of trails that Banff has. But if your looking for a true wilderness experience, Jasper will deliver. Jasper also edges Banff when it comes to wildlife.

Jasper is the wildlife hot spot of the Canadian Rockies, and is considered by many to have better wildlife viewing than Banfff National Park. Like Banff, Jasper National Park has a ton of elk. And I mean ton. There are probably more elk in Jasper than in Banff. They create jams in the townsite and in the park. They rut, bugle, and mate right in front of people. The elk in Jasper form large herds and are habituated to human presence, allowing for up-close viewing and photography opportunities. Jasper National Park has a very healthy population of bears, particularly black bears,. You have a very high chance of seeing them on the Magline Lake road. Some people have driven this road dozens of times and never not seen a black bear. The black bear and grizzly bear population in Jasper is healthier than the bear populations in Banff. Grizzlies are lower in number than black bears and mainly stick to the back country in Jasper National Park, but they still can be viewed. Wolves are in healthy number in Jasper too.

Yoho National Park is a gem in the Canadian Rockies. Its gets substantially less visitors than Jasper National Park and Banff National Park and still offers the same (if not better) scenery. Yoho is known for its great hiking trails, beautiful blue lakes, and snow capped peaks. One other great feature of Yoho National Park is the great waterfalls in the park. Yoho National Park has tons of waterfalls which are very sceninc. These waterfalls make Yoho National Park stand out from Banff and Jasper National Park.

The legendary Denali National Park is Alaska's flagship park, and not without reason. It hosts impressive scenery and it has the famous Mt.Denali. Mt.Denali rises up to a sprawling 20,308 feet. Mt.Denali is the highest point in North America. Denali National Park overall has spectacular scenery and an abundance of hiking trails. It also has extremely nice campsites, particularly Wonder Lake, which is the closest you can get to the mountain without climbing it. But another great feature of Denali is its abundance of wildlife, which attract many people to Denali National Park.

Denali National Park has an abundance of grizzly bears. The way to see grizzly bears is on the bus ride though the park. You can see grizzlies hunting, resting, their cubs playing, etc. The bears have been known to walk on the road and even fight in the park, all viewed from the bus. People have seen up to 7 grizzlies on a bus drive, several of them being cubs. I talked to a bus driver who had been driving that year for two months, and he only went on two or three rides without seeing a grizzly. The bears are often far away, so bring your binoculars and telephoto lenses. Though black bears are present, they are seldom seen. Wolves were once in abundance in Denali National Park and spotted on almost every drive, but many who strayed outside the park were killed. Now, only 60 wolves remain in the park and they are seldom seen. Our bus driver said he had been driving that year for two months and had only seen wolves twice. One rare animal that resides in Denali National Park in a healthy population is the lynx. Though sightings are rare, they are probably more commonly observed in Denali National Park then anywhere else in the world.

Whit so much predators in Denali, there has to be prey. Denali has an abundance of an endangered animal. This animal is the dall sheep. They were once almost hunted to extinction in the park. Dall sheep are part of how the park was made. A man who fell in love with dall sheep told the government to make the area a national park, which they did. The past few years have been bad for the sheep though. The most abundant animal that we saw in Denali National Park was the caribou. We had 7-8 sightings, though they were only individuals. Caribou are relatively abundant in Denali and are frequently seen. They are the large mammal you are most likely to see. Moose also live in abundance of Denali National Park. We had two sightings. They are not as common as caribou, but still can be seen. Look in all bodies of water and go in the morning or evening for best viewing.

Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone's sister park has exceptional scenery. It is covered in the teton and Gros Ventre mountain ranges. It has several beautiful lakes in which these peaks reflect off of along with winding rivers. It also has quite a few glaciers. All these features make Grand Teton National Park very attractive to landscape photographers and tourists looking to see spectacular scenery. But not only does Grand Teton have an great scenery, it also has large amounts of wildlife.

The Grand Teton has a huge population of bears. Black bears are spotted very frequently. One person saw seven different black bears all within walking distance. They are in high number and are very frequently photographed. Grizzly bears are also very common They are spotted frequently on specific roads. Cubs are also frequently spotted. Some people have been to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and have only seen bears in the Grand Teton National Park.

Moose are very common in Grand Teton National Park, much more so than Yellowstone. They are spotted very frequently wallowing in the bodies of water like swamps, marshes, and ponds. Many people spot moose here more commonly than Yellowstone.

The Grand Teton has a huge population of bears. Black bears are spotted very frequently. One person saw seven different black bears all within walking distance. They are in high number and are very frequently photographed. Grizzly bears are also very common They are spotted frequently on specific roads. Cubs are also frequently spotted. Some people have been to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and have only seen bears in the Grand Teton National Park.