Introduction

USA and Canada

The National Parks of the USA and Canada

Almost without exception the American and Canadian National Parks offer the most superb scenery. The parks are in most cases huge areas of wilderness with no human buildings, habitation or activity other than the roads through them and small designated areas with accommodation, campsites, shops, restaurants and other park facilities.

Most of the National Parks have numerous lay-bys along their roads where you can stop your car and see the sights, go for a short walk or if you wish set off on a major hike. Some National Parks offer horse rides, river rafting and other such recreational activities (at an additional cost). There is hardly ever an additional charge for car parking with the parks.

Throughout the National Parks there are sign boards giving fascinating background information. In America these signs are in English, while in Canada they are in both English and French.

All the National Parks have Visitor Centres where you can pick up more information, talk to rangers, see a slide or film show, and so on. It is always worth popping into the Visitor Centre, especially when you enter a park for the first time.

Some of the most visited American National Parks have free shuttle buses touring the various points of interest. These are designed to reduce traffic congestion and are well worth using.

Most of the National Parks will take at least one full day to explore, and the majority will need several days, although there are many people who would say that each of the larger National Parks deserve months if not years of exploration.

Since accommodation within the National Parks can be expensive and is often fully booked in summer, we have as far as possible listed some convenient and pleasant towns near each park where you could stay.

Amongst many other areas, the US National Park Service also administers the National Monuments, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Natchez Trace Parkway. Many of these other areas offer as much as the National Parks.

The various areas administered by the US National Park Service amount in total to about 125,000 square miles. For comparison, the area of the entire United Kingdom is 93,727 square miles.

In addition, all (or almost all) of the American states each administer their set of State Parks, and similarly each Canadian province has a set of Provincial Parks. These State and Provincial Parks vary considerably in size and interest but the best of them rival the National Parks.

Other areas likely to have a similar appeal include the American National Forests and National Wildlife Reserves. In addition there are numerous highly scenic roads throughout almost all parts of the USA and Canada.