10 Breathtaking Hiking Destinations In The US To Include In Your Bucket List
The United States remains to be a home to innumerable natural parks and recreational spots where you can appreciate our planet even more.
There are cities with different personalities that you can explore, beaches and bays to visit, and plenty of galleries and museums to fulfill your culture trip.
But what we love best about being here in the States is that mountains, plateaus, and canyons are all around us. There’s one for you to explore in every state, so while home quarantines are a thing now, the best you can do now is to sit back, relax, ready your hiking poles, and plan your next trip to the mountains!
Take a pick from one of these ten hiking destinations in the U.S. or visit them all if you have the time!
Glacier National Park
The Glacier National Park in Montana is one of the most photographed landscapes in the entire world. If you see a photo of a spectacular lake with rugged mountains and green meadows as its backdrop, you would quickly think it is taken from the Glacier National Park.
That’s how famous this park is.
There are 700 miles of hiking trails in this park. Truly a hiking paradise for adventurers.
Acadia National Park
Being the highest rocky headland in the Atlantic Coastline, Acadia National Park remains one of the most visited parks in the U.S.
Be greeted by the sea of clouds when you reach the top and adore the majestic sunset that colors the entire skyline.
Protip: plan your trip. There are over 3.5 million visits a year to this park, so if you want to secure your parking space and a breathing room for when you go hiking, make sure to do it on off-peak months.
Yosemite National Park
Anyone who was born in the U.S. will easily recognize Yosemite National Park even from afar. It’s a national heritage that Californians would be proud to have in their backyard.
The photos are so jaw dropping, but it’s even majestic in person. You might be looking for Simba, Nala, and Mufasa when you see the rock formations that make up the entire landscape.
Big Sur
Big Sur’s profile is truly something you’d want to look at for months on end. The relaxing view of the California Coast will liven up your mood almost instantly.
But the ocean is just one factor; once you hike up the trails and feel the diversity running through the veins of the forest, you’d be attached to nature in only one click.
The Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains is the closest we can get to a magical mount. It’s called smoky because of the ethereal glaze that envelops the park. Pair it up with the sound of mountain rivers flowing, and you might think that you’ve joined Alice in her adventures in Wonderland.
Rent a mountain cabin and spend an entire weekend appreciating the wonders of nature around you. That’s some pleasure out there that you should not feel guilty of.
Zion National Park
One of Utah’s gems is the Zion National Park, famous for its broad and deep canyons that look like they go way down the depths of the earth.
The view of the scarlet sandstone cliffs against the blue skies makes for a great phone and desktop wallpaper. It’s also acceptable if you want to stare at it all day long, but we highly suggest experiencing the trail to feel the thrill of the canyons in your bones.
Blue Ridge
If you’re looking for something more than just hiking, we recommend visiting the Blue Ridge. There are plenty of activities that you can do in the area, not to mention nonstop photographing the monochromatic blue horizon when you climb up one of its peaks.
You can also go fishing for trout when you’re hiking in the area. But if you’re not into fishing, you can take one of Blue Ridge’s famous waterfall hikes that could excite the inner daredevil in you.
Estes Park
With an abundance of elks and bears, a trip to Estes Park can be filed under “trips that are out of this world.” You can even take a night hike to see the wildlife thriving in this area.
Now, if you feel like animals are too much for you, try out rock climbing at one of its rocky mountains to see what thrill is really about.
Big Bear Lake
Big Bear Lake is famous during the winter because of its Snow Summit, but it also looks pristine and pretty even after the winter.
But because this alpine recreational spot offers the best ski slopes in the country, visitors populate the mountains during the wintry season.
Columbia River Gorge
Once you step foot in this heaven of a place, your eyes will only see green, brown, and earthy tones, and that’s a big plus!
The Columbia River Gorge is a delight to be in when the city life and the noise outside have been doing nothing but to stress you.
Even if you’re not a big nature person, the Columbia River Gorge exquisiteness will convert you into this mountain hiking individual you never thought you would be.
The real question is this: which one of these breathtaking hiking spots will you take next? We bet you’d pick all— don’t worry, we’ll support you on that. Just be sure to be wearing all the right clothes and bring hiking poles to help you survive all ten hikes!