16 February 6, 2022The Sunday TimesTravel USA special
roads to its campsites and
trails. Ulysses S Grant would
be proud.
Stay Lake Yellowstone Hotel
is a refined lodge dating from
1891, with a grand piano, grand
fireplace and even grand views
out over Lake Yellowstone
(room-only doubles from £227;
yellowstonenational
parklodges.com).
nps.gov/yellZION NATIONAL PARK
UTAH
Best for Slot canyons, grottoes
and hanging gardens
Annual visitors 3.6 million
The most popular of Utah’sYellowstone Lake (one of the
world’s largest alpine lakes)
and the park’s Grand Canyon,
with its striking upper and
lower waterfalls. Teeming with
moose, elk, bison, grizzly
bears and wolves, it’s a wildlife
watcher’s dream, but the
biggest draw remains the
geyser Old Faithful, which
erupts every hour or so,
spewing thousands of gallons
of scorching water as high as
180ft. During its 150th
anniversary year, America’s
most famous park is
undergoing a £90 million
facelift with upgrades to
everything from its internalrestaurant (B&B doubles from
£185; dancingbearlodge.com).
nps.gov/grsmYELLOWSTONE
NATIONAL PARK
WYOMING,
MONTANA, IDAHO
Best for Geysers and grizzlies
Annual visitors 3.8 million
After all these years, many
believe that the world’s first
national park is still the best.
Yellowstone has an army of
A-list admirers, ranging from
the Obamas to the
Kardashians, and continues to
attract tourists in their droves
to natural wonders such asswathes of wildflower meadow
as well as a healthy population
of wildlife ranging from black
bears to wild turkeys. One of
the most famous hikes in
America is here: the Alum
Cave Trail. The park is also
renowned for its pioneer
history, with 18th and 19th-
century cabins, churches and
mills to explore in Cades Cove,
a pretty valley encircled by
mountains that was once
home to early South
Appalachian settlers.
Stay Dancing Bear Lodge is
an award-winning rustic lodge
with 26 cosy rooms and a
renowned AppalachianAnnual visitors 12.1 million
Straddling the North Carolina-
Tennessee border, Great
Smoky Mountains is easily the
most popular of America’s
national parks, attracting more
than three times the volume
of visitors of its nearest rival,
Yellowstone. This is partly due
to its proximity to big cities
and that it’s free to enter, while
others charge up to £22 a
vehicle. Despite its relatively
small size (“just” 522,000
acres — roughly the size of
Nottinghamshire), the park
packs in dense forests,
dramatic waterfalls,
meandering rivers andGrand Canyon
National Park,
left; lakeside in
Grand Teton
National Park,
right; wolves in
the Rockies,
below; wild
turkeys in the
Great Smoky
Mountains,
below rightO
n March 1, 1872
— during the
relentless, land-
gobbling drive
of westward
expansion — the nascent US
government made a game-
changing decision. In one of
the most far-sighted moves
of any president before or
since, Ulysses S Grant signed
the Yellowstone National Park
Protection Act, safeguarding
two million acres of mountain
wilderness. The world’s first
national park was born.
Today, the US National Park
Service protects more than
80 million acres from coast to
coast, including 63 national
parks. Yet with so much
unspoilt terrain, rare wildlife
and rich history to choose
from, which national park is
for you? We run the rule over
eight of the most popular,
before a summer when many
British holidaymakers,
deprived of American travel
for much of the past two years,
will be planning their own
westward holiday expansion.GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
NATIONAL PARK
TENNESSEE,
NORTH CAROLINA
Best for The perfect blend of
scenery and history500 milesZionYellowstone
Grand TetonUSAMEXICOCANADARocky MountainGreat Smoky
MountainsCuyahoga
Valley AcadiaGrand
CanyonWILD
As America celebrates 150 years of national parks,
Jonathan Thompson takes a look at the most popular
protected areas and helps find the perfect one for you
WONDER