The 15 Best National Park Campsites in America

It’s hard to say what you’ll notice first when you reach Glacier’s Cracker Lake—the aqua-blue water or the imposing, gray cliffs that angle thousands of feet upward to the point of 10,003-foot Mt. Siyeh. Three tent sites sit on a grassy slope above the lake’s southeastern shore, offering uninterrupted views of the entire cirque. To reach them, follow the Cracker Lake Trail for 6.3 miles to its namesake, traveling through grizzly habitat, Cracker Flats meadow, and into the deep canyon that drains the lake. The campsites have no tree cover; expect wind. Trailhead Cracker Lake Permit Reserve ahead ($40) or walk-up (iffy); $7/person per night. Season Summer

A dispersed camping policy means you can sleep anywhere you like in the heart of this canyon, where the sequoias reach the heavens. But for a campsite with five-star amenities, combine the Sugar Bowl and Hart Tree Trails for a 9.5-mile loop through the park’s largest grove of 300-foot-tall sequoias. The flat spots at the junction where the two trails meet (mile 4.5) will set you up next to Redwood Creek and nestle you in an understory of ferns—you won’t find a softer bed for tree gazing. Trailhead Redwood Canyon Season Summer for wildflowers, fall for solitude Permit $10 per reservation plus $5 /person

We like to think of the Grand Canyon as a work in progress, subject to the whims and strength of the Colorado River. But there’s one area where it seems like the river saw its work was perfect and declared it done, and that’s Hance Beach. This long stretch of sand forms a wide peninsula alongside Hance Rapids (class 7 to 8 on the Grand Canyon scale), forcing the river to churn through a narrow stretch of boulders. Red sandstone walls rise sharply from the opposite side of the river, broken up occasionally by dark slot canyons, while grasses fringe the beach. Get there by hiking 6.5 miles from rim to river along the New Hance Trail, which many consider to be the toughest trail on the South Rim. Expect scrambles, downclimbs, and some routefinding as you drop through Red Canyon. Make your way back up via an 8.5-mile hike up the Tonto and Grandview Trails, which combine for 4,860 feet of climbing to the rim. Trailhead New Hance Trail has no parking, so you’ll have to park at Moran Point, a mile east on Desert View Road. Shuttle Use park buses from the Grandview trailhead Season Spring, to avoid boaters Permit $10 plus $8/person per night. Reserve up to four months before your visit.

While the origin of the Southern Appalachians’ high-elevation balds is a mystery, one thing’s for sure: Divine intervention could scarcely have made better campsites. And Gregory Bald is best among them, especially when it’s wreathed in pink and orange flame azaleas in mid- to late June. For a quick, 12-mile out-and-back, link the Gregory Ridge and Gregory Bald Trails to Sheep Pen Gap. Trailhead Gregory Ridge Season Summer Permit Reservations required, $4/person per night

Sahale Glacier Camp, North Cascades National Park, Washington

You’re not on top of the world when you reach this rock-protected site at 7,600 feet, but you’ll think you are. Blame the views, which are crowded with mountains the way the night sky is crowded with stars. Or maybe it’s the thundering crashes coming from the large towers of ice that drop from glaciers below you. Or maybe it’s because you’re sleeping on the edge of Sahale Glacier, which offers hours of adventures for those with crampons, ice axes, and ropes. Put it all together and you’ll come to the conclusion: Modest elevation be damned, this is high-alpine camping at its finest. To do it, link Cascade Pass and Sahale Arm Trails for an 11.8-mile out-and-back across meadows and granite talus to this endless view. Trailhead Cascade Pass Season Summer Permit Free; no reservations

If you consider yourself a lord of the flies, there’s something you should know about Yellowstone. In addition to rainbow, brown, and brook trout, the park’s rivers and lakes teem with the largest inland population of cutthroats in the world. East Cottonwood Camp (campsite 1R2), deep inside the fir-fringed Black Canyon of the Yellowstone River, sits on a wide meadow alongside the Yellowstone River where lunker trout lurk in the deep pools just steps from your tent. Reach the Cottonwood Creek Campsite via a 16.5-mile point-to-point on the Grand Loop Road and arrive at camp (mile 6), after crossing the Yellowstone River (bridge) and Hellroaring Creek (ford). Trailhead Hellroaring Season Summer Permit $3/person per night

A good night starts with a good plan. And the best plans are often made on the fly. That’s how you end up planning to camp at Marmot Lake, but see Hart Lake— smaller, more private, and nestled higher on the mountain—on the map and think, I wonder. It’s the spirit of adventure that costs sweat and scraped shins and pays off in backcountry glory. You’ll be plenty tired to enjoy a long night: Hart Lake lies near the halfway point of a 55.9-mile lollipop loop that traces the Quinalt River, then crosses three passes in a 23.1-mile circumnavigation of 6,400-foot White Mountain. Trailhead Graves Creek Season Mid-summer to fall Permit $5/person per night; walk-in only

The 93-mile Wonderland Trail is so full of peaks, pines, and mountain streams that it can seem to pass in a wonderful blur. But you’re certain to remember Indian Bar. Nowhere else is the view of Rainier so direct and the creeks tumbling down the rocky cliffs into the Ohanapecosh River so plentiful. If you can’t do the full circuit, try the 14.5-mile out-and-back along the Indian Bar Trail, following the ridgeline of Cowlitz Divide before dropping into the Ohanepecosh River basin. Trailhead Box Canyon Picnic Area Season Early summer for dramatic waterfalls, late summer for wildflowers Permit Free; no reservations

Badlands is home to the largest mixed grass prairie in the U.S., making it an open-air zoo for classic North American game like bighorn sheep and bison. The trailless Sage Creek Loop leads from one rangeland vista to the next, but wait until Deer Haven to set up your tent. Hemmed in by striated badland bluffs, Deer Haven sits high above the plains on a 2,950-foot high uplift that’s dominated by a juniper forest. The animals come for the grass, the trees, and the water, allowing for opportunities to observe interactions between bison herds, coyotes, bighorn and pronghorn sheep, and foxes. Start a two-day, 20-plus-mile lasso loop from the Conata Picnic Area, heading southwest then north around a badland formation to reach Deer Haven (mile 3). Continue northwest into Sage Creek Basin, eventually hooking back south toward Tyree Basin. Note: This trek requires good routefinding to pick a path among the long, serpentine washes. Pack in all water (1 gallon/person per day). Trailhead Conata Picnic Area Season Late summer and early fall for mild temperatures and dry weather Permit None

Up in the north, the vistas are so plentiful you’ll almost never find a line to see them. Up there, hikers can’t outpace nature long enough to establish more than a small handful of trails. That’s where you find beauty unrestricted by size or imagination and unmarred by those who have come before. Bear Glacier Lake of Kenai Fjords is one of those places. It contains a tiny nubbin of land in a shapeshifting lake that’s home to a valley glacier (one of 40 glaciers spun off the Harding Icefield). Grab a water taxi from Seward to a landing site just west of Callisto Head and paddle upstream for 3 miles to the iceberg-studded lake and land on an island made for camping. Listen to the gulls squawk, the surf crash against the shore, and the crack of the calving glacier. Let the sights and sounds set in your mind to form a timeless experience. And in so doing, reveal the final truth about superb campsites in the national parks: Once you find one, you may never want to leave, but you owe it to the rest of us to share. Trailhead Bear Glacier Water taxi Seward Water Taxi: $225/round-trip plus $25/kayak Season Late summer Permit Free; registration is voluntary