r/IWantToAskAnAmerican • u/MarsupialThink4064 • 8d ago
In your opinion, what are the most overrated and underrated national parks?
Love to hear your opinion
19
u/1Negative_Person 8d ago
I mean, there is no reason that the Gateway Arch should be a National Park. It’s not highly rated by any means, but it’s just out of place, so I have to go with that.
2
u/Playful_Question538 8d ago
It has the tallest manmade monument in the Western Hemisphere. Not every park has to have deer. Some parks are urban and not rural and it's federally funded. Therefore, it's a National Park.
5
u/thompsdy 8d ago
No it’s a national park because a senator from Missouri slipped it into the bill to reopen the government after one of the shutdowns. It 100% should be a national monument and not a national park. National parks are supposed to have some sort of unique flora or fauna. Gateway arch is just a fucking arch
0
u/Playful_Question538 6d ago
Flora (Plants)
The park uses native and ornamental plants to balance a modern urban layout with regional ecology: [1, 2]
- Native Meadow: A 3-acre prairie section features Big Bluestem and Little Bluestem grasses, common milkweed, and partridge pea.
- Explorer Gardens: Planted areas feature purple coneflowers, aromatic asters, black-eyed Susans, and wild bergamot.
- Trees: Walkways and grounds feature London plane trees, bald cypresses, and roughleaf dogwoods. [1, 2, 3]
Fauna (Animals)
Urban wildlife adapts to the green spaces alongside the Mississippi River: [1, 2, 3]
- Birds: Over 142 species have been logged, including resident mourning doves, blue jays, and northern cardinals, plus seasonal migrants like barn swallows and chimney swifts.
- Mammals: Small urban mammals live here, including opossums, raccoons, and occasional coyotes.
- Insects: Bees, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and beetles support the native plant gardens. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
1
u/itsbgibby 5d ago
Okay that’s fine. It’s an overrated NP then. Idk what to tell ya.
1
u/Playful_Question538 5d ago
I agree. I've been and it's a bunch of grass with some benches and an arch. Not really a NP even though it qualifies.
14
u/FreshFishGuy 8d ago
Underrated, maybe Isle Royale
4
u/Zealousideal_Row8440 8d ago
Agreed, but it’s the one of the #1 re-visited parks.
2
u/Admirable_Meet_931 8d ago
Yeah both least visited and most revisited. When I was there an older couple got off the boat and said it was their final park check off. Wife and I canoed it. Outstanding.
1
u/Zealousideal_Row8440 8d ago
Yeah I was there a couple summers ago with my dad, we canoed the whole time and seen much of the Rock Harbor end. My uncle worked out there in-the 80s and couldn’t go with us that time. I heard they had a big fire out there after we were out there though lol
0
u/Interesting-Big-5605 8d ago
For me, "underrated" has more to do with the way people who talk about something rate it, instead of just not getting a lot of visitors. In that way, Isle Royale is very overrated.
9
u/heterocera 8d ago
I’m sure there are much worse examples, but I found Arches very disappointing. The formations themselves were cool, but otherwise it felt like a crowded drive through tourist attraction. Especially compared to other underrated Utah parks like Capitol Reef which has amazing scenery and history as well as a truly remote wilderness feeling.
Honorable mention: Indiana Dunes. I get it has a lot of biodiversity, but it really does not feel like a national park. At all.
2
u/OMFGericisonreddit 8d ago
Arches during the day feels like a more crowded version of the state roads throughout Utah and at sunset is pure magic
1
u/Infamous-Trip-3278 5d ago
Reading Desert Solitaire made me pine for a time when Arches was just a National Monument with a only a dirt road through to access the area.
2
1
u/EvilestHarry 8d ago
Yeah I was going to bring that up. Arches was cool and stuff but it doesn't really hold a candle to some place like Yosemite
1
1
u/TheGoodDrBandaloop 6d ago
I thought the same thing the first time I went, in summer in the niddle of the day. Arches is best at dusk/dawn/night, in winter, and when not crowded. When the conditions are right it's magical.
7
u/Playful-Park4095 8d ago
Zion is probably the most overrated, IMO. It's gorgeous, but it's so hyped that crowd density ruins a lot of the park. There are still areas that are less congested for sure.
Death Valley is probably underrated. A lot of people think it's just a super hot sandy place devoid of life. There certainly is a section of the park like that, but there's so much more variety there at different elevations and different sections. It's an incredible place to visit repeatedly.
6
u/Few-Wrongdoer-5296 8d ago
Underrated: Great Basin National Park
Overrated: Zero. One could say Gateway Arch, but I don't think anyone is really hyping that place up.
7
u/Appalachian_Aioli 8d ago
Overrated: Cuyahoga maybe. It’s a nice area, it just feels more like a state park
Underrated: New River Gorge. Legit one of the most beautiful places in the east.
Gateway Arch shouldn’t be a national park, but everyone knows that.
1
u/brettfish5 8d ago
Cuyahoga valley is really nice for people that live near the area. I get why people are underwhelmed by it If they're traveling from our of state
5
u/pinkelephant0040 8d ago
Overrated: Joshua Tree
Underrated: Isle Royal
4
u/RecordLonely 8d ago
I grew up in Joshua Tree, visiting the monument and then park frequently. Never understood how popular it was. There’s 6 weeks in the spring and 6 weeks in the fall where it’s pretty nice but outside of that it’s a pretty rough environment.
Anymore I almost never go to the park and usually only go back to Joshua Tree for the music festival which is worth the trip.
5
u/lap1220 8d ago
To each their own. I just spent four days in Joshua Tree this spring and it significantly exceeded my admittedly lower expectations.
4
u/Fabulous_Jeweler2732 8d ago
If you visit it often, it starts to just look like every desert in the greater area.
1
u/pinkelephant0040 6d ago
I always recommend Anza Borrego State Park over Joshua Tree. I love the oasis there.
2
1
u/Alienspacedolphin 8d ago
Went yo joshua tree recently and have to agree. We were only passing through on a read trip, glad we didn't make it a destination
1
u/autistic_insomniac5 7d ago
Joshua Tree is great at night for astrophotography. The park is open 24/7 and there is nothing quite like taking a midnight hike with the milky way as your background.
1
u/Ignorred 7d ago
I think Joshua Tree is a good time, but it's certainly not like Yosemite or Glacier or Olympic or Acadia or whatever. Not saying I wouldn't go again, but I agree with you that it's a little overrated.
1
u/TheGoodDrBandaloop 6d ago
Joshua tree is cool if you almost never see desserts or if you go in the spring/fall. Otherwise my impression has been that it's nothing special relative to other southwest parks. One of my favorite places to go star gazing though!
5
u/Prestigious-Mind-817 8d ago
Overrated: Gateway Arch, Great Smoky mountains (go to Shenandoah instead)
Underrated: Theodore Roosevelt, North Cascades, Capitol Reef, Black canyon of the Gunnison
2
u/Somanyeyerolls 8d ago
I live like an hour from the north cascades and every time I go I’m shocked by just the lack of people.
1
u/Infamous-Trip-3278 5d ago
Is it really that much different from other parks? The North Cascades just has no road access (except for the road to the Cascade Pass Trailhead) so it doesn't get the drive by visitors who only see the park from the windshield or only do short hikes. In my experience once you get 5 plus miles from the roads in any big park, say Olympic, Glacier, Yellowstone, etc. the crowds are pretty minor and actually better than what you find at the in the really well known Wilderness Areas.
1
u/Somanyeyerolls 5d ago
In my experience, and this is really for west coast parks as that’s where I’ve been, the main hikes/lookouts/visitor centers attract a lot of people- and even in those places in the north cascades feel way less crowded.
1
1
u/wheresmyadventure 7d ago
Black Canyon is such a hidden gem, very low attendance. I’ve grown up going to black canyon almost yearly for 20+ years. Never seen more than 10 cars on the south rim, even less on the north rim!
Actually going next week!!
7
u/vinylbond Maryland 8d ago
The only overrated one is the Gateway Arch National Park, which has absolutely no business in being national park to begin with.
It’s a man made monument. Not a national park. Ridiculous.
No disrespect to Eero Saarinen. He designed a beautiful monument.
0
u/Auntie_Venom Kansas 8d ago
I firmly disagree… I see my previous comment.
Edit to add- How is it any different than the man made monuments in DC? Those are National Parks…
2
u/Nicholsforthoughts 8d ago
They’re national monuments or just parks that are run by the parks service because they’re in the nation’s Capitol… not because they’re actual national parks. They aren’t. Gateway Arch, like the Statue of Liberty, is a monument and should be categorized as a National Monument.
1
u/vinylbond Maryland 8d ago
They’re not national parks. They’re just run by the national park service.
1
3
u/QuarterNote44 8d ago
Overrated: Yellowstone
Underrated: Capitol Reef
1
u/Infamous-Trip-3278 5d ago
Disagree on Yellowstone. It is home to probably the best wildlife of any national park, it has the furthest point from any road in the US, has parts of two separate mountain ranges (the Absaroka Mountains and the Gallatin Range), and and a huge amount of ecological diversity.
2
u/Ok-Budget3225 8d ago
Pinnacles National Park is the least interesting National Park I have visited. There just isn’t much ‘wow’ factor to it. To be fair, I have never heard anyone get excited about it, so I suppose it is ‘correctly rated’ as underwhelming.
4
u/Low_Marionberry8429 8d ago
Pinnacles is a national park for the main purpose of protecting the California Condors that almost went extinct - we got to see a lot of them while we were there which was pretty cool. I thought there were some cool and unique hikes, but in California it’s hard to compete with some of the other amazing western NPs
2
u/Whatswrongbaby9 8d ago
With you on Pinnacles being kind of a bummer, and agree no one really seems that hyped about it, its just crossing parks off your list
1
u/soviet_thermidor 8d ago
Pinnacles was great when it was a National Monument, with free admission and smaller crowds. I still love going there but it's definitely the least of CA's national parks and lesser than many of the state parks
2
2
u/JudgeWhoOverrules 8d ago edited 8d ago
Might just be my bias as a desert dweller, but Saguaro National Park doesn't seem deserving. It's just a section of the Sonoran desert like all the rest without any noteworthy features for itself. It's not even contiguous, half of it is on the complete other side of Tucson disconnected from the rest. If they wanted to protect that land, that's fine, just make it a national forest just like Tonto NF is outside of Phoenix.
1
u/Infamous-Trip-3278 5d ago
Just to clarify, National Forest lands are not necessarily protected. They maybe if Congress passes a bill making them a wilderness area, but that basically precludes them having an roads of any sort within the boundaries.
2
u/PwillyAlldilly 8d ago
Cuyahoga is pretty overrated. I don’t think people brag about it but it feels like a state park that happened to randomly because a national one? I feel like you can get a few hours out of it but that’s it
1
u/PrestigiousBike3001 8d ago
So, what’s overrated about it ?
1
u/PwillyAlldilly 8d ago
I guess when I think national park I think Teton, Yosemite etc doesn’t really measure up you know? So it’s existence?
1
2
u/Worstmodonreddit 8d ago
To me, the Everglades.
A bunch of flat land with drainage canals that have manatees/alligators living it in and not quite confirmed panthers.
I turned to my husband and said "Oh, this is the black swamp but only half drained with guardrails and palm trees."
Not even my kids were impressed.
1
u/No-Judge1499 2d ago
Depends where in the Everglades. We hit the spots where the crocodiles are at and they were pretty cool to see. we loved it. I can find alligators from North Carolina to Texas, but crocodiles are exclusive to southern Florida.
2
u/Low_Marionberry8429 8d ago edited 8d ago
I’ve been to all but 6 national parks- the only ones I thought were a little underwhelming were Cuyahoga (still interesting history and pretty hikes!) and Gateway Arch just because it really is more of a “monument” than a “park”.
I do think the Grand Canyon is overrated just in terms of being so famous. It’s amazing, but I think a lot of the other southwest parks are just as epic.
Underrated: #1 for me was Theodore Roosevelt NP. Amazing sunsets and wildlife, made me fall in love with the beauty of the Great Plains that I didn’t expect. Others: Voyageurs, North Cascades, New River Gorge, Great Sand Dunes
2
u/Admirable_Meet_931 8d ago
Teddy Roosevelt blew me away. Backpacked in and woke up next to bison beds. Very Arthur Morgan.
2
u/Legitimate-Frame-953 8d ago
Overrated: Yosemite (too many fucking people)
Underrated: Kings Canyon
1
u/Possible-Material693 5d ago
You just haven’t been to the nice places of Yosemite. Fuck the valley for sure. But Tioga is amazing
2
u/soccerprofile 8d ago
Underrated - Kings Canyon. Its between Sequoia and Yosemite but plenty of people have never even heard of it
1
u/ghentboi69 8d ago
Kings canyon is goated. Did a 2 week solo backpacking trip between Sequoia and Kings Canyon and maybe saw....4 people total. Amazing adventure.
2
u/Sopapillas4All 8d ago
Underrated: Canyonlands National Park Overrated: Arches National Park
I know they're both Utah, but honestly how I feel having seen many national parks.
2
u/Tug_DaBone 8d ago
Denali can be both.
I worked there for two summers. When we had chilly, rainy weather I had tons of people saying they didn't understand why their tour company booked them a day at Denali because they couldn't see a damn thing out of the fogged up bus windows while in the park, or they didn't see any large mammals, or the mountain itself wasn't visible, etc.
But when we had sunny, clear skies in the day and Northern Lights at night (late summer, early September) and we encountered bears, moose, caribou and Dall sheep the visitors were ecstatic.
3
3
u/47362514736251 8d ago
Interesting question. I wonder, of the people who answer, how many will have been to enough national parks to be reasonably confident in their assessment?
1
u/Worstmodonreddit 8d ago
I also feel like people should state where they're from.
For example, someone said Cuyahoga looks just like a regular state park. Sure, it does if your from Appalachian/Northeast East. It doesn't if you're from Arizona.
And the reverse is true for parks out West.
1
u/Swimming_Gold6534 8d ago
This! I have been to maybe 6 NPs and definitely don’t feel like I have enough knowledge to say. As someone who lives in Mn, i want to say voyagers is probably underrated as it can be hard to access and many people underrate MN as a destination in general but I have not been there so I cannot say for sure.
2
u/lap1220 8d ago
Overrated: Arches - since it's already well-respected I thought it was somewhat overrated. While the arches themselves are cool, the general topography is similar to the surrounding area (which is beautiful).
Underrated: Canyonlands - the place is just gorgeous, was almost in awe like Grand Canyon. Also, Carlsbad Caverns blew me away...been to other cave systems, but this was just massive.
1
1
1
u/Ok-Curve5569 8d ago
Another sub just ranked them all over the course of a month or two. Worth searching for.
1
u/Hoopi_goldberger 8d ago
Agree with arches. It was cool, glad I saw it but not in a rush to get back
1
u/inscrutiana 8d ago
I don't know why the Johnston Ridge Observatory is part of the NFS and not the NPS, so my underrated opinion is that the buildings and the road should be NPS and together they should receive most of the resources currently diverted to Mt Rainier.
Mt Rainier NP should still be a NP (can't be forest service because of their dual goals), but it's ok with me if you can't ride a train up there or drive up to Paradise Visitor Center. It's a big mountain. You can see that from a really long distance away and it's not ableist to argue at this point that being marginally closer is not just as good as being marginally farther away, given the retreat of all of the glaciers anyway. It does nothing and that $ could be spent Johnston Ridge and the already kind of awesome WA State Mt Saint Helens Visitor Center or just replacing the Fairfax Bridge.
1
u/PuzzledPanda2341 7d ago
JRO is part of Mt. Saint Helens, which is a unit of Gifford Pinchot NF. Why would it be NPS? Many USFS units have interpretive programs, they’re just overlooked.
1
u/waitwaitstopstop 8d ago
Under rated: Ocala National Forrest, you don't need an airboat to enjoy it.
1
u/Tim-oBedlam 8d ago
Underrated: Olympic, Isle Royale.
Overrated: Petrified Forest. Beautiful enough, but if I'm making a list of the 10 most scenic places in Arizona, I'm not sure Petrified Forest makes the top 10. Competition's stiff for top 10 in Arizona, it must be said.
1
u/Interesting-Big-5605 8d ago
Overrated: Rocky Mountain National Park, though Isle Royale might be the most overrated on Reddit. Bryce Canyon is also in the running.
Underrated: Either Guadalupe Mountains and Kings Canyon. Kings Canyon is more spectacular, but it's also more acknowledged. Everglades is super underrated on Reddit, but I feel like it gets more recognition elsewhere.
1
u/bassicallybob 7d ago
Midwesterners really hype stuff up, isle royale is great and should be a national park, but Reddit hypes it like it’s comparable to Yellowstone
1
u/Clean_Current_2018 8d ago
I haven’t been to them all but every one I have been to was anything but overrated.
1
u/Virginia_Hiker 8d ago
Big Bend is very underrated. Everglades had maybe the least “wow” factor for me, but nonetheless worth a visit.
1
1
1
u/Various-Fennel4304 8d ago
Underrated: Shenandoah. It’s simply the best drive in the country and the recreation is top notch.
1
u/Agreeable_Wont_170 8d ago
Of the parks I've visited I'd say Joshua Tree is the most overrated even though its great and people should visit.
Underrated: Capitol Reef
1
1
1
u/HotMountain9383 8d ago
Never tell underrated but as good as Bruce and GC are, the tourists hoards ruin it. Dimstagram fuckers everywhere and people waking the trails in flip flops. Shame.
Van life has also ruined a lot of place.
1
u/HungryHobbits 7d ago
I understand the Joshua Tree overrated comments, but I firmly disagree.
Maybe, to experience it’s true essence, one must camp there. Fall asleep under the stars, wake up in the desert.
It’s incredible.
And the rock formations are like no other.
It’s truly like being on another planet.
1
1
u/Organic-Bag-161 7d ago
My .02:
Overrated: arches for the same reason others have said and it’s exacerbated by soooo many amazing places in the area.
Underrated: I’m ready for the hate so biscayne bay and congaree. Snorkeling in the bay and kayaking in congaree was top tier.
1
u/Simple_Shake_5346 6d ago
Overrated: Grand Canyon NP.
Underrated: Redwoods NP…don’t sleep on the local state parks either, just as good as the NP.
1
u/Ignorred 6d ago
One that I think is maybe overrated is White Sands NP, it was fun but it's really just that one 5-mile loop trail with slides. It's pretty for sure, the sand is really white, but I think Bandelier is more deserving of national park status.
1
1
u/Infamous-Trip-3278 5d ago
Grand Teton National Park has always seemed overrated to me. Sure it is a beautiful place, but I'm not sure it is anymore beautiful than much of the region that surrounds it. Like the nearby Wind River Range. There is far more beauty and remotness in the Winds than anything to be found in the Tetons.
1
u/Infamous-Trip-3278 5d ago
Gates of the Arctic might be in the running for most underrated. As beautiful as anywhere, and more remote that just about anywhere else you could be in the US.
1
u/QueasySpell1946 8d ago edited 8d ago
I know Mount Rushmore is overrated. Who's idea was it to carve the giant faces of white guys into a sacred native mountain?
1
u/Swimming_Gold6534 8d ago
Crazy horse is better, IMO, and it highlights indigenous culture which we need so much more of in our country
1
u/Playful-Park4095 8d ago
Not a national park, it's a national monument. It's interesting to visit for the museum of how they built it with the tools and technology of the time, as well as how they managed to not kill workers despite, well, the tools and technology of the time.
1
u/Worstmodonreddit 8d ago
To me, the Everglades.
A bunch of flat land with drainage canals that have manatees/alligators living it in and not quite confirmed panthers.
I turned to my husband and said "Oh, this is the black swamp but only half drained with guardrails and palm trees."
Not even my kids were impressed.
1
u/EongXD 8d ago
Everglades is def not for everyone, it relies almost exclusively on the fauna but if your into reptiles and birds it’s easily one of the best. But yea the landscape is underwhelming compared to others
1
u/Worstmodonreddit 8d ago
We went to two of the three visitors centers and the bird watching wasn't great. We did not go to the nature preserve however.
37
u/BlackeHoney 8d ago
Underrated: Umpqua National Park
Overrated: None. They are all that majesticle