40 Most Beautiful National Parks in the World

A national park is a reserve of natural or semi-natural land, declared or owned by a government, set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, animal and environmental protection and restricted from most development. Today we are going to showcase some beautiful national parks in the world. Enjoy!

Showcase of Beautiful National Parks in the World

1. Jasper National Park (Canada)

Jasper is the largest and most northerly Canadian rocky mountain national park, part of a spectacular World Heritage Site. Comprised of delicate and carefully protected ecosystems, Jasper’s scenery is none-the-less rugged and mountainous. In this special corner of Canada you can thrill to the thunder of Sunwapta Falls, enjoy the serene beauty of Mount Edith Cavell, connect with nature along 1,000-plus kilometres of trails, experience Athabasca Glacier up close or just resign yourself to a relaxing soak in Miette Hotsprings.

2. Everglades National Park (USA)

Everglades National Park is a national park in the U.S. state of Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original Everglades. This national park is the 3rd largest in the lower 48 states, covering 2500 square miles. There are a number of locations you can begin your adventure here in south Florida from Everglades City to Homestead to Key Largo.

3. Auyuittuq National Park (Canada)

Sweeping glaciers and polar sea ice meet jagged granite mountains in Auyuittuq National Park of Canada. Established in 1976, Auyuittuq – an Inuktitut word meaning “land that never melts” – protects 19,089 km 2 of glacier-scoured terrain. Located in the eastern Arctic, on southern Baffin Island, the park includes the highest peaks of the Canadian Shield, the Penny Ice Cap, marine shorelines along coastal fiords, and Akshayuk Pass, a traditional travel corridor used by the Inuit for thousands of years. Whether you wish to climb Auyuittuq’s rugged peaks, ski on its pristine icefields, or hike the scenic Akshayuk Pass, this park offers unique opportunities to experience the beauty and majesty of the Arctic.

4. Zion National Park – USA

In 1880, the scientist Clarence Dutton declared, “Nothing can exceed the wondrous beauty of Zion. In its proportions it is about equal to Yosemite, but in the nobility and beauty of the sculptures there is no comparison. There is an eloquence in their forms which stirs the imagination with a singular power and kindles in the mind a glowing response.”

From the verdure of the expansive valley floors to the creamy sandstone of towering cliffs rising 2,000 feet (600 m) above, Zion is a wonderland of visual imagery. The monolithic stone sculptures, lush forests and roaring rivers are breathtaking, and the first-time visitor will be amazed by the diverse array of colors, a vibrant melange of magenta, azure, vermilion, and cyan.

5. Algonquin Provincial Park – Canada

Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Central Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. It is the oldest provincial park in Canada having been established in 1893.

Over 2,400 lakes and 1,200 kilometres of streams and rivers are located within the park. Some notable examples include Canoe Lake and the Petawawa, Nipissing, Amable du Fond, Madawaska, and Tim rivers. These were formed by the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age.

6. Death Valley – USA

Death Valley National Park is a national park located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. Parts of the park are in southern Inyo County and northern San Bernardino County in Eastern California, with a small extension into southwestern Nye County and extreme southern Esmeralda County in Nevada.

The park covers 5,262 square miles (13,630 km2), encompassing Saline Valley, a large part of Panamint Valley, almost all of Death Valley, and parts of several mountain ranges.[1] Death Valley National Monument was declared a U.S. National Monument in 1933, placing the area under federal protection. In 1994, the monument was redesignated a national park, as well as being substantially expanded to include Saline and Eureka valleys.

7. Pacific Rim National Park Reserve – Canada

Welcome to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve of Canada.
Backed by the Vancouver Island Range and facing the open Pacific Ocean, Pacific Rim presents the rich natural and cultural heritage of Canada’s west coast. Its cool and wet maritime climate produces an abundance of life in the water and on land. Lush coastal temperate rainforest gives way to bountiful and diverse intertidal and subtidal areas. These natural wonders are interwoven with the long and dynamic history of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations and European explorers and settlers.

8. Mesa Verde National Park – USA

Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the world. The park occupies 81.4 square miles (211 km2) (211 square kilometers) near the Four Corners and features numerous ruins of homes and villages built by the Ancestral Puebloan people, sometimes called the Anasazi.

By 750 CE, the people were building mesa-top villages made of adobe. By the late 12th century they began to build the cliff dwellings for which Mesa Verde is famous.

9. Gros Morne National Park – Canada

Gros Morne National Park of Canada was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is an area of great natural beauty with a rich variety of scenery, wildlife, and recreational activities. Visitors can hike through wild, uninhabited mountains and camp by the sea. Boat tours bring visitors under the towering cliffs of a freshwater fjord carved out by glaciers. Waterfalls, marine inlets, sea stacks, sandy beaches, and colourful nearby fishing villages complete the phenomenal natural and cultural surroundings of Gros Morne National Park of Canada.

10. Haleakala NationalPark – USA

Haleakala National Park is a United States national park located on the island of Maui in the state of Hawai?i. The park covers an area of 30,183 acres (122.15 km2), of which 24,719 acres (100.03 km2) is a wilderness area. It was originally created as part of the Hawaii National Park along with the volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea on the island of Hawai?i in 1916.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was made into a separate national park in 1961. The park area was designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980. The name Haleakala is Hawaiian for “house of the sun.” According to a local legend, the demigod Maui imprisoned the sun here in order to lengthen the day.

11. Banff National Park (Canada)

In the fall of 1883, three Canadian Pacific Railway construction workers stumbled across a cave containing hot springs on the eastern slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. From that humble beginning was born Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park and the world’s third. Spanning 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 square miles) of valleys, mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows and rivers, Banff National Park is one of the world’s premier destination spots.

Banff National Park is home to 53 species of mammals. This incredible diversity of wildlife is a reflection of the wide range of habitats found in the park due to variations in elevation, climate, and plant communities.

12. Torres del Paine National Park  – Chile

Torres del Paine National Park (Parque Nacional Torres del Paine) is a national park encompassing a mountains, glacier, lake, and river-rich areas in southern Chilean Patagonia. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subpolar forests and the Patagonian Steppes.

The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. The park is located 112 km (70 mi) north of Puerto Natales and 312 km (194 mi) north of Punta Arenas. Bernardo O’Higgins National Park is its neighbour to the west, while Los Glaciares National Park is located to the north in Argentine territory.

13. Wapusk National Park – Canada

Wapusk means “White Bear” in Cree. The park earns its name because it protects one of the world’s largest known polar bear maternity denning areas. It represents the Hudson James Lowlands natural region bordering on Hudson Bay. The park lies on the transition between boreal forest and Arctic tundra. The geology, biodiversity, and cultural history of the area all contribute to the unique wilderness character of Wapusk National Park of Canada.

14. Tayrona National Natural Park – Colombia

The Tayrona National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona) is a protected area in the Colombian northern Caribbean region and within the jurisdiction of the Department of Magdalena and some 34 km from the city of Santa Marta. The park presents a biodiversity endemic to the area of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range presenting a variety of climates (mountain climate) and geography that ranges from arid sea level to 900 meters above sea level. The park covers some 30 square kilometres of maritime area in the Caribbean sea and some 150 km² of land.

15. Conguillio National Park – Chile

Conguillío National Park is located in the Andes, in the provinces of Cautín and Malleco, in the Araucanía Region of Chile. Its name derives from the Mapuche word for “water with Araucaria seeds”. This national park covers about 608 square kilometers.

Among the attractions in the park are the Llaima volcano, Sierra Nevada and wild landscapes characterized by islands of vegetation completely surrounded by vast areas of basaltic to andesitic lava flows.

16. Kaieteur National Park – Guyana

Kaieteur National Park occupies a prominent position in the center of the Guyana Shield. The Guiana Highlands or Guiana Shield being roughly 2 billion years old is the earth’s oldest surface. Located in north-eastern South America, it includes a large mountain plateau and rainforest system that is part of a vast watershed between the Amazon and the Orinoco rivers.

Specifically, it covers 75,000 square kilometers (30, 000 square miles) and is bounded roughly by the Amazon River to the South and the Japur- Caqueta River to the southwest, the Sierra de Chiribiquete Mountains to the West, the Orinoco and Guaviare Rivers to the northwest and the north, and the Atlantic to the East.

Kaieteur Falls is a high-volume waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana, Potaro-Siparuni region. It is located in Kaieteur National Park. It is 226 meters (741 ft) when measured from its plunge over a sandstone and conglomerate cliff to the first break. It then flows over a series of steep cascades that, when included in the measurements, bring the total height to 251 meters (822 ft).

17. Plitvice Lakes National Park – Croatia

The Pitons are two volcanic plugs in a World Heritage Site in Saint Lucia. The Gros Piton is 771 m, and the Petit Piton is 743 m high; they are linked by the Piton Mitan ridge. The stunning Plitvice Lakes National Park lies in the Lika region of Croatia. The park is surrounded by the mountains Plješevica, Mala Kapela, and Medvedak, which are part of the Dinaric Alps. The 16 blue-green Plitvice Lakes, which are separated by natural dams of travertine, are situated on the Plitvice plateau.

18. Jaragua National Park – Dominican Republic

Jaragua National Park is a national park of the Dominican Republic. Jaragua National Park is located in Pedenales Province in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic. Jaragua National Park has an area of 1374 km² (905 km² of which are marine), with coordinates from 17″28’N to 17’58’N and 71’16’W to 71″44’W, making it the largest protected area in the Caribbean region.

19. Mljet Natural Beauty – Croatia

Mljet is the most southerly and easterly of the larger Adriatic islands of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. The National Park includes the western part of the island, Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, Soline Bay and a sea belt 500 m wide from the most prominent cape of Mljet covering an area of 54 km2. The central parts of the park are Veliko jezero with the Isle of St. Mary, Malo jezero and the villages of Govedari (179 inhabitants), Polace (123 inhabitants) and Pomena (50 inhabitants).

20. Soomaa National Park – Estonia

Soomaa National Park is national park in south-western Estonia. Soomaa (“land of bogs”) created in 1993, is the youngest in Estonia, but its area, 390 km², places it second after the Lahemaa National Park. The national park, situated in Transitional Estonia, has been created to protect large raised bogs, flood plain grasslands, paludified forests and meandering rivers.

Of the raised bogs, the most noteworthy is the Kuresoo raised bog, whose steep southern slope, falling into the Lemmejõgi, rises by 8 metres over a distance of 100 m. On the eastern margin of the national park lie the highest dunes on the Estonian mainland, situated some 50 kilometres off the contemporary coastline.

21. Sila National Park – Italy

Sila National Park was established in 1997 and covers about 74,000 ha of charming and wild areas in Calabria. Besides offering exciting landscapes stretching out towards Pollino, Aspromonte, Etna, the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Sea, it is also characterized by the presence of several rural and tourist villages and a very rich artistic and cultural heritage. Its highest mountains are Mt. Botte Donato (1,928m), in Sila Grande, and Mt. Gariglione (1,764m) in Sila Piccola.

Sila National Park was established in 1997 and covers about 74,000 ha of charming and wild areas in Calabria. The Sila is the name of the mountainous plateau and historic region located in Calabria, southern Italy. It occupies part of the provinces of Crotone, Cosenza and Catanzaro, and is divided (from north to south) into the Sila Greca, Sila Grande and Sila Piccola (“Greek”, “Greater” and “Lesser Sila”, respectively) sub-ranges. The highest peaks are the Botte Donato (1,928 m), in the Sila Grande, and Monte Gariglione (1,764 m) in the Sila Piccola.

22. Lahemaa National Park – Estonia

Lahemaa National Park (established 1971) is located on Northern Estonia, 70 kilometers east from capital Tallinn. Its area covers 725 km² (including 250.9 km² of sea). It was the first national park in the Soviet Union. The name Lahemaa originates from the most thoroughly studied and visited part of the North-Estonian coast, where four large peninsulas (Juminda, Pärispea, Käsmu and Vergi) are separated from each other by four bays (Kolga, Hara, Eru and Käsmu.) Lahemaa translates roughly as “Land of Bays”

23. Durmitor National Park – Montenegro

Durmitor is a massif and the name of a national park in North Western Montenegro. It reaches a height of 2,522 m (Bobotov Kuk). The massif is bordered by Tara River Canyon on the North, Piva River Canyon on the West, and by Komarnica River Canyon on the South. To the East, Durmitor is open to a vast 1,500 m (4,921 ft) high plateau, called Jezerska Povrs (Plateau of Lakes). Sinjavina mountain is located to the east of Jezerska Povrs plateau.

24. Gauja National Park – Latvia

The Gauja National Park (Latvian: Gaujas nacionalais parks) in Vidzeme is the largest national park in Latvia, with an area of 917.45 km² running from north-east of Sigulda to south-west of Cesis along the valley of the Gauja River, from which the park takes its name. It was established on 14 September 1973 and is thus also the oldest national park in Latvia. The park administration is based in Sigulda.

25. Biogradska Gora – Montenegro

Biogradska Gora is a forest and a national park in Montenegro within Kolašin municipality. The National Park is 54 km² in area. Basic elements of the Park are: untouched forest, large mountain slopes and tops over 2000 meters high, six glacial lakes, five at an altitude of 1820 meters and one easy accessible low land lake located at the very entrance to the park, Biogradsko Lake. Swift streams cut through scenery of Biogradska Gora, green pastures and clear lakes reflecting centennial forests.

26. Slowinski National Park – Poland

Slowinski National Park is a National Park in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It is situated on the Baltic coast, between Leba and Rowy. The northern boundary of the Park consists of 32.5 kilometres (20.2 mi) of coastline.

27. Jotunheimen National Park – Norway

Jotunheimen National Park is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country’s premier hiking and fishing regions. The national park covers 1,151 km² and is part of the larger area Jotunheimen. More than 250 peaks rise above 1,900 metres (6,000 feet), including Northern Europe’s two highest peaks: Galdhøpiggen at 2,469 metres, and Glittertind at 2,465 metres.

28. Bialowieza Forest – Poland, Belarus

Belavezhskaya Pushcha, (Belarusian: ?????) in Belarus and Ltspkr.png Puszcza Bialowieska in Poland, is an ancient woodland straddling the border between Belarus and Poland, located 70 km (43 mi) north from Brest (BE). It is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest which once spread across the European Plain.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve lies in parts of the Brest voblast (Kamianiec and Pruzhany districts, BE) and Hrodna Voblast (Svislach district) in Belarus and on the Poland side near the town of Bialowieza in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (62 km (39 mi) south-east of Bialystok (PL) and 190 km (120 mi) north-east of Warsaw).

29. Brecon Beacons – United Kingdom

Brecon Beacons is ideally located and open all year round, offering a full range of exciting activities such as: climbing, abseiling, caving, pot holing, gorge walking, kayaking, canoeing, white water rafting, white water kayaking, white water open canoeing, orienteering, mountain biking, archery, hot dogging, land carting, team building, canoe expeditions, raft building and boasting the first high level ropes course in the the area as well as conference facilities and accommodation in Hotels, B&Bs, Inns and Self-Catering Holiday Cottages.

30. Kakadu National Park – Australia

Kakadu National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km southeast of Darwin. Kakadu National Park is located within the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It covers an area of 1,980,400 ha (4,894,000 acres),[1] extending nearly 200 kilometres from north to south and over 100 kilometres from east to west. It is the size of Slovenia, about one-third the size of Tasmania, or nearly half the size of Switzerland. The Ranger Uranium Mine, one of the most productive Uranium mines in the world, is contained within the park.

31. Abel Tasman National Park – New Zealand

Named for Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who first visited the region in 1642, this national park is New Zealand’s smallest – but it’s perfectly formed for relaxation and adventure. Visitors love the way the Abel Tasman National Park mixes physical exertion with beach life. Bursts of hiking or kayaking are punctuated by sun bathing, swimming and sedate snorkelling around the characteristic granite outcrops.

32. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park – Australia

Ulu?u-Kata Tju?a National Park is UNESCO World Heritage-listed in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located 1431 kilometres south of Darwin by road and 440 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs along the Stuart and Lasseter Highways. The park covers 2010 square kilometres and includes the features it is named after – Uluru / Ayers Rock and, 40 kilometres to its west, Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga and is serviced by flights from most Australian capital cities.

33. Nelson Lakes National Park New – Zealand

Nelson Lakes National Park is located in the South Island of New Zealand. It was formed in 1956 and covers some 1,020 km². It is centered at two large lakes, Rotoiti and Rotoroa. The park also includes surrounding valleys (including Travers, Sabine, and D’Urville, upper reaches of the Matakitaki) and mountain ranges (Saint Arnaud Range, Mount Robert). The park is a popular area for camping, tramping and fishing.

The park is administered by the Department of Conservation who operate a Visitors Centre in Saint Arnaud that provides up to date and reliable information on all aspects of the National Park.

34. Whanganui National Park – New Zealand

This park encloses the wild upper and middle reaches of the Whanganui River, which is New Zealand’s longest navigable waterway. Beginning beneath the shadow of the central plateau’s giant volcanoes, the 329 kilometre river winds its way to the Tasman Sea through an endless procession of forested valleys and hills.

35. Wuyi Mountains – China

The Wuyi Mountains are a mountain range located at the prefecture Nanping, at the northern border of Fujian province with Jiangxi province, China. The mountains cover an area of 60 km². In 1999, Mount Wuyi entered UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites, both natural and cultural. It is the most outstanding biodiversity conservation zone of Southeast China.

36. Taman Negara National Park – Malaysia

Taman Negara National Park was established in Malaysia in 1938/1939 as the King George V National Park. It was renamed to Taman Negara after independence, which literally means “national park” in Malay. Taman Negara has a reputation as the world’s oldest tropical rainforest. Taman Negara Pahang is the largest at 2,477 km², followed by Taman Negara Kelantan at 1,043 km² and Taman Negara Terengganu at 853 km².

37. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park – Japan

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is a national park in Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa Prefectures, and western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It consists of Mount Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands.

In 1950, the Izu islands were added to the park, and its name changed to its present designation. Due to its proximity to the Tokyo metropolis and ease of transportation, it is the most visited national park in all Japan, with the number of visitors per year exceeding 100 million.

38. Daisetsuzan National Park Japan

Daisetsuzan National Park, or Taisetsuzan is located in the mountainous center of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. At 2267.64 square kilometers, Daisetsuzan is the largest national park in Japan.

The name means “Great Snowy Mountain(s)”, an apt description of these peaks – there are 16 peaks over 2000 meters with trails and many more without trails – that offer some of the most rugged scenery in Japan.

39. Pitons – Saint Lucia

The most notable and the most photographed landmarks in St Lucia are without doubt the Pitons. The towering twin Volcanoes of Gros Piton and Petit Piton dominate the landscape of the west coast of St Lucia.

Gros Piton stands 797 metres above sea level and it’s smaller twin Petit Piton stands 750 metres above sea level; close to the town of Soufriere in the southwest of the island. The Pitons, which are now dormant volcanoes, are one of the most famous landmarks in the whole Caribbean region.

40. Yorkshire Dales National Park – United Kingdom

The 680 square miles of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the 233 square miles of the Nidderdale Area of Natural Beauty both sit within the Yorkshire Dales and Harrogate area. We have a unique combination of natural and man-made features that don’t exist anywhere else, the Yorkshire Dales really are unique.