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Taking it easy on the outdoor-adverse among us.
You don’t have to necessarily hit the trail in order to enjoy nature, and you don’t have to skip over our national and state parks if you don’t enjoy strapping on a pair of hiking boots. Plenty of natural spaces in the United States offer opportunities for recreation, and many of them are geared toward visitors who prefer to stroll or admire sights from the car.
While this is not an exhaustive list by any means–you might be surprised by how many wonderful parks there are for non-hikers–it is a good place to start when you are looking to get outside without needing a daypack and a trail map.
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Yellowstone National Park
WHERE: Wyoming
Most of Yellowstone’s most iconic sights only require following a boardwalk path or walking through the parking lot in order to access. Old Faithful, the Grand Prismatic Spring, and many other geysers and natural wonders are near the 142-mile Grand Loop Road that takes visitors through the center of the park. Even though you can experience most of it without ever walking more than a mile or two, hikers can find over 1,000 miles of trails if they are so inclined to reach the less-visited areas.
2 OF 10
Grand Canyon National Park
WHERE: Arizona
Only about 1% to 5% of visitors to Grand Canyon National Park ever venture below the rim, and the rest usually only explore the youngest layers of the “Grandest of the Canyons.” With endless lookouts over Arizona’s most famous attraction, you can forget the hiking gear and switch it out for a pair of binoculars and a camera instead. If you are up for a small walk, the Rim Trail provides some of the most unforgettable views. At 13 miles, you can choose how much you want to take on before heading back to your car.
3 OF 10
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
WHERE: New Mexico
The only direction you have to “hike” in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico is down. Descending 1,000 feet down, you enter an entirely different world–a palace of natural formations created with hydrogen sulfide gas and limestone. The pathway down into the caverns is gradual and paved, and you almost forget that you are walking when you are surrounded by stalagmites and stalactites. You’ll also want to stop by the visitor center to learn more about the 17 different species of bats and 357 bird species you can find here.
4 OF 10
Goblin Valley State Park
WHERE: Utah
No hiking is required in order to experience the strange and otherworldly formations at Goblin Valley in Utah. The park looks like a modern art interpretation of Mars, with thousands of mushroom-like hoodoos dispersed throughout. On top of being able to wander through this natural playground, you can also camp at one of the two available yurts and see a crisp night sky. Do keep in mind that they tend to book up quickly!
5 OF 10
Canyonlands National Park
WHERE: Utah
Utah’s answer to Grand Canyon National Park is Canyonlands, located near Moab. While it is smaller than its more famous cousin, it is awe-inspiring nonetheless. Also formed by the Colorado River, as well as the Green River and their tributaries, Canyonlands has a number of activities for non-hikers, including four-wheeling, kayaking, rafting, and mountain biking. If none of these sound appealing, simply finding a bench and looking out onto millions of years of geologic time might be exactly what you are looking for.
6 OF 10
Dry Tortugas National Park
WHERE: Florida
There might not be a better national park for water lovers in the system than Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys. This incredibly remote fort requires either a two-hour ferry ride on the Yankee Freedom or a chartered seaplane in order to reach. It’s well worth the journey to get there for snorkeling, kayaking, powdered sugar beaches, and camping. The 19th-century Fort Jefferson is also a must-see for history buffs as the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas.
7 OF 10
Congaree National Park
WHERE: South Carolina
As another water-based park located in South Carolina, Congaree is often overlooked. Often mistaken for a swamp, kayakers and canoers can paddle through the largest intact expanse of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the southeastern United States. Winding through the park is the Congaree River Blue Trail, which is composed of 50 miles of recreational paddling in the floodplain. Boardwalk trails are available, but where Congaree shines is on the water–and its population of synchronous fireflies from mid-May to mid-June.
8 OF 10
Weeki Wachee Springs State Park
WHERE: Florida
Weeki Wachee Springs is known for several things: clear, blue water, riverboat cruises, a waterpark, and mermaids. Newbie paddlers can take a guided kayaking or paddleboarding tour on the calm Weeki Wachee River and potentially see manatees during the winter months, while swimmers can take a dip at Buccaneer Bay. If you don’t feel like getting wet, then you can head over to the renowned mermaid show–a staple attraction of the park for more than 60 years.
9 OF 10
Valley of Fire State Park
WHERE: Nevada
There are a number of parks in the southwest that offer unparalleled stops for road trippers, but Valley of Fire State Park might be one of the most photogenic. This 40,000-acre Nevada park features a palette of colors made up of red sandstone and grey and tan limestone formations. Many bypass it for the more Instagrammable views, but the visitor center provides fascinating information on the park’s geology and its 2,000-year-old petroglyphs.
10 OF 10
Redwood National and State Parks
WHERE: California
Redwood National and State Parks is the perfect combination for those who want to get lost in nature but want minimal elevation gain in order to do so. The California redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and the highlight, but the park complex (Redwood National Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park) also protects 37 miles of coastline and threatened animal species. The slower you wander through the forest, the more likely you are to feel you’ve been transported to another world–all without needing a daypack.