With nine National Parks, California has more than any other state. If you’re in the early stages of planning a road trip, which should you choose? I’ll answer that question without having to scroll at all: Whatever you want to see most. National Parks are all incredible in their own ways, and offer unique experiences.
A list like this is, of course, entirely subjective. That’s the fun though, right? I’ve been to 34 US National Parks plus dozens more all around the world. Even so, there’s no objective way to look at this. My intent is to explain my thinking with each rank.
In alphabetical order, we’re talking about Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwoods, Sequoia, and Yosemite.
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9) Kings Canyon
This is a temporary rating, and only applicable at the time of this writing. This is because most of the park is closed due to road damage. Some will open in 2024, others later. Depending on the current weather/season you can still see huge General Grant tree, and the drive from Sequoia National Park on the Generals Highway is a stunning. A loop through that park, then through a corner of Kings, and down to Fresno or Bakersfield, is a great day.
So because most of the park is off limits, it has to rank low (for now).
8) Lassen Volcanic
I visited Lassen at the end of a road trip that included Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and a flight and drive to the incredible Wrangell–St. Elias National Park in Alaska. Parts of Lassen are incredible, with burbling mud pots and rolling views. Sadly, the 2021 Dixie Fire scorched more than 2/3 of this park. It’s slowly growing back but for now there’s less to see than most of the other parks on this list. Definitely worth a drive through if you’re nearby, though.
7) Pinnacles
All apologizes to Pinnacles, and I really like this park. I visited there on a test run when I was building out my campervan. It offers some great hikes, gorgeous rock formations, and is the habitat for the legendary California Condor. It’s a short drive from San Francisco, yet it’s one of the least visited parks in the National Park system. Underrated, for sure, and only rates so low on this list because of the incredible parks in California. Compared to all 63 National Parks, it’s mid-pack at least.
6) Channel Islands
This is the only National Park in California I haven’t visited, so I reserve the right to increase (or perhaps decrease) this ranking in the future. However, the parks that are higher on this list are incredible so Channel Islands would have to be pretty remarkable to rank higher. A lot of that is to do with its remoteness. It’s the only NP in California you can’t drive to. Instead, you drive to Ventura or Oxnard Harbors and take a boat. There is camping, though with limited or no facilities. This park is unquestionably a stunner, though.
5) Sequoia
These last 5 are really difficult, because I love them all. They’re all among my favorites in the entire system (that I’ve visited so far, that is). Sequoia is home to the largest trees in the word, and walking among them really is like being a child again where everything is enormous.
Keep in mind it takes a long time to get into the park during busy times, and crowds can be an issue. Most of the park is extremely high in elevation too, so getting around can leave you wheezing. However, stunning views and gorgeous nature make this a must-see.
4) Joshua Tree
Tied for my most-visited National Park, Joshua Tree is such a unique landscape. Yes, it’s the desert, but it’s not barren. There’s so much life, from the trees that give the park its name, to the Cholla cactus. Then there’s the smooth stones and rock formations and stunning night skies. It’s one of the easiest parks to visit from LA, and well worth the drive.
3) Death Valley
I’ve visited Death Valley 3 times in the last year, and I’m headed back in a few weeks. It’s like another world. Stunning multi-colored mountains, salt-covered basins, huge craters and rolling sand dunes. It’s the largest park outside of Alaska, and it combines the resiliency of nature with one of the most desolate and inhospitable landscapes in the world. This might be my favorite park for how it transports you to another world.
My last two visits I got to see the rare Lake Manly, a temporary lake in Badwater Basin that only occurs every decade or so. As of this writing it’s still there, and a remarkable sight in itself.
Unless you’re really into extreme heat, which in fairness is a perfectly valid reason to visit DVNP, it’s best to visit in winter or winter-adjacent months. During my last visit, it was a lovely 67 degrees in Badwater Basin, but 5,700 feet above at Dante’s View, it was snowing!
2) Redwoods
Speaking of another world, Redwoods is that for sure. Specifically, the forest moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi. It’s more than that, though. The tallest trees in the world (to Sequoia’s largest), it is walking among giants. It’s a misty, temperate world that is just so remarkable.
I think someone from the Pacific Northwest would find Sequoia more otherworldly. Being from LA the humid, moss-and-leaf covered environs of Redwoods is far more “other” than the dryer Sequoia. So for them, I would bet they’d flip the two on this list’s order.
1) Yosemite
Yosemite is not my favorite park. It’s not even my favorite park in California. I resisted putting it so high on this list, especially because it can be exceptionally frustrating to visit. In fact, I recommend most people avoid this park on weekends or during school holidays. It’s just too busy, too crowded, and because it’s predominantly a valley, there’s limited space for anything, especially parking. It can be hard to enjoy being in a place of natural beauty with honking horns and endlessly babbling visitors.
That said, wow this is one of the most stunning places on Earth. Huge cliffs of sheer rock, towering waterfalls, pristine pastures, it’s almost impossibly beautiful. It can fill you with wonder, then let you look in another direction, and you’ll discover something else even more beautiful. It’s remarkable.
So I cautiously recommend everyone visit Yosemite, but it’s best to do it during the shoulder or off seasons.