We’ve visited 56 of the 63 U.S. national parks and almost every single one would make a fantastic family destination.
With 63 parks to choose from, the options can feel overwhelming. After years of exploring the national parks, we’ve narrowed it down to 12 that hit the sweet spot for families. These parks are easy to navigate, packed with variety, and deliver the kind of wow-factor that keeps both kids and adults engaged.
Whether your kids are happiest on short, scenic trails or ready to take on bigger adventures, one of these national parks is a perfect fit for your next trip.
Best National Parks with Kids
1. The Grand Canyon
Why Kids Love It: The scale alone is enough to stop a kid in their tracks. The South Rim is easy to navigate, with paved paths, ranger-led programs, and an IMAX film that gives great context before you hit the viewpoints. Short rim hikes deliver big payoff without requiring long miles.
Epic, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping…these are all words that describe the Grand Canyon. But in all honesty, words, and even photos, cannot quite capture what it is like to stand on the rim and gaze out across the canyon.
The Grand Canyon is an awesome place to bring the kids. Kids can hike and bike along the South Rim, take part in a ranger program, watch an IMAX movie, and of course, enjoy the amazing views.
Grand Canyon
With lots of lodging and dining options on the south rim, it’s very easy to visit the Grand Canyon. For the best experience, I recommend spending several days in the park, so you can see it at sunrise and sunset, and so you have enough time to visit the viewpoints and spend at least a few hours on the hiking trails.
2. Everglades National Park
Why Kids Love It: The airboat ride alone is worth the trip. Add in near-guaranteed alligator sightings on the Anhinga Trail and the chance to spot manatees and American crocodiles, and you have a park that feels like a wildlife safari. It’s one of the most exciting parks for kids who love animals.
Alligators, manatees, and airboat rides…the Everglades is an easy park to visit with kids and it makes a great addition to your trip to Florida, whether you plan to relax on the beaches or road trip through the Florida Keys.
Everglades National Park is one of the largest parks in the lower 48 states. However, if you stick the east side of the park, one day is all you need to visit the highlights.
Anhinga Trail
Drive to the Flamingo Visitor Center, stopping at the viewpoints and hiking the short trails along the way. From the Anhinga Trail, you have a good chance to spot alligators. The Flamingo Visitor Center is your best chance to spot American crocodiles and manatees.
In the afternoon, drive north to Shark Valley. Rent bikes or ride the tram and see if you can spot turtles, birds, and alligators. Finish the day with an airboat ride, which is sure to be the highlight of the day for your kids, as you race through the wetlands looking for more wildlife.
One Perfect Day in Everglades National Park
Detailed one day itinerary for Everglades National Park.3. Arches National Park
Why Kids Love It: Most of the iconic landmarks are just a short walk from the parking lot — perfect for families who don’t want to commit to a long hike to see something spectacular. Balanced Rock, Double Arch, and Windows Arch are all easily accessible, and older kids can tackle Delicate Arch and the Devils Garden Trail.
Every time I visit Arches National Park, it never fails to amaze me. This was one of the first national parks I visited, and I was literally awestruck by its beauty. When we brought Tyler and Kara, they were just as enchanted with this park as I was on my first visit.
Arches National Park is easy to visit. One road runs right up the middle of the park. With short walks from the parking lots, you can get up close to several of the landmarks that make this place so famous…Balanced Rock, Windows Arch, and Double Arch.
With a little bit of hiking, go farther into the park. Get up close to Delicate Arch and explore part or all of the Devils Garden Trail.
Devils Garden Trail
Spend the night in Moab, a town that makes the perfect home base to explore more of this side of Utah. While you are here, don’t miss Canyonlands National Park and the amazing Dead Horse Point State Park.
4. Yellowstone National Park
Why Kids Love It: A supervolcano, bison traffic jams, and the world’s most famous geyser. The easy boardwalk trails make the geothermal features safe and accessible for all ages, and the wildlife sightings feel thrillingly unpredictable.
Without a doubt, Yellowstone National Park is one of the best national parks to take your kids.
Yellowstone has the highest concentration of geothermal features of anywhere else on earth. The park literally sits atop a supervolcano. How cool is that?
Walk the short, easy boardwalk trails between geysers, technicolor hot springs and bubbling pits of mud. Of course, Old Faithful, the world’s most famous geyser, is not to be missed.
Yellowstone is also one of the best national parks for wildlife sightings. The largest free roaming bison herd is found here and the bison usually make roadside appearances. In fact, the bison are famous for stopping cars in their tracks, creating traffic jams in the park.
Lamar Valley is the best place to view wildlife in Yellowstone…keep an eye out for bison, elk, pronghorn, bear and coyotes.
Bison in Hayden Valley
You can visit Yellowstone on a day trip from Grand Teton, in two or three days on a USA road trip, or you can spend as long as a week here, exploring the nooks and crannies of this amazing place.
More and more US National Parks are requiring an advance reservation. For the full list, read our guide to the US National Parks that Require an Advance Reservation.
5. Joshua Tree National Park
Why Kids Love It: The trees look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, which immediately captures kids’ imaginations. Add in rock scrambling opportunities everywhere you look and short, manageable trails, and it’s a park that keeps active kids busy without anyone racking up big miles.
What can you do in Joshua Tree National Park with kids? Hike the Arch Rock Trail and take a photo in front of Heart Rock, learn about the plants that thrive in the Mojave Desert on the Cap Rock Nature Trail, see Skull Rock, go hiking in Hidden Valley, and adventurous kids will love hiking through the Hall of Horrors slot canyon.
Joshua Tree is best visited from fall through spring, when temperatures are mild. If you are looking for a winter break destination, this is a good one, and it can be paired with Death Valley (mentioned later in this article), Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Palm Springs, and/or San Diego.
Joshua Tree National Park
Skull Rock
There are lots of cool landscapes to explore and places to go rock scrambling in Joshua Tree National Park.
Learn More About Joshua Tree
6. Olympic National Park
Why Kids Love It: Three completely different landscapes in one park means kids never get bored. Spend one day on dramatic sea stacks and tide pools, another in an ancient moss-draped rainforest, and another hiking alpine ridges. The variety alone makes this one of the best parks for families with multiple days.
With beaches to visit, mountains to climb, and rainforests to explore, there is plenty to do in Olympic to keep kids happy and busy for days.
Take your kids for a walk along Shi Shi and Rialto Beaches, where the coastal cliffs create a magical landscape. Then, journey into Olympic’s temperate rainforest, where moss drips from trees that are hundreds of years old. Finally, visit Hurricane Ridge and hike the easy Sunrise Point Trail for spectacular views of the park.
Hurricane Ridge
It’s easy to get to Olympic National Park, since it is just a short drive from Seattle. But it is a massive park and can feel difficult to visit. However, since you can visit three landscapes in one park, I think this is a great place to bring the kids. With three days in Olympic, spend one day on the beaches, one day in the mountains, and one day in the rainforest.
Learn More About Olympic National Park
7. Great Sand Dunes
Why Kids Love It: We’ve never heard so much laughter from kids at any other park. Sand sledding and sandboarding are an absolute blast, and even just climbing the dunes and rolling back down keeps kids entertained for hours. It’s pure, uncomplicated fun. Plus, the sunsets are stunning.
Great Sand Dunes is a much different experience than many other national parks in the United States. Sure, there is hiking and amazing sunsets and ranger programs, but this park has a much different feel to it.
Playing in the sand is fun for the younger kiddos. Older kids, teenagers, and adults who are kids-at-heart will love sandboarding or sledding.
It’s a small park and the list of things to do is very short. A few hours are really all you need to experience it and hike out onto the dunes. But you might end up wishing you had more time. Sandboarding and sand sledding are a blast, the sunsets are gorgeous, and this park just feels all around fun.
If you are planning a trip to the national parks with kids, put Great Sand Dunes at the top of your list.
Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve
8 Amazing Things to Do in Great Sand Dunes National Park
Everything you need to know to plan a visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park.8. Bryce Canyon
Why Kids Love It: The hoodoos look like something from another planet, and kids react to them with genuine wonder. The Queen’s Garden Trail is short and manageable while still taking you right into the heart of the amphitheater. It’s one of those parks that delivers maximum wow with minimum effort.
Your kids will love this place! It’s almost like Bryce Canyon was designed with kids in mind.
This small, uniquely beautiful park is quick and easy to visit. With awesome viewpoints that will delight your kids (and you!), and a short, fun hiking trail through some of the park’s best scenery, this is one of the best national parks to bring the kids.
Queen’s Garden Loop Trail
Stay in the town of Bryce or in nearby Tropic. A half day is all you need to visit the viewpoints and hike the amazing Queen’s Garden Trail. Sunrise is amazing here, if your kids don’t mind an early, chilly start to the day.
A trip to Bryce Canyon can easily be combined with Zion (but this can be a tough park to visit with kids since most of the top hikes are challenging and/or dangerous) or a road trip through Utah’s Mighty 5. Just around the corner, take your kids on a hike through Willis Creek or camp/explore Kodachrome Basin State Park.
Learn More About Bryce Canyon National Park
9. Carlsbad Caverns
Why Kids Love It: An underground cave system feels like a genuine adventure for kids. Hiking down through the natural entrance into a massive chamber full of stalactites and stalagmites is dramatic and memorable. The evening bat flight (May–October) is a bonus that tends to be a trip highlight.
Located in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico sits an underground fantasy land of limestone chambers, stalactites and stalagmites, and long, twisting tunnels.
Enter the cavern through the natural entrance and hike down into the mysterious underground cavern. Once in the Big Room, you are standing in the largest cave chamber in the United States by volume. Kids will ooh and ahh and the huge collection of stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, and dripstones.
To get back to daylight, no stair climbing required…simply ride the elevator to the surface.
In the evening, watch as bats emerge by the thousands from the natural entrance of the cave (May through October).
Carlsbad Caverns can be explored independently or you can take a guided tour. With easy walking trails, the mysterious underground landscapes, and a chance to see bats, this is a great national park for kids.
Best Things to Do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Things to do and how to plan a visit to Carlsbad Caverns.10. Glacier National Park
Why Kids Love It: Mountain goats on hiking trails, grizzly bears in the valleys, and one of the most spectacular scenic drives in the country; Glacier has a lot going for it with kids. The shorter trails to Avalanche Lake and Hidden Lake are manageable for most ages, and the wildlife sightings feel genuinely wild.
Glacier National Park is at the top of the list when it comes to sheer beauty. Massive mountains spill down into fields of wildflowers. Waterfalls and alpine lakes form the perfect hiking destinations. Mountain goats and bighorn sheep make regular appearances, as do black bears and grizzly bears.
This is a gorgeous park and it is a delight to explore, so it is a must-see, not only for kids, but for people of all ages.
Hiking to Grinnell Glacier
Hiking to Avalanche Lake
With kids, there is lots to do here. Drive Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of the most spectacular scenic drives in the United States. Stretch your legs and hike the short, easy trails to Hidden Lake, Avalanche Lake, and Trail of the Cedars. Older kids can handle some of the longer trails in Many Glacier and Two Medicine. But you can also go kayaking on the lakes or take a scenic boat trip.
And what kid wouldn’t love to see the mountain goats from a hiking trail?
Due to the narrow window of time that Going-to-the-Sun Road is open, Glacier National Park is best visited from July through September.
Learn More About Glacier National Park
11. Death Valley National Park
Why Kids Love It: Just the name gets kids curious. Standing at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the United States, climbing the Mesquite Sand Dunes, and exploring slot canyons all feel like real discoveries. Death Valley rewards curiosity, which makes it a surprisingly great park for kids who like to ask “why.”
Death Valley is a highly underrated park and a fantastic place to bring the kids. Just the name inspires a sense of wonder and mystery.
What can you do here with kids?
Climb the sand dunes, stand in Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the United States, enjoy the panoramic views at Zabriskie Point and Dante’s View, hike down into a caldera, explore the mudstone hills of the Badlands, see the mysterious sailing stones at Racetrack Playa, and gaze up at the stars at night.
Death Valley is amazing and it’s one of our favorite national parks.
Mesquite Sand Dunes
Badwater Basin
Mosaic Canyon
It makes a great winter and spring destination. Death Valley is just a short drive from Las Vegas…Las Vegas may sound like a strange place to take the kids, but it is a great home base for exploring part of the American Southwest. In one week, you can visit Las Vegas, Death Valley, the Grand Canyon, the Valley of Fire, and Red Rock Canyon. It’s a nice winter holiday vacation idea. 😉
12. White Sands National Park
Why Kids Love It: Sledding on dunes as white as snow is every bit as fun as it sounds. The park is small and easy to navigate, the trails are short, and sleds are available to rent or buy at the visitor center. It’s one of the most purely joyful national park experiences for families.
Go sledding on sand as white as the snow…what kid would not love that? 😊
White Sands National Park is home to the largest gypsum dunefield in the world. These pure white dunes create a fun place to explore, not only for kids, but also for adults.
Dune Life Nature Trail
Sledding spot at White Sands National Park
This national park is small and easy to visit. That means no long car rides through the park and no super long trails to hike. Just one road (Dunes Drive) runs through White Sands and it only takes 20 minutes to drive the entire length of it.
Off of Dunes Drive are trailheads to short nature trails, longer walks through the dunes, and countless numbers of places to go sledding.
So, stop by the visitor center, buy a sled, and spend the day sledding on the dunes and exploring the white gypsum dunefields.
11 Amazing Things to Do in White Sands National Park
Detailed guide to White Sand Dunes National Park.FAQs: National Parks with Kids
What is the best national park to visit with young kids?
Great Sand Dunes, Bryce Canyon, and Arches are all excellent for young kids, with short trails, immediate wow-factor scenery, and low physical demands. Great Sand Dunes in particular is pure fun for young children.
Which national parks are best for families with teens?
Yellowstone, Glacier, and Death Valley offer enough variety and adventure to keep teenagers engaged with wildlife spotting, longer hikes, and landscapes that feel genuinely dramatic.
Do kids get free admission to national parks?
Yes, children 15 and under are admitted free to all U.S. national parks. The America the Beautiful Annual Pass ($80) covers the entire family for unlimited visits, making it well worth it for most families.
What age is good for national park trips with kids?
There’s no wrong age. Many parks, like Arches, Bryce Canyon, and White Sands, work well even with toddlers due to short, paved or flat trails. Kids of any age benefit from the ranger junior programs available at most parks.
Hiking the National Parks with Kids
Many of the national parks have short, sweet hiking trails that are perfect for kids. This is a great way to expose your kids to new landscapes and places that may look very different from where you call home.
If you like the idea of hiking the trails with your kids, check out our post 20 Short, Fun Hikes in the US National Parks for some great ideas.
We LOVE the US National Parks and we are on a mission to visit each and everyone of them. For more travel ideas and inspiration, visit our US National Parks page, where you can get more information on the parks, learn when to visit by season, and get ideas for your next big road trip.
If you are planning a visit to the national parks with kids and have any questions, let us know in the comment section below. We would also love to hear which national parks you think are perfect to visit with kids.
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