Hiking in our national parks is high on the list of many visitors, and long trails don’t always equate to the best views. In fact, many short, scenic options are just as worthy.
I love a good short hike, and on my adventures to all 63 U.S. national parks, I discovered that you don’t always have to go big to get big views. Maybe you have young kids in tow or are simply seeking a mellow day in nature. So I’ve compiled a list of my favorite short hikes in national parks, each of which is postcard-worthy. All distances mentioned are round-trip.
Acadia National Park, Maine
Trail name: Bar Island Trail
Distance: 2.1 miles
A summer sunset walk across the sand bar at low tide to Acadia’s Bar Island (Photo: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty Images)
I’ve raved about the Bar Island Trail for Outside before, naming it one of the best wheelchair-accessible hikes in the country. I still maintain that this gravel strip north of downtown Bar Harbor is one Acadia’s most unique hikes, because it’s an utterly accessible stroll that’s technically off-trail. Grab a tide chart, because the pathway trail is only water-free for 90 minutes before and after low tide, and say goodbye to those storybook cottages in favor of Bar Island’s rocky beaches.
Big Bend National Park, Texas
Trail name: Santa Elena Canyon Trail
Distance: 1.6 miles
The Rio Grande cuts through Santa Elena Canyon, whose limestone walls rise up to 1,500 feet. Bring your binoculars for a good birding outing; you might spot a nesting peregrine falcon. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
When I visited Big Bend’s Santa Elena Canyon in 2020, I rushed to get there just as the sun was setting, so I could watch that big fireball in the sky paint the limestone walls of the canyon in hushed, warm hues. But take your time driving the 30-mile Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to the trailhead, too. It’s home to the aptly named Mule Ears rock formations, as well as impressive Chihuahuan Desert vistas.
Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Trail name: Grand View Point Trail
Distance: 1.8 miles
One big step. It takes most hikers about 40 minutes to walk this out-and-back route. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Of all the trails I’ve hiked on my three trips to Moab, Utah, this trek over to Grand View Point in Canyonlands has got to be the best low-effort, high-reward journey. Start from Grand View Point Overlook and, if you’re not afraid of heights and cliff edges, meander along tangerine-tinted cliffs on a relatively flat, 0.9-mile trail, with views stretching into a maw of the earth, where the Colorado and Green Rivers converge.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Trail name: Big Room Trail
Distance: 1.25 miles
No hike on this list is as fantastical as the stalagtite- and stalagmite-filled Big Room Trail at this park. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
I couldn’t create a list of the best easy national-park hikes without including something from Carlsbad Caverns, one of the most family-friendly and wheelchair-accessible parks of the lot. This trail can be accessed via the visitor center’s elevator, which travels 750 feet into the belly of the earth, or the 1.25-mile Natural Entrance Trail (yes, you can take the elevator back up to ground level). Then get ready to marvel at thousands of stalactites and stalagmites, many of which resemble hanging jellyfish and posh chandeliers.
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Trail name: Watchman Peak
Distance: 1.8 miles
Wheelchair- and kid-friendly, the trail to this lookout is accessible without much effort—about 400 feet of elevation gain. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
July is my favorite month to summit 7,881-foot Watchman Peak, when the high-elevation wildflowers—purple lupine and bright fuchsia beardtongues—are in full bloom. Not only will you glean better views of Wizard Island as you climb, but from the top, you can check out a historic fire tower.
Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Trail name: Savage River Loop
Distance: 2 miles
This flat, well-maintained trail takes a little more than an hour to complete. Expect to get your boots muddy and dress in layers, as it’s frequently windy. (Photo: Jay Yuan/Getty)
There aren’t many maintained trails in Denali (or Alaska, for that matter), but the Savage River Loop is an excellent choice if you’re on one of the park’s famous hop-on, hop-off green transit buses that run between the entrance and the deep interior. In summer, enjoy the verdant tundra and views of the Alaska Range’s foothills as you follow the rushing Savage upstream for a mile before turning around. Bring your bear spray if you’re hiking in Denali–this trail was closed to hikers when I visited in 2020, due to a surly mama bear.
Glacier National Park, Montana
Trail name: Avalanche Lake Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Avalanche Lake, almost too green to be believed. The trailhead is to this hike is only five miles from the park’s Lake Macdonald Lodge. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Avalanche Lake Trail is one of the most popular in Glacier–it’s shaded, has moderate elevation gain, and ends at a mirror-clear alpine lake, studded with waterfalls—the scene is like one from middle-earth. You can extend your trip into a six-mile journey if you stroll along the shoreline to escape the throngs at the turnaround point. Pro tip: if you plan to picnic at the lake, be sure to hide your food from crafty marmots out for a free lunch.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Trail name: South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point
Distance: 1.8 miles
The trail to this panorama is open year-round. Wear shoes with grippy soles to avoid slipping on the gravel. (Photo: Wirestock/Getty)
When I first laid eyes on Ooh Aah Point, I chuckled—here was one of the most appropriate signposts for a view that I’d ever seen inside a national park. From this drop-dead gorgeous spot, located just 0.9 miles and 600 feet below the South Kaibab Trailhead, you’ll be able to take in a mind-blowing assemblage of rust-red sandstone plateaus and mesas, stretching out as far as the eye can see. Feeling frisky? Extend your hike to Cedar Ridge (3.1 miles round-trip) for even more canyon magic.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Trail name: Leigh Lake Loop (also known as String Lake Loop)
Distance: 3.6 miles
Swimming and paddling on shallow String Lake are popular in the summertime. Deeper lakes lie just north of String if you want to portage your boat. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
For easy hikes in Grand Teton, I’d stay near the park’s shimmering lower-altitude lakes, which boast impressive views of the immense, pointed mountains and but are home to trails that are relatively flat. This particular loop circumnavigates String Lake, with scene-stealing vistas of Rockchuck Peak and Mount Saint John along the way. Bring your SUP along and ply the lake’s cool waters after your jaunt.
Great Basin National Park, Nevada
Trail name: Bristlecone Trail
Distance: 2.8 miles
Trekking to an ancient tree is worth the effort. This one, the author discovered, is 3,200 years old. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
When I hiked this path with my partner in late May 2020, we ended up breaking trail in thigh-deep snow, but from June through September, this is an easy trek to many of the oldest trees on earth. Meditate among these gnarled beauties in the shadow of Wheeler Peak—the state’s second highest, at 13,065 feet—and its myriad boulders. Want a longer variation? Continue along the same path to the Wheeler Peak Glacier for a 4.4-mile trip.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
Trail name: Grotto Falls via the Trillium Gap Trail
Distance: 2.6 miles
When fall begins to color the hardwood trees’ leaves in the park, this trail is transformed into world of brilliant foliage. (Photo: Louise Heusinkveld/Getty)
Beat the heat in America’s most-visited national park on this shaded stroll to a cascading waterfall, bookended by mossy boulders. You’ll likely spot salamanders near the cool creek as you stroll through an old-growth hemlock forest and end up at the 25-foot-high Grotto Falls. Dip your feet into the refreshing water before turning back the way you came.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii Island
Trail name: Crater Rim Trail
Distance: 2.9 miles
Kilauea last erupted on June 3, 2024. To check out a webcam of the site, visit the USGS site. (Photo: Courtesy Tor Johnson/Hawaii Tourism Authority)
It’s rare to walk through a tropical rainforest, check out hissing steam vents, and witness an active volcano all in a single trail, but Hawaii Volcanoes is not your average national park. For the best experience, park near the visitor center, hike this well-maintained path at sunset, and try to spot the otherworldly pink glow of lava from the Kilauea caldera as it gets dark.
Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
Trail name: Stoll Memorial Trail
Distance: 4.3 miles
En route to Scoville Point, seen here, you’ll pass sites where Natives dug for copper hundreds of years ago. They used the metal for tools. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
If you’ve only got one day in Isle Royale, this is the trail to take. Beginning in the popular Rock Harbor area, on the main island’s eastern edge, the trail travels in and out of boreal forest and across dark gray volcanic rocks until it reaches Scoville Point, with its sweeping views of Lake Superior. When you’ve had enough of feeling like you’re standing at the edge of the known world, return via the north side of the peninsula for even better forest bathing.
Katmai National Park, Alaska
Trail name: Brooks Falls Trail
Distance: 2.4 miles
The author snapped this shot at the Brooks Falls. The site sees the most tourists in July, but the bears feed on fish at the falls through October. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Yes, getting to Katmai is a long adventure that involves a floatplane from Anchorage. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of visiting the park twice, and it blew my mind both times. For starters, it’s a fantastic place to watch salmon swimming upstream from July through September. This also means it’s one of the best places in the state to watch hungry grizzly bears fattening themselves up on the spawning fish. Stow your food at Brooks Camp, then cross the Brooks River on an elevated boardwalk trail. Once you reach the falls, have that camera ready to snap photo after photo of the ornery beasts feeding.
Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
Trail name: Bumpass Hell Trail
Distance: 3 miles
The otherworldly landscape of Bumpass Hell, named after a European, Kendall Bumpass, who explored the area and accidentally stepped into a boiling spring. That leg had to be amputated. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Want to be wowed by sizzling hydrothermal features, but don’t want to travel all the way to Yellowstone? Lesser-known Bumpass Hell, apart from having an amazing name, is home to some seriously cool steam vents, scalding hot springs, and bubbling mud pots. After stretching your legs on the trail, take a dip in Lake Helen, just across Lassen National Park Highway, and crane your neck up at 10,457-foot-high Lassen Peak.
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Trail name: Myrtle Falls Loop via the Skyline Trail
Distance: 4.7 miles
You’ll need a timed-entry reservation to enter the Paradise area of the park, and you should call ahead to make sure access to the falls is open. Snow can cover the trail well into June. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
The Paradise area is my favorite section of this gorgeous park, and while I trekked along this moderate hike, I saw a huge, fluffy mountain goat and had terrific views of Rainier’s serrated glaciers. 72-foot-tall Myrtle Falls is the real showstopper, though, because it’s perfectly framed by trees beneath Rainier. If you’d prefer an ever mellower day out, you can turn this trek into a simple one-mile out-and-back stroll via the Golden Gate Trail.
New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia
Trail name: Long Point Trail
Distance: 3.2 miles
This trail begins west of the gorge and heads upriver. You’ll gain 344 feet elevation before hitting the lookout point. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Though New River Gorge is perhaps best known for its rock climbing and whitewater rafting, I thoroughly enjoyed hiking its many forested trails when I visited in 2021. This out-and-back to Long Point meanders through a forest of spruce and hemlock before popping you out onto a rocky ledge with one of the best New River Bridge photo ops in the park.
Redwood National Park, California
Trail name: Tall Trees Trail
Distance: 3.5 miles
At the end of an 800-foot descent, you’ll arrive at a grove of redwoods that tower to heights upward of 300 feet. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
You’ll need to get a permit to hike this lollipop loop, which meanders through some of the tallest trees on the planet, but any hassle is well worth it. Drive down a washboard road just east of Orick for roughly 6 miles and park in the designated dirt lot before descending 700 feet to the Tall Trees Grove, keeping your eyes peeled for epic oyster mushrooms and sword ferns along the way. I’d plan on spending at least an hour quietly perusing these ancient redwoods. This is forest bathing at its finest.
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Trail name: Ute Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Alpine tundra is typical of the Ute Trail, which was used by the Ute and Arapaho tribes between hunting seasons. (Photo: Lightphoto/Getty)
Technically, the Ute Trail is an eight-mile round-trip hike, but the best thing about one-way hikes is that you can make them as short as your heart desires. Beginning at the Alpine Visitor Center, which sits at a lofty 11,796 feet, this trail winds along moderately graded tundra slopes and offers awesome views of the Never Summer Mountain Range. Hike it in the morning to avoid the dangerous afternoon lightning storms—my partner and I once had to jam to find shelter on a too thrilling post-lunch trek.
Sequoia National Park, California
Trail name: Congress Trail
Distance: 2.8 miles
On this trail you will pass a group of giant trees named in 1922 as the Senate Group. There is also, fittingly, a cluster of trees named the House. (Photo: Blake Kent/Design Pics/Getty)
If you’re in Sequoia and planning on visiting the General Sherman Tree, which is the largest by volume on earth), I heartily recommend extending your forest-bathing stroll to include the Congress Trail. A mostly flat lollipop loop, it passes the enormous trees within the Giant Forest. Best of all? A few hundred feet past General Sherman, you’ll escape the lion’s share of the crowds.
Virgin Islands National Park, St. John
Trail name: Salomon Bay via Lind Point
Distance: 2.7 miles
The hike’s payoff: a white-sand beach with gorgeous waters and nary another visitor in sight. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Though this trail starts from an unassuming trailhead, right behind the park’s Cruz Bay Visitor Center, it quickly redeems itself with incredible views of aquamarine water, following a brief climb to 160-foot-high Lind Point. From there, you’ll curve through the lush, humid forest and switchback down, down, down to Salomon Beach, which has all the tropical beauty of nearby Honeymoon Beach—but none of the crowds.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Trail name: Point Sublime via the South Rim Trail
Distance: 3.5 miles
You can’t get this view from a car; you must hike in. It’s an easy passage, though, with about 250 feet of altitude gain. (Photo: Louis-Michel Desert/Getty)
After taking obligatory pictures of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its roaring waterfall, I made a random left turn onto an uncrowded trail and quickly uncovered one of my favorite hikes in the National Park System. This trip out to Point Sublime showcases the churning Yellowstone River, hundreds of feet below, while following a forested edge of the canyon whose crimson-and-marigold-colored slopes plunge toward the current for the entirety of the hike.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Trail name: Upper Geyser Basin Trail
Distance: 1.5 miles
Castle Geyser creates a rainbow. It erupts approximately every 14 hours. According to the National Park Service, most of the world’s most active geysers can be found in the Upper Geyser Basin. (Photo: Westend61/Getty)
This is the trail that most people think of when they picture Yellowstone’s most famous attraction, Old Faithful, with that meandering boardwalk stretching far beyond it. And, to be honest, it’s pretty darn incredible in person. Cross the Firehole River, and check out one of the world’s largest assortments of hydrothermal features on this flat, wheelchair-accessible loop. Be sure to download the GeyserTimes app, which offers info on the predicted eruption times. My personal favorite geyser is Castle, which gushes up to 75 feet high and for as long as 20 minutes.
Yosemite National Park, California
Trail name: Illilouette Fall via the Panorama Trail
Distance: 4.4 miles
Fewer visitors know of this Yosemite waterfall, which is one of the reasons to take this hike. If you head there in early summer, the flow is heavier and wildflowers dot the trail. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Sure, this trek might not routinely crack the top ten Yosemite trail listicles, but it’s the first place I take my friends who have never been to the park before. You’ll set off from the iconic Glacier Point viewing area and then enjoy second-to-none panoramas of Half Dome, Liberty Cap, and 594-foot-high Nevada Fall for nearly the entirety of the hike. It’s also an ideal way to remove yourself from the Glacier Point parking-lot crowds and fully immerse yourself in the surrounds.
Zion National Park, Utah
Trail name: Canyon Overlook
Distance: 1 mile
Although the finale of this short trek is the incredible view, the trail itself is lovely, passing over slickrock and past ferns and a grotto. Parking nearby limited, and if you want to join the crowds at sunset, find a spot early. (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Move over, Angel’s Landing. In terms of low-effort, high-reward hikes, this is easily the best one in Zion. Park near the Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel, on the less traveled eastern side of the park; from there this path climbs 163 feet, past vermillion layer-cake-like hoodoos and scrubby pinñon pines. My favorite part is the turnaround point: you’re greeted with jaw-dropping views of the craggy Temples and Towers of the Virgin, sandstone monoliths that appear on park postcards. Keep your eyes peeled for bighorn sheep.
The author on the edge of things, always seeking an amazing outdoor experience (Photo: Courtesy Emily Pennington)
Emily Pennington is a freelance writer based in Boulder, Colorado. Her book Feral, Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in America’s National Parks came out in 2023. This year she’s tackling loads of short hikes in the Rocky Mountains to get ready for a trip to remote East Greenland.
The post 25 Easy, Scenic National-Park Hikes Under 5 Miles appeared first on Outside Online.
