National parks are more than the best idea America ever had—they're our country's best playgrounds for millions of vacationers who want to enjoy recreation activities, nature and wildlife, and down-time with friends, family, or as solo travelers. This timely, idea-filled guide covers "classic" parks, national historical parks, national monuments, national battlefields, national scenic trails, and beyond. Hundreds of Top 10 lists highlight every park's best attractions—best lodges, best hikes, best star-gazing spots, best campfire meal spots. Destinations are covered by region, theme, season, and occasion. Photos, anecdotes from park rangers, and insider tips, plus traveler resources such as hotels and restaurants, make this the national parks guide travelers have long sought. “National Geographic has packed 800 ideas…This guide will tell you the best places to find waterfalls, wildflowers, rock art and petroglyphs, fossils, and geological oddities as well as the best places to watch the night sky, take a family-friendly hike, enjoy wind sports, find the best food and the most coveted hotel rooms. And if you don’t like crowds, there’s a list of 10 underappreciated parks.” – The Boston Globe   “There’s a lot to embrace in the new book.” – Baltimore Sun “I was pretty inspired by the book — it’s obvious that it was put together by a group of people that have a real passion for the national parks system.” – Albany Times Union   NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is one of the world’s leading nonfiction publishers, proudly supporting the work of scientists, explorers, photographers, and authors, as well as publishing a diverse list of books that celebrate the world and all that is in it. National Geographic Books creates and distributes print and digital works that inspire, entertain, teach, and give readers access to a world of discovery and possibility on a wide range of nonfiction subjects from animals to travel, cartography to history, fun facts to moving stories. A portion of all National Geographic proceeds is used to fund exploration, conservation, and education through ongoing contributions to the work of the National Geographic Society. Fran P. Mainella was the first woman director of the United States National Park Service. Prior to this, she served as the director of Florida’s State Parks, a role for which she was awarded the Pugsley Medal. She is now a visiting scholar at Clemson University, as well as the cochair of the organization’s US Play Coalition. Ten Best Waterfalls   · Yosemite National Park (Yosemite, Bridalveil, Vernal, Nevada, Ribbon, and Horsetail Falls) It’s no coincidence that great scenery and great waterfalls go together. The water needs something to fall from, which usually means cliffs and mountains and canyon walls. California’s Yosemite Valley claims them all and produces spectacular waterfalls at every turn. Bridalveil, near the entrance to the valley, is 620 feet high. A torrent in spring, it becomes a diaphanous, shifting veil as the summer season wears on.   · Haleakala National Park (Waimoku Falls) Waimoku Falls could be a natural haiku, minimal and eloquent but at the same time powerful. It slips rather than falls, sliding 400 feet down a near-vertical lava wall painted with bright green vegetation. Getting there is a delight. The falls is located in the Kipahulu area of the park, on the southeast coast of the island of Maui, reached by driving the Hana Road, which itself is a sort of waterfall alley. Practically every watercourse along the coast offers one or more falls and cascades.   · Glacier National Park (McDonald, Redrock, Bird Woman, and Running Eagle Falls) With its many high mountains, northwest Montana’s Glacier is a wonderland of waterfalls. A high ribbon of white that falls nearly 1,000 feet in two main drops, Bird Woman is typical of the park’s numerous hanging valley waterfalls. Hanging valleys result when a large glacier cuts deeper than a tributary glacier. The tributary, in effect, is left hanging high above the main valley, a perfect recipe for dramatic waterfalls.   · Katmai National Park and Preserve (Brooks Falls) Brooks Falls might warrant no special attention were it not for the brown bear show. Together with leaping salmon and the Alaska landscape, the scene ranks among the world’s top wildlife-viewing experiences. In summer, great numbers of sockeye salmon return from the ocean to spawn. Making their way upriver, they encounter the falls—and a gang of hungry bears waiting for them, sometimes a dozen or more.   ·  Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Brandywine Falls) When water levels are low in this Ohio national park, 65-foot Brandywine Falls makes the best use of it. Hardly more than a trickle is needed in the smooth sandstone bed of Brandywine Creek above the falls to become a lovely sheet of water. Below the sandstone, a series of step-like shale ledges at the top spread the water, then set it loose to whisper down the sloping ramp