Spanning more than 150,000 acres, this park is the largest urban national park on earth. For outdoor enthusiasts in the Los Angeles area, it's a paradise. The park is home to a vast system of hiking and mountain biking trails, including the 67-mile Backbone Trail, which is prime territory for long-distance backpacking. There's also camping, rock climbing, horseback riding, and more.

This slice of Southeast Texas wilderness is just a short drive from Houston. Home to a stunning diversity of wildlife, this park encompasses several distinct ecosystems and provides refuge for countless migratory bird species. Camp overnight at a primitive backcountry campsite, paddle along miles of canoe and kayak trails, or check as many as 185 birds off your bird-watching checklist. Fishing and hunting are also allowed with a valid license during appropriate seasons.

Washington, D.C. is home to one of America's great urban playgrounds, with a collection of outstanding metropolitan parks and memorials within walking distance of each other. This collection of sites include the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, among many others.

Up in Minnesota, the Big Muddy isn't nearly as big or as muddy as it is down south, but the Mississippi River has a powerful draw with no regard for state or region. This park protects 72 miles of the iconic river and more than 50,000 acres of land along the water’s banks. Go for a jog on the urban riverside trails in St. Paul, explore the mighty river by kayak, and experience some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in North America.

Visit this collection of historical sites in downtown Philadelphia and be transported back to the founding of the United States of America. It’s here in the first capital of the U.S. that the founding fathers debated the moral underpinnings of a great new society, that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed and the Liberty Bell rang.

Just a few miles from hip and bustling downtown Miami, a park teeming with a different kind of life — native marine species from manatees, to sea turtles, to corals — offers a glimpse into the fabulous diversity of this slice of America. Winter is the busy season, but locals can visit year-round. Whenever you come, be sure to plan ahead before visiting this true “waterpark” — 95% of the park is water.

Flowing nearly the entire length of Georgia and forming the southern border between its home state and Alabama, this park north of Atlanta gives provides water and sustenance to the metropolitan area and its growing population. Residents of large northern suburbs like Marietta and Roswell can access the recreation area within minutes, while those living downtown or other coordinates along the city’s perimeter can be there in less than an hour.

An hour south of Phoenix and an hour north of Tucson, explore a monument that provides insight into the great Sonoran people who lived and farmed in the Southwest for more than 2,000 years, and learn about the remarkable efforts to preserve it and other treasures of the region in the early days of the National Park Service.

With 95% of its acres designated as wilderness, much of this Seattle park is best explored on foot over many days. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the park on a day trip. In fact, that may be one of the best ways to get a taste for everything this diverse piece of the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

Just beyond the glitz and glare of Las Vegas, this national park highlights a very different part of the Nevada desert, a rugged, seemingly barren badlands that holds prehistoric secrets. Here you’ll find the first national park to preserve and interpret the Ice Age.

Here, the park system pays homage to the people and traditions that make south Louisiana unique, not in one location but in six separate sites that together paint a picture of an unparalleled place in America. Sites include Barataria Preserve in Marrero, Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery in Chalmette, French Quarter Visitor Center in New Orleans, Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette, Prairie Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice, and Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux.

Caving always highlights the contrast between the aboveground and underground worlds, and in a landscape as vast and wide open as Utah, this sense is only heightened. At Timpanogos in the Wasatch Mountains, you’ll experience both — spectacular canyons above the surface, and ethereal formations below.

Chicago’s first national park site honors the 1894 Pullman strike and subsequent national boycott of Pullman train cars. Workers in the town fought for better wages and living conditions, and their strike led to the formation of the first African American labor union and a strengthening among the growing labor movement in America.

This monument, a fortification originally surrounding the Spanish colonial city of St. Augustine, Florida, holds many accolades. It’s one of only three walled cities constructed in North America and is one of only two forts built using a semi-rare form of limestone called coquina that proved strong against cannon fire and hurricanes. At more than 450 years old, it’s one of the best and most enduring examples of colonial life, struggle, and determination in the U.S.

Arguably America's most iconic landmark, ferries depart for the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park in Manhattan and Liberty State Park in New Jersey, giving you the opportunity to view Lady Liberty from her pedestal, or climb to the crown for a once-in-a-lifetime view of New York City. The site also includes Ellis Island, which tells the stories of the countless people who came to the U.S. through the island in search of a better future.