Wildlife lovers crowd into Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley nearly every morning searching for bears, wolves, and elk. Don’t follow them. Instead, head to the rolling forests and granite peaks of South Dakota’s Custer State Park, one of the richest wildlife spots in the nation. Hop on the park’s 18-mile (29-kilometer) Wildlife Loop Road to admire pronghorn antelope, elk, mountain goats, prairie dogs, and one of the largest bison herds in the country.

Just over six hours north of Joshua Tree, a new-ish addition to the National Park roster has yet to draw the spotlight: Pinnacles National Park. Similar to its southern sibling, Pinnacles offers golden volcanic landscapes full of chaparral, oak woodlands, canyon bottoms, and towering rock spires. Catch wild condors in the skies above Condor Gulch Overlook, bring a flashlight to wander inside the desert gulches and caves, and stay the night for some of the state’s best stargazing.

With Glacier imposing vehicle reservations to mitigate traffic, now’s the time to head to Washington State’s North Cascades National Park instead. Believe it or not, this spot only receives roughly 30,000 visitors per year, so you’ll be kept in good company with the park’s 300+ glaciers, pine forests, neon-blue alpine lakes, and wild hiking trails. For something ultra-memorable, book a stay at the exclusive Ross Lake Resort to spend your nights in a floating cabin above the water.

As the crowds clamor to the top of Mt. Cadillac for sunrise, you’ll be enjoying those morning rays from a kayak off Peninsula State Park, in Wisconsin’s Door County. Here, a towering wall of limestone juts out from the center of Lake Michigan—it’s the same rock that Niagara Falls pours over, actually—making for incredibly scenic hiking, paddling, biking, and camping opportunities. Though covered in icicles and frost come winter, summer’s landscapes look practically Caribbean.

You know about red-rock arches and hoodoos, but how about “goblins?” At Goblin Valley State Park, in Utah’s San Rafael Desert, the quirky word refers to the park’s wild rock formations—monstrous, hypnotic, and practically Martian. Hiking the “Goblin’s Lair” (it’s actually a slot canyon) or across the “First Valley of Goblins” makes for a wild story once back home, though canyoneering down the “Chamber of the Basilisk” may be the park’s truest action-flick-worthy adventure.

National parks aren’t the only places to see the tallest trees in the world. Old-growth redwood forest comprises one-third of the 53,000-acre (21,448-hectare) Humboldt Redwoods State Park—the largest expanse of ancient redwoods left on the planet. One of the most accessible spots in California’s North Coast region to see the trees’ majesty, simply hop in the car to journey the 32-mile-long (51-kilometer-long) Avenue of the Giants for a scenic ride like no other.

Where Rocky Mountain National Park has timed entry, Chugach State Park has open landscapes for the taking. The peaks of the Alaska Range, the Chugach, and the Wrangell Mountains bound the park on three sides, and the fourth? The waters of Prince William Sound. Here, 280+ miles (450+ kilometers) of maintained trails lead up to high mountain vistas, down to ocean waves, and approach massive glaciers and icefields. In other words: uncompromised, full-tilt Alaskan adventures await.