Top 10 crowd-free national parks

Congaree
Tree-huggers rejoiced at the founding of Congaree National Park, a 22,200-acre terrain that earned its national stripes as recently as 2003. Located about 20 miles from Columbia, South Carolina, this recent newcomer preserves the largest tract of old-growth floodplain forest in the whole of North America – giant hardwoods, lofty pines, and bald cypresses are just some of the roughly 75 species of ancient trees that form one of the world’s highest natural canopies. Not surprisingly, the incredible biodiversity generated here has earned the park due rank as an International Biosphere Reserve.

Grand Canyon – North Rim
Millions of visitors from around the globe descend on the Grand Canyon each year to try and wrap their minds around its seemingly infinite reach – to do so in relative solitude, head to the canyon’s North Rim instead. Despite being located just 10 miles from the South Rim (and its popular Grand Canyon Village), the North Rim is that much harder to reach that few visitors do – those that do go the extra mile (or 215 in this case, by car) will be rewarded with serenity and an unblocked view of one of Mother Nature’s most stupendous creations.

Gwaii Haanas
Although only 3000 visitors reach this virtually untrammeled park each year, this magnificent archipelago off the coast of British Columbia is arguably one of the most beautiful and diverse landscapes in all of North America. Home to abundant wildlife – in fact, the island chain is often referred to as the “Canadian Galapagos” – the area is also the ancestral home of the Haida, a Pacific Northwest tribe whose rich culture and settlements is still visible here. Towered over by the glacier-sculpted peaks of the San Christoval Mountains, and home to beautifully carved totem poles and old log-house villages amidst massive old pines, this pristine wilderness is only accessible by boat or float plane.

Hawaii Volcanoes
It’s not all sand and surf on Hawaii's Big Island. This hot spot (geologically speaking, at any rate) also finds fiery lava flowing from the mouth of one of the world’s most-active volcanoes at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where the daunting Kilauea regularly spews molten 2100-degree lava that reshapes the landscape as it gushes down into the Pacific. Not to be outdone, the world’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa, is also found here, rearing up 13,677 feet from below sea level. The 11-mile-loop Crater Rim Drive provides a dramatic overview of the scene; do stop at the Halemaumau Crater Overlook to peek into the bubbling lava-filled home of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon
Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, two California parks co-managed by the National Parks Service, are often overshadowed by hugely popular Yosemite, but hard to overlook all the same. Dominated by the Sierra Nevada range, whose peaks shelter the headwaters of three rivers, diverse wildlife, and of course, the park’s eponymous groves of massive sequoias, this “land of giants” – so-called for the sheer size of the trees, which can reach heights of over 300 feet and widths of 30 feet – includes the aptly named Giant Forest, where you’ll find the 2200-year-old General Sherman Tree, the largest tree on earth.

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