7 Must-See Urban National Parks
America’s national parks aren’t all hiking and wilderness. Here are a few of our favorite parks near large urban centers.
Emily Pennington, WNP
Visiting a mind-blowing national park doesn’t have to involve hiking up a mountain or shivering inside your tent at night. There are scores of urban and urban-adjacent NPS sites for intrepid travelers to discover, focusing on a broad variety of topics, from volcanic hikes to Spanish missions and Native American petroglyphs.
Each of the parks listed below is less than an hour's drive from a major urban center, and they all offer utterly unique perspectives on the American experience. From immersive caving tours to Ice Age-era fossils, there’s a little something for every age and ability level in our National Park System.
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
Closest city: San Antonio, Texas
Best for: History buffs, Indigenous stories
As a kid growing up in suburban Houston, it seemed like my class went on a field trip to San Antonio Missions National Historical Park almost every year. Guess what? I loved every second of it. Yes, many visits were spent on ranger-led tours “remembering the Alamo,” but this park has so much more to offer.
More about San Antonio Missions
First of all, it’s the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the state of Texas, boasting dozens of impressive stone buildings that date back to the 1700s and showcase Spanish colonial architecture at its finest. Mission Concepción features one of the oldest non-restored stone churches in the United States, while Mission San Juan offers an accessible nature trail (the Yanaguana Trail), set along the banks of the San Antonio River. Lastly, if you’re a fan of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, don’t miss your chance to ask where the basement is on an expert-led Alamo tour. While the Alamo is not a part of the park, it is still included as a site within the UNESCO designation (and it's right in the heart of downtown San Antonio).
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
Closest city: Las Vegas, Nevada
Best for: Geology and paleontology lovers
Most people don’t think “national park” when they travel to Las Vegas, which is a shame because this desert city is surrounded by arid mountains, many of which contain thousands of well-preserved fossils. Just beyond the city limits sits Tule Springs Fossil Beds, home to loads of Ice Age-era fossils that offer hints of a lush landscape that predates the current Nevada desert.
More about Tule Springs Fossil Beds
Many now-extinct species once roamed these hills, from Columbian mammoths to sabertoothed cats and giant ground squirrels. The rock record of Tule Springs dates back to 570 thousand years ago. Visitors to this location should make a point of stopping at the Lost City Museum, which showcases several art and historic presentations related to the area’s fossil finds. Afterwards, hop onto the Durango Loop Temporary Trail for an up-close look at the area’s mountains and fossil beds, and don’t forget to download the self-guided tour before you head out.
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Closest city: Los Angeles, California
Best for: Hikers, equestrians, rock climbers
After spending 19 years of my life in the City of Angels, I got really good at finding peaceful escapes for hiking and meandering that were close enough to the metropolis for a day trip. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is one of my all-time favorites. Home to cackling coyotes, graceful mule deer, and dozens of well-tracked mountain lions, this 153,075-acre expanse is the world’s largest urban national park.
More about Santa Monica Mountains
Trail lovers won’t want to miss the opportunity to summit the park’s high point, Sandstone Peak, which some writers have called the best hike in Los Angeles. Trail runners and overnight backpackers can test their limits on the 67-mile Backbone Trail, which undulates up and down across the area’s wooded peaks from Point Mugu State Park to the Pacific Palisades, offering breathtaking ocean views along the way. Interested in rock climbing? Echo Cliffs offers my favorite sport climbing routes near the city.
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Closest city: Flagstaff, Arizona
Best for: Geology lovers, hikers, stargazers
Did you know that there’s a thousand-year-old lava flow that you can explore on the outskirts of Flagstaff? Sunset Crater Volcano preserves the cultural and geological story of an enormous eruption that occurred around 1085, creating a massive volcanic crater and leaving a trail of charcoal-colored lava rock in its wake.
More about Sunset Crater Volcano
Travelers here can opt to summit the 7,250-foot Lenox Crater or take it easy and stroll the one-mile Lava Flow Loop Trail to get a closer look at the amazing geological forces that once went to work on the landscape. The national monument is also recognized as an International Dark Sky Park, so don’t forget your jacket and telescope for some pretty epic stargazing.
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
Closest city: Salt Lake City, Utah
Best for: Hikers, cavers
Timpanogos Cave National Monument seems like it's hiding in plain sight, tucked away in the mountains just 30 minutes away from urban Salt Lake City. Typically open for cave tours from mid-May through mid-October, this cavernous park is home to some sincerely impressive cave formations, like draperies, flowstone, and helictites.
More about Timpanogos Cave
Most guests at Timpanogos embark on one of the park’s two ranger-led tours, because the cave cannot be accessed on your own. The standard Cave Tour lasts roughly 55 minutes and requires a strenuous 1.5-mile trek to get to the entrance to the cavern. Once inside, visitors get an immersive look at the cave’s wondrous formations. The Introduction to Caving Tour is longer, at 1.5 hours, and offered less frequently, but it delves into the ethics and techniques of caving and is suitable for kids aged 14 and over.
Petroglyph National Monument
Closest city: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Best for: Indigenous history, geology lovers
Situated on the outskirts of urban Albuquerque, just beyond the Ladera Golf Course, is one of the largest collections of American Indian and Spanish rock carvings in the country. Petroglyph National Monument is home to thousands of designs and symbols etched into volcanic rock, all estimated to be between 400 and 700 years old.
More about Petroglyph
The park is home to a handful of pet-friendly trails (on leash), each of which gets visitors up close and personal with the area’s incredible history. An easy 1.8-mile hike in Piedras Marcadas Canyon will take you around 400 different petroglyphs. Meanwhile, a longer 2.2-mile stretch in Rinconada Canyon (sadly, not dog friendly) allows trekkers to peruse 300 petroglyphs. If you’re more of a cyclist, roll your bike over to the Boca Negra Canyon paved multi-use path to check out up to 100 petroglyphs.
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
Closest city: Omaha, Nebraska
Best for: Hikers, backpackers, history buffs, road trippers
Ever wanted to follow in the footsteps of world-famous explorers? The Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail follows the historic inbound and outbound routes that the duo took from 1804 through 1805. The full route is about 4,900 miles long, extending from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the mighty Columbia River, near modern-day Astoria, Oregon.
More about Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
As luck would have it, the trek passes right through Omaha, Nebraska, and its headquarters are smack-dab in the middle of the city. Don’t worry if you have no intention of hiking the nearly 5,000-mile path; this national historic trail also offers fantastic access for auto tourists. A short 45-minute drive from the state capitol will bring you to the Missouri River Basin Lewis and Clark Visitor Center, where visitors can learn about the flora, fauna, and Indigenous peoples that these explorers would have encountered along their journey. Likewise, a sizeable stretch of the trail continues along the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington, with incredible hiking and scenic driving to be found along the Columbia River Gorge and the Pacific Coast, near Tongue Point.
Given its immense mileage, this historic trail makes for a great choose-your-own-adventure-style trip, based on your starting point and personal interests. It’s just as easy to spend your days hiking and camping out under the stars in Idaho’s Hells Gate State Park as it is to take a scenic drive along the Ohio River. Either way, you’ll return home with loads of newfound knowledge about two of the United States’ most famous adventurers.
Emily Pennington is a columnist and author who has visited every US national park. Her work has appeared in Outside Magazine, The New York Times, The Guardian, Condé Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet, Adventure Journal, REI, and Backpacker, among others. Her book Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks, came out in 2023.
