Having been to 47 of the 59 national parks in the United States, I have a pretty good idea of what scenic wonders and natural areas need to be in order to become national parks. In addition to all the national parks I've been to I've also visited many more state parks in the United States. To me, a scenic wonder or natural area needs a real wow factor to be a national park. Not all the national parks I've been to have had that wow factor but the vast majority have.
Some of the state parks I've been to have also had that wow factor where I knew I was in a magical, amazing natural place. Here is a list of 10 amazing state parks in the United States that could be national parks based upon the wow factor. I'm not saying here that any of these state parks should become national parks, in many cases it's probably better if they did not, but they all could easily be national parks based upon how amazing each place is.
10. Palo Duro Canyon
(Photo by Leaflet)
Palo Duro Canyon State Park is located in the Texas Panhandle at 11450 Park Road 5 in Canyon, Texas, about 20 miles south of Amarillo. Palo Duro Canyon itself is some 70 miles long and it reaches depths of 1,000 feet and has an average width of six miles and reaches up to 20 miles in width at some points. Nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Texas, the Palo Duro Canyon State Park website claims that Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States after the Grand Canyon. It's a beautiful place to visit and would make a great national park because of its fantastic scenery including multi-colored rock walls, caves and rock formations and hoodoos like Lighthouse Rock.
9. Natural Bridge State Resort Park
Natural Bridge State Resort Park is located adjacent to the Red River Gorge at 2135 Natural Bridge Road in Slade, Kentucky, about 60 miles southeast of Lexington. The centerpiece of the park is the amazing Natural Bridge rock formation that is 78 feet long, has a height of 65 feet, is 12 feet thick and 20 feet wide. The bridge is believed to be almost one million years old and it was formed by natural weathering including having large blocks of stone falling off either side. This place would make a great national park not only for the amazing Natural Bridge but also because of other amazing rock formations in the area like Battleship Rock and Balanced Rock plus its great natural beauty.
8. Ricketts Glen State Park
Ricketts Glen State Park is located in northeast Pennsylvania at 695 State Route 487 in Benton, about 33 miles west of Wilkes-Barre. Ricketts Glen State Park is an amazing place that contains 22 to 24 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek in the glen including 94 foot tall Ganoga Falls (photo below) which is the tallest waterfall in the park. Back in the 1930s, plans were already being made to make Ricketts Glen a national park but the plans got interrupted by WW II and it became a state park instead. It clearly could be a national park today.
7. Kartchner Caverns State Park
(Photo by Mike Lewis)
Kartchner Caverns State Park is located in southeast Arizona right off Route 90 at 2980 AZ-90, in Benson, about 52 miles southeast of Tucson. Kartchner Caverns features a show cave that is 2.4 miles long and contains places like the Big Room, Rotunda Room and the Throne Room that contain the world's longest soda straw stalactites, a 58-foot high column nicknamed Kubla Kahn, the world's most extensive formation of brushite moonmilk, and tons of other formations like totems, helictites, shields and rimstone dams. This amazing place would make a great national park just like Carlsbad Caverns does.
6. Hocking Hills State Park
Hocking Hills State Park is located in southeast Ohio at 19852 State Route 664 South in Logan, about 55 miles southeast of Columbus. Hocking Hills is an amazing area containing many waterfalls, spectacular rock formations, cliffs, caves and gorges. There six major hiking areas in Hocking Hills State Park at Ash Cave, Old Man's Cave, Rock House, Conkle's Hollow, Cedar Falls and Cantwell Cliffs. Each hiking area contains fantastic natural wonders to see. Due to the many spectacular natural wonders in Hocking Hills, this state park would make a great national park.
5. Silver Falls State Park
(Photo by Kelvin Kay)
Silver Falls State Park is located in northwestern Oregon at 20024 Silver Falls Highway SE about 20 miles east of Salem. This is the largest state park in Oregon and it's signature attraction is a 8.7 mile loop hiking trail called the Trail of Ten Falls that spectacularly follows Silver Creek as it forms ten different amazing waterfalls while it flows down a rocky canyon. At four of the waterfalls, including 177 foot high South Falls, hikers can walk right behind the waterfalls. Due to the spectacular and amazing waterfalls in Silver Falls State Park this place would make a great national park.
4. Watkins Glen State Park
Watkins Glen State Park is located in the Finger Lakes region of New York State just to the west of the southern end of Seneca Lake at 1009 North Franklin Street in Watkins Glen, New York. This amazing park mesmerizes visitors as Glen Creek descends 400 feet past 200 foot high cliffs creating 19 waterfalls within a two-mile stretch in Watkins Glen Gorge. Visitors can hike along rim trails to view the natural beauty of Watkins Glen or they can hike right through, around and behind the 19 waterfalls and numerous plunge-pools, potholes and cascades along the Gorge Trail. This amazing state park has been attracting visitors for hundreds of years and could easily be made into a national park.
3. Custer State Park
If you ever want to know what it's like to be chased by a buffalo just head to beautiful Custer State Park located in southwest South Dakota at 13329 US Highway 16A in Custer about 40 miles south of Rapid City. With a total of 71,000 acres, Custer State Park is the largest state park in South Dakota and it contains a plethora of spectacular natural wonders to see. That includes its 1,500 plus herd of free roaming buffaloes or bison who will chase you if you get to close, plus many other animals like pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, elk, mountain lions, deer, wild turkeys and a bunch of roaming friendly burros who will gladly stick their heads in your car windows for snacks. Also in the park are spectacular scenic drives like the Needles Highway which is named for the amazing needle like granite formations you'll see along the way, the Iron Mountain Road which literally winds through the Black Hills and connects with Mount Rushmore and the Wildlife Loop Road. This place would make a great national park.
2. Fall Creek Falls State Park
(Photo by Jsfouche)
Fall Creek Falls State Park is located in eastern Tennessee at 10821 Park Road in Spencer, about 60 miles north of Chattanooga. With a total of 26,000 acres, Fall Creek Falls is the largest and also the most visited state park in Tennessee. The park contains many spectacular geological formations, cliffs, caves and waterfalls mainly centered around the upper Cane Creek Gorge area. Amazing waterfalls in the park include 256 foot high Fall Creek Falls, 250 foot high Coon Creek Falls, 125 foot high Rockhouse Falls, 95 foot high Piney Creek Falls, 85 foot high Cane Creek Falls and 45 foot high Cane Creek Cascades. Another the state park that could easily be made into a national park.
1. Letchworth State Park
Nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the East, Letchworth State Park tops the list of state parks that could be national parks in the United States. Located at 1 Letchworth State Park in Castile, New York, about 45 miles south of Rochester and 60 miles east of Buffalo in Upstate New York, Letchworth State Park was voted the #1 state park in America in 2015 by USA Today readers. The centerpiece of the 14,350 acre park is the Grand Canyon of the East which has cliff walls rising as high as 660 feet and through which runs the Genessee River. Along the Genessee River through the Grand Canyon of the East are three large and magnificent waterfalls. The Middle Falls is the most famous (they light it up at night) and highest waterfall with a drop of 107 feet across some 200 feet of cliff face. Above the Middle Falls is the Upper Falls which drops 71 feet across 70 feet of cliff face and below Middle Falls is the Lower Falls which drops 55 feet over 150 feet of cliff face. Just a spectacular place to see.
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