For the Love of Nature: The 9 Best National Parks For Non-Hikers

Looking for the best National parks for people who don’t want to do much hiking, you’ve come to the right place.

Some of the best scenic National parks require some amount of hiking but there are some parks where only minimal hiking is needed to enjoy the best of that Park.

Some of these parks have hiking trails, but the focus of this article is parks where you enjoy the scenic views without doing a real hike, as some of these Parks, you still have to do a bit of walking but they’re generally short and relatively flat, here are the 9 Best National Parks For Non-Hikers.

1. Badlands National Park, South Dakota

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Badlands National Park is located 75 miles east of Rapid City, South Dakota. While there are many trails at Badlands Park to hike, the Park’s Main Attraction is the  bear lands formation, which can be enjoyed by driving the 40-mile Badlands Loop Road, there are 12 major stops along the way, most of them are pullouts with a short walk to the Viewpoint, they provide great views of the Badlands formation from every angle, If you drive the whole loop you will see the amazing views throughout your drive.

Wildlife

There are many other things to explore in Badlands National Park, The landscapes in the park are home to a wide array of species, of both plants and animals, you will see many endangered plants and animals in the park. Get ready to meet Black-footed Ferrets, Bighorn sheep, Prairie dogs, Amphibians, Pronghorn, Prairie rattlesnakes, many reptiles, 206 species of birds, birds of prey like Golden Eagles, Northern Harriers, and Short-Eared Owls.

2. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

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The major attraction here at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is the Black Canyon by car, there are three roads here, the Seven Miles paved South Wind Drive has 12 overlooks most reachable by a short walk from the road, the Gravel North Rim Drive with six overlooks has the steepest canning wall

which is a claim to fame at Black Canyon, these two rows give you every Vantage Point From the Canyon. From above, the steep winding East portal row gets you down to the guns and River for a View From the Bottom of the canyon.

The Parks have a lot to explore and preserve the darkest skies, and more than 100 stars can be visible compared to the urban areas, where you can see more than 5,000 stars throughout the night. 

Wildlife

Wildlife also can be seen in the park, you can expect to see Short-tailed weasels, colorful-collared lizards, towhees, Mule deer, cottontail rabbits, big horn sheep, mountain lions, bobcats and ringtails, Black bears, and bats.

3. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

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Grand Canyon National Park has a north rim and a far more popular south rim, while the experience at the bottom of the canyon is exciting, 95 percent of the visitors never go below the rim, with only half a percent of the visitors reaching the river itself at the south rim, you can walk the relatively flat rim trail, shuttle buses make it easy to take one-way walks between

viewpoints, the 22-mile drive to Desert View with multiple viewpoints of the canyon along the way, all of them only a short walk from the parking lot, you can view the giant hole on the ground from many Vantage points.

The far less popular North Rim is only open during the summer, the road from The Visitor Center to Cape Royal is 23 miles one way, and at the start of the drive near The Visitor Center is a half-mile round trip.

Paved Bright Angel Point Trail at the end of the drive is the Cape Royal Trail, also paved at less than a mile round trip, Point Imperial is 11 miles from The Visitor Center and is the highest in the Grand Canyon with a different view than the Bright Angel Point or Cape Royal.

The north rim is a thousand feet higher than the south rim it’s less crowded because it’s more remote but with less service, only 10 percent of the Grand Canyon visitors go to the north rim.

Wildlife

Many wildlife species can be seen here in the Grand Canyon such as mule deer, elk, American bison, and squirrels, and more than 90 species of mammals can be found here.

You can also expect to see javelinas, Bats, bighorn sheep, Kaibab Plateau Bison, hog-nosed skunk, Mountain lions, puma, cougar, panther, and catamount. Keep in mind that you have to be very careful when you see wildlife, it can be dangerous.

4. Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

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The Hot Spring national park has a few trails, but the scenery is not the point of this park, the natural Hot Springs is the main attraction, and no hiking or even much driving is required here.

park your car in the city and go to one of the two bathhouses to enjoy a hot spring-fed, soak the water, you’re soaking in is rainwater from a 4,000 years ago, the water is full of minerals that feels real good on the skin, it is super relaxing, of course, there is a cost to soaking in the water, the lowest cost is 25$ to soak in the public pool, both the Qual Power and the Buckhead will sell you lots of extras like massages.

 There’s also a nice exhibit as a visitor center on the history of Hot Springs which is located in a former bath house.

5. Everglades National Park, Florida

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Everglades National Park is all about marshlands, birds, and Gators, the Ahinga trail is a boardwalk trail that is only 0.8 miles long, it offers great views of gators, Turtles, and many kinds of birds.

The Shark Valley Tram Tour takes you on a tram through the heart of the Everglades where you will see lots of alligators and birds and their natural habitat, the fee for this tour is 29$ per person.
If you’re up for a 10-mile bike ride rentals are available for 23 dollars, but be careful on this path don’t run over any Alligators, from the Gulf Coast Visitor Center you can take the 10,000 Islands tour for 40$, through the mangrove islands of the park, not much walk is needed to see the wonderful wildlife and Marsh scenery.

6. Katmai National Park, Alaska

The main attraction of Katmai National Park is the huge brown bears, there are also remnants of a volcano eruption about a hundred years ago, you will arrive at Brooks Camp via a full plane from there it’s a short walk to Brooks Falls where the brown bears gather and wait for the salmon to jump into their mouths when it’s in season.

The other attraction is a valley of ten thousand smokes you can take a bus tour for that, and while there is a hike on the tour, you can hang out at the ranger station and soak up the view if you don’t want to take that hike, there’s also great fishing at Brooks ham, and the more remote areas as well as great Wildlife viewing, however these require air taxi services and guides.
Katmai is expensive but if you want to see the Bears up close in their habitat this is the place to go now.

7. Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

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Glacier Bay National Park is all about the glacier, the calving of the glacier and the spectacular scenery, no driving here because the way to see it is by boat, the most comfortable way is on an Alaskan cruise, you can get the full comfort of the cruise ship while watching the stunning Glacier and spectacular sound of the caving Glacier.

Without any hiking or driving, for a more intimate experience get on a much smaller cattle brand from Bartley Cove, for a day trip there are also some trails at Barley Cove but there are no roads that connect Bartley Cove to the rest of Alaska, so you will have to fly in or take the ferry.

8. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is the prettiest of all the parks with caves, and it is the easiest to visit you can choose to walk down the stiff one-and-a-quarter-mile path to the main cave area or take the elevator, the elevator cue on the way up can be quite lengthy so plan accordingly.
The main attraction is the big Room Trail, its self-guided one-and-a-quarter mile flat paved walk through the wonders of this cave you can go as fast or as slow as you want.

If one and a quarter mile is too much for you, then there is a shortcut that reduces the distance in half, but you will miss some of the sights if you are willing to do a bit more hike the Ranger Lead King’s Palace tour is one mile but requires a little bit of climbing.
On summer days, you can sit there and watch the bats flying out of the cave by the sunset, it’s spectacular, there is a fee and a time entry reservation is required see the National Park Service website for the current information.

9. Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands

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Virgin Islands National Park is all about the beautiful pristine beaches in the Caribbean, it covers most of the island of St John and was donated by The Rockefellers to the National Park Service, the claim to fame here is the beaches, while some require a short hike most of they are right next to the road with the minimal walk to reach.

Because of the protection of the national park, it is pristine and uncommercialized, there are no high-rise condos on the beach here, peaches are scattered throughout the island so some driving or taxiing is required but the Island is not very big so drive the main road and stop by any Beach that attracts your fancy, snorkeling is top-notch when the wind is not stirring up the sand.
There are a few trails in the park some with fantastic views but the main attraction is the beach.

Final Thoughts

There you have the 9 best national parks for people who can’t or don’t want to hike. We have shared our favorite and some of the best parks in the United States such as

Everglades National Park, Virgin Islands National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Glacier Bay National Park, Badlands National Park, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, hope you enjoyed it, tell me in the comments your favorite Best National Parks For Non-Hikers.

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