re: National Park Power Rankings

But what is Glaciers RPI?

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Hot Springs national park

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I was born and raised in Hot Springs and I’m pretty sure the race track was the biggest attraction.

So, as much as I love Yosemite to your point it’s challenging these days with constant fires. My last trip was almost cancelled and we basically rolled the dice as it was day to day, but fortunately the valley cleared out enough to enjoy a few days at the park. The other issue is Yosemite is just so fricking busy if you go the tourist / camp / housekeeping route.

We have a large extended family and our routine used to be that my aunts and uncles would call a year in advance right when the phones opened in the morning and sometimes we still couldn’t make it happen. And theres just a lot of traffic with how much international visitors the park gets so it’s almost hard to enjoy the big attractions like Half Dome or Yosemite Falls without just masses of crowds. I’d love to camp in Yosemite’s back country next time which makes up like 90% of the park and not deal with all that noise.

Also, I haven’t really seen Crater Lake mentioned? I haven’t been but surprised not to see.

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You did leave out the most visited National Park in the US.

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Just because it's the most convenient national park to drive to for millions of people doesn't mean it's a Top 5 park.

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Noted. But there are some things it has that none of the other National Parks have...like:

1. Synchronous Fireflies


2. Most Biodiversity

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Great Smoky Mountains is the most biodiverse park in the National Park system. Biological diversity, or ‘biodiversity’, means the number and variety of different types of animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms in a location or habitat. Encompassing over 800 square miles in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, no other area of equal size in a temperate climate can match the park's amazing diversity. Over 19,000 species have been documented in the park and scientists believe an additional 80,000-100,000 species may live here.

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3. Salamander Capital of the World

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The Great Smoky Mountains are known as the "Salamander Capital of the World!" Salamanders are an especially abundant and diverse group in the Great Smokies. In fact, the great majority of vertebrate (backboned) animals, including human visitors, in the park on any given day are salamanders.

Five families of salamanders are represented in the park: Cryptobranchidae, Proteidae, Salamandridae, Ambystomatidae, and Plethodontidae.

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But...ok...people only go there because it's close.

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I’m finding myself questioning Hank’s Texan card now, how on earth could you see those pics and think Lost Maples state park

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It has been twenty years since I visited Lost Maples, but this is the part of the park that I had in mind.







I remembered the canyons being taller. Obviously, my memory was a bit off.

Have an upvote. Alaska has state parks that we’d deem national parks if they were in the lower 48.