20 Beautiful National Parks in the Winter

This year our National Park System is celebrating it's 100th year. I hope you have had a chance to visit one or more of our National parks this year to be part of this historic milestone. I actually made my first trip ever to the Grand Canyon in May and I will be planing a trip back in the future. What an amazing place.

When I was younger I had the opportunity to visit a lot of parks with my parents. I was an Army Brat so we travel to a new base every year which meant we had quite a few "Griswold" style family vacations. One of which was to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. I can still see the amazing view of the lake. It was the kind of place that was so magnificent you just couldn't forget.

I have a bucket list of parks I still hope to get to and that got me thinking, what parks should you visit in the winter? At first I was thinking it must be the ones in warmer climates, but it turns out I was wrong. My favorite Crate Lake made the list and so did other very chilly places. I can see why after glancing at the photos from the Wilderness Societies list of the 20 Prettiest National Parks in the Winter.

Unfortunately, only one of the parks on the list is in driving distance of the Hudson Valley but that doesn't mean you don't have a long winter to figure out how to get to the other 19. The CBS Sunday Morning story about Crater Lake will have you wanting to put that park on the top of the list.