America's National Parks by Air

Whether it is the towering sequoias, the cooling mists of Bridalveil Fall as it plunges from the heavens or the sight of El Capitan, on whose formidable faces the world’s hardiest climbers test their mettle… First impressions matter, and Yosemite outdoes itself at every turn. America’s third-oldest national park is the winning hand in California’s deck, an awe-inspiring landscape crafted over millions of years, where a raw, almost childlike sense of wonder prevails and adventure is baked into every soaring granite cliff. 

You already know the Grand Canyon, America’s natural showpiece: yawning for over 220 miles through the Arizona desert, its burning-red walls are the symbol of a nation, the epic stage for ancient Navajo tales and every Wild West fantasy. Through steep-sided gorges, hiking trails wind like rattlesnakes and rock formations teeter as if held there by magic, while the swooping bends of the Colorado River flash silver below.

A lively tourist town for all four seasons, Jackson Hole is the gateway to the great outdoors. To the north, Great Teton National Park’s cone-shaped summits pierce the sky, cottonwood trees rustling over the gentle currents of the Snake River. And then there is Yellowstone, meeting the Montana border: time does not trouble the world’s first national park, leaving it utterly unspoiled, where bears paw at trout-filled rivers and acid-toned geysers spurt boiling jets into the crisp mountain air.