Thank you Spinlok for the video idea. Share your ideas for future videos down below.

I think the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. Idaho is WAY too beautiful of a state not to have a National Park and that is one of the prettiest places on the PLANET.

Idaho deserves it's own national park, Oregon definitely deserves another as well, and Nevada needs another too. Mount St Helens also could easily make park status, it's essentially treated that way up here in WA already, amazing trails, and recreation/viewpoints. I also would love to see something of the Bayou down south as a park, I've heard the wildlife there is really amazing.

I agree that Crater of the Moons would be the best choice, but I feel like Delaware Water Gap is the most likely. I feel like East Coast has a better chance to get a NP since they have so few on that side of the country and this one NP would give Pennsylvania and New Jersey BOTH their first National Parks, boosting tourism for both economies. Lot of people happy with that one.

One piece of good news is that the Boundary Waters are already protected by the Wilderness Act, so being a National Park would actually increase traffic and be somewhat counter-productive to the mission there. Thank you for making the video.

Craters of the Moon is an easy choice, first in Idaho and it's non-controversial as NP status isn't going to destroy any existing recreation economy. Mt Hood is a bad candidate because it would effectively kill the recreation economy on the mountain. Basically the two ski resorts would be forced to close, along with Timberline lodge and Government Camp would become a ghost town. Depending on how big the NP boundries would be it also could shut down many of the nordic ski and mountain bike trail networks that run through the area.

As a born-and-raised Pennsylvanian, I’d support Delaware Water Gap or Allegheny. The latter in particular would actually be rather similar to Shenandoah or Great Smoky Mtns. Having lived in Minnesota for the last ten years, I honestly don’t think the BWCAW would get much local support for elevated status. The people out here like the distinction it has from Voyageurs. Lastly, having done most of my fieldwork over the years in the southern Cascades, I’m shocked that neither Mt. Hood not Mt. Shasta has been elevated alongside Mt. Rainier. Seems overdue, though I’d actually set aside Shasta before Hood.

Last year, as part of an amazing NP adventure we visited Craters Of The Moon and we all agreed upon leaving, that it is most worthy of Major NP status. It is otherworldly and being that it would be Idaho's one solely their own NP I also think it has a great shot!

I still don't understand why Indiana Dunes was made a National Park. I have been there a couple times and I really enjoyed the scenery, but I just don't see how it warrants full National Park status. Off this list Craters of the Moon seems like a home run. I had a great time there and it is very unique in its stark beauty. Delaware Water Gap is also very nice, but similar to Indiana Dunes , it just doesn't seem like it needs to be elevated in stature.

I am biased towards parks and would love to see another 64 added. Every state should have at least one There are so many places that could/should be on list. Grew up spending summers in White Mountains of NH. The Kancamangus Highway already has the feel of a National Park with a single road passing through, frequent beautiful overlooks, and tons of hiking trails. Acadia is beautiful, but it is not the only place worth preserving and seeing in the northeast.

Tongass has way more accessibility than every other national park in Alaska. Mendenhal glacier is a walk from Juneau

I think that Dinosaur Nat'l Mon. would be an excellent choice for the next national park. It has the world famous dinosaur quarry with outstanding scenery and trails plus paleo-indian petroglyphs . And that is just on the Utah part of the park. Most of the park is in Colorado which includes 2 huge sandstone canyons of the Green and Yampa Rivers. Those rivers have some of the best white water rafting in the country.

As a Mainer, I hope Katahdin Woods and Waters and Baxter State Park do not become a national park. I think it would just start drawing way too many people. The area is absolutely beautiful enough.

I live in La Crosse, WI which is in the heart of what is known as the Driftless Region which makes up all of southwestern and west central WI as well as southeastern MN northeastern IA and northwestern IL. Of that area what would the Driftless Waters park encompasses? It is a very rugged area containing steep walled valleys and 500’ bluffs lining the Mississippi. It exists only because unlike the rest of the upper Midwest it was not glaciated. There is tons of activities to do here; everything from hiking, biking, mountain biking, climbing, paddling, fishing and hunting.

Hey thanks for the shoutout! There are several other articles out there I've found on Google searches that list even more possibilities for national parks. One listed some major forest land that borders Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The most interesting I found was this "Bison Bridge" project in Iowa where they hope to convert an old Mississippi river bridge into a bridge that Bison and pedestrian traffic can cross on both sides of the river. I'm not sure if it fits the national park criteria but it looks like they are going to build it and it looks awesome either way.

Really surprised Chiricahua NM isn’t on this list, I’d put that and Craters of the Moon NM as most likely contenders

I’ve always thought Sleeping Bear Dunes Natl Lakeshore should be upgraded to a full park. It gets treated like it, and gets hella tourists year round

Devil's Tower is literally the first place made a nationl monument. One thing really crippling Devil's Tower ability to become a national park. The fight over making the Grand Tetons a national park was so severe and with so much local backlash from ranchers and others, that the federal government agreed to a carve out, where no new national parks can be made in Wyoming without the consent of Wyoming. No other state has that hurdle to creating a national park withint their boundaries.

Lists like these often focus on places that are highly scenic or beloved and "should" be national parks, and ignore how parks really get designated, which is often as a political favor to an influential senator or driven by threats to landscapes. Thats why Indiana Dunes for instance was designated, as a favor to Pence for the most part. It had very little to do with whether Indiana Dunes "deserved" to be a national park more than other areas. To that end i dont think some of these are very likely. As an example, Craters of the Moon is not under any specific threat, the senators for Idaho are not aligned with the party in power right now, and anyways promoting federal lands designations is something Idaho senators try to avoid. I think the one on this list that is most actually likely is the Boundary Waters. There's a specific mining threat that a national park designation would help with, and giving Minnesota's democratic senators an achievement to talk about might be seen as a useful political move for the democrats. Avi Kwa Ame is also relatively likely given the development threats in the area and the rising importance of Nevada as a swing state. And also Biden has tried to be very progressive with regards to the involvement of native americans with public lands management, and this might be a way to continue that trend. I think however Avi is more likely to be designated as a monument via the antiquities act first, before being made into a park tl;dr, national parks are designated by politicians, you have to look at political considerations to put a list like this together

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michogan is my pick to upgrade to National Park status.

Might be an unpopular opinion but I think we already have too many national parks. There are multiple parks that should definitely be preserved but are not worthy of their NP status (Gateway Arch, Hot Springs, Indiana Dunes, Congaree, Wind Cave, Cuyahoga Valley, any maybe even a few others).

I would like to see Valley of Fire in Nevada gain National Park status

I like the idea of Delaware Water Gap become the next national park. I went to college 15 minutes and live an hour now from the area and would do a bunch of hiking and running on the trails. I know there's a lot of other activities like tubing and kayaking on the river and campsites. Its located in the Poconos so a lot of other stuff to see and do outside of the would be park. Also not too far from NYC and Philly if day trips to the city are also your thing. I'd recommend Independence hall, the statue of Liberty, or a ball game if you were to make a week trip/road trip of it.

Great video! I like these suggestions!

There are a ton of beautiful arches in Eastern KY so I always thought KY should have its own version of an Arches National Park.

Tongass is excellent. We were there during a cruise and took a helicopter excursion to Mendenhall glacier. That water off the glacier was the best water I have ever tasted and the view was breathtaking.

Ocmulgee is the only one I am familiar with, and it is too small to be a full National Park, and there is no room to grow. There is the museum, the mounds, a few historic buildings, and a small number of trails. There is not much else that can be done with it unless the train tracks have been removed since the last time I was there. It is the kind of place that does not need the extra attention that comes with National Park status.

I’m going to throw in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area along with the surrounding Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa Lake, Seven Devil Mountains and Imnaha river canyon. This is the deepest canyon in North America, deeper than the Grand Canyon. The area is home to multiple glaciated peaks over 9,000 ft, waterfalls, scores of mountain lakes, a massive glacier carved lake with huge moraines and many deep, rugged canyons. The area has storied history as the Nez Pierce were forced out of the area and tried to escape to Canada while being led by Chief Joseph. The area has America’s steepest areal tramway and a great tourist town (Joseph).

I am from the Driftless and I totally agree. I can’t think of a specific region where a national park could be squeezed in. There are so many townships that I just don’t think it would be feasible. Still beautiful tho!!

As a person who lives in Georgia I can say that if they make Ocmulgee mounds at national Park I will surely visit it

Surprised the article didn’t mention Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona. I’ve heard the legislation is all but signed there

Great video! Can I suggest that you do a video on some State parks that would be worthy of national parks status? Some of my suggestions would be… . Julia Pfeiffer burns, California .Anza-Borrego, California . Valley of Fire, Nevada . Watkins Glen, New York . Custer, South Dakota . Na Pali coast, Hawaii

These two places are not being considered for the next national park, but I think they would make FANTASTIC national parks: - Linville Gorge Wilderness/State Park (NC mountains) - Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (Oregon/Washington)

I would love for Craters of the Moon to become a national Park, I also think that Katahdin, Allegheny, Tongass and Delaware Water Gap would be good pics. However, I believe that Chiricahua should become a National Park, you also forgot to mention the Adirondacks, Mount St. Helens, Bandalier, Tallgrass Prairie and my favorite: CUSTER STATE PARK.

agreed with everything you said! I think some personal additions for me would be Canyon de Chelley and Dinosaur or Colorado NM

I'd like to see Assateague/Chincoteague on the Atlantic coast of maryland/Virgina protected. Nothing else on the eastern seaboard has national park protection south of Acadia.

I have an entire list of places that deserve National Park status and I basically treat them as National Parks. Top of that list is John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon

The region south of Bend, Oregon is quite fascinating and surprisingly undervisited given its lava bed formations, crater lakes, and waterfalls. There's also the Oregon Coast, which has plenty of unique and beautiful landscapes (the dunes, cape perpetua, etc.), but not so sure that a national park is needed there atm. Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood would both really get too many visitors with a national park designation which may not be great for conservation purposes.

As someone who lived about 10 miles from “The Gap”, in NJ, I shudder to think of NP status there. The crossing between NJ and PA is already choked with traffic, especially on weekends, and you have numerous residents living in that area which could pose an issue. Don’t look for any NJ homeowners to go quietly!

White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire should be on the list. There would be logistical issues with some of the private businesses and logging that would currently be in the park borders, but the scenery is simply amazing and more than national park worthy.

Maybe Allegheny could also add adjacent Allegheny State Park in New York State, so both states would get their first NP.

What happens if a National Forrest becomes a National park? Will things such as dispersed camping be against the rules at that point? I’d be pissed if Allegheny loses its dispersed camping!

Mount St Helens National Monument should be on this list.

Maybe in a future video you can rank the places that would be your personal wish list to be a national park Rather than which ones are most likely to become one.

We have a problem in Ocala National Forest in Florida. A private company apparently was given a contract to run the beautiful freshwater springs, “American Land and Leisure”; they have risen prices from $2 per vehicle to $12 per person!! On what should be free public land. Additionally they are letting their friends and family stay for free and are taking the public campsites for employees and friends. Why can’t the forest service run the parks??

Grand Staircase/Escalante Canyon should be a National Park as well as Cedar Mesa/Canyon of the Ancients. Both of these areas have some of the most intensely beautiful landscapes in the west and they are both riddled with native ruins that should be further protected with National Park status.

I live in northern New Jersey and drive through the Delaware Water Gap NRA at least 2 times a year for decades. Adjacent north and south of it are semi-protected 'wild river areas, some state park areas, part of the Appalachian Trail but also some private property. The DWGNRA came about after in the early 1960's a proposed dam at Tocks Island for a water reservoir, land for it was purchased but environmentalist pressure shut down the plans so it became a NRA. There are objections to becoming a National Park mainly over increased traffic and hunting would be banned. I wonder if some Bureau of Land Management sites should be considered for National Park status as some have natural beauty features, a need for preservation, have existing facilities for visitors.

Colorado National Monument should be on this list!

zackfrankphotography has done extensive research on this topic and has also made a beautiful book called “Undiscovered America” about places around the country that could be national parks. Owyhee Canyonlands would make a great national park and Dinosaur NM should be designated a national park.

Converting a National Forest to a Nation Park seems a bit of a waste to me. While more use is allowed on a National Forest land, I do not see a great reason to change that land's status. Based on the three characteristics, some of the NRA's in the NPS are ever bit as compelling as those named here other than maybe Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Perhaps Chickasaw NRA should be reinstated as a National Park. A portion of it was once an NP but it was combined with an adjacent NRA and the name was changed to better reprsent the history of the land, which does have some significance.

React to an online list ranking all national parks!

maybe you can do a video on parks that probably shouldn't have the National Park status and are better suited with other designations. otherwise it's just an inflation of national parks. while preservation is important, what happens more often is just increased tourism.

Craters of the Moon, Valley of Fire, Colorado National Monument, Flint Hills, the stretch of I-70 between the two Capitol Reef turnoffs, The entire Navajo reservation should be a park ( would definitely encourage them to create more areas like Monument valley within the reservation. Honestly the beauty in the west is unrivaled by our east coast. Been to 4 eastern parks: Shenandoah, Great Smokey, Indiana Dunes, Mammoth Caves, and humanity and civilization encroaches so far into or upto those parks they just do not have the feel of the west, IMO.

Kahtahdin would be a good new national park. Craters of the Moon is definitely #1 tho. Another good one could be Palo duro canyon in Texas

Definitely agree with Craters of the Moon. We were just there in June. It’s super cool. Totally disagree with Allegheny and Delaware Water Gap and I grew up not far from both. They just don’t have the wow factor at all. Great for recreation, but not National park. On par with Cuyahoga Valley. Meh! I’m just not a huge fan of the east coast parks, but I did live Acadia. I also love the Everglades. I live in Florida now. I’ve only been to 18 total of the actual national parks, but I prefer the mountains too. I’m torn between Olympic and Yellowstone as my favorite so far. (I’ve been to: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Saguaro, Olympic, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Everglades, Biscayne, Congaree, New River Gorge, Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, Acadia, and Carlsbad Caverns)

What about an Ozarks National Park?

This discussion is purely academic, and sematic. There are over 400 areas managed by the NPS and they all fit the criteria you list. They are significant, they reserve the environment and culture of the area and they are open to the public. So, whether it is a National Monument, National Historical Park, National Battlefield Site, etc. They are really all managed the same way. Also, I don't see any National Forests being converted to National Parks. I spent my career with the NPS as a ranger and never worked in a "National Park".

I hope there are no more new national parks. I’ve started avoiding national parks because of the crowds, restrictions, permits, etc.

I think having the ski area on Mt.Hood is going to be a major issue.

Cloud peak wilderness area in Wyoming would be great too

The Delaware Water Gap is nice but that's about it. No way that becomes a NP. I would have to go with Craters of the Moon or Tongass with the nod going to Craters.

The Chiricahua/Turkey Creek Volcano in Arizona would be the best choice. Then I think Craters of the Moon or Dinosaur would be the next two.

Idahos bound to get one fully within its borders

Just my thought how about black Mesa in Oklahoma

I need Mt hood national park because I'm a local and I want it protected from hunting

One place I feel like would be a good park but won’t be is Custer state park

While I agree that Tongess NF and Crater of Moon are two places that probably deserve to be national parks, I personally think that we really should stop growing the list of national parks just for political lobbying reasons. Frankly, the few new national parks added in the last 10 years are really questionable. Even Pinnacles which is the closest NP to my home, I personally don't think it deserves the NP label. But they needed the funding to rebuild the road inside the national monument so Pelosi muscled the bill into some giant bill.

Apostle Islands in Wisconsin

The only national park that I don't think should be a national park is the Gateway Arch, that should just be a national monument instead. I'm surprised that the New York side of Niagara Falls isn't a national park

If there is a peice of land that is cool enough to be a national park, it would be bighorn national forest. The freedom of it is my favorite aspect, so i would be sad if it became a national park. It really is the parkies favorite park, as it is so fucking beautiful, yet you can camp everywhere, wildlife runs wild, and it is desolate as hell. Please go visit it. Coolest forest ive ever been to

Pictured rocks National lakeshore in Michigan should be a national park.

If Glen Canyon became a national park that would be 6 for Utah I can't imagine that happening

New Hampshire deserves a national park. The white mountains would be perfect

I think Texas needs another national park due to it being such a big state however I don’t know where it would be

Honestly just throw out any national forest from this list in my opinion. Controlled by a different agency, focuses on different things including resource extraction (logging, rancing, etc.), And usually pretty big. No way congress would give that much land to a national park. My vote would be Craters of the Moon but it would be nice if the East coast could get another one. There is a big gap between Shenandoah and Acadia

There could be one on the southern Oregon coast,I just don't want the Federal government running one of my favorite areas.

The Wind River Range in Wyoming

Mt Shasta should be on this list IMO

Ozarks Missouri also can gateway arch not be a national park

The Delaware national park recreation area is already protected both by the states and by the federal government. The only thing making this into a nation park would do is harm the wildlife due to further construction of roads facilities, campgrounds, etc., while attracting more people to the area annually for further profit. The national parks should be to protect the wildlife and nature first and foremost. The only winners for this park would be the government and tied construction companies for the amount of profit they would be making. The wildlife would be the big losers. This one does not have my support as I have grown up in this area and have been over 100+ times. To repeat, these lands are ALREADY PROTECTED and does not need any further status to help the wildlife. Please like and pin to spread awareness.

This idea that every state "deserves" a National Park, is ridiculous. There are many other classifications more suitable to most places, including probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the existing National Parks. I visited and really liked Craters of the Moon, but it's fine as it is. Multiplying the number of clowns who visit it by 4x or 10x, isn't doing the place a favor. Feel free to count me as a clown myself, as I hiked past swarming bees in a lava tube, to exit via a hole at the other end instead of going back up the tourist stairwell. It was allowed, but if an NP, they'd either have to prohibit that, or require special reservations/tours, and/or exterminate all the bees. I like the current system of "Feel free to go out the other end, if you don't mind hiking on slippery rocks in the dark with hundreds of bees buzzing around you. Then exactly follow the marked path, so you don't plunge 40 feet to your death by creating a new skylight in the lava tube." Likewise, I have been to the top of the Gateway Arch in the little egg cars. Impressive and beautiful structure, a marvel of engineering, great view from the top, and I'm fine with NPS folks running the show there. But do I agree with its status as a full-blown NP? Of course not, that is ridiculous. Yellowstone it ain't. In my view, it's no more a National Park than the average presidential birthplace is. And if it is, then I'd say our next NPs should be Washington Monument NP, Lincon Memorial NP, Jefferson Memorial NP, and Pearl Harbor NP. As for converting National Forest to National Park, I'm against 99.99% of that. Having dispersed camping available to everyone from nomads to RVers to Thoreau/Emerson types, should not be exchanged for strict rules about where you can't sleep in your vehicle, etc. Restricting rampant corporate pillaging of federal lands is a good thing, but closing more and more land from being used by average people who want to spend 1-14 nights in nature, is a bad thing.

Disney World should be what else?

Colorado NM should be a NP

There are many places in the North East which are more impressive than any NP in the east.

Delaware water gap DEFINITELY not. There is a massive highway straight through the middle

Don’t use the background music next time - too distracting

Tongass National Park

Whatever happened to those scenic areas in Utah that were being proposed as national monuments, but then-President Trump vetoed them? Sorry, I don't remember the names of any of them.

There are some parks which shouldn't be national parks.

Too many national parks already... Inflation of the prestigious title.... diluting the name.... Soon "national park" will mean nothing special....

They need to take Cuyahoga off the National Park status. It is trash. There are hundreds of better state parks in the country.