America's National Parks: Quick Reference Chart

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Park / Original stewardsDaysBest time to visitUNES
CO
Yellowstone
Shoshone (Tukudika), Crow, Blackfeet, Nez Perce, Bannock, Flathead
3 to 5Late May to June; SeptYes
Grand Canyon
Havasupai, Hualapai, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Southern Paiute
2 to 4Mar to May; Sept to NovYes
Yosemite
Ahwahneechee (Miwok and Mono peoples)
3 to 4Apr to May; OctYes
Great Smoky Mountains
Cherokee Nation -- over 1,000 years of continuous presence
2 to 3Apr to May; early OctYes
Zion
Southern Paiute -- called it Mukuntuweap (straight canyon)
2 to 3Mar to May; Oct to NovNo
Acadia
Wabanaki: Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot
3Late May to June; late Sept to OctNo
Olympic
Quileute, Hoh, Quinault, Klallam, Makah, Skokomish
3 to 4July to SeptYes
Glacier
Blackfeet Nation, Salish, Kootenai
3 to 5July to mid-SeptYes
Grand Teton
Eastern Shoshone, Bannock, Crow, Gros Ventre
3 to 4June to SeptNo
Rocky Mountain
Arapaho, Ute, Cheyenne
2 to 3June to SeptNo
Mesa Verde
Ancestral Puebloans -- cliff dwellings 600 to 1300 CE
2May to OctYes
Bryce Canyon
Paiute -- called the hoodoos legend people turned to stone
1 to 2May to June; SeptNo
Arches
Ute, Navajo, Fremont people (ancestral)
1 to 2Mar to May; Sept to OctNo
Park / Original stewardsDaysBest time to visitUNES
CO
Canyonlands
Ancestral Puebloans, Fremont, Ute, Navajo
2 to 3Mar to May; Sept to OctNo
Everglades
Miccosukee, Seminole Nation
2 to 3Dec to Apr (dry season)Yes
Hawaii Volcanoes
Native Hawaiians -- home of Pele, goddess of fire
2Year-round; fewer crowds Nov to MarYes
Great Basin
Western Shoshone, Northern Paiute
2June to SeptNo
Shenandoah
Manahoac, Monacan; Cherokee and Shawnee
2 to 3Oct for foliage; May to JuneNo
Redwood
Yurok, Tolowa, Karuk, Wiyot
2 to 3June to OctYes
Carlsbad Caverns
Mescalero Apache, ancestral Jornada Mogollon
1 to 2Spring and fall; summer eveningsYes
Death Valley
Timbisha Shoshone -- still hold land within the park
2Oct to AprNo
Denali
Athabascan peoples -- called it Deenaalee, the high one
3 to 5June to AugNo
Crater Lake
Klamath tribes -- considered the lake sacred
1 to 2July to SeptNo
White Sands
Mescalero Apache, Jornada Mogollon (ancestral)
1Oct to AprNo
Heartwood -- June Book Club (Appalachian Trail, ME)
Wabanaki -- Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac
3+ in MaineLate May to June; SeptNo
Brave the Wild River -- Aug Book Club (Grand Canyon, AZ)
Havasupai, Hualapai, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Southern Paiute
2 to 4Mar to May; Sept to NovYes
Book club reads highlighted in amber. UNESCO = UNESCO World Heritage Site. Original stewards in italics reflect the Indigenous peoples who called each landscape home before park designation.