Southwest National Parks

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southeastern New Mexico protects more than 119 caves, but one draws nearly everyone: Carlsbad Cavern, home to the Big Room, the largest cave…

Guadalupe Mountains National Park guards the highest point in Texas and one of the best-preserved fossil reefs on the planet, yet it remains one of the quietest parks…

To camp in Joshua Tree National Park, you have nine campgrounds to choose from: six that take reservations and three run on a first-come, first-served basis. Sleeping inside…

Petrified Forest National Park is one of the easiest national parks to add to a road trip. A single 28-mile road crosses it from north to south, linking…

Saguaro National Park protects forests of giant saguaro cactus on both sides of Tucson, Arizona. The park comes in two separate pieces, each about 10 miles from downtown:…

Death Valley National Park is the largest national park in the contiguous United States, at more than 3.4 million acres, and the hottest. It also holds the lowest…

White Sands National Park in southern New Mexico protects part of the largest gypsum dunefield on Earth, a sea of brilliant white sand that covers about 275 square…

Grand Canyon National Park has two very different sides for a road trip. The South Rim is open all year and takes about 90% of visitors. The North…

Big Bend National Park covers 801,163 acres of desert, mountains and river canyons in far West Texas, where the Rio Grande makes its sharp turn along the border…

Joshua Tree National Park sits about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, where two deserts meet: the higher, cooler Mojave and the lower, hotter Colorado Desert. That split…