Getting antsy yet? Need ideas to do at home with kids? Not being able to get out and explore because of the coronavirus pandemic means now is the perfect time to go on a virtual tour of some of America’s most beautiful national parks! Keep reading for a curated list of National Parks for you to virtually explore online.
Do you love art? Go on a virtual tour of Top Art Museums in the World without ever leaving home!
But before you start exploring, install the Google Arts & Culture app on your phone to activate exclusive in-museum features at these museums.
You can only watch so much Netflix and Amazon Prime before you run out of things to do and boredom sets in. In fact, with the Google Arts & Culture app you’ll get virtual tour access to over 500 museums and galleries from around the world!
These collections are an excellent way to keep students interested in learning and on top of their studies while schools are closed. Here’s some of our favorite virtual tours of America’s National Parks to explore right now:
Explore America’s National Parks via Virtual Tour
1. Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming
Rising above a scene rich with extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain, the Teton Range stands as a monument to the people who fought to protect it.
These are mountains of the imagination. Mountains that led to the creation of Grand Teton National Park where you can virtually explore the David T. Vernon Collection of American Indian ethnographic objects, over two hundred miles of trails, mountains, river banks, and enjoy the serenity of this remarkable place. View all 360 degree photos here.
2. Death Valley National Park Virtual Tour
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. It is the lowest point in North America and one of the hottest places in the world. And yet, it has attracted people for some 10,000 years. Its human history is unique, complex, and fascinating.
Death Valley collections tell the stories of people drawn to this land of startling and stark beauty, scorching valleys and snow-capped peaks, borax mines, and a grandly furnished Castle. Explore all 360 degree photos here.
3. Yellowstone National Park Virtual Tour
Yellowstone National Park is America’s very first national park located mostly in Wyoming, with small sections in Montana and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Go on a virtual tour of this national park and be sure to see all 360 degree photos here.
Held to be the world’s first national park, Yellowstone National Park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular features. It has many types of ecosystem, but the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
4. Yosemite National Park
On average, about four million people visit Yosemite National Park every year. Just because you’re stuck at home doesn’t mean you too can’t virtually explore this American national park located in the western Sierra Nevada of Central California.
Bounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest, the park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an area of 748,436 acres and sits in four counties.
Designated a World Heritage site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity. View the Google Arts and Culture collection of Yosemite here.
5. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. The sprawling landscape encompasses lush forests and an abundance of wildflowers that bloom year-round. Check out Google collections that include the Great Smoke Mountains on the app.
Streams, rivers and waterfalls appear along hiking routes that include a segment of the Appalachian Trail. An observation tower tops Clingmans Dome, the highest peak, and you’ll see so many scenic 360 views of the mist-covered mountains when you take a virtual tour.
6. Lassen Volcanic National Park in California
Lassen Volcanic National Park is in northern California, and it’s rich in hydrothermal sites like Bumpass Hell, with its acres of bubbling mud pots.
The summit of Lassen Peak Volcano offers virtual views over the surrounding wilderness. Nearby, the Devastated Area is littered with lava rocks from its last eruption. A network of trails through forest and around several lakes connects with the Pacific Crest Trail in the north.
Be sure to check out curated collections to learn more about this American treasure!
7. Crater Lake National Park Virtual Tour
Crater Lake National Park is in the Cascade Mountains of southern Oregon. It’s known for its namesake Crater Lake, formed by the now-collapsed volcano, Mount Mazama.
Wizard Island is a cinder cone near the western edge of the lake. Rim Drive, a road surrounding the lake, offers views of the park’s volcanic formations. But you don’t have to hit the road to see this amazing place when you take a virtual tour of this American national park. The park’s numerous trails include Sun Notch, with views of the Phantom Ship, a small island.
See how this national park fits into arts and culture in this collection.
8. Arches National Park Virtual Tour
Arches National Park lies north of Moab in the state of Utah. Bordered by the Colorado River in the southeast, it’s known as the site of more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, such as the massive, red-hued Delicate Arch in the east. Long, thin Landscape Arch stands in Devils Garden to the north.
Other geological formations include Balanced Rock, towering over the desert landscape in the middle of the park. Take a virtual tour and feel like you’re hiking at Arches National Park without ever leaving home. This national park is embedded in American arts and culture.
9. Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is its namesake, Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for virtual park visitors.
Bryce Canyon National Park is much smaller, and sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet. See how this national park fits into American arts and culture.
10. Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado spans the Continental Divide and encompasses protected mountains, forests and alpine tundra. See amazing 360 degree virtual views of this national park.
It’s known for the Trail Ridge Road and the Old Fall River Road, drives that pass aspen trees and rivers. The Keyhole Route, a climb crossing vertical rock faces, leads up Longs Peak, the park’s tallest mountain. A trail surrounding Bear Lake offers views of the peaks.
11. Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area in southern California. It’s characterized by rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes that have become integral to the arts and culture of the American Southwest.
Named for the region’s many Joshua trees which you can virtually tour in amazing 360 degree views, the park straddles the cactus-dotted Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert, which is higher and cooler. Keys View looks out over the Coachella Valley. Hiking trails weave through the boulders of Hidden Valley.
12. Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park Virtual Tour
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is in western Colorado. It surrounds part of a deep, steep-walled gorge carved through Precambrian rock by the Gunnison River. Explore 360 degree virtual views of this magnificent national park by only moving your finger across your phone screen.
Roads and trails along the north and south rims have views of the Black Canyon‘s dramatic drops and the striated Painted Wall cliff. The winding East Portal Road descends to the river. Wildlife includes mule deer, elk and golden eagles. Explore the diverse arts and culture of Colorado’s national parks with this collection.
13. Acadia National Park in Maine
47,000 acres encompasses Acadia National Park which is an Atlantic coast recreation area primarily on Maine’s Mount Desert Island. The National Park Service even has an online exhibit showcasing this beautiful place.
When you virtually explore this national park, you’ll be met by a landscape marked by woodland, rocky beaches and glacier-scoured granite peaks such as Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the United States’ East Coast. Among the wildlife are moose, bear, whales and seabirds. The bayside town of Bar Harbor, with restaurants and shops, is a popular gateway.
14. Shenandoah National Park Virtual Tour
Shenandoah National Park extends along the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. Skyline Drive runs its length, and a vast network of trails includes a section of the long-distance Appalachian Trail. See this national park by going on a virtual tour.
Mostly forested, the park features wetlands, waterfalls and rocky peaks like Hawksbill and Old Rag mountains. Shenandoah is home to many bird species, plus deer, squirrels and the elusive black bear.
15. White Sands National Park
White Sands National Monument is in the northern Chihuahuan Desert in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It’s known for its dramatic landscape of rare white gypsum sand dunes which you can see in these dramatic 360 degree views.
Trails through the dunes include the raised Interdune Boardwalk and the Dune Life Nature Trail, dotted with interpretive exhibits on wildlife and other features. Dunes Drive is a looped road from the White Sands Visitor Center to the dune field.
16. Redwood National Park Virtual Tour
Redwood National and State Parks are a string of protected forests, beaches and grasslands along Northern California’s coast. You might be able to be there right now, but there’s nothing stopping you from exploring this national park and taking in multiple inspiring 360 degree views.
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park has trails through dense old-growth woods. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is home to Fern Canyon, with its high, plant-covered walls. Roosevelt elk frequent nearby Elk Prairie. Giant redwood clusters include Redwood National Park’s Lady Bird Johnson Grove.
17. Great Basin National Park Virtual Tour
Great Basin National Park is in eastern Nevada near the Utah border. It’s in the Great Basin Desert and contains most of the South Snake mountains which you can see for yourself in these stunning 360 degree photos on Google. Also be sure to check out Google’s Arts and Culture collection of this national park to see what makes it so special.
In the north, the mountain-hugging Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive leads to towering Wheeler Peak. Nearby is one of several ancient bristlecone pine groves. The marble Lehman Caves have distinctive stalactites and other formations. Park wildlife includes bighorn sheep.
18. Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park lies in western North Dakota, where the Great Plains meet the rugged Badlands. A habitat for bison, elk and prairie dogs, the sprawling park has 3 sections linked by the Little Missouri River. Explore 360 degree views of this national park on Google.
The park is known for the South Unit’s colorful Painted Canyon and the Maltese Cross Cabin, where President Roosevelt once lived. The Scenic Loop Drive winds past several overlooks and trails.
19. Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park, in Arizona, is home to much of the immense Grand Canyon, with its layered bands of red rock revealing millions of years of geological history. Discover this place on the Google Arts and Culture app.
Virtual viewpoints include Mather Point, Yavapai Observation Station and architect Mary Colter’s Lookout Studio and her Desert View Watchtower. Lipan Point, with wide views of the canyon and Colorado River, is popular, especially at sunrise and sunset.
20. Mesa Verde National Park Virtual Tour
Mesa Verde National Park is in southwest Colorado. It’s known for its well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, notably the huge Cliff Palace. Be sure to take the virtual tour of Cliff Palace while you’re stuck at home to learn more about the cultural heritage of this stunning place.
The Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum has exhibits on the ancient Native American culture. Mesa Top Loop Road winds past archaeological sites and overlooks, including Sun Point Overlook with panoramic canyon views. Petroglyph Point Trail has several rock carvings.
Explore America’s National Parks Without Ever Leaving Your Couch
Getting antsy yet? Need ideas to do at home with kids? Not being able to get out and explore because of the coronavirus pandemic means now is the perfect time to go on a virtual tour of some of America’s most beautiful national parks! Keep reading for a curated list of National Parks for you to virtually explore online.
Here’s more places to explore that will help with your social distancing goals:
- Take A Virtual Tour Of The World’s Top Art Museums
- Here’s The Best Places To Take Photos In Bluebonnets Near DFW
What are you doing to bust boredom while you’re stuck at home? Follow and tag us on social media @metroplexsocial.