National parks in Idaho

Snow dusted granite formations jut up from a mountainous juniper covered landscape.

100ESSENTIAL NPS Photo

National Reserve · ID

City Of Rocks National Reserve

City of Rocks is one of the most underrated free reserves in the American West.

A close-up shot of a folded, waving sea of lava rock, with mountains in the far distance.

100ESSENTIAL NPS / David Hunter

National Monument & Preserve · ID

Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve

Craters of the Moon is one of the most genuinely alien landscapes in the American West, and the fact that it costs nothing to enter makes it almost embarrassingly good value.

A geyser erupts steam in front of the bright sun.

90ESSENTIAL NPS / Jacob W. Frank

National Park · ID

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is not just a great national park, it is a category unto itself.

83EXCELLENT NPS Photo

National Historical Park · ID

Nez Perce National Historical Park

Nez Perce National Historical Park is unlike almost any other unit in the system: 38 separate sites scattered across four states, free to enter, and built around one of the most consequential and underrepresented stories in American history.

Small waterfall with brown rocks and green moss

74EXCELLENT NPS Photo / Alex Wiles

National Historic Trail · IA

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail

At nearly 4,900 miles across 16 states, this is less a destination than a framework for road-tripping American history.

A fossil horse stands in the center of a room filled with posters and display cases

67WORTH IT NPS/S. Lacy

National Monument · ID

Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument

Hagerman Fossil Beds is a genuinely underrated free stop in southern Idaho built around one of North America's most significant Pliocene fossil records, including the famous Hagerman Horse.