Our 20 Favorite Day Hikes In America (The Popular & Hidden Gem Trails We Love Most)

We’ve hiked a lot of amazing trails around the world, but our standout experiences are mostly multi-day treks like Machu Picchu, W-Trek, and Tour du Mont Blanc. When it comes to iconic day hikes, we don’t think there’s a better place in the world than right here in the USA. Since we started our travel business in 2018, we’ve day hiked to striking waterfalls, snow-capped mountain summits, old growth rainforests, mind-blowing red rock landscapes, and deep rugged canyons stretching right across America.

The diversity of terrain we’ve walked and the rewards we’ve enjoyed at the end of so many trails has been truly unforgettable. We’ll always remember our sunrise hike to Angels Landing, having The Wave entirely to ourselves, wading through The Narrows all alone, standing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the glorious pain we felt at the end of the Enchantments, and all the special views we’ve had from day hikes around the USA. We have young kids now so it’s not as easy to get out on the trails, but this is the bucket list we’d use if we were starting from scratch.

We loved hiking every single trail in this guide, so you’re in the right place for pure inspiration. The goal here is to walk you through our real experiences to help you decide which day hike to try next. We’re not including any multi-day treks, so you won’t find the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail in the guide. And we’re only counting hikes where the actual trail itself was impressive, rather than boring hikes that led to stunning photo spots – you can see our favorite USA photo spots for places like Mesa Arch, Fire Wave, and Taughannock Falls.

We’re going to start by showing you the top 20 day hikes we’ve done so far in the USA, listed in order of our favorites. Later, we’ll show you a few famous day hikes that we thought were overrated, and then we’ll tell you which trails are still on our own bucket list. You’ll definitely know some of the day hikes we cover below, but we hope you learn about a few hidden gems we’ve discovered over the years too. Let’s dive in!

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Our Favorite Trails

First up, let’s take a look at the best day hikes we’ve done so far in America. These are in order, starting with our all-time favorite. Choosing a ranking order between so many genuinely incredible trails was way harder than we expected. So if you’ve done some of these hikes and don’t agree with our order, that’s totally fine – this is just how we’d personally rank them.

The Narrows

• Location: Zion National Park, Utah
• Distance: Up to 9.4 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: Up to 300 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

Zion’s uniquely adventurous river slot canyon hike was honestly immense, and it’s the one day hike we want to do again above all others. We spent over 8 hours day hiking The Narrows from the bottom up in October 2019, doing the full route allowed without getting a permit, from the Temple of Sinawava to Big Springs and back. It was busy at first, but the further we waded into the slot canyon, the quieter it got. And before long we had it all to ourselves, which was both awe-inspiring and spine-tingling.

Now, if we’d only hiked a mile into the slot canyon before turning around like a lot of people do, The Narrows might be further down our list. The reason it’s top is because it felt like a real “lost world” experience that we haven’t had anywhere else. Wading through a river inside a narrow slot canyon with steep banks and huge boulders to navigate, and not seeing another soul for hours at a time was eerily intense in the best possible way. We were so tired by the end, not just physically but also mentally from all the concentration, but it was awesome.

Rim To River

• Location: Grand Canyon South Rim, Arizona
• Distance: 17.1 miles point to point
• Elevation loss: 4,740 feet
• Elevation gain: 4,380 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

Do landscapes get any more legendary than the Grand Canyon? Hiking to the canyon floor was always on our bucket list, but our first trip to South Rim in October 2019 was more for photography, so we designed our December 2021 visit specifically around day hiking Rim to River Trail, and it more than lived up to its hype. We set off down the steep South Kaibab Trail at first light, watched a spectacular sunrise from Ooh Ahh Point, quickly dropped down to Phantom Ranch, ate lunch, and slowly climbed back up the gradual Bright Angel Trail.

The first half of the hike was magical. We don’t mind going downhill, we made great time, and the views were non-stop jaw-drop moments. Our cameras got a real workout on the descent. Buying hot chocolates at Phantom Ranch was fun, but looking back up at South Rim was not! The climb was a beast, and it’s unusual to do the climb second half of the day with less energy, but that only made Rim to River even more of a memorable experience. We slogged the last few miles, but overall it was a sublime hike.

The Enchantments

• Location: Leavenworth, Washington
• Distance: 18.6 miles point to point
• Elevation gain: 4,551 feet
• Elevation loss: 6,690 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

If you asked us “what’s the hardest day hike you’ve done in the US?” we’d say without hesitation it was the Enchantments near Leavenworth, Washington in October 2021. It was absurdly brutal but so incredibly rewarding. We parked at the end, took a pre-paid 5:00 AM shuttle bus to the start, climbed 2,000 feet in total darkness, climbed another 2,000 feet up the ridiculously steep Aasgard Pass, walked through the spectacularly beautiful Core Enchantments, and then descended 6,000 grueling feet to our car at the end.

The climb was tough, but the descent was so much harder, and we hadn’t prepared for that so it became a real mental challenge. We were absolutely destroyed by the end, but it honestly was worth every ounce of pain. If The Narrows wasn’t so unique and the Grand Canyon wasn’t so iconic, day hiking the Enchantments would be our top pick for this list. It’s the best classic mountain-style day hike we’ve done in America. At the end we said never again, but a few years on we’d love to do it again.

The Wave

• Location: Vermilion Cliffs, Arizona
• Distance: 6.4 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 450 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate

If the Enchantments was the hardest, then The Wave in Arizona was the most visually stunning day hike we’ve done in America, by some distance. It’s also the hike we were most anxious about, and not because of the trail, but because it has the single most difficult hiking permit to win in the entire United States. We got lucky and won first time at an in-person next day lottery in Kanab in December 2021, the access road was clear (it often washes out), and we were among the first people that morning to park at Wire Pass Trailhead.

The trail itself felt adventurous because we were following a paper map with landmark steps provided by the BLM, but the reason this hike is so highly sought after and the reason it’s so high in our list is because the terrain at The Wave was genuinely next-level. The smooth, swirling, and curving red and white rock layers were beyond photogenic. We couldn’t believe how attractive it was, and we honestly took so many photos that our cameras out of battery. For pure payoff at the end of a fun hike, The Wave is hard to beat.

Angels Landing

• Location: Zion National Park, Utah
• Distance: 5.4 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 1,488 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We’d say Angels Landing is probably the most hyped up and notorious day hike in America. We’ve done it twice, first in October 2019 when the razor-thin trail was swarming with hikers and felt ridiculously dangerous, and then again for sunrise in December 2021 when we had the trail and summit to ourselves – just before they brought in this permit. It was a totally unique, adrenaline-pumping, BPM-blasting climb and the summit views over Zion’s main canyon were magic. And look, we love the concept of a death-defying climb with chains, but it is scary and we saw a lot of experienced hikers struggle badly with vertigo.

We know a lot of people would put Angels Landing as their number one pick, and while we do think it’s an awesome experience, we’d still say the four trails above are better for the average person. Any able hiker can go into The Narrows or hike The Wave, but Angels Landing is exclusionary because anyone with even the remotest fear of heights shouldn’t attempt it. Personally, we wouldn’t take our young kids anywhere near this hike, and we know there are lots of other families with young kids who would feel the same.

Skyline Loop

• Location: Mt Rainier National Park, Washington
• Distance: 5.5 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 1,700 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

Mt Rainier is Kristen’s favorite national park. It was the place we visited most when we lived near Seattle for 6 months in 2021, and the hike we loved most was the super-scenic Skyline Loop Trail. We started at first light one morning in August and went counter-clockwise for a quieter experience (most people hike it clockwise). Myrtle Falls was a great photo spot, vibrant wildflowers were in bloom, the trail was a solid workout but not too taxing, and we saw nobody else for the first half of the hike. It doesn’t get much better.

But it was the magnificent summit views that really made Skyline Loop standout above the likes of Mt Fremont, Naches Peak Loop, and Tolmie Peak within Mt Rainier. We were left awe-struck by horizon-reaching views of snow capped stratovolcanoes to the south and a super close up view of the top of Mt Rainier to the north. The hike down past Inspiration Point was busier as we approached mid-morning and most hikers starting clockwise, so we were ready to be done by the end, but it was a superb trail.

Mist Trail (+ John Muir Loop)

• Location: Yosemite National Park, California
• Distance: 6.3 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 2,000 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

Yosemite’s flagship hike is called Half Dome. But Half Dome is a permit-only hike and it’s very hard to win – we tried for 5 years in a row and never won. So what do all the hikers like us who don’t win a Half Dome permit do instead? They hike Mist Trail, which covers the early section of the climb to Half Dome. And Mist Trail isn’t just a runner-up prize, it’s a fantastic hike within itself. We climbed up Mist Trail in October 2019 to see Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, before looping onto John Muir Trail for a more gradual descent back to the trailhead.

We’re pretty sure Half Dome will be near the top of our list when we finally do it, but Mist Trail is Yosemite’s most popular hike for a reason. The two waterfalls had low water flows when we hiked it in fall, but in spring or summer the waterfalls would be awesome to see. And the climb was tougher than we’d expected, so it was a real workout. But it wasn’t until we began looping onto John Muir when we got our postcard view of Nevada Fall and the back of Half Dome that we understood why Mist Trail was so worthwhile.

Black Elk Peak

• Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
• Distance: 7 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 1,500 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate

So far we’ve covered some pretty big-name trails, but that ends here with one of our favorite underrated day hikes in the US called Black Elk Peak in South Dakota’s hidden gem Black Hills region. We took trail #9 up and trail #4 down the gradual mountainside, and honestly we loved the whole thing from start to finish. The mud and rock trail was fun to hike, the views changed frequently so it never became monotonous, and the 360-degree summit views over four US states from Harney Peak fire lookout were outstanding.

We ate lunch in the fire lookout at the summit, soaked up the views, and then regrettably headed back down. And you know what? Sometimes seasonality plays a big role in overall enjoyment of a hike. The best part of all for us was hiking Black Elk Peak in early October when leaves on aspen and birch trees turned a deep golden color and lit up the Black Hills, contrasting against other emerald green leaves and granite grey rocks. It was beautiful.

Devils Garden

• Location: Arches National Park, Utah
• Distance: 7.9 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 286 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We really liked Arches, it was such a cool little park with genuinely intriguing natural sandstone arch formations. Now, Delicate Arch was by far our standout arch for photography. But in terms of memorable hiking trails, Devils Garden was head and shoulders above the rest. We hiked the full 7.9-mile round trip loop, found seven arches and one giant rock pillar, scrambled up and down sandy rocks across primitive trail sections, and generally just had a fantastic day.

There wasn’t anything we didn’t like about Devils Garden. It was quiet, the scrambling was fun and never too hard, we didn’t need specialist equipment, we didn’t get lost, and the photos we took home were superb. We also liked that it had several smaller and easier versions for anyone who didn’t feel confident going off-trail, like just going to Landscape Arch and back, or maybe Double-O Arch and back. But we’re glad we did the full loop, it was worth every second.

Old Rag Trail

• Location: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
• Distance: 9.3 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 2,600 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We hiked Old Rag Trail on the final day of our 3-day visit to Shenandoah in September 2023, and it was excellent. We’d already enjoyed a few great trails in the park, but Old Rag blew them out of the water. It was an exciting hike with tons of climbing and scrambling elements that really kept us interested throughout. There were a handful of really fun climbing sections that actually pushed us physically, which was refreshing. Sometimes even the supposed hard trails can flatter to deceive, but this one really was a good challenge.

The reason this hike isn’t higher in our list is two-fold. First, a day-use ticket is required just to hike Old Rag (they’re only $2 but numbers are limited). Second, free parking is severely limited, fills up on weekends, and the only other alternative is to pay local landowners a fee to park. The solution? Book day use tickets well in advance and arrive early at the trailhead to guarantee a parking spot. We booked a night at a B&B close to Old Rag Trailhead just so we could get there early and park.

Precipice Trail

• Location: Acadia National Park, Maine
• Distance: 2.1 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 1,050 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We absolutely loved hiking in Acadia during the fall of 2019. The trails were short and steep, and they almost always led to sensational views over lakes, rolling hills covered in trees (with vibrant foliage colors in early October), and the ocean. The Bubbles, Acadia Mountain, and Beech Mountain were great hikes, but Precipice Trail was by far the most thrilling climb in the park because it had lots of vertical ladder sections, with iron bars placed directly into the sheer granite rock faces.

We planned to arrive early, but we weren’t early enough and we ended up having frequent waits at bottlenecks along the climb. It was pretty unnerving standing on narrow rock ledges with long drops below just waiting for a vertical ladder climb to become free of other hikers. People were getting bad bouts of vertigo above and below us, so it’s not one to try with a fear of heights. Precipice Trail also closes each year from March through August for peregrine falcon nesting, so it has a short opening window. Beehive Trail was the closest hike to it.

The Subway

• Location: Zion National Park, Utah
• Distance: 9 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 1,300 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We know Zion’s hikes feature heavily in our guide, but we have to include our awesome bottom up day hike to The Subway. It was such a cool experience to forge our own path upstream, cross the river countless times, climb steep banks and large boulders, figure out exactly how to proceed with the route, get stuck a few times and have to backtrack – these are things we haven’t done many times on day hikes in the US so it was a unique trail for us. And the reward at the end, wow.

We’d seen photos of The Subway, but it was so much more photogenic and awesome to see in person. We had it to ourselves so we could really take it all in, snap photos, and find a dry spot to sit and eat lunch. The steep bank descent right at the start (and ascent right at the end) was pretty tough but it was short enough not to cause any problems, the hike was so much fun, and the end was amazing. Only 80 permits are given out each day for The Subway, and we only saw 7 people all day, so it had that same “lost world” feel we had in The Narrows.

Queens Garden Navajo Loop

• Location: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
• Distance: 3 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 600 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate

One of the most enjoyable non-hard hikes we did in the American Southwest was the Queens Garden Navajo Loop Trail in Bryce Canyon. We’d just watched a magical sunrise light up Bryce amphitheater, before descending into the hoodoo-filled sandstone bowl, walking through a lightly forested area, and then ascending through Wall Street and up a series of photogenic switchbacks to a different part of the rim.

What we liked about Queens Garden Navajo Loop was that it snaked and slalomed through the best highlights inside Bryce’s amphitheater, so it was like a one-and-done scenario – no need to hike ten different trails, it was all found on this hike. We stopped so many times to take photos of needle-like hoodoos in all shapes and sizes, including Thor’s Hammer on the Navajo Loop. It was busy because it was the main hike in the park, but it never felt out of control like Zion can.

Trail Of Ten Falls

• Location: Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
• Distance: 7.5 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 1,250 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate

Another absolute hidden gem of a day hike we did back in October 2021 was the fantastic Trail of Ten Falls in Silver Falls. We were driving from Seattle to Sedona on a 2-month road trip (check out our favorite USA road trips), and after leaving the Oregon coast we headed inland towards Bend, stopping only to hike this trail. We’d read it was a good spot, but it turned out to be way better than we expected.

It was late afternoon by the time we got started so we had to hurry to beat the impending dusk, but we struggled to go fast because we love taking photos of waterfalls, and this place was something else. In the end we finished the final two waterfalls in near-darkness, which actually added an element of mystique to the photos and in-person experience. We’d love to go back and do it again one day, but we’d go early and not be fighting the clock.

Mount Monadnock

• Location: Keene, New Hampshire
• Distance: 4 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 1,770 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We missed Keene from our first New England fall foliage road trip back in 2020, but we did a ton more research for our second road trip in 2023 and we made sure to spend a night in Keene with the sole purpose of being able to wake up and drive straight to the Mt Monadnock parking area the next morning. We pre-booked this parking day pass, hiked up the steep white dot trail, enjoyed spectacular 360-degree summit views, then hiked back down the white cross trail. It was excellent.

Parts of the steep white dot trail going up Mt Monadnock had adventurous scrambling and climbing elements, but it was nothing we couldn’t do with just our hands and feet – we didn’t need any equipment or specialist climbing skills. That said, at the time we did say to each other that it was only suitable for experienced and very able hikers who can scramble up boulders easily. It was just the right length to be fun but not an all-dayer, with wide open views at the top.

Cathedral Rock

• Location: Sedona, Arizona
• Distance: 1.2 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 700 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate

We’re not sure if there’s a better place to take a hiking specific trip in the US than Sedona, Arizona. It’s like Disney World for hikers and outdoorsy people like us. We spent 8 days ticking off Sedona’s top trails in December 2021, and we honestly had the best time. But one thing stood out to us – we felt like there were at least ten 8/10 trails (which is very rare), yet none really struck us as being 10/10 wow-moment x-factor hikes that we absolutely had to include in this guide, except Cathedral Rock.

We knew Cathedral Rock was Sedona’s most iconic hike and we could see it dominating the skyline from everywhere else around town. And when we tried to hike it for sunset, we arrived to a line of cars about a mile long, so we aborted and decided to go back and hike Cathedral Rock for sunrise the next morning. What a great decision that was. The rocky climb up was steep and slick with one proper scrambling section, but the views we had as the sunrise burst out from behind Courthouse Butte were outstanding.

Maple Pass Loop

• Location: North Cascades National Park, Washington
• Distance: 6.8 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 2,200 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We haven’t been to Rocky Mountain or Glacier yet, but we got our fill of rugged, glacially carved peaks and alpine lakes on a 3-day trip to North Cascades in September 2021. The scenery was incredible, and we hiked a few awesome trails. The climax of Blue Lakes Trail was mesmerizingly beautiful, and this photo we took from the lake is hanging on our wall at home. But we thought Maple Pass Loop was a more complete hike overall.

We decided to hike Maple Pass Loop in a clockwise direction for two reasons: Firstly because most people hike it clockwise and we wanted to avoid the crowds, and secondly because we wanted to climb the steeper side and descend the more gradual side of the trail. We thought the hike was challenging enough but still doable for most in-shape hikers, the 360-degree jagged mountain peaks view from Maple Pass was a genuine wow-moment, and looking down over Lake Ann with wildflowers in bloom was postcard-worthy.

Mount Storm King

• Location: Olympic National Park, Washington
• Distance: 4.4 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 2,100 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

When you hike as much as we do, you start to appreciate trails that have unique elements or adventurous sections that feel like a proper challenge. Mount Storm King was one of those hikes on a 4-day trip we took around each region of Olympic in early October 2021. The short but steep ascent was hard – it was one of those real huff and puff to get up trails, a rope climb to access the summit gave it that something different, and the summit views overlooking Lake Crescent were mightily impressive. What a fantastic photo spot.

But bugs and wasps can be bad, the summit view is totally dependent on weather – clouds will ruin the view, and it has a series of ropes near the summit that a lot of hikers struggle with. Now, we had no issues with the ropes, but this part of the hike isn’t maintained by the NPS, and search and rescue have to help people a few times each year because they get injured on the rope section (mostly coming down), so it’s no joke. Our advice? Only hike Mt Storm King if you don’t have a fear of heights and you’re comfortable going up and down a series of ropes on a near-vertical rock face.

Golden Canyon & Gower Gulch Loop

• Location: Death Valley National Park, California
• Distance: 7.8 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 834 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

We were honestly so surprised at how scenic and unique the hikes were in Death Valley. Our pre-visit impression was just this wide open blazing hot desert with nothing to see, but the landscape and topography were actually super photogenic. We’ve done Death Valley twice, but it wasn’t until our second trip in November 2021 that we hiked the awesome Mosaic Canyon and our favorite trail in the park called Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch Loop.

Now, there were various ways we could have hiked Golden Canyon, but we wanted to complete the full loop with every possible stop, so we went via Red Cathedral, Zabriskie Point and Badlands. It was such an interesting hike, with weird and wonderful terrain types, colorful mounds, and deep dry washes. But even though it was mid-November, the Mojave Desert was still brutally hot, and we really struggled to stay hydrated. In fact, we more or less dragged ourselves around the final mile or so, sticking to shaded areas where possible.

Mt Pilchuck

• Location: Granite Falls, Washington
• Distance: 5.5 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 2,250 feet
• Difficulty: Hard

At the risk of going too Washington-heavy in our guide, we wanted to finish with another hidden gem day hike we found located just 60 miles northeast of Seattle called Mt Pilchuck. Now, we hiked a bunch of amazing trails in Washington that weren’t in the three national parks, like Lake Serene and Wallace Falls, but Mt Pilchuck was the standout for us. It was short, quiet, passed through several types of terrain, and ended at a postcard-perfect fire lookout tower summit.

Hiking through old growth forest in Washington was a game changer for us, we’d never seen such attractive forested areas before. The trail to Mt Pilchuck began gradually in the photogenic forest, turned steep at a boulder field, opened up above the tree line to reveal striking views, continued to climb, and eventually summited with a ladder climb into an old white wooden fire tower. We had the tower and far reaching 360-degree views to ourselves, and honestly it blew us away.

Day Hikes We Thought Were Overrated

We have to be honest and say that we personally didn’t think every single famous day hike in the US was actually bucket list worthy. A few of the trails we’d built up big expectations for turned out to be underwhelming in one way or another. Here are just a few of the bigger-name day hikes we didn’t love, and why:

Devils Bridge (Sedona, AZ): This was the big one for us. We’d seen this hike plastered all over social media so our expectations were sky high, and the actual trail itself turned out to be super underwhelming. There was nothing special about the hike at all. Then at the top, we had to wait in a long line for the famous bridge photo, even though we set off hiking before sunrise. Yes, the photo spot was cool, but would we wait in a line of 30-50 hikers on a busy mid-morning? Absolutely no chance.

Mt Marcy (Lake Placid, NY): We had high expectations for Mt Marcy during our first trip to Lake Placid. It was the tallest peak in New York and we were raring to go. But the trail turned out to be so long, gradual, and frankly boring. It barely left the tree line until we’d almost reached the top. And it just kept going and going. The summit views were great but nowhere near as dramatic as many other day hikes in the US. It’s one of those where we’re glad we did it, but we wouldn’t do it again.

Multnomah Falls (Columbia River Gorge, OR): Don’t get us wrong, Multnomah Falls is a stunning waterfall. We’ve got this photo we took of it on our wall at home. But the hike from bottom to top of the waterfall was nothing to shout home about. The switchbacks leading up were boring and the views weren’t great. Then once we got to the top, the overlook area was crowded, and the waterfall didn’t look like anything special – it’s so much better from the bottom. We do have to caveat this one and say we did continue hiking on Larch Mountain Trail to see three more waterfalls and that part of the trail was great, but most people just hike up the switchbacks to the top of Multnomah Falls, and we don’t think that’s worth it.

Still On Our Bucket List

We’ve seen a lot of the US, but there are still some pretty famous and awesome-looking places we’re yet to visit. We won’t list every hike we still want to do, but here are the absolute top-level trails still on our bucket list:

Half Dome (Yosemite, CA): We’ve failed five times at getting a permit to hike Half Dome. It’s a monster hike, an all day epic that we’re sure will be exhausting but well worth the effort.

Mt Whitney (Lone Pine, CA): Another mammoth day hike that we know would be an absolute beast is Mt Whitney, which begins near Lone Pine in California. We almost applied in 2021 when we passed through the area, but our timeline was too tight. It looks incredible, so we’ll do it one day, but we’ll have to train hard.

Mt Washington (White Mountains, NH): We drove up the pretty frightening Mt Washington auto toll road in October 2023, and although the summit views were immense, we felt like we’d cheated. So next time we’ll hike up instead, but we’ll only do it when conditions are calm.

Mt Le Conte (Great Smoky Mountains, TN): Probably the next most likely famous US day hike we’ll do is Mt Le Conte in the Smokies because we live in the North Carolina triangle, so it’s not too far away. It looks like a fun hike with changing terrain and iconic views.

Highline Trail (Glacier, MT): We’ve not made it Glacier yet, but when we do, the legendary Highline Trail will of course be top of our list. It looks like non-stop scenery and views.

Emerald Lake (Rocky Mountain, CO): When we finally make it to Rocky Mountain, we’ll park at Bear Lake and hike to every single lake in the area, with a focus on Emerald Lake.

Cascade Canyon (Grand Teton, WY): This is the one we’re most bitter about. We actually went to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton ready to hike into Cascade Canyon, but they had the trail closed for maintenance as helicopters flew materials into the canyon. So frustrating, but we’ll get it next time!

Next Steps

We hope our favorite hikes in America helps with choosing your next outdoor adventure.

Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments box below, and remember you can join a travel planning video call with Mark if you’d like expert help figuring out how to make the most of your hiking trip.

Still researching for the USA?

• Here are the best USA road trips.
• These are our USA bucket list destinations.
• Here are the best USA photo spots.
• These are our favorite US national parks.

Finally, if you’re planning a first trip to America, read our USA travel guide for more helpful tips and advice.

Happy Travels,

Mark and Kristen

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