National Geographic Secrets of the National Parks: The Experts' Guide to the Best Experiences Beyond the Tourist Trail

by National Geographic Society

The iconic landmarks in America's national parks draw hundreds of millions of visitors every year, from Yosemite's famous Half Dome to Yellowstone's Old Faithful. But beyond these well-known wonders lies a world of hidden treasures--if you know where to look. This exceptional guide reveals these lesser-known gems, along with insider knowledge about the parks' main attractions. With vital tips from rangers, experts, and travelers, readers can have Acadia's massively popular Sand Beach and Jordan pond to themselves, or be one of the 10 percent of Grand Canyon visitors who go beyond the rim. Fully updated and redesigned to include the newest national parks and featuring expert advice from rangers, park managers, frequent visitors, and locals, this authoritative book will help you get out of the parking lot and off the beaten path to find interesting outlooks, challenging hikes, wildlife watching, and more. With brand-new entries for Pinnacles National Park, Gateway Arch, Indiana Dunes National Park, and Denali National Park and Preserve, this book will be your go-to guide on road trips, camping getaways, and day hikes, allowing you to enjoy the rich opportunity in the country's vaunted national parks.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Nature, Collections, Outdoors, Adventure

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2013

About the author

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Reviews

[Tanushree · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a world where every information is available at the click of a button, this book still gets to hold some secrets. It's curated with suggestions from park rangers - we always try hikes mentioned in here, which have always had something wonderful to offer!

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am extremely disappointed with this book, especially since it comes from National Geographic. I expected more from them. Once again, a book that is supposed to showcase ALL of our national parks does a half-a$& job of it.

First, this book is broken down geographically, so as to allow the reader to look at parks in small chunks (their words), but the only parks the reader really gets to sink their teeth into are the larger or most popular destinations. For example, Haleakala, which is located on the island of Maui in Hawaii. There is information (including basic locations) of their Visitor Centers, colorful photos, a map of the park, information about key locations within the park, including mentions of sites "Not To Be Missed," and a sidebar about Haleakala's prominence in Hawaiian Mythology. I actually visited Haleakala two years ago and found this information to be most interesting, but one secret that I am surprised was not shared and what Haleakala is best known for: How to watch one of their gorgeous sunrises!

In contrast, let's look at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which barely "earned" one paragraph that is a little less than one half of one page. There are no colorful photographs or maps, here, and the information provided could be found online, so I'm not really sure that any of their "travel writers" actually visited the park. There is so much to see and do in this park! The book mentions nothing about the wonderful trails and waterfalls that are waiting to be discovered, including Brandywine Falls and Blue Hen Falls. There is a heronry to watch Great Blue Herons when they come back to nest, each spring. Part of the Buckeye Trail (state hiking trail) goes through the CVNP, and besides the Farmer's Market at Howe Meadow, which by the way is the ONLY Farmer's Market located within the boundaries of a national park, there is also Szalay's. Let's talk more about the Beaver Marsh, which was built on the grounds of an old junkyard, or all of the flora and fauna that live within the park. Finally, nothing was mentioned about the Towpath Trail, which runs parallel to the Ohio and Erie Canal, some of which can still be seen, today, including remnants of locks.
Much more time could have been spent on Cuyahoga Valley National Park which attracted 2.2 million visitors in 2019, as well as the other parks that are part of the "More Park Secrets" under each geographic region.

[Izzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great overview of all parks! Gives tips on everything a person could want to do based on all interests and physical ability levels, which provides a launching pad for your own research and planning

[Andrew Niemann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really very revealing of any "secrets," but excellent overviews of the parks and gives some good ideas for setting itineraries.

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you have your trip planned, pull out the 2nd edition of National Geographic Secrets of the National Parks: The Experts' Guide to the Best Experiences Beyond the Tourist Trail and look for the secrets and less traveled areas along you planned trip. The guide is organized into the same regions as National Geographic Guide to National Parks of the United States: East, Midwest, South Central, Southwest, Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska. After the Table of Contents, there is a map of the USA with the parks marked in the How to Use this Guide opening section. For each of the parks in the guide, there are lesser known experiences, places to visit that are less crowded, hard-to-find sights, and other secrets known by the local park rangers, outfitters, and guides who know the parks the best. Every national park is not included, but there are enough to make this a valuable companion to the National Geographic Guide to National Parks of the United States.

Naturally the photographs are spectacular because this is a National Geographic guide. Furthermore, there is so much great information provided in the guide that is essential to planning any trip to a national park.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of these guides from National Geographic for TLC Book Tours.

[Pat Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been a great companion to the National Geographic National Parks series. It is a difficult to say I have completely read it, since this is a guide and a companion book. It has sad that I have visited so few of our National Parks. I had a small regional complaint that many of the western National Parks have a small write ups.
It has got me excited to visit Utah and the Canyonlands, were I have just driven through but not detoured and stopped. It has also showed many little less known National Parks that I have missed in my travels. Something to look forward to in retirement.

[Sara Strand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this book is short and sweet, it gets right to the point and doesn't have you searching through paragraphs of fluff while looking for what you need. I also appreciate that while it gives you information on the must-see/do's, it also tells you how to avoid the crowds, which is pretty much my ideal vacation, to be honest. Also a really key resource for photographers in search of the best photo, the book gives information on where to go when you're looking for a specific shot, and I appreciated that.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Nat Geo for having me on this tour!

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, many good suggestions and pieces of information.
Beautiful photos and quality maps. Where is it you want to go? What do you wish to do?
The guide is a very usable research book, a handy size and is easy to include with your travel bag.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book, though I think the title is a little misleading. The tips and suggestions in this guide are not really "secrets". However, they are good ideas for how to spend time at the parks. There is also a nice overview of each park, and of course being Nat Geo, the photos are outstanding.

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great travel guide. I love when the experts give you their hints for places to see to best enjoy these fabulous parks.

[Cheryl Harrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful guide with plenty of maps and breath-taking photos. I can't wait to travel the country to see these parks!

I received an ARC.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent read about our 62 National Parks. I have seen all but three of them.

[superawesomekt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent guide to major national parks (small blurbs to smaller ones). Excellent suggestions for when it's worth to brave the crowds and when to go off the beaten path.

[Marilyn]

This is my selection of books to use to research my nonfiction for kids series on waterfalls.

[Brooke Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for information and pictures of many national parks. Unfortunately, the 2 parks I am visiting this summer only had brief one paragraph entries.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

If these are truly the "secrets" of our national parks, then I'm sure I'm visiting the national parks wrong. This reads more like insider recommendations for which trails to take than anything else. I guess I was hoping for more "behind the scenes" facts instead. And why do the big parks get all of the focus whereas many others (such as Hot Springs or Isle Royale) barely get a paragraph? One would think that the smaller parks or lesser traveled would have the most "secrets" of all!

To top it all off, the copy of this book that I read had a publishing error: the first 3o pages or so had some duplicate pages from the back of the book put in instead of some missing pages at the beginning. (So it went cover page, page 128-129, page 4-5, page 131-132, page 8-9, etc.) My rating for this book is not reliant on this unfortunate error.

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to be honest with you - if you pick this book up? You will be overwhelmed. You'll never want to go anywhere. You'll think, "Even if I took TWO WEEKS vacation from work, I couldn't touch a fraction of these places." And it's... not a good thing.

I've been two two of these places. (Wind Cave and the Badlands). Both of them could be hiked, toured, seen, and enjoyed in just one or two days' time. Now, I'm not saying I think that's possible with the likes of Yellowstone, Arches, or many other parks, but I didn't like being made to feel intimidated.

Vacation books, travel books, and destination books are supposed to make you want to go there. Not make you feel like you would miss out, no matter what you do. Just sayin'.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes popular National Parks Of the US & tries to condense the best parts of them. The "secrets" are park rangers or volunteers' favorite hikes or things to do. Usually for the very busy parks, this means visiting at an "off" time.

I liked this book & refer to it before a trip. You could, however, get any of this information off the internet. A lot is common sense also. To see any busy National Park, you need to get to the park early!!
Visit the most busy park sites before 10am.

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loaded with details and photos of what to see and when to see it off the beaten path.

Local experts are used to get the inside stories on most of the US' national parks.

I especially liked and found useful for trip-planning, the sections on Yosemite, Yellowstone, Capitol Reef, Joshua Tree, and Carlsbad Caverns.

Travel on, off-road warrior!

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it had covered ALL the national parks instead of just a few in each region. I am interested in some of the more obscure ones that are not covered in detail. Regardless, I will use this book as a tool over and over again in my NP adventures.

[Amy Hammond-stadtherr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so secretive locations, but definitely good for inspiration when looking for more of the well-known destinations as I usually seek out the secretive-secretive locations ;)

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where to go what to see in the USA national parks.

[Harold Crowder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read before you go.

[Reader Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides good tips for visiting parks. Since it's not comprehensive, it's perfect for people who can only afford a quick trip to a park or who just want a little bit of information.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The info about the parks I have visited looks like it would have been useful during my visits. It would be even better if it had tips about hotels, camping, restrooms, and other amenities.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, helpful read!

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Almost all these tips can easily be found by the most rudimentary Google search. Many of the "secrets" could be found in a 3-minute review of any of the official web sites of these national parks.

[Elizabeth King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great starter book to understand all of the amazing parks in our country!!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good brief intro for starters of national parks. At least I have a snapshot of the where they are now. But you might want to do more study before actually going there.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book my son picked up for me with lots of information and a good place to start if you are traveling to one of these parks.