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Ranked: best American national parks for wildlife watching | Atlas & Boots

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Ranked: best American national parks for wildlife watching | Atlas & Boots

From Katmai for brown bears to Dry Tortugas for nurse sharks, these are the best American national parks for wildlife watching

A canyon large enough to influence the weather, a hotbed of volcanic activity and an eerie desert landscape home to one of the hottest places on Earth. Yes, American national parks boast some of the most astounding natural wonders on the planet.

For many, however, the real appeal of America’s national parks is the living flora and fauna, often rare and unusual, that quietly inhabit the landscape. Moose, bears, bison, elk, wolves and mountain lions often steal the show, but there are hundreds of other species roaming the American plains.

Caribou in Kobuk Valley – one of the best American national parks for wildlife spotting
picryl/Public Domain Caribou near Onion Portage in Kobuk Valley National Park

On average, each US national park is home to 415 species of wildlife with each playing an essential role in the ecosystem. From the tiny but tough pika to America’s largest waterfowl, the trumpeter swan, these reserves are full of wild surprises. But where are you most likely to run into them?

Vacation specialists Casago recently commissioned an analysis of National Park Service (NPS) data to find out which parks have the most wildlife and plants per 100km2 and which are the most biodiverse overall.

A Nurse shark on the seabed
Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock Nurse sharks can be seen in Dry Tortugas National Park

Parks by numbers

The number of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and vascular plants was compiled using NPS-approved records of species that fell under any of those six categories for each park. The counts were then combined to find the total number of animals and vascular plants per national park.

To find flora and fauna density, wildlife species (all five categories of animal species) and vascular plant species were calculated per 100km2 for each park.

  • Congaree in South Carolina has the highest density of wildlife species at 362 per 100km2
  • Biscayne in Florida has the highest number overall with a total of 1,002
  • New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns has the highest density of bird species at 194 per 100km2
  • Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio has the most biodiverse plant life at 935 species per 100km2
  • The Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee has the highest number of plant species overall at 2,278
  • American Samoa has the highest number of fish species at 818, followed by Biscayne with 698
Bison in front of geysers in Yellowstone National Park
CherylRamalho/Shutterstock Bison in Yellowstone National Park

America’s top wildlife experiences

From up-close encounters with alligators to unique experiences with iconic North American mammals, the US is brimming with unforgettable wildlife.

A gray wolf Yellowstone National Park
Agnieszka Bacal/Shutterstock A gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park

10 best American national parks for wildlife watching

Ranked by number of animal species per 100km2.

  • Congaree, South Carolina: 362
  • Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio: 317
  • Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico: 286
  • Pinnacles, California: 255
  • Acadia, Maine: 242
  • Wind Cave, South Dakota: 235
  • Dry Tortugas, Florida: 223
  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado: 219
  • Mammoth Cave, Kentucky: 217
  • Bryce Canyon, Utah: 215
A humpback breaches in Glacier Bay – one of the least-visited US national parks
Maridav/Shutterstock A humpback breaches in Glacier Bay

10 best American national parks for birdwatching

Ranked by number of bird species per 100km2.

  1. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico: 194
  2. Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio: 187
  3. Congaree, South Carolina: 186
  4. Acadia, Maine: 183
  5. Wind Cave, South Dakota: 167
  6. Pinnacles, California: 157
  7. Bryce Canyon, Utah: 150
  8. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado: 141
  9. Dry Tortugas, Florida: 112
  10. Mesa Verde, Colorado: 109
A Barred owl in Congaree National Park – one of the best American national parks for wildlife spotting
Thomas Morris/Shutterstock A barred owl in Congaree National Park

10 best American national parks for plant lovers

Ranked by number of plant species per 100km2.

  1. Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio: 935
  2. Congaree, South Carolina: 804
  3. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky: 749
  4. Haleakalā, Hawaii: 712
  5. New River Gorge, West Virginia: 686
  6. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado: 673
  7. Bryce Canyon, Utah: 672
  8. Wind Cave, South Dakota: 626
  9. Pinnacles, California: 619
  10. Acadia, Maine: 613
Silversword plant in Haleakalā
yggdrasill/Shutterstock A silversword plant in Haleakalā

Complete rankings

Below is the complete data index of the best American national parks for wildlife spotting. The data was collected in February 2023.

Gateway Arch National Park was excluded from the analysis due to its small size (0.8km2) as it was previously a national memorial. Additionally, the contiguous Californian parks of Sequoia and Kings Canyon were combined as they are jointly administered.

A beaver swims through Cuyahoga one of the best American national parks for wildlife spotting
VIKVAD/Shutterstock A North American beaver in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

A = amphibians; B = birds; F = fish; M = mammals; R = reptiles.

Rank Park Total A B F M R
1 Biscayne, FL 1,002 8 230 698 27 39
2 American Samoa, AS 908 1 61 818 12 16
3 Everglades, FL 729 17 370 241 43 58
4 Redwood, CA 706 23 326 211 115 31
5 Channel Islands, CA 675 4 357 259 44 11
6 Grand Canyon, AZ 651 15 456 29 98 53
7 Glacier Bay, AK 649 5 252 332 57 3
8 Big Bend, TX 624 13 410 51 88 62
9 Great Smoky Mountains, NC, TN 620 73 267 117 107 56
10 Hot Springs, AR 596 22 387 87 52 48
11 Dry Tortugas, FL 583 0 292 281 6 4
12 Carlsbad Caverns, NM 541 15 367 5 92 62
13 Death Valley, CA, NV 535 9 421 7 62 36
14 IN Dunes, IN 531 20 352 76 60 23
15 Olympic, WA 500 16 309 96 73 6
16 Acadia, ME 480 15 363 38 53 11
17 Mammoth Cave, KY 465 32 210 124 57 42
18 Shenandoah, VA 443 40 261 41 63 38
19 Yellowstone, WY, MT, ID 441 8 330 19 75 9
20 Zion, UT 433 7 301 15 80 30
21 Joshua Tree, CA 421 5 300 1 63 52
22 Guadalupe Mountains, TX 419 12 272 3 76 56
23 Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio 418 24 246 77 47 24
24 Yosemite, CA 399 13 270 10 85 21
25 Congaree, SC 385 38 198 63 39 47
26 Glacier, MT 379 6 277 27 65 4
27 Saguaro, AZ 378 9 231 0 82 56
28 Lassen Volcanic, CA 377 12 249 16 80 20
29 Voyageurs, MN 377 14 236 58 63 6
30 Grand Teton, WY 369 6 266 22 70 5
31 North Cascades, WA 367 13 231 33 81 9
32 Isle Royale, MI 366 13 260 62 26 5
33 Sequoia & Kings Canyon, CA 365 13 220 19 89 24
34 Capitol Reef, UT 364 6 249 15 73 21
35 Wrangell–St. Elias, AK 364 2 208 92 61 1
36 Crater Lake, OR 363 11 247 8 83 14
37 New River Gorge, WV 363 34 195 57 54 23
38 Rocky Mountain, CO 361 5 270 12 71 3
39 Canyonlands, UT 359 7 221 33 76 22
40 Badlands, SD 348 9 239 24 63 13
41 Mesa Verde, CO 343 7 232 0 84 20
42 Great Basin, NV 336 4 240 11 65 16
43 Theodore Roosevelt, ND 336 8 219 32 64 13
44 Kenai Fjords, AK 327 1 233 40 53 0
45 Petrified Forest, AZ 327 7 239 0 60 21
46 Great Sand Dunes, CO 323 6 240 6 63 8
47 Wind Cave, SD 323 6 229 9 67 12
48 Bryce Canyon, UT 312 4 218 1 76 13
49 Arches, UT 307 8 209 11 59 20
50 Mount Rainier, WA 296 16 185 22 68 5
51 Katmai, AK 292 1 203 41 47 0
52 Lake Clark, AK 285 1 181 55 48 0
53 Pinnacles, CA 275 10 170 6 60 29
54 Black Canyon Gunn., CO 272 2 176 16 67 11
55 White Sands, NM 247 7 153 1 53 33
56 Denali, AK 240 1 179 19 41 0
57 Virgin Islands, VI 218 8 174 0 20 16
58 Gates of the Arctic, AK 190 0 134 17 39 0
59 Kobuk Valley, AK 188 0 125 26 37 0
60 Hawaii Volcanoes, HI 114 4 78 4 15 13
61 Haleakalā, HI 80 3 45 7 15 10

Lead image: CherylRamalho/Shutterstock

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