15 National Parks That Are Perfect for Day Trips

If you’re not an experienced outdoors enthusiast, planning a trip to one of the country’s national parks can seem like a daunting process. And even if you’re no stranger to the parks, you might assume you need to plan an entire vacation around a park visit. Fortunately, neither scenario is true; in fact, there are many national parks that are relatively easy to visit in a day—you don’t even have to spend the night. We’ve selected 15 cities and picked the best national parks that are less than 3 hours away. Whether you’re a resident of these cities or just visiting on vacation, these parks make for extremely worthwhile (and breathtaking) day trips.