Summer is the peak visitation time for most national parks, but it’s not really the best visitation time for many of them.
Hot and/or humid weather, bugginess, massive crowds, and other unpleasant factors can make them not as enjoyable as you might think.
You can still visit the following parks in the summer, but your time and activities outdoors will be more restricted than they will be in other seasons.
Therefore, we’ll also mention what the best seasons to visit them are.
Death Valley, California
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Death Valley is one of the hottest places in the world and actually is the site of the highest temperature ever recorded (134 F– I was once there when it was 130, and even the wind was hot). People have actually died out here from dehydration and heatstroke, so make any outings you do early or late in the day and brief.
Best Seasons To Visit: late fall through early spring
Joshua Tree, California
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Joshua Tree has little shade except at its palm oases, and temperatures are about as high as they are in Death Valley. A day in the 90s is considered “cool” in July.
Best Seasons To Visit: spring and fall
Arches, Utah
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The summers in Southern Utah aren’t quite as brutal as they are in Southern California, but they’re still pretty scorching. Arches is still jam-packed in the summer, though, another reason to visit at a less-popular time.
Best Seasons To Visit: spring (but not spring break), fall, winter
Grand Canyon (South Rim), Arizona
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The South Rim of the Grand Canyon is open all year, and the Grand Canyon is something everyone should see at least once, but summer is the worst season for heat, crowds, and congestion. You can spend what seems like forever finding a parking spot, and roads themselves often resemble parking lots.
Best Seasons To Visit: late fall through early spring
Petrified Forest, Arizona
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Summers are hot and dry here, and there’s about zero shade. On the plus side, you can drive through the park in less than an hour and see the highlights from pullouts and short nature trails.
Best Seasons To Visit: spring, fall, winter
Saguaro, Arizona
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The good news is that both units of this park have scenic drives that allow you to see what the park is all about from your car and turnouts. On the other hand, it’s so hot in the summer that anything other than a brief walk can feel like being in an inferno.
Best Seasons To Visit: late fall through early spring
White Sands, New Mexico
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Triple-digit temperatures are common here in the summer, and “cooler” days are usually in the 90s. Also, the sun radiates off the sands and makes surface temperature hot and even deadly. One alleviating factor is that summer thunderstorm clouds often build up over the surrounding mountains, creating a dramatic backdrop while rarely pouring down on the park itself.
Best Seasons To Visit: spring, summer, fall
Guadalupe Mountains, Texas
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Daytime temperatures here aren’t too terribly miserable here due to the elevation, but they’re still hot. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, limiting what you can do outside the car.
Best Seasons To Visit: fall (spring is also good but can be extremely windy)
Big Bend, Texas
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The desert flats are almost insufferably hot during the summer. There’s relief up in the Chisos Mountains, but they also generate a lot of afternoon thunderstorms. Temperatures do cool down pretty nicely at night in this arid location.
Best Seasons To Visit: spring, fall, winter
Shenandoah, Virginia
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The lodges and campgrounds are full all summer long here, so it’s not exactly a realm of misery, but it’s hot, humid and buggy. Plus, seasonal weather patterns bring dirty, hazy air down from the Ohio Valley, making for poor air quality and compromised views.
Best Seasons To Visit: spring, fall, winter
Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina, Tennessee
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Just go back and reread that part about Shenandoah. It’s pretty much the same in the Smokies, with the exception that they get more rain, so there’s another reason to plan a visit for sometime else.
Best Seasons To Visit: spring and fall
Everglades, Florida
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Southern Florida’s “dry” season is winter. Daytime temps are warm, nights tend to be cool, there’s not much rain, humidity is down, and the mosquitoes are arguably tolerable. By contrast, summer is hot and humid, even at night, it rains a lot, and the mosquitoes seem like endless armies of blood-sucking forces.
Best Seasons To Visit: winter
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