Only In Canada
Although some of Canada's most stunning national parks might not be on your radar, it doesn't change the fact they’re definitely worth a visit. These breathtaking natural gems offer incredible scenery and a chance to experience the wild beauty of Canada up close. So, if you're on the lookout for a place to do your next hike, here are 20 of the most remarkable parks across the country.
1. Banff National Park
Ever driven through a place that makes you pull over just to breathe it in? That's Banff. It's Canada's first national park, born in 1885 after railway workers found hot springs. Beyond glacial lakes and elk sightings, Banif offers year-round activities.
2. Glacier National Park
Canada's Glacier Park is a quieter version of the American one and is found in British Columbia. It has deep valleys and 400+ glaciers. The place also has its fair share of mountaineering history—this is where Rogers Pass opened the West.
Robert M. Russell on Wikimedia
3. Yoho National Park
In Cree, Yoho means "awe," and the park lives up to its name. Towering waterfalls and vivid lakes are here, and 500-million-year-old fossils lie scattered across its trails. Emerald Lake alone feels like a postcard you accidentally walked into.
4. Gros Morne National Park
Gros Morne's Tablelands reveal Earth's mantle through a raw, orange rock pushed skyward by tectonic activity. This UNESCO World Heritage Site also features stunning fjords, seaside cliffs, and forests. Its unique terrain makes Newfoundland feel like a world of its own.
Michel Rathwell from Cornwall, Canada on Wikimedia
5. Jasper National Park
It's like Banff but wilder. This is also the largest park in the Canadian Rockies. Elks walk the roads, and glaciers creep across mountains. The whole place is a certified dark sky preserve, so when the sun dips, the stars come out swinging; it's unforgettable.
6. Wood Buffalo National Park
To see bison roam free without fences, try the world's second-largest national park. Wood Buffalo straddles Alberta and the Northwest Territories and shelters North America's largest inland delta. It's also a nesting ground for the endangered whooping crane.
7. Prince Albert National Park
This is lake country, where loons call through the mist, and forests stretch far. Founded in 1927, the blend of prairie and boreal forest makes it unique. It also shelters a herd of free-ranging plains bison, alongside other places like Wood Buffalo National Park.
Viktor Birkus https://viktor-birkus.pixels.com[1] on Wikimedia
8. Riding Mountain National Park
If you can imagine a forest island in a sea of farmland, you know what to expect from Riding Mountain. It rises out of Manitoba's prairie with wildlife and deep boreal quiet. This national historic site flaunts 1930s architecture.
9. Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Parts of the Cabot Trail twist right through this park. Here, coastal cliffs plunge into the Atlantic, and bald eagles soar above while moose meander trails below. It is Nova Scotia's high ground, where Celtic culture meets raw maritime power.
10. Fundy National Park
At Fundy National Park, tides rise and fall up to 50 feet every twelve hours—the highest on Earth. Between surges, you'll find mossy waterfalls and red cliffs slowly giving way to the sea. It’s a powerful display of nature in motion.
No machine-readable author provided. Dlanglois assumed (based on copyright claims). on Wikimedia
11. Kootenay National Park
You don't expect hot springs next to icy peaks, but Kootenay surprises you with that. The park was created in 1920, and it stretches along BC's dramatic Rockies. Here, Marble Canyon slices through stone, and Paint Pots bubble in iron-rich pools.
Marek Ślusarczyk (Tupungato) www.wyprawa.info on Wikimedia
12. La Mauricie National Park
In central Quebec, La Mauricie keeps it quiet with maple forests and still lakes. Popular for canoe camping, the park shifts dramatically with the seasons. In the summer, it's lush and green, but come fall, it glows orange and gold.
13. Pacific Rim National Park
Visitors love it for its tidepools and surf breaks. The park stretches along Vancouver Island's west coast and links the ocean with ancient trees. With cedar and salmon as key features, it's also a key site for Nuu-chah-nulth culture.
14. Nahanni National Park
There's no road leading to Nahanni. Just floatplanes. Here, the centerpiece is Virginia Falls—twice the height of Niagara—and the South Nahanni River cuts through canyons older than time. It was one of the world's first UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
15. Aulavik National Park
There are high winds at Aulavik. This raw park is on Banks Island in the high Arctic. In place of trees and crowds, you'll find muskox herds and Arctic foxes. Plus, it has rivers that shimmer under the sun.
16. Ivvavik National Park
Ivvavik was Canada's first national park to be created through an Indigenous land claim. It is co-managed with the Inuvialuit and located in the Yukon's far north. It protects the Porcupine caribou herd's calving grounds and some of Earth's oldest mountains.
17. Sirmilik National Park
You'll find Sirmilik on Baffin Island, with cliffs rising from the sea and ice floes drifting past. Thousands of seabirds nest here, and Inuit communities nearby still rely on these waters. The place is cold but never empty.
18. Torngat Mountains National Park
Some visitors see tall mountains, but those who know see ancestral grounds for Inuit. Labrador's Torngats offer polar bears and northern lights. You'll also see jagged peaks without trails. Guided by Inuit guardians, this park is Atlantic Canada's largest.
19. Quttinirpaaq National Park
This park lives at the edge of the map as Earth's northernmost national park. Quttinirpaaq means "top of the world" in Inuktitut, and the park is way up on Ellesmere Island. Beyond polar deserts and glacier caps, it offers perfect silence.
20. Thaidene Nëné National Park
Protected by the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation, it's as much a cultural legacy as a wild frontier. It's one of Canada's newest parks and found where boreal forest meets tundra along the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. The park is a unique mix of natural beauty and Indigenous heritage.
