Open Road's Best National Parks with Kids

Book excerpt: Now featuring color photos and maps for each park, authors Permenter & Bigley have selected America's top 21 family-friendly national parks to help readers pick the best vacation for their family. Uncluttered and easy, this new approach to national park travel does all the work for you, with only this thought in mind: which park is best for family travel? Other new features include suggested itineraries for each park, most family-friendly hiking trails and attractions, and more Web sources for planning your trip and related sites. Some highlights include: • Yellowstone National Park, a gem in the national park system that's sure to create family memories; • Mesa Verde National Park, where older kids will love the almost dollhouse-like quality of the ancient dwellings tucked in the cliffs; • Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a true family classic with everything from bears to river tubing; • Carlsbad Caverns National Park, with one of the world's largest caves, Carlsbad is a year-around hit. The 21 parks that will be covered in this book are: 1. Acadia National Park, Maine 2. Badlands National Park, South Dakota 3. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico 4. Colonial National Historic Park, Virginia 5. Denali National Park, Alaska 6. Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado & Utah 7. Everglades National Park, Florida 8. Glacier National Park, Montana 9. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona 10. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 11. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee & North Carolina 12. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii 13. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky 14. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado 15. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota 16. Padre Island National Seashore, Texas 17. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 18. Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands 19. White Sands National Monum"