A national park is a protected area of natural, historic, or cultural significance, usually owned and managed by a government, set aside for conservation and public recreation.
North & South America
Yellowstone National Park (USA): The world's first national park, famous for its abundant geysers (including Old Faithful), hot springs, and diverse wildlife like bison and grizzly bears.
Grand Canyon National Park (USA): Known for the immense canyon carved by the Colorado River, offering breathtaking views, hiking trails, and rafting opportunities.
Yosemite National Park (USA): An icon of American wilderness, featuring massive granite cliffs like El Capitan and Half Dome, giant sequoia trees, and numerous waterfalls.
Banff National Park (Canada): Canada's oldest national park, renowned for its stunning turquoise glacial lakes and snow-capped Rocky Mountains.
Torres del Paine National Park (Chile): A gem in Patagonia known for its dramatic granite towers, glaciers, and fjords, a major destination for trekkers.
Galápagos National Park (Ecuador): Famous for its fearless and unique wildlife, including giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies, which inspired Darwin's theory of evolution.
Iguazú National Park (Argentina/Brazil): Home to the massive Iguazú Falls, one of the world's largest waterfall systems with around 275 individual waterfalls.
Africa
Serengeti National Park (Tanzania): Often called the world's most iconic safari destination, famous for the annual Great Migration of wildebeest and a high concentration of predators.
Kruger National Park (South Africa): One of Africa's largest game reserves and arguably the top safari destination, home to the "Big Five" (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhinoceros).
Asia & Oceania
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (China): Famous for its towering quartz-sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in the film Avatar.
Komodo National Park (Indonesia): A UNESCO World Heritage Site known for being the only natural habitat of the Komodo dragon, the world's largest living lizard.
Fiordland National Park (New Zealand): The country's largest national park, celebrated for its dramatic glacier-carved fjords, such as Milford Sound, and abundant marine life.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Australia): The world's largest coral reef ecosystem, stretching over 2,300 kilometers, home to diverse marine life and visible from space.
Europe
Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia): One of Europe's most scenic parks, known for its 16 cascading lakes interconnected by stunning waterfalls and surrounded by lush forests.
Vatnajökull National Park (Iceland): Europe's second-largest national park, a landscape shaped by the interplay of fire and ice, featuring active volcanoes and massive glaciers.