Acadia National Park is located in Maine, boasts the highest mountain on the U.S. Atlantic Coast and was the first national park east of the Mississippi River. When you go, dress accordingly: temperatures can vary 40 degrees -- from 45 degrees to 85 degrees in the summer and from 30 degrees to 70 degrees in the spring and fall.

The lowest elevation in the Rocky Mountain National Park is higher than most other areas of the United States. The g****-covered valleys of the park start at 8,000 feet, and elevations rise to 14,259 feet at the top of Longs Peak. You'll be short of breath from the thin air and the incredible views.

The climate in South Dakota's Badlands National Park is extreme. Temperatures range from -40 degrees in the dead of winter to 116 degrees in the heat of summer. Established as a National Monument in 1939, some of the Badlands' fossil beds are 37 million years old.

One of the nation's first wilderness parks, Yosemite National Park is well known for its waterfalls. Visitors to California's 1,200-square-mile oasis, however, will also find giant sequoias, deep valleys and much more.

The North Cascades National Park Service Complex offers something for everyone: Monstrous peaks, deep valleys, hundreds of glaciers, phenominal waterfalls. The complex is made up of three park units: the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas.

More than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, many of them recognizable world-wide, are preserved in Utah's Arches National Park. Temperatures can reach triple digits in the summer, and can drop below freezing in the winter.

The brilliant blue Crater Lake, located in southern Oregon, was formed when Mount Mazama, standing at 12,000 feet, collapsed 7,700 years ago after a massive eruption. Crater Lake is one of the world's deepest lakes at 1,943 feet.

Alaska's Denali National Park spans 6 million acres and includes the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, North America's tallest peak. Many park visitors try to catch a glimpse of the "big five" -- moose, caribou, Dall sheep, wolves and grizzly bear.

Glaciers. Rainforests. Hiking trails. Mount Rainier National Park, located in Washington state, offers incredible scenery and a diverse ecology. The park hopes to be carbon neutral by 2016.

Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located in east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in the United States noted for its eroded landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago long before Death Valley came into existence.

Glacier Bay is located in south-eastern Alaska, United States. It runs north northwest to south south-east for about 65 miles between two pinchets of Alaska. It ranges from 3-20 miles wide. Glacier Bay and the surrounding land is the site of the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Glacier Bay contains sixteen glaciers, twelve of which reach shorelines and calved to produce icebergs.