
The world's
wild places.
One folio.
A modern field guide to 194+ iconic destinations — from U.S. national parks to Patagonia, the Alps, Fuji, and Kilimanjaro. Curated trails, maps, and field notes.


American Samoa
Rainforest-cloaked volcanic islands and coral reefs in the South Pacific.


Badlands
Striped buttes and grasslands roam with bison and bighorn sheep.

Big Bend
Where the Rio Grande carves the Chihuahuan Desert beneath the Chisos.

Biscayne
A turquoise marine park of mangroves, keys, and living coral reefs.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison
A sheer, narrow chasm so deep that sunlight rarely touches the river.

Bryce Canyon
Amphitheaters of pink hoodoos blaze at sunrise above pine forests.

Canyonlands
The Green and Colorado rivers split the desert into four wild districts.

Capitol Reef
A 100-mile wrinkle in the earth hides orchards, petroglyphs, and slot canyons.

Carlsbad Caverns
An underworld of cathedral-sized chambers and twilight bat flights.

Channel Islands
Five wind-swept islands off the California coast — the 'Galápagos of North America.'

Congaree
One of the tallest old-growth hardwood forests left in North America.

Crater Lake
The deepest, bluest lake in America fills a sleeping volcano's crown.

Cuyahoga Valley
A meandering river, towpath trail, and waterfalls minutes from Cleveland.

Death Valley
The hottest, lowest, driest park — a moonscape of salt flats and dunes.

Denali
Six million acres of subarctic wilderness crowned by North America's tallest peak.

Dry Tortugas
A 19th-century brick fort marooned on a coral atoll 70 miles from Key West.

Everglades
A river of grass sliding south through mangroves and cypress to the Gulf.

Gates of the Arctic
Roadless, trailless Arctic wilderness north of the Brooks Range.

Gateway Arch
Eero Saarinen's stainless arch frames the gateway to the American West.

Glacier
Sharpened peaks, turquoise lakes, and the last glaciers of the Northern Rockies.

Glacier Bay
Tidewater glaciers calve into a fjord shaped by 250 years of ice retreat.

Grand Canyon
A mile-deep gorge of layered time carved by the Colorado River.

Grand Teton
Jagged peaks rise straight from the valley floor with no foothills.

Great Basin
Ancient bristlecone pines and limestone caves under Nevada's darkest skies.

Great Sand Dunes
North America's tallest dunes pile against the Sangre de Cristo range.

Great Smoky Mountains
Blue-misted ridges hide synchronous fireflies, log cabins, and 1,500 black bears.

Guadalupe Mountains
A fossil reef rises from the West Texas desert to Texas's highest summit.

Haleakalā
Watch sunrise above the clouds in a dormant volcano's red cinder crater.

Hawai'i Volcanoes
Two of the world's most active volcanoes — Kīlauea and Mauna Loa — at work.

Hot Springs
Historic bathhouses line a steamy promenade in the Ouachita foothills.

Indiana Dunes
Fifteen miles of Lake Michigan beach back into singing dunes and oak savannas.


Joshua Tree
Twisted yuccas and granite piles where the Mojave meets the Colorado Desert.

Katmai
Brown bears fish for salmon at Brooks Falls in the heart of the Alaskan bush.

Kenai Fjords
The Harding Icefield spills 38 glaciers into a fjord-cut Pacific coast.

Kings Canyon
A granite gorge deeper than Grand Canyon, home to General Grant's giant sequoia.

Kobuk Valley
Arctic sand dunes and the great caribou crossing of the Kobuk River.

Lake Clark
Volcanoes, salmon rivers, and turquoise lakes a short flight from Anchorage.

Lassen Volcanic
Bubbling mudpots, fumaroles, and a plug-dome volcano in California's north.

Mammoth Cave
The world's longest known cave system threads beneath Kentucky's wooded hills.

Mesa Verde
Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings tucked beneath sandstone alcoves.

Mount Rainier
An ice-clad stratovolcano rises 14,410 feet above wildflower meadows.

New River Gorge
An ancient river carves a thousand-foot gorge spanned by a steel arch bridge.

North Cascades
More than 300 glaciers crown the 'American Alps' along the Canadian border.

Olympic
Glaciered peaks, temperate rainforest, and wild Pacific coast in one park.

Petrified Forest
Rainbow logs of fossilized wood scattered across the Painted Desert.

Pinnacles
Volcanic spires and talus caves shelter California condors and chaparral.

Redwood
The tallest trees on earth stand in coastal fog north of the Lost Coast.

Rocky Mountain
Alpine tundra, elk-grazed meadows, and the Continental Divide along Trail Ridge Road.

Saguaro
Forests of giant saguaro cacti fringe Tucson under desert sunsets.

Sequoia
Home to General Sherman, the largest living tree on the planet by volume.

Shenandoah
A long ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains laced by Skyline Drive.

Theodore Roosevelt
Badlands and grasslands where a young Roosevelt found his conservation calling.

Virgin Islands
Two-thirds of St. John is protected coral reef, mangrove, and Taíno history.

Voyageurs
A water-based park of interconnected lakes once paddled by French fur traders.

White Sands
The world's largest gypsum dunefield, blinding white against the Tularosa Basin.

Wind Cave
Boxwork-laced caverns below a prairie roamed by bison, elk, and pronghorn.

Wrangell–St. Elias
The largest U.S. national park — nine of the sixteen highest peaks in America.

Yellowstone
The world's first national park — a wonderland of geysers, hot springs, and wildlife.

Yosemite
Granite cliffs, towering waterfalls, and giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada.


Plitvice Lakes
Sixteen turquoise lakes spill into one another over travertine cascades.
Swiss National Park
Switzerland's only national park — strict wilderness in the Engadin Alps.
Vatnajökull
Europe's largest ice cap, calving into black-sand lagoons and ice caves.
Cinque Terre
Five cliff-clinging fishing villages strung along Liguria's blue coast.
Dolomites
Pale limestone spires above emerald larch forests — a UNESCO mountain dream.
Lake Bled
A storybook island church on a glacial lake under a cliff-top castle.

Triglav
Slovenia's only national park, anchored by the Julian Alps' highest summit.
Geirangerfjord & Nærøyfjord
Twin UNESCO fjords carved by glaciers, framed by waterfalls and farm hamlets.
Lofoten Islands
Razor-edged Arctic peaks rise straight from white-sand beaches above the Circle.

Sarek
Europe's wildest national park — no trails, no huts, just Sami country and glaciers.


Eryri (Snowdonia)
Glacier-carved peaks, slate villages, and the highest summit in Wales.
Lake District
Sixteen English lakes and the literary fells of Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.

Cairngorms
The UK's largest national park — Arctic plateau, ancient pine, and Scotch whisky.

Picos de Europa
Sheer limestone massifs above blue lakes a few miles from the Cantabrian Sea.

Doñana
Europe's most important wetland — flamingos, Iberian lynx, and migrating birds.

Tatra
The highest peaks of the Carpathians, shared by Poland and Slovakia.
Ordesa y Monte Perdido
A glacial canyon in the Pyrenees crowned by the third-highest peak in the range.

Santorini Caldera
A flooded volcanic caldera ringed by white-washed cliff villages above the Aegean.
Meteora
Byzantine monasteries balanced atop sandstone pinnacles in central Thessaly.
Fuji-Hakone-Izu
Mt. Fuji, hot-spring hamlets, and the Izu peninsula in one sprawling park.
Shiretoko
Roadless Hokkaido wilderness where brown bears fish along a UNESCO coast.

Yakushima
Moss-drenched cedar forest island that inspired Princess Mononoke.
Zhangjiajie
Quartz-sandstone pillars that inspired Avatar's floating Hallelujah Mountains.
Jiuzhaigou
Multi-hued travertine lakes and waterfalls in the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
Huangshan (Yellow Mountains)
Granite peaks above a sea of clouds — the most-painted mountain in China.

Ha Long Bay
Nearly two thousand limestone karsts rise from emerald water in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng
World's largest cave (Son Doong) and a vast karst wilderness in central Vietnam.
Khao Sok
Older than the Amazon — limestone karsts, emerald lake, and the last wild elephants.

Komodo
Pink-sand beaches, manta-filled reefs, and the world's largest lizard.

Raja Ampat
The richest marine biodiversity on Earth — 1,500 islands scattered across West Papua.

Annapurna Conservation Area
Nepal's largest protected area, ringed by the world's tenth-highest peak.
Sagarmatha (Everest)
Home of Mt. Everest, Sherpa villages, and the Khumbu glacier.
Hemis & Ladakh High Altitude
Trans-Himalayan high-desert kingdom of monasteries, snow leopards, and turquoise lakes.
Ranthambore
Bengal tigers stalk the ruins of a 10th-century fort in dry Rajasthan jungle.
Borneo Rainforest (Danum Valley)
Primary lowland rainforest where wild orangutans swing through 130-million-year-old canopy.
Serengeti
The Great Migration — two million wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle in motion.

Ngorongoro Crater
An intact volcanic caldera holding the densest wildlife population on the continent.

Kilimanjaro
Africa's highest peak — a free-standing equatorial volcano you can walk up.

Maasai Mara
Kenya's stretch of the migration plains — predator-rich and unfenced.
Kruger
South Africa's flagship reserve, home to all Big Five and a self-drive safari grid.

Okavango Delta
A river that never reaches the sea — a Kalahari delta brimming with life.
Victoria Falls
The largest curtain of falling water on Earth — Mosi-oa-Tunya, the 'smoke that thunders.'
Namib-Naukluft (Sossusvlei)
The world's oldest desert — rust-red dunes and the skeleton trees of Deadvlei.

Etosha
A salt pan visible from space, ringed by waterholes alive with game in dry season.

Table Mountain
A flat-topped sandstone giant looming a kilometre above Cape Town and two oceans.

Toubkal & High Atlas
North Africa's highest peak rises above Berber villages and walnut valleys.

Erg Chebbi (Sahara)
Apricot-coloured dunes 150 m tall — the classic Saharan desert experience.

Torres del Paine
Granite towers, hanging glaciers, and Patagonian winds at the edge of the world.

Los Glaciares
Perito Moreno's calving wall and Mt. Fitz Roy's needles in Argentine Patagonia.
Iguazú Falls
275 cascades plunge through subtropical rainforest on the Argentina-Brazil border.

Machu Picchu
An Inca royal estate hidden on a cloud-wrapped Andean ridge above the Urubamba.
Cordillera Huayhuash
A compact range of 6,000 m peaks and turquoise lakes north of Lima.

Salar de Uyuni
The world's largest salt flat — a perfect mirror after the rains, white desert when dry.
Galápagos
The volcanic islands that taught Darwin evolution — and still feel that pristine.

Amazon Basin (Tambopata)
Macaw clay licks, oxbow lakes, and primary rainforest off the headwaters of the Amazon.
Lençóis Maranhenses
An ocean of white dunes hides thousands of rain-fed turquoise lagoons.

Atacama Desert
The driest desert on Earth — geysers, salt flats, and the clearest skies for stargazing.

Great Barrier Reef
The largest living structure on Earth — 2,300 km of coral visible from space.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta
A sacred Anangu monolith and 36 domes rising from Australia's red centre.

Kakadu
Wetlands, sandstone escarpments, and 65,000 years of unbroken Aboriginal culture.

Blue Mountains
Eucalyptus haze gives the cliffs their blue tint two hours west of Sydney.
Fiordland (Milford Sound)
Rain-drenched fjords where waterfalls plunge from sheer green walls into the Tasman.

Tongariro
New Zealand's oldest national park — volcanoes, emerald lakes, and the Mt. Doom of Mordor.

Aoraki / Mount Cook
New Zealand's tallest peak above the icebergs of Tasman Lake under dark skies.

Banff
Canada's first national park — glacial lakes, hot springs, and the spine of the Rockies.
Jasper
Canada's largest Rocky Mountain park — Columbia Icefield, dark skies, and elk in town.
Gros Morne
Earth's mantle exposed in a UNESCO fjord-and-tundra wilderness on Newfoundland's west coast.

Antarctic Peninsula
The most accessible continent of ice — penguin colonies, calving glaciers, and the Drake Passage.

Svalbard
Polar bear country 1,000 km from the North Pole — fjords, glaciers, and 24-hour summer light.

Antelope Canyon
Light beams pour through wave-carved slot canyons on Navajo land near Page.
Horseshoe Bend
The Colorado River carves a 270° meander 1,000 feet below a sandstone overlook.
Lake Tahoe
The largest alpine lake in North America — cobalt water ringed by Sierra granite.

Niagara Falls
Three thundering waterfalls on the U.S.–Canada border — the oldest state park in America.
Sedona Red Rocks
Cinnabar-red sandstone buttes and vortex trails in Coconino National Forest.
Monument Valley
The iconic red sandstone mittens of the Navajo Nation — the cinematic American West.

Columbia River Gorge
An 80-mile canyon of basalt cliffs and waterfalls cut by the Columbia through the Cascades.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area
A million acres of glacial lakes and pine wilderness on the Canadian border — paddle-only.
Big Sur
Ninety miles of cliffs where redwoods spill into the Pacific along Highway 1.

Florida Keys
A 113-mile chain of coral islands trailing south to Key West and the only living reef in the U.S.
Devils Tower
America's first national monument — an 867-foot igneous monolith sacred to Plains tribes.
Havasu Falls
Turquoise travertine pools deep in the Grand Canyon on the Havasupai reservation.
Multnomah Falls
Oregon's tallest waterfall — 620 feet of plunge in two tiers, half an hour from Portland.

Adirondack Park
Six million acres of lakes, peaks, and birch forest — the largest park in the lower 48.
Mount Hood
Oregon's 11,239-foot stratovolcano with year-round snow and wildflower meadows below.

Hocking Hills
Hemlock-shaded gorges, recess caves, and waterfalls in southeast Ohio's sandstone country.

Garden of the Gods
Crimson sandstone fins erupt from prairie at the foot of Pikes Peak.

Catskill Mountains
Rolling Appalachian peaks two hours north of NYC — Hudson River School landscapes in real life.

Blue Ridge Parkway
America's longest linear park — 469 miles of ridgeline driving through the southern Appalachians.
Cape Cod National Seashore
Forty miles of dunes, salt marshes, and lighthouses curling into the Atlantic.
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Massive perched dunes plunge 450 feet to Lake Michigan along Michigan's northwest coast.

Finger Lakes
Eleven glacial lakes laced with vineyards, gorges, and waterfalls in upstate New York.

Watkins Glen
Nineteen waterfalls stacked in a two-mile shale gorge at the south end of Seneca Lake.
Letchworth State Park
The 'Grand Canyon of the East' — three waterfalls thunder through a 600-foot gorge.

Palouse Falls
A 200-foot waterfall plunges into a basalt amphitheater carved by Ice Age megafloods.

Mount St. Helens
A still-recovering blast zone 45 years after the most catastrophic eruption in U.S. history.

Apostle Islands
Twenty-one Lake Superior islands fringed with sea caves, lighthouses, and old-growth forest.

Pictured Rocks
Forty miles of mineral-streaked sandstone cliffs above Lake Superior on Michigan's UP.
Mount Washington & the Whites
The Northeast's highest peak in a wilderness famed for hut-to-hut hiking and Yankee weather.

Pacific Rim
Long Beach, the West Coast Trail, and old-growth rainforest along Vancouver Island's wild edge.
Yoho
Towering Takakkaw Falls, Lake O'Hara, and the Burgess Shale fossils on the BC side of the Rockies.

Waterton Lakes
Glacier's Canadian sibling — where prairie meets peaks in an international peace park.
Algonquin
Two thousand lakes and pine-rimmed shorelines just north of the Great Lakes — Tom Thomson country.
Cappadocia
Fairy-chimney valleys, rock-cut churches, and a sky filled with hot-air balloons at dawn.

Wadi Rum
Mars-red sandstone monoliths over orange desert — Lawrence of Arabia's 'vast, echoing, and god-like' valley.
Petra
A Nabataean city carved into rose-red sandstone, hidden in a desert canyon for centuries.
Pamukkale
Cotton-white travertine terraces filled with turquoise thermal pools above ancient Hierapolis.
Faroe Islands
Eighteen North Atlantic islands of sea cliffs, grass-roofed villages, and puffin colonies.
Isle of Skye
Black Cuillin peaks, fairy pools, and basalt sea stacks on Scotland's most cinematic island.
São Miguel (Azores)
Mid-Atlantic volcanic island of crater lakes, hot springs, and whale-rich waters.
Madeira
Atlantic island of laurel forests, levada canal walks, and cliffs that drop straight to sea.
Amalfi Coast
Lemon-terraced cliffs and pastel fishing villages strung along the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Piatra Craiului & Carpathians
Limestone ridges, brown bears, and Saxon villages in the heart of Transylvania.
Bhutan Himalayas
Cliff-clinging monasteries, dzongs, and a kingdom that measures Gross National Happiness.
Arashiyama & Kyoto Mountains
Bamboo groves, temple gardens, and forested hills ringing Japan's ancient capital.
Guilin & Li River
Karst peaks rising from rice terraces and the Li River — the postcard of southern China.
Mount Batur & Bali Highlands
Sunrise volcano hikes above caldera lakes and emerald rice terraces in central Bali.
Tsingy de Bemaraha
Razor-sharp limestone pinnacles, baobab forests, and lemurs found nowhere else on Earth.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Mist-shrouded montane rainforest home to nearly half the world's mountain gorillas.
Simien Mountains
An Afro-alpine 'roof of Africa' of jagged escarpments, gelada baboons, and Ras Dashen.
Chapada Diamantina
Table-top mesas, cobalt swimming caves, and waterfalls in Brazil's Bahia interior.
Pantanal
The world's largest tropical wetland — the best place on Earth to see wild jaguars.
Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair
Glacier-carved peaks, button grass plains, and the Overland Track in Tasmania's heart.
Abel Tasman
Golden-sand coves, granite headlands, and turquoise water at the top of New Zealand's South Island.
Nā Pali Coast (Kauai)
Emerald cathedral cliffs plunging into the Pacific on Kauai's wild northwest shore.
San Juan Islands
Orca-frequented Salish Sea archipelago of madrone-fringed coves and ferry-hopping villages.
Alabama Hills
Wind-sculpted boulder arches with Mount Whitney as their backdrop in the Owens Valley.
Jackson Hole & Snake River
Cowboy town, raft-worthy whitewater, and a back-door perch under the Teton range.
White Mountain Apache Highlands
Pine-forested high country with trout lakes and the southern terminus of the Mogollon Rim.
Outer Banks
Barrier islands of wild horses, towering lighthouses, and the dunes where flight was born.
Big Cypress
Bald cypress strands, gators, and panther country just north of the Everglades.
Pick a mood.
We'll pick the parks.
Certified dark skies where the Milky Way casts a shadow.






Stories from
the folio.
Free reading — practical insight, hidden trails, and notes on the wild places around every park.
Where the Stars Still Win: A Field Guide to Dark Sky Parks
Half the country can no longer see the Milky Way. These parks are where the night sky still belongs to the night.
The Shoulder-Season Secret Most Travelers Miss
Late September through early November is the quietest, prettiest window in nearly every park on the continent. Here's how to use it.
The Ten Essentials, Honestly Reviewed
The classic backcountry checklist gets repeated everywhere. Here's what veterans actually carry — and what they leave in the car.
The 100-Yard Rule (and the Selfies That Break It)
Why park biologists keep begging visitors to back up — and what actually happens when they don't.
Leave No Trace, for People Who Actually Go Outside
The seven principles, translated out of bureaucrat and into the things that actually matter on a real trip.
Six Hidden Trails in Famous Parks
Everyone hikes the same five trails in every park. Here are the alternates the rangers quietly recommend.
The Ultimate Southwest Road Trip, Re-Routed
The classic Grand Circle loop is a great trip. With three small changes, it becomes a great one — and you skip the worst of the crowds.
Bear Country, Honestly: What to Do When the Worst Happens
Every park hands you a pamphlet. Almost nobody reads it. Here's what to actually do — and what veteran rangers wish you knew before you set foot on a trail.
Camera Gear for the Parks, Without the Bro Talk
What actually fits in a backpack, what you'll actually use, and what to leave on the shelf. From the cheap end to the splurge.
Backcountry Permits, Demystified
Every popular trail in the country now needs a permit, and every park's system is different. Here's a cheat sheet that actually works.
Light in the Parks: Why Pros Wake Up at 4 a.m.
Every great park photograph was made in the first or last hour of daylight. Here's how that hour actually behaves, and how to use it without losing sleep you can't afford.
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