America has some epic national trails, some of which cross several states and even the entire continent. But the most scenic hikes aren’t necessarily the ones that require the most effort. We’ve picked the most picturesque walks around the US, each doable within a day and, in many cases, an hour or two – so you have more time to enjoy the gorgeous surroundings. From beach boardwalks to lakeshore paths and incredible overlooks, these are the most scenic day hikes in every state.
Alabama’s Gulf Coast is full of surprises, from its alabaster beaches to Gulf State Park, a patchwork of marshlands, forest, lakes and sand dunes that’s home to a rich array of birds and other wildlife. The park has several easy to follow trails, though Rosemary Dunes is the best for views of the Gulf of Mexico. The trail runs for 2.1 miles (3.4km) each way with paved paths weaving between undulated marshland and dunes.
Alaska has some of the largest and most wonderfully remote national parks and swathes of wilderness, so there are scenic hikes galore here. Some of the most glorious views can be found at Kenai Fjords, one of the state’s smallest national parks yet still covering 1,047 square miles (2,712sq km). Tackle the Harding Icefield Trail, with runs for 4.1-miles (6.6km) in each direction from the Exit Glacier area, traversing meadows and forests to reach views over Harding Icefield and the Atlantic. Even a short stroll up the trail yields gorgeous views, though.
Arizona means wide-open landscapes and awe-inspiring rock formations, and the hike to Devil’s Bridge near Sedona is a great way to experience a glimpse of this beauty. The 1.8-mile (2.9km) round-trip hike to get to the top of the natural sandstone arch is relatively short but involves quite a climb. Any aching limbs should soon be forgotten once you get there, though – this perch opens up views across the forest, with red-rock buttes rising from a sea of green.
There’s breathtaking natural scenery all along this 2.1-mile (3.4km) hike, which slices through the forest and crosses several natural bridges, with benches where you can pause and soak up the surroundings dotted along the route. The end point is particularly enchanting, though, with the trail finishing at Cob Cave and Eden Falls (pictured). It’s the most popular hike at Buffalo National River, though tends to be relatively quiet on weekdays.
For breathtaking coastal vistas with fewer crowds, it’s hard to beat the Laguna-Coast Loop. Running for 2.5 miles (4km) in each direction between the Laguna and Coast Trailheads at Point Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco, it takes you through salt-sprayed meadows and forests with beaches and the grey-blue of the Pacific framed by fragrant shrubs and grasses. The final stretch is up on the bluffs, with clear views of the mudflats and salt marshes of Tomales Bay.
Close to Aspen, the twin peaks of Maroon Bells are among the most photographed in the state, largely because they’re so dramatically beautiful reflected in the alpine lake they overlook. It’s also possible to get a good look at them without a strenuous trek. The Maroon Bells Scenic Loop Trail, in the White River National Forest, is around two miles (3.2km) long and traverses through wildflower meadows and past lake beaches.
The sand is actually more of a golden hue at this state park in Milford, and it’s best appreciated with a leisurely stroll along the wooden boardwalk raised above salt marshes and sand dunes, with views across the bird sanctuary to Long Island Sound and Charles Island. It’s only around 0.75 miles (1.2km) in each direction, though you’ll probably want to take your time, scouring the beaches and skies for birds or just admiring the scenery.
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Delaware’s coast might just be one of the most underrated in the US, and nowhere is its beauty more apparent than at Cape Henlopen State Park, part of the Delmarva Peninsula. The park occupies a former military base and there are several different routes, with the Gordons Pond Trail giving a good overview without being too strenuous. Running for 3.2 miles (5.1km), it traces the edge of the pond and then follows an elevated boardwalk, with scenic overlooks offering views of salt marshes and beaches along the way.
Art Deco architecture, creamy beaches, colourful lifeguard huts and palm trees. Really, what more could you want from a walk? Miami Beach Boardwalk is one of the city’s most famous attractions, unfurling along the oceanfront for around four miles (6.4km) from 5th Street in South Beach to 46th Street at Indian Beach Park. With beaches and bars along the route, this is a walk to be taken at leisure and with frequent stops for sunbathing and people-watching.
The Southend Loop, covering 4.3 miles (7km) covers some of the most beautiful parts of Cumberland Island, just off Georgia’s southern coast. It weaves through maritime forest, skirts marshland and sand dunes and strolls along the beach, following dirt paths, quiet roads and boardwalks. It also cuts through the Dungeness Historic District, home to the ruins of a 19th-century mansion (pictured) owned by the Carnegie family. Look out for (but keep your distance from) wild horses – the barrier island is home to around 150 of them.
This four-mile (6.4km) round-trip trail packs in several waterfalls along its route, including the 185 foot (56m) cascade of Makahiku Falls. Even this seems short once you reach Waimoku Falls at the climax of the walk, though. The lofty waterfall is a head-spinning 400 feet (122m) tall, roaring down a sheer lava rock face into a limpid, boulder-scattered pool. It’s undoubtedly the highlight of this walk in Maui’s Haleakalā National Park, but the journey there is a delight, cutting through bamboo forest and passing streams and smaller cascades.
The Idaho Falls Greenbelt Trail covers a total of around five miles (8km) with paths on either side of Snake River, famed for its dramatic 600-foot (183m) wide waterfall, pictured. It’s the highlight of the walk, which has benches dotted along the way and is also home to a variety of local businesses, from restaurants and cafés to a disc golf course.
A couple of hours’ drive west of Chicago, Castle Rock State Park is named after a sandstone bluff that juts over the broad river. The area is thick with forest alongside rock formations, ravines and the remains of prairies that once carpeted the land. There are six miles (9.7km) of trails in total, with different routes well-signposted throughout and information on woodland animals and birds frequently seen here. It’s also popular for kayaking and canoeing in summer.
These dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan are stunning year-round but, if you’re heading here in the warmer months, you can make a day of it and follow a walk with some beach time. There are two trails here: the 3.4-mile (5.5km) 3-Loop Trail and the much shorter Dunes Succession Trail, which is just under a mile (1.6km). Combine the two for a longer walk, taking in secluded sections of the forest, looking out for birds and stopping to gaze at gorgeous views from the top of the Dune Succession Trail stairs.
There’s plenty of beauty packed into this state park in Iowa’s Driftless region, characterised by vertiginous valleys and steep hills – and there’s a variety of trails to show it off. The most straightforward is the 0.5-mile (0.8km) boardwalk that leads to Bridal Veil Falls, though you can go further on the four-mile (6.4km) route to Point Ann, from which you can look over the mighty Mississippi. Look out for fossils along the route. The sunrises here (pictured) are particularly lovely.
One of few remaining places in the US to be carpeted by prairie, this national preserve is all rolling hills and big blue skies. Walk for around three miles (5km) from the visitor centre to the scenic overlook, following a gravel trail into the Flint Hills and spotting wildlife including, often, bison grazing on the grasses. There are also options for longer hikes or short nature trails. The park is open year-round but come in autumn to see the green-gold grasses at their tallest and best – or visit in spring, when wildflowers add pops of colour.
There's a trail to suit pretty much everyone at Berea College Forest, with routes leading to five different lookout points: East Pinnacle, West Pinnacle, Buzzard's Roost, Indian Fort and Eagles Nest. You can do all of them in a day, hiking around five miles (8km), or take the shortest trail – to Indian Fort Lookout – which is just over a mile (1.9km). The views are the highlight, stretching across a patchwork of forest, fields and hills.
Just outside New Orleans, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park is a heady mix of marshy, mossy bayous and Cajun history. There are five accessible gravel and boardwalk trails, each under a mile (1.6km), and four mildly more challenging hiking trails, the longest of which is the 1.8-mile (2.9km) Plantation Trail loop. Look out for a 600-year-old bald cypress tree along the Bayou Coquille Trail, or head to Ring Levee Trail at high water to spot alligators. This is a wildlife-rich trail, and food is prohibited to avoid attracting animals.
This 2.2-mile (3.5km) path shows off the most beautiful parts of Acadia National Park, with glorious views of the rocky, craggy coastline between Sand Beach and Otter Cliffs. It’s a there and back hike, so 4.4 miles (7km) in total, but the scenery is so beguiling that it’s hardly a drag to revisit it. On one side is the ocean, laced with rock pools, coves and sculptural granite rock formations, and on the other are forested mountains. One of many highlights is Boulder Beach, pictured, scattered with smooth rocks the size of grapefruits.
The Appalachian Trail runs for a total of 2,200 miles (3,540km), with just 41 (66km) of those in Maryland. The state happens to have some of the loveliest and most accessible scenery, including the viewpoints at Annapolis Rock and Black Rock Cliff. Reached via a five-mile (8km) out-and-back hike at South Mountain State Park, the peaks open up sweeping views across the northwest of the state.
Great Island Trail actually encompasses two ways to discover Cape Cod’s beguiling coastal scenery, with the option to take the 3.9-mile (6.3km) tavern loop or continue on the 8.8-mile (14.2km) round-trip to Jeremy Point overlook. Each starts and ends at the corner of Griffin Island and Chequessett Neck Road, skirting past salt marshes and sand dunes, climbing steeply to pine-forested bluffs and crossing the soft sand, with views of Cape Cod Bay rewarding the effort.
Hugging a stretch of Lake Michigan’s eastern coastline, Sleeping Bear Dunes endlessly surprises with its natural beauty and has around 100 miles (161km) of trails to discover it. One of the prettiest routes is the Pyramid Point Trail. The 2.7-mile (4.3km) trek passes wildflower meadows, beech-maple forest and waves of sand dunes, with short detours leading to views over the lake.
The 300-mile (483km) Superior Hiking Trail, stretching along the coast of the Lake Superior all the way to the Canadian border, is obviously far too much to pack into a day. But you can tackle a stunning slice of it with the three-mile (4.8km) loop to Fifth Falls, within Gooseberry Falls State Park. The park’s eponymous waterfall, pictured, is among the highlights, along with other cascades and frequent views of the lake.
In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and named after a chief of the Chickasaw nation, Tishomingo State Park blends fascinating history with beguiling landscapes. There are several hiking routes, with the CCC Camp Trail the longest at around three miles (4.8km). The walk encompasses some of the best scenery, from rocky outcrops bursting with ferns and wildflowers to stone steps leading to the banks of Bear Creek, with the trail ending at the Swinging Bridge.
The focal point of Longview Lake State Park, this freshwater reservoir is just outside Kansas City and is a fabulous option for a family-friendly walk. There’s something for everyone, from short nature trails to the shoreline laced with beaches and fishing docks and surrounded by thick forest and meadows. You can take as long or short a walk as you like, stopping at coves and picnic shelters. It’s consistently beautiful but the sunrises are especially spectacular, so head there early if you can.
Montana is made for hiking, boasting parts of Yellowstone National Park and Flathead National Forest. The trails in Glacier National Park are among the most breathtaking and many lead to incredible views with relatively little effort. Hidden Lake Overlook is a 2.6-mile (4.2km) round-trip trail that weaves through alpine meadows and up to views over the lake and mountains beyond, before meandering down to the lakeshore.
Just outside Grand Island, the 1.5-mile (2.4km) each-way River Trail is one of several ways to explore the Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center, following a section of Platte River that runs through the preserve. There are bison and other wildlife here year-round, though spring is the best time to visit because this is when nature puts on a magnificent spectacle: thousands of sandhill cranes filling the skies, along with other migrating birds.
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You could follow any of the designated trails in Valley of Fire State Park and view some of Nevada’s most strikingly beautiful scenery. This park really is staggering, with pinnacles, arches, buttes and canyons carved in red rock that glows especially vividly at sunrise. The Natural Arches Trail, running for 2.5 miles (4km) each way, is a relatively manageable route to take in the kaleidoscopic colours and appreciate how time has shaped this place: the Aztec sandstone structures were formed by shifting sand dunes around 150 million years ago.
This natural ravine, at the base of Mount Liberty, is well worth the two-mile (3.2km) loop trail. Parts of the path follow boardwalks hugging the granite walls of the gorge, cutting through primordial forest and leading to dramatic cascades and bridges. There are lots of stairways on the route, though several benches allow time to pause, rest and take in the surroundings. The season usually opens around May, once the ice has melted away.
Wildwoods, on the Jersey Shore, is pure Americana, and so is a stroll along its 2.5-mile (4km) boardwalk. It dates back to the 1890s, when it began at just 450-feet (137m) long, and has moved closer to the ocean twice due to the shifting shoreline. Pass three piers with amusement park rides, plus rows of colourful shops, restaurants and arcades, stop at the sandy beaches or just gaze out at the ocean. The area is also home to a strip of mid-century modern inns known as ‘Doo Wop’ motels.
At first glance, White Sands National Park looks like a snowscape, with bright white waves stretching over the horizon. The gypsum dunes roll for 275 square miles (712sq km) and the best way to appreciate them is by following one of the park’s signposted trails. The Backcountry Camping route takes you on a two-mile (3.5km) round trip up some of the sandy mounds, and it’s well worth the effort to gaze over the landscape, with shortbread-hued dunes that curve, dip and rise in soft peaks as far as the eye can see.
The scenery on the Gorge Trail could comfortably belong in Middle Earth. It’s ethereally beautiful, and home to some of the most picturesque waterfalls in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Cavern Cascade, which you can walk behind, and Rainbow Falls – named for the way the afternoon sunshine reflects on its surface – are especially lovely. Other highlights on the 2.5-mile (4km) loop include stone bridges and steps carpeted with ferns.
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The trail up to Hanging Rock, the quartzite precipice that gives the state park its name, is just 1.3 miles (2km) but can take up to an hour – partly because it’s quite steep, following wooden and stone steps, but also because the scenery en route is so dizzyingly beautiful. It’s even better from the top, where you can perch on the rocks and look out over the park and Blue Ridge Mountains.
At just under a mile (1.6km), this loop walk yields disproportionate rewards. The trail dips down into Painted Canyon, passing juniper shrubs and meadows that burst with wildflowers in spring. Look out for bison, often seen grazing close to the trail, and get a close-up look at the layered colours of the rock, caused by thousands of years of erosion.
Taking walkers to perhaps the most spectacular scenery in Hocking Hills State Park, the Old Man’s Cave loop covers up to 1.5 miles (2.4km), depending on the start point, and takes in views of the Lower, Middle and Upper Falls (the latter pictured here) and gorges slicing through sandstone. You can also extend your walk to six miles (9.6km), adding the spectacles of Cedar Falls and Ash Cave, on the Grandma Gatewood Trail.
There are 15 miles (24km) of trails around Broken Bow Lake, a reservoir on Mountain Fork River whose surface is dotted with small, tree-covered islands. Many, including the Beaver Lodge Nature Trail – part of Beavers Bend State Park – are around a mile (1.6km) in length. This one requires doubling back and doing it all again on the return journey, though it’s hardly a hardship. The lake is a real stunner, surrounded with forest-clad mountains and with gin-clear water kept pristine thanks to the rocks covering its bed.
There’s no bad time of day or year to view the peach, apricot and golden stripes of Oregon’s Painted Hills. The early morning light washes the claystone with pale pastels. In the afternoon, the dipping sun seems to illuminate the rocks from within. And in spring, once the snow melts, yellow wildflowers peep out between the cracks, adding an extra dimension of colour. Pick from five trails, ranging from 0.25-1.6 miles (0.4-2.6km), to view the gold, apricot, black and brick-red stripes and swirls up close.
The full loop that makes up the Falls Trail System covers 7.2 miles (11.6km) but, for that effort, you get to see a staggering total of 21 waterfalls (including Harrison Wright Falls, pictured) between dense areas of old-growth forest. You can shorten the walk to a 3.2-mile (11.6km) loop, going on the Highland Trail and following the Glen Leigh and Ganoga Glen sides of the trail – and still seeing the majority of the waterfalls.
Clay Head Preserve has a series of interconnecting paths that criss-cross a pretty, birdlife-rich, 190-acre swathe of land in the north of Block Island, which lies in the Atlantic to the south of Rhode Island. The parking area is reached via a dirt road and, a short distance into the walk, hikers have two choices: turn right to reach a sandy beach, or left to get lost in what’s known as ‘The Maze’, a tangle of unmarked paths designed for getting blissfully lost down.
Take in two of the most spectacular sights of Table Rock State Park on one relatively easy trail. The 1.9-mile (3.1km) Lakeside Trail loop follows, as the name suggests, a portion of Pinnacle Lake’s shoreline, opening up incredible views across the mirrored surface to Table Rock Mountain, passing historic lodges and boat houses and with a swimming beach along the route.
There are several trails taking you up to Black Elk Peak, the highest natural point in South Dakota and arguably the best perch from which to gaze across Black Elk Wilderness, a remote swathe of the Black Hills National Forest named after a holy man of the Oglala Sioux. The most popular (and shortest) route starts at Sylvan Lake and is a relatively easy seven-mile (11.3km) round trip, with places to pause along the way. The peak is topped by a 1930s-built fire lookout tower, overlooking a dramatic landscape of pine forests, jagged peaks, canyons, lakes and open grasslands.
With forested peaks and valleys and layer upon layer of mountains, the Great Smokies resemble a painting, or perhaps a whole gallery. Explore it on the four-mile (6.4km) round-trip Chimney Tops Trail, which heads down soft forest paths and crosses streams before ascending mountain slopes for views from ‘chimney’ topped pinnacles and ridges.
Just outside German-settled town Fredericksburg in Texas Hill Country, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is both otherworldly and rooted in nature. Its dominant attraction is an enormous boulder that looks like it’s crash-landed from Outer Space, which can be summited on a 1.6-mile (2.6km) round-trip trail. The granite surface is dotted with fragrant shrubs, blackjack oaks and vernal pools populated by fascinating fairy shrimp, whose eggs survive the dry season before springing to life when it rains.
Spindly rock spires, or hoodoos fill the bowl-shaped Bryce Amphitheater and visitors can walk the rim for perhaps the best scenery in the entire national park. The rock formations would be incredible in any colour but the combination of apricot, cream and crimson shades is especially eye-popping. The Rim Trail runs for up to 11 miles (17.7km) but you can just tackle a portion of it without sacrificing the views. The paved Sunset to Sunrise trail is just one mile (1.6km) in each direction.
You can drive to the top of Mount Philo, the focal point of this state park in Charlotte, but the hike up is far more rewarding. It’s a 1.5-mile (2.4km) round trip, with white-tailed deer, moose and migrating birds often spotted from the path. It’s the views at the top that really stun, though, looking over the verdant countryside towards the sapphire-hued Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. The park is open May-October.
The falls at Great Falls Park aren’t ‘great’ in size, with each cascade dropping no further than 20 feet (6m). The dramatic beauty comes from the sheer number of them and the speed at which they tumble along the jagged rocks in the Potomac River. You can view the rapids from the North River Trail, which runs for 1.5 miles (2.4km) each way between the Great Falls and Riverbend Park visitor centres and traces the edge of the river. It’s especially pretty in spring, when wildflowers brighten the surroundings.
A raised wooden boardwalk cuts through the forest on this 1.5-mile (2.4km) round-trip trail, leading to one of the most surprising and absolutely stunning pockets of coastline in the US. The water at Cape Flattery, part of the Makah Reservation and just outside Olympic National Park, swirls with shades of blue from navy to turquoise. Throw in a thickly forested shoreline and sea stacks topped with pine trees and the entire landscape barely seems real.
The heart of this state forest is the eponymous Coopers Rock, a series of sandstone bluffs overlooking the Cheat River Gorge. Most visitors head straight for the scenic overlook. For a quieter way to take in the surroundings, take the Ravens Rock Trail. The out-and-back trail forms a three-mile (4.8km) round-trip walk up to a viewpoint that looks over swathes of forest to the gorge.
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore boasts all manner of natural wonders, from craggy rock formations and wind-battered cliffs to sandy strands, and all this can be explored on the Lakeshore Trail. There are six miles (9.6km) of mainland trails divided into three sections, taking in Lake Superior beaches, the Crevasse – a fracture in the bedrock – hardwood forest and sea caves.
The 200-foot (61m) high Fairy Falls might be the ultimate destination of this trail, and a spectacular one at that, but it’s far from the only jaw-dropping sight along the route. The 5.4-mile (8.6km) trek runs through lodgepole pine forest and skirts around one of Yellowstone’s most famous landmarks, Grand Prismatic Spring (pictured from the trail). It also passes other hot springs, with an optional add-on to view Spray and Imperial geysers.