There seems to be a never ending list of family friendly activities in our nation’s National Parks. Hiking, auto touring, and wildilfe viewing are among the most popular; however many parks offer incredible and unique opportunities for adventure. Here are 15 exciting ways to experience the National Parks with your family:

1.  Take a boat tour of Everglades National Park:  There is no way to better experience the alligator filled river of grass than from the water.  The National Park service offers narrated boat tours of the famed 10,000 Islands area.   Explore a wilderness teeming with birds and reptiles while enjoying a tranquil ride across these endangered wetlands.

2.  Snorkel in the warm waters of Biscayne National Park:  Whether your family is discovering a mangrove ecosystem or admiring the fish on a tropical reef, everyone is certain to have a great time in the water. Downtown Miami may be within sight but Biscayne may as well be a world away.

Photo courtesy National Park Service

3.  Take a guided canoe trip down Congaree National Park’s Cedar Creek: Free ranger guided canoe trips are offered to families with children over the age of 5 through the nation’s largest remaining old-growth flooplain forest. Imagine peacefully paddling through the some of the tallest trees in the Eastern US with nothing but the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling accompanying you as your canoe glides silently across the water. White-tailed deer, otter, and raccoon sightings are possible.

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4.   Watch the sunrise, then bike down the volcano at Haleakala National Park:  My absolute favorite memory of my trip to Maui was  getting up in the middle of the night, taking a van to the top of Haleakala, watching the sunrise, then hopping on a rented bike  and coasting down the volcano. We followed the twisting road as we dropped several thousand feet in elevation until we were back at sea level. The views were amazing and the bike ride was a piece of cake since it was all downhill!

5.  Take a mule ride or a white water rafting trip in Grand Canyon National Park:  Riding a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon is a classic National Park experience.  The mule tour operators have a near perfect 100 year safety record so anyone at least 4’7″ and under 200lbs should definitely add this adventure to their bucket list.  For those looking for an adventure that involves plenty of water and adrenaline, rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon  should be at the top of your family vacation list.   Trips vary from 1 to 25 days and involve either a hike up or a hike down the canyon.

6.  Learn how to climb up granite walls in Yosemite National Park:  What better place to have your kids learn the finer points of rock climbing than in Yosemite?  The Yosemite Mountaineering School has been helping families scale their first slabs of granite for over 40 years.  Is there really a better place for family bonding than 60 feet above the ground?

7.  Take a horseback ride to an Old West Cookout in Yellowstone National Park: Although there are many dining options inside Yellowstone National Park, nothing sounds like more fun than taking a horseback ride out to an Old West Cookout.  One or two hour horseback rides through sagebrush, meadows, and woods take you to the spot where the cookout is held.  Steak is served along with all you can eat chuckwagon fare.   If your children are too young to ride to the cookout by horseback (8 is the minimum age), a stagecoach ride across the sagebrush to the cookout will certainly get everyone in the Old West spirit.

8.  Take a carriage tour of Acadia National Park:  Experience the famous roads of Acadia just as John D. Rockefeller Jr. intended, in a carriage.  Cross cobblestone bridges, weave in and out of the woods, and enjoy incredible views from the comfort of a horse drawn carriage.  Can’t you just hear the clip clop of the horses’ hooves just thinking about it?

9.  View Cuyahoga Valley National Park from a train:  From the comfort of a vintage train car, experience the stunning natural beauty of the Cuyahoga Valley.  If you are lucky you might spot white tailed deer grazing or one of 200 bird species that call the park home throughout the year.  Be sure to pick up  headphones for the audio tour so you can learn the history of this amazing place as it passes by your window.

10.  Spend the day on a boat exploring Glacier Bay National Park:  The best way for famlies to see the glaciers that are the park’s namesake, is from the water.  Vessels will take passengers through iceberg filled water so they can get up close to those massive rivers of ice.  The region is teeming with wildlife including bears, moose, sea lions, orcas,  mountain goats, puffins, and wolves so don’t forget your camera!

11.  Go dogsledding in Denali National Park:

NPS Photo/ Jared Withers

Learn how to mush with North America’s tallest peak as your backdrop.  Family trips into Denali on dogsled will create the ultimate winter memories.  Wildlife encounters are very likely and some of the animals you might see include moose, caribou, lynx, dall sheep, and wolves.  Children as young 12 can learn to drive their very own team.

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12.  Learn the basics of caving inside Mammoth Cave National Park:  Learn how to descend down cave walls, climb on your hands and knees under low clearance areas, and squeeze through tight passage ways to view parts of the Mammoth Cave system that most visitors never see.  Children ages 8-12 can “Trog“- an off trail experience that involves a short hike through the woods and crawling around in rarely visited portions of Mammoth Cave.

13.  Kayak into sea caves at Channel Islands National Park:  Enjoy the rugged beauty of the Channel Islands from a sea kayak.  Spend time as a family paddling through the pristine marine environment surrounding the islands. Beautiful beaches and incredible sea caves are just waiting to be explored.  Children as young as 10 can ride tandem in the kayak with their parents.

14.  Take a horseback ride at Theodore Roosevelt National Park:  There are plenty of National Parks that offer horseback riding, but seeing badlands of North Dakota the way Theodore Roosevelt did  is an experience unto itself.  Ride the trails and explore the prairie that inspired our former president to become one of word’s leading conservationists. Wild horse, bison,  deer, elk, coyote,  eagle,  and prairie dog sightings are possible.

Photo Courtesy NPS

15.  Float down the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park:                                                               Explore one of the last remaining wild corners of the Continental US as you raft or canoe down the Rio Grande.  Enjoy towering canyon walls and riparian desert flora and fauna as you drift along the US/Mexican border.  Children as young as four can float the Colorado Canyon and kids aged seven and older can enjoy a trip through the dramatic Santa Elena Canyon.

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Related articles:

• Best Hikes for Tykes in Yosemite National Park
• 15 Family Friendly National Park Adventures
• National Park Junior Ranger Program
• 5 National Monuments Your Family Should Visit

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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.

Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA