Parks by Month

An active volcano where the headline subject may or may not exist on the day you arrive, which makes this the one park where the eruption status matters more than the month.

Dry, breezy and reliable, with the northern swell occasionally stirring the north shore.

Snowcoach-only interior — geyser steam, frost-caked bison and a landscape almost nobody sees.

Three parks in one — river, desert and the Chisos mountains — with a 5,000-foot elevation spread that lets you choose your temperature on any given day.

The lowest, driest and hottest place in North America, which inverts the normal calendar completely: the months everywhere else shuts down are the only months this park works.

A Sonoran desert park split across two districts on either side of Tucson, where the subject is a forest of columnar cactus and the season is simply the half of the year you can walk in.

Seventy miles past Key West, reachable only by a ferry or a seaplane, which makes the sea state the single variable that decides whether the trip happens at all.

A high desert park where two ecosystems meet, and the real draw after dark: some of the most accessible dark sky within three hours of a major city.

A restored river valley between two cities, where the attractions are a towpath, a waterfall and a working scenic railroad — a park that rewards a half-day rather than a week.

The most visited park in the country, with a 5,000-foot elevation range that staggers both the wildflower bloom and the fall colour over several weeks — so timing here is about elevation, not just date.

A lakeshore park with more plant diversity than its size suggests, wedged against heavy industry — which is either a distraction or, framed deliberately, the picture.