The 14 Best Books on US National Parks!
Looking for the next book to read before visiting a National Park? Or maybe just dreaming about planning your next National Park adventure? Here is the list of all of our favorite books about National Parks and I promise I’ve read every book on this list! Whether you’re looking for a book you can read with your kids, a murder mystery, or non-fiction reads about the parks, you will find something for you on this list.
Disclosure : Some of my blog posts do contain affiliate links which means I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you decide to make a purchase. Thanks for supporting me and helping me to continue to make free content on this platform!
1. Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park
By Lee H. Whittlesey
This book is CRAZY. Let me tell you I was hooked right away. Each chapter contains a different category of deaths that have occured inside Yellowstone National Park including hot springs, wildlife, falls, etc. There are a ton of stories in here to keep you captivated for your drive into the park, or depending on how you take this kind of information… maybe read it after your trip. An argument for reading it beforehand is to share with your group, what things NOT to do or situations to avoid while visiting Yellowstone. I mean… in my opinion, this book should be required reading to enter the park. Check out our other list of books about Yellowstone National Park!
Buy the book here!
2. Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park
By Conor Knighton
This is my favorite of the comprehensive national parks stories. It tows the line perfectly between his personal stories and sharing what is unique and amazing about each park. One of my favorite books I read last year and I could see myself reading this again in a few years or reading a few chapters before I go to specific parks.
Buy the book here!
3. Lassoing the Sun: A Year in America’s National Parks
By Mark Woods
Lassoing the Sun has a unique perspective because instead of visiting each national park, the author travels to one new park each month. The parks he chose weren’t necessarily the most popular or the most beautiful parks, but each one highlights an issue that the parks system is facing.
Buy the book here!
4. National Parks of the U.S.A.
By Kate Siber
This book is great for both kids and adults. I absolutely love the illustrations. Prior to visiting specific parks, we love to read the pages about that park! Not every park is highlighted but each page contains some great facts about the wildlife and plants in the major National Parks. I have seen this book available at most gift shops within national parks as well.
Buy the book here!
5. Into the Wild
By Jon Krakauer
Into the Wild is a crazy story, AND it’s a true story. Additionally, it happens to be written by my favorite author so I am partial to it. It is a short read and highlights Denali National Park specifically. This story is so well written and tells the tale of a truly unique man who is captivated by the Alaskan wilderness. There was also a movie made about this story, which I would recommend watching after reading the book.
Buy the book here!
6. Wild Rescues: A Paramedic’s Extreme Adventures in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton
By Kevin Grange
As someone who works in emergency medicine and loves national parks, this was definitely the crossover book I needed. Through this short book, Grange highlights some of the adventures he had during his time serving as a paramedic in these Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Park. These stories will give you a whole new appreciation for the struggles that first responders have, especially when coupled with lack of resources and being in a remote location.
Buy the book here!
7. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
By Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
Warning: This book is dense and long! However, if you are interested in the history of the national parks and want a book you can read a little at a time, you may like this one. It is an illustrated history and tells many different stories including the establishment of our first national park, Yellowstone, and what John Muir did for the protection of Yosemite. I would also recommend this book as a good coffee table book to keep around! This book was also made into a documentary.
Buy the book here!
8. Take Me With You
By Catherine Ryan Hyde
This book follows a burned out teacher, August, who is making a Summer trip to Yellowstone. A trip that was originally supposed to be taken with his 19 year old son that died, but is now to scatter his son’s ashes. August ends up making the trip with two extra passengers, and has a transformative trip that changes everything. If you’re looking for a book that is sure to tug at your heart strings, this is the one!
Buy the book here!
9. Dear Bob and Sue: One Couple’s Journey Through the National Parks
By Matt and Karen Smith
Matt and Karen Smith are on a journey to visit every National Park together since their kids have grown up. They write this book in the format of letters (filled with hilarious anecdotes) to their friends Bob and Sue. They talk about their trials and tribulations, and all the fun they had in their years completing their mission. I thought they were both very entertaining people and I am looking forward to reading their other books! Also, the type A person in me loves that each park is separated and numbered in order of how they visited them and described separately.
Buy the book here!
10. Gloryland
By Shelton Johnson
If you’re looking for a book about National Parks that has incredible writing, you’ll want to read Gloryland. I’ve put a quote I loved from this book below to highlight the beautiful writing. Shelton Johnson tells the fictional story of a Black man who becomes a Soldier stationed at the newly created Yosemite National Park in 1903. I loved this book!
“Yosemite taught me that silence is a sound, the best kinda sound cause it makes you listen not only to what’s happening on the outside but also what’s really going on inside… but in the silence of that meadow, I didn’t mind hearing what was in my bones and my blood and my heart.”
– Shelton Johnson
Buy the book here!
11. Before They’re Gone: A Family’s Year Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks
By Michael Lanza
Before They’re Gone highlights some of the major issues plaguing our National Parks including flooding, fires, warming, and other effects of climate change. The experiences of this family will make you want to visit each of these parks immediately. And hopefully, this book will also make you want to change the world and reverse climate change! One of the parks this book highlights is Joshua Tree National Park – check out our favorite Joshua Tree Books!
Buy the book here!
12. Night of the Grizzlies
By Jack Olsen
Night of the Grizzlies is the true story of the first fatal grizzly attacks in Glacier National Park. This is a must read book because you won’t be able to put it down, and it will (hopefully) give you a respect for the wildlife in Glacier National Park as well as all of our other National Parks. This book also has an associated movie!
Here is our full list of books to read about Glacier National Park!
Buy the book here!
13. The Wild Inside
By Christine Carbo
Another National Parks murder mystery set in Glacier National Park. This one is a bit more gruesome and has some adult themes compared to Vanishing Edge, but captivating nonetheless if you can handle that.
Buy the book here!
14. Vanishing Edge (National Parks Mystery #1)
By Claire Kells
Vanishing Edge is a fictional National Park murder mystery which will keep you on the edge of your seat while somehow still making you want to visit the Sequoia National Park backcountry. A national park ranger and former Navy Seal teams up with a former FBI agent to solve the mystery in the deep wilderness of the park. Claire Kells has also written An Unforgiving Place (National Parks Mystery #2), and National Parks Mystery #3 is set to be released in 2023. We also have a list of books about Sequoia National Park!
Buy the book here!
Okay, now that you’ve picked out your book to read it’s time to plan your national park vacation. Check out our national park posts to help you have the best time ever. What other National Parks books do you love? Here are our favorite National Parks Books for Kids! Would you rather listen to podcasts? Check out our list of the 10+ Best National Parks Podcasts.
- The Ultimate Guide to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park With Kids
- 10 Things to Do With Kids in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park
- The 7 Best Things to Do in Many Glacier With Kids
- Grand Teton National Park With Kids: The Best Guide
- 10 Fun Things to do in West Glacier National Park with Kids
Happy reading!
