It would be a crime to close any of America’s parks. We asked experts for the best ways to enjoy the epic landscapes of 10 national parks

In pictures: views from America’s national parks

“The best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” That’s how Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian Wallace Stegner described America’s magnificent national parks.

California was the inspiration for the national park system – early visitors to Yosemite were so awed by the grandeur of the scenery that it was the first special area to be preserved by the government for public use. It sowed the seeds for the first national park to be created at Yellowstone eight years later in 1872, “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”.

It is a cruel irony then that it should be California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who has proposed the closure of 220 state parks in order to save money and balance the books. Just to be clear, these are parks run by the state of California – closures would restrict access to the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas, the beaches and wetlands of Big Sur, and the deserts of San Diego among others – not those run by the National Park Service (NPS).

The NPS has already warned that it might take control of six California state parks if they are not kept open. But there is no suggestion that national parks are facing closure – indeed they have seen their budgets increased this year to make improvements to roads and facilities.

More Americans will be holidaying at home this year because of the recession that has given rise to the proposed park closures. And when “the economy is not in shape, that bodes well for the park service”, according to David Barma, chief of public affairs for the NPS. The latest figures from the NPS show an increase in the number of park visits over the first four months of this year and bookings are up at national park campsites.

Nowhere does the great outdoors better than America. It is epic – cinematic – in its scale and beauty. There are deserts, great lakes, swamps, canyons, mountains, rivers, forests, oceans and beaches. It would be a crime to close any of it.

We asked 10 experts to share their favourite wild spaces with us.

1. Best for wilderness: Katmai and Kenai Fjords National Parks, Alaska

The expert: Ken Burns, filmmaker, whose latest TV series, National Parks, America’s Best Idea, premieres in the US on PBS on 27 September

At the Brooks River Falls in Katmai in summer there can easily be 50 grizzly bears gathered as thousands of salmon from the Bering Sea swim upstream to spawn. It looks almost anthropomorphic, a grizzly symposium, and the human observers are definitely outsiders – the bears own this place and they are seriously gorging on fish. You’re coming all the way to Alaska for the pristine wilderness, so do also drive to Aialik Bay, Kenai, to see humpback and orca from kayaks and watch the glacier “calving” great booming chunks into the sea, sending the seals on the ice floes bobbing furiously – it’s a transformational experience.

• Where to stay: Katmai: Brooks Campground, protected from bears strolling nearby by an electric fence. Kenai: camp in Abra cove or stay at the Aialik Bay Cabin.

2. Best adventure: Rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon

The expert: Abe Streep, Outside Magazine

As far as epic adventures go, this is a classic: roaring down the canyon through a 100-degree desert landscape looking up at jagged layers of vermillion rock, some half as old as the planet itself, in wild water that’s very cold. It’s not about “wanting” to do it in your lifetime, it’s about “needing” to do it. They stagger the raft permits, so it’s not crowded. You shoot the rapids like a bucking bronco, hanging on for dear life, then float on a smooth section past Native American ruins. It takes two weeks for a full trip, but you can get the idea in four days if that’s all you have, camping on beaches, feeling like a little ant under the massive walls and taking day hikes to hidden waterfalls.

• Oars.com organises rafting trips lasting from four days to a full canyon trip of 18 days. Oars: four-day rafting trip all-inclusive (equipment, local shuttle transport, camping, food, etc) this season is $1,758 per person (£1,085); 16-day trip at $4,916 (£3,034) or an 18 days in a wooden dorie boat $5,401 (£3,333). +1 209 736 4677.

Best regards,

3. Best-kept secret: Precipice Trail, Acadia National Park, Maine

The expert: Robert Earle Howells, National Geographic Adventure Magazine

You’ve done the gorgeous drive up the coast of Maine, now for the aptly-named Precipice Trail. The first thing you see are all sorts of warning signs – this hike, well it’s really a non-technical climb, is not for the faint of heart or those prone to vertigo – then you notice all the iron rungs drilled into the rock from long ago, to help you monkey up the exposed eastern face of Mount Champlain. Getting to the top gives you a heck of a rush and you’re looking down at magical islands and coves in the bay, and inhaling spruce and fir. Your reward is the freshest catch from the lobster men for dinner – nothing fancy, just the critter and 100 napkins.

• Stay: There are two campgrounds in Acadia National Park. You can make reservations for Blackwoods Campground only. Seawall Campgrounds operates on a first come, first served basis. Campgrounds normally fill up early in July through September, so plan to arrive early. The Claremont Hotel’s waterfront cottages, from $152 (£92) per night, minimum three nights; +1 207 244 5036.
• Eat: Beal’s Lobster Pier, 182 Clark Point Road, Southwest Harbor, +1 207 244 7178.
• Further information: acadia.national-park.com.

4. Best on two wheels: New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia

The expert: Karen Brooks, Dirt Rag Mag

Mountain bikers are no longer the enemy of the National Parks – there’s been a lot of diplomacy and more trails are now being allowed, and designed so that we don’t wreck the place. The New River Gorge is known for white water rafting, but there are four mountain-bike routes through beautiful forest, built along railway lines that used to serve the coal industry. It’s a buzz to bike through a canopy of trees where all you see is lush greenery, right next to the gushing, tumbling river, and maybe the odd fly-fisherman. Biking in West Virginia is generally rough and tough, but these trails are a little more mellow. And the autumn foliage is to die for. Prepare to get mud on your face.

• Where to stay: There’s a choice of RV sites, economy cabins, car-camping or primitive camping at Rifrafters Campground, Fayetteville, West Virginia, +1 304 574 1065

5. Best off the beaten track: Back-country hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

The expert: Marcus Woolf, writer for Backpacker and guidebook author.

The most-visited national park in the US drew 9.4 million visitors in 2007, according to the National Parks Service. But strike out to the north-east, into the back-country and you’ll get some solitude – there are 800 miles of hiking trails – and can absorb spectacular views across the rolling mountains bathed in milky haze to the horizon. The misty ‘smoke’ is actually not weather but plant respiration on a scale and diversity to rival a rainforest – it’s dreamy stuff. From the cosy wooden huts of LeConte Lodge, take the Rainbow Falls Trail, past the wonderful plunge, to the top of Mount LeConte and connect at high elevation to the Appalachian Trail then eventually to the Maddron Bald Trail wending through ancient forest. Doss down in your sleeping bag in the three-sided shelters along the way.

• Stay: Smoky Mountain Park campsites. All backcountry campers are required to have a free backcountry permit (available at most ranger stations and visitor centres). Camp in a designated site or shelter. Campers need reservations to stay in any shelter, and 14 tent areas also require reservations. Campers can make reservations by calling +1 (865) 436 1231. LeConte Lodge, $110 per adult, per night dinner, bed and breakfast +1 865 429 5704.

6. Best for wildlife: Yellowstone Park, Montana/Wyoming in summer, and Everglades, Florida, in winter

The expert: Mark Wexler, National Wildlife Magazine

The first national park in the US may seem over-exposed, but when you’ve been haunted by the howl of the wolf pack and the grizzly is ambling by, you’ll appreciate it’s the best. If you want to escape the camera-clicking crowds clustering the Old Faithful geyser – magnificent as it is – and rushing at some poor buffalo, head into the wilds on foot or horseback. Here, you stand the chance of seeing see black bear, bobcat, grey fox, mountain kingsnake, white-headed woodpecker, spotted owl, beaver, chipmunks etc. My winter favourite destination is the Everglades. Make for Alligator Alley and you’ll definitely encounter reptiles but the birds are fabulous, a line of white ibis flying against the sinking sun, the endangered wood stork, bald eagles. Hike the Anhinga Trail on boardwalks over the swamps and listen to the feathered hosts waking up at sunrise.

• Stay: Camping in Yellowstone. Headwaters of the Yellowstone B&B, Gardiner, Montana, +1 406 848 7073, rooms from $140; Mountainview Cabin with full kitchen for up to 4 people $165.
Hiking trails in Yellowstone; Horseback riding outfitters and guides; Sleep in traditional native rough huts in the Everglades, seminoletribe.com +1 863 983 6101.

7. Most extreme activity: Slot canyoneering, Zion National Park, Utah

The expert: Kate Siber, adventurer and writer for Outside and National Geographic Adventure

The Subway is one of Zion’s more trippy, tunnel-like slot canyons, sculpted by millennia of wind and water, where sunlight glows round corners, turquoise water swirls in rock cauldrons and the psychedelic walls undulate in abstract curves. The deal here is the wow-factor of being deep in this narrow space that looks as if Gaudi or Dr Seuss concocted it in a daydream. A couple of abseils, scrambling, some chilly swims (pack a drybag) and wading in ankle-deep water ups the adventure quotient, but it’s not generally dangerous, particularly with a guide. If you don’t want anything to do with ropes, you can boulder and hike in part way from the bottom and get the gist.

• Stay: Primitive and tiny Lava Point Campground in Zion is free. Many other camping and lodging options. Information and canyoneering guides at www.zionrockguides.com, +1 435 772 3303.

8. Best family camping: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California

The expert: Stuart Bourdon, editor of Camping Life Magazine

The parks overlap, so it’s a Sierra Nevada two-for-one, and each has record-breakers. Giant redwood (sequoia) “General Sherman” in Sequoia is one of the largest trees on Earth at 275 feet (83.8 metres), and grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five out of the 10 largest trees in the world. Kings Canyon has Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the Lower 48 at 14,505ft (4,421m), with a shark’s tooth peak, and the US’s deepest gorge – who knew? Campsites are designed for car-camping – neither backcountry nor motor-home – with basic fire pits and showers. Spy black bears on wilderness day-hikes. Kids enjoy Crystal Cave – a marble cave – and the stone staircase up Moro Rock – a large granite dome in the Giant Forest – where the view extends for 300 miles on a clear day.

• Stay: Lodgepole and Dorset Creek are the largest and busiest campgrounds and the only ones that can be reserved in advance. All other sites in the parks are first-come, first-served daily. nps.gov/seki, +1 559 565 3341.

9. Best view: The Teton Range of mountains from Jackson Lake Lodge, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

The expert: Stephen Freligh, Nature’s Best Photography Magazine

From the patio at the lodge, there’s an utterly incredible view of the Teton Range, all jagged and snowcapped, across a beautiful piece of open country, where you can easily see moose wandering and perhaps a bear. The beautiful Jackson Lake is in the foreground and the mountains are so close, you feel you could touch them. It is one of the most amazing views in the world, with the spirit of the American West and the pioneer feeling of being so close to nature. The view is very accessible for park visitors, but hike a few minutes from the lodge towards the view and you’ll leave the crowds behind.

• Stay: camping at Jackson Lake. Jackson Lake Lodge, Moran, Wyoming, +1 307 543 2811, rooms from $219.

10. Best challenge: Learning to rock climb in Yosemite National Park, California

The expert: Jo Whitford is a certified Yosemite Mountaineering School Instructor, who has climbed all over the US and the world and has settled on Yosemite as her base

Climbing on granite in Yosemite, even a small slab, is inspiring because you know El Capitan is just around the corner, where the world’s best climbers scale its intimidating 1,000-plus vertical metres. I guide on the Girls on Granite two-day course, on which beginners learn basic knots and techniques for hooking fingertips into seemingly-invisible cracks to edge up 40-metre mini-cliffs. Intermediates scale steeper climbs with smaller finger-holds, and learn to follow a leader up the climb. Catch a glimpse of stunning Half Dome mountain and aspire to climb that one day as you learn to abseil down.

• Girls On Granite is a two-day climbing and hiking package, with tent-cabin accommodation – beginner or intermediate: $181 (£110). Other rock-climbing lessons/guiding also available, all through Yosemite Mountaineering School +1 209 372 8344.