Best national parks to see wildlife

Our national park system is unmatched in the rest of the world. Fortunately, the diversity of our parks has something for everybody, from Civil War historic parks to seashores to natural history.

A favorite national park activity for many is wildlife watching. Since hunting and harassing wildlife is prohibited in the parks, wildlife has become accustomed to people, and do not avoid areas inhabited by people or hide when they hear people approach.

This has made our national parks among the best places to watch wildlife in natural habitats. Following are the best national parks for wildlife watching.

• Yellowstone (Wyoming) - View herds of free ranging bison (photo) and elk. One of the few places to see gray wolves. With 67 different mammal species it is the largest concentration in the lower 48 states. 
• Everglades (Southern Florida) - Over 1.5 million acres and the place to see crocodiles and pink flamingos, as well as alligators and several species of large wading birds. 
• Glacier (Montana) - Large population of grizzly bears, as well as mountain goats, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, moose, and over 270 species of birds. 
• Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii) - Ninety percent of plants and wildlife on this isolated, volcanic, tropical park is found no where else on earth. 
• Rocky Mountain (Colorado) - Vast herds of elk, deer, moose, and bighorn sheep, and yellow-bellied marmots too. 
• Saguaro (Arizona) - All the desert critters--gila monsters, jack rabbits, javalinas, desert tortoises, kangaroo rats, and desert iguanas. 
• Denali (Alaska) - A six-million acre sanctuary for wildlife, especially large ones like grizzly bears, caribou, Dall sheep, moose, and wolves--and birds from six continents.
• Olympic (Washington) - The largest population of Roosevelt in the world, as well as marine wildlife such as seals, sea otters, and sea lions and further offshore, migrating gray whales. 
• Great Smokey Mountains (Tennessee and North Carolina) - Contains over 1,500 black bears and is one of the few refuges east of the Mississippi River for bison, elk, mountain lion, and white-tailed deer.
• Acadia (Maine) - At this 47,500 acre archipelago where the mountains meet the see you will find both arboreal wildlife and marine mammals.