Best National Park Wildlife Experience (2016)

Located at the mouth of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Brooks Camp is one of the best brown bear viewing areas in the world. Some 2,200 brown bears live within the park, and many of them congregate in the Brooks River to feed on sockeye salmon. A protected viewing platform keeps both bears and visitors safe, and rangers are often on hand to discuss the bears and answer questions.
Photo courtesy of NPS/M. Fitz

It's often easy to spot wildlife along Rocky Mountain National Park's two main roads, Old Fall River Road and Trail Ridge Road. Park visitors can let the Rocky Mountain Conservancy do the driving on a Old Fall River Road Trip, which travels up the former and back down the latter, with plenty of chances to spot and look for park fauna.
Photo courtesy of Lydia Schrandt

The wildlife at Yellowstone National Park is as diverse as the park's geological features, and the Lamar Valley is one of the best viewing areas. The Wake Up to Wildlife tour, operated by Yellowstone National Park Lodges, gives visitors an excellent chance to spot park residents, including buffalo, elk, grizzly bears, wolves, black bears, antelope, otters, osprey, bald eagles and coyotes.
Photo courtesy of Neal Herbert / NPS Photo

On select afternoons throughout the summer, a park ranger from Acadia National Park comes aboard a schooner for a tour of Frenchman Bay in search of wildlife and history. In addition to learning about local history, visitors have the chance to spot bald eagles, porpoises and seals.
Photo courtesy of NPS / Kristi Rugg

Denali National Park is one of the most accessible places in Alaska to view wildlife. Denali Park Village operates naturalist-narrated Tundra Wilderness Tours to the Toklat River or beyond to observe and photograph wildlife, including Dall sheep, moose, caribou, wolves and grizzly bears.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo/Kent Miller

South Carolina's Congaree National Park is home to the last remaining large section of old-growth bottomland forest in the U.S. Guided Canoe Tours, led by a park ranger, give visitors an opportunity to spot white-tailed deer, otters, beavers and other wildlife that call this unique habitat home.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo

Montana's Glacier National Park is home to a wealth of species, including 71 species of mammals. The Big Sky Circle Tour takes visitors on an 8-hour guided exploration of the park, with wildlife viewing opportunities at Goat Lick Overlook, Logan Pass and St. Mary Valley. Since someone else is doing the driving, visitor eyes are free to spot wildlife.
Photo courtesy of David Restivo, NPS

Beginning at the Shark Valley Visitor Center in Everglades National Park, Shark Valley Tram Tours take park goers on a 15-mile guided tour of Tram Road, where alligators, herons, egrets, deer, turtles and snail kites are regularly spotted. An observation tower at the halfway point offers further viewing opportunities.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo

A journey aboard the Glacier Bay Tour Boat in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park brings visitors up close to the park's iconic tidewater glaciers, with the chance to spot stellar sea lions, whales, coastal bears, seals, eagles and a variety of rare birds along the way.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the "salamander capital of the world" with 30 species in five families. The Sensational Salamanders program, put on by the Great Smoky Mountains Association, leads visitors into the park in search of these colorful animals. How many can you find?
Photo courtesy of Thinkstock