Three Washington national parks are among the 17 best in the U.S., according to a new ranking

Daniel Schrager/The Bellingham Herald (TNS)

Between mountains, islands, pine-fringed cliffs and beaches, Washington is known for its access to nature. It should come as no surprise that its three national parks are among the best in the country, according to a new ranking from Travel + Leisure.

Earlier this month, the travel magazine released its annual ranking of the 25 best national parks in the U.S., based on 200,000 reader responses to a survey covering a wide range of travel topics. Washington’s three national parks — Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades — all made the top 17.

Washington, along with California and Utah, ranked second among parks on the list, behind Alaska, which had four. Here’s how Washington’s parks fared.

Washington National Parks

Mount Rainier National Park was the highest-ranked of the three, at number 11. With an average score of 84.62, it fell just .38 points behind tenth-place Denali National Park. The park, which typically draws about two million visitors a year, is easily accessible from Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia. The mountain of the same name has a peak of 14,110 (or is it 14,111?) feet, making it the highest in Washington and one of the highest in the U.S.
Olympic National Park is three spots lower at 14th, with an average rating of 83.99. The park is accessible from Olympia via Highway 101, or from much of the Puget Sound region by ferry (and an extra ride). Nearly 3 million people visit the 923,000-acre park of mountains, glaciers and rainforest each year.
The lowest-ranked Washington park on the list was North Cascades National Park, tied for 17th place with Alaska’s Glacier Bay. Despite being about 100 miles from Seattle and 70 miles from Bellingham, North Cascades is one of the least-visited national parks in the country. But its average score of 82.10 — higher than more popular parks like Acadia and Bryce Canyon — along with its glaciers and suspiciously blue water, suggest it’s a hidden gem.

Travel + Leisure’s Top 10 National Parks

Here are the country’s top 10 national parks, according to Travel + Leisure, with their average scores: