The U.S. has always been at the forefront of creating public lands for its citizens and foreign visitors to explore. After all, the country was the first to designate a national park when Yellowstone was first created way back in 1872. Today, there are fantastic parks to explore in every state in the Union, and Popular Mechanics wants to help you discover the best ones.In a slideshow entitled "50 States, 50 Parks" readers will go through each state in alphabetical order, with the individual slides providing some information on the absolute best park to visit at that particular destination. So, for example, in Alaska you'll learn that Denali National Park has earned a spot on the list, which is no small feat when you consider the fantastic national parks that exist there. The slide not only contains a brief explanation for what makes Denali special, but an epic photo from the location as well.
Other great parks that make the cut include Grand Canyon (Arizona), Yosemite (California), Starved Rock State Park (Illinois), and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. I'll leave the remaining 45 parks for you to discover, as it is a lot of fun to see what choices were made for each state.
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the national parks, but there are some pretty spectacular state parks to be found as well. Thankfully, this list doesn't count them out and you're likely to discover plenty of new places to add to your "must visit" list. Check out the entire slideshow here.
