12 Best National Parks to Visit for Fall Colors

Along with Yellowstone National Park, which shares its northern border, Grand Teton is one of the national park system's greatest hits. Seeing fall's peak colors here, in this American wonderland, is a particular thrill. Elks bugle at sunset, looking for mates; the orange and yellow foliage along the rivers and carpeting the mountainside glow in autumn's angled sunlight; still-vivid leaves cushion trails through the woods and beside mirrored lakes: This is fall at its finest. Drive the Rockefeller Parkway through a tunnel of flaming colors or park at the Laurence S. Rockefeller Preserve and hike up to Phelps Lake for a peaceful view of the luminous splendor.