Our parks are overwhelming in every way—in number, in size, in their capacity to inspire wonder. And the overwhelming question is, Which one will you see next?

It's America's healthiest addiction, and a growing one: Visit any national park and you will want more. Spend one day in Yosemite or Zion or Mesa Verde and you're hooked. What's next? The Grand Canyon? Crater Lake? Voyageurs? Our 58 designated national parks cover more area than Nebraska, the 16th largest state. And those 58 are only a few of the 391 National Park Service (NPS) monuments, battlefields, shorelines, historic sites—20 designations in all.

And Americans go there in droves. In 1920, only four years after the NPS was created, visitation exceeded one million. It peaked in 1987 at 287.2 million and had been fluctuating—until now. The economic downturn spurred park visitation this summer: Two-thirds of us are now "very/extremely interested" in seeing parks.

For the following introduction to, and celebration of, our nation's greatest natural treasures, we've chosen just 10 of the 58 parks. With a nod to geographical range, our selection includes 9 of the most visited parks, plus one of the most remote (Denali); half are presented in these pages, the other half are online at cntraveler.com/nationalparks. Supplement our choices with the two-volume Great Lodges of the National Parks (greatlodges.com; $35 each) and of course the highly informative and colorful nps.gov

Prices quoted are for September 2009.

Glacier National Park
montana
Mountain ranges, over 130 lakes, and 26 glaciers—what's left of 100 or more.
Size 1,584 square miles.
Crowds 1.9 million per year.
Best View Six-mile Grinnell Glacier Trail ends at a glacier and lake.
The Easy Way, Car The 50-mile Going-to-the-Sun Road, a feat of 1920s engineering, crosses the Continental Divide and traces craggy cliffs.
The Easy Way, Foot The 2.5-mile St. Mary Falls trail reaches two cascades.
The Hard Way 700 miles of trails crisscross two ranges; try rigorous ten-mile Siyeh Pass.
The Wet Way Tours on St. Mary Lake afford expansive views (glacierparkboats.com; 406-257-2426; doubles, $22).
Creature Feature Cougars and lynx and grizzly bears—oh my!
Creature Comfort Many Glacier Hotel, on the northeast side (406-892-2525; doubles, $142-$222).
More Comfort Good Medicine Lodge, in Whitefish, has nine rooms and hearty breakfasts (800-860-5488; doubles, $145-$170).
Fun Food Park Café, at the east entrance, for breakfast and pie (406-732-4482; breakfast, $5-$12).
Etc. glacierparkinc.com.
P.S. Waterton Lakes National Park is Canada's adjacent twin.