National Parks: 10 Quirkiest In The Country (PHOTOS)

With 58 national parks in the United States, it can be a challenge to resist visiting the big ten and head to a lesser known national park.

Kobuk Valley National Park in the Arctic Circle, Lassen Volcanic National Park in California and Dry Tortugas National Park in Key West are just a few of the nation's exquisite national parks. In honor of National Park Month, which is this month, we here at HuffPost Green decided to showcase our favorite top ten quirky national parks.

What are your favorite unique national parks? Tell us in the comments.

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Lassen Volcanic National Park (Mineral Old Station, CA)

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Within the forested mountain range of northern California, Lassen Volcanic National Park is rife with active fumaroles (volcanic gas vents) and bubbling mud pots, which form its volcanic geology. Although Lassen Peak last erupted in 1915 the Park has eight areas of volcanic activity and a hydrothermal system. Lassen hosts 150 miles of hiking trails and views of the Cascade and High Sierra Mountains. There are 700 plant species in the park and 250 vertebrates that live at Lassen.

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Within the forested mountain range of northern California, Lassen Volcanic National Park is rife with active fumaroles (volcanic gas vents) and bubbling mud pots, which form its volcanic geology. Although Lassen Peak last erupted in 1915 the Park has eight areas of volcanic activity and a hydrothermal system. Lassen hosts 150 miles of hiking trails and views of the Cascade and High Sierra Mountains. There are 700 plant species in the park and 250 vertebrates that live at Lassen.

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pretty quirky Quirkiest!

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Check out HuffPost Green's Top 10 National Parks You Didn't Know About, The Six Best American National Parks and Huffington Post Readers Favorite National Parks for more destination inspiration.

Comments

[unimatrix0]

10:40 PM on 08/08/2010

Not a National Park, but is quirky. The Desert of Maine. In Freeport, ME there is a private 40 acre tourist attraction because it looks like a desert. http://www.desertofmaine.com/
It is really super fine glacial silt that was uncovered after some farmers negleted to rotated the crops, and the top soil eroded away, leaving a bizzar looking desert in New England of all places.

[BonzaSheila]

10:17 AM on 08/08/2010

This is a state park, not a national park, but for quirky, try Flaming Geyser State Park, south of Seattle:
http://www.stateparks.com/flaming_geyser.html
-It's actually a gorgeous area, but the name-source Flaming Geyser, is a tiny little flame that looks like a candle on the ground.

[donbrown]

03:20 AM on 08/08/2010

Glad they got Ha;eakala in there in Maui, but they overlooked Volcano National Park on the Big island. The nation's only live volcano and petroglyph field besides.

[whirlpool]

08:06 PM on 08/07/2010

For quirky try Hanford Reach National Monument. It follows the last free flowing portion of the Columbia River right through the Hanford Nuclear Reservation where plutonium for nuclear weapons was made for WWII and the Cold War. Some of it is very pristine because it was behind a high security fence for 60 years.

[BonzaSheila]

10:10 AM on 08/08/2010

That whole area is just gorgeous, and excellent for cycling. I'm in the Seattle area and I LOVE going to Eastern Washington in the hot, hot summer.

[whirlpool]

11:53 AM on 08/08/2010

The trip from Vernita Bridge to Vantage Bridge is just gorgeous particularly in the fall. There are miles of orchards and vineyards, historic bridges and dams but also lots of rimrock country.

[abbadabba]

05:50 PM on 08/07/2010

If by quirky they mean remote, only those who truly give a rat's patooty make it out to Chaco. And it's great just the way it is. Long difficult dirt roads. You're at their gods' mercy before you even get there.

[abbadabba]

05:43 PM on 08/07/2010

Just got back from the North Rim. Cannot say enough about the difference between the North and the South Rims. No crowds. Many more angles and takes on the Canyon experience. Dozens of trails through deep woods out to different points. Cooler temps. Stars beyond belief. Motel rooms at the Lodge are the value for space and comfort. Little or no cell phone coverage. What internet? Five days of nothing but beauty before me, beauty beside me, beauty behind me, beauty beneath me, beauty above me. Heaven.

[sloreader]

08:08 PM on 08/07/2010

Sounds great to me.

[JeanRR]

12:59 PM on 08/07/2010

I grew up near the Big Bend in Texas and it is a spectacular park but Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is my true love.

[swift goat pet for truth]

12:33 PM on 08/07/2010

Where are the GOPer trools?
Well, since they are not here, I will post for them.

Where is it in our Constitution that the Government establish and maintain National Parks.
These should be sold to private firms for housing development and strip malls that will boost our economic output.

[sloreader]

08:09 PM on 08/07/2010

Yeah! Darned lefties are ruining everything!

[eplatypusunum]

11:05 AM on 08/08/2010

Yeah! Damned Socialists like... um... Teddy Roosevelt and that Rockefeller guy...

What I don't get is why today's 'conservatives' are anything but conservationists. Time was, even flint-hearted captains of industry gave away vast portions of their obscene fortunes to charities or the public. Carnegie funded libraries and performing arts (and more), Rockefeller helped make the National Parks system a success, etc. These guys were no lefties, for sure, but they had a sense of 'united we stand' in their heart of hearts. Today? Sure we have some exceptions - Warren Buffett & Bill Gates funding their massive charitable trust, for one. And there are others, but...

Preserving wonders for future generations seems to be a lost art. Most of what we pass on now is trouble.

epu

[Deborah Beck]

09:23 AM on 08/07/2010

Quirky? The access to some of these parks was rather quirky but certainly nothing in the photos would fit my sense of quirky. I lived on the West Coast for a long time and have enjoyed what the Coast has to offer in terms of Marine Reserves, a rain forest, beaches, coastlines, mountains, buttes, hills and volcanoes. Maybe that's clouded my sense of quirk?

[Jarrod Fitch]

05:05 AM on 08/07/2010

This short film on climate change illustrates the threat to animal habitats: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e7162a6f7a/the-plight-of-the-polar-bear

[boyer37212]

05:17 PM on 08/06/2010

I live in Nashville. I hiked the Big South Fork National Park last March (I think it's connected to the Kentucky park mentioned above). I spent one night in a tent camped with my dog next to Laurel Creek under a canopy of huge pine and hemlock trees. I froze my rear off, so the next night I stayed in Charritt Creek Lodge. A 120 year old cabin with a wood burning stove and oil lamps. It cost me $15. I was the only person there. I enjoyed the peace and quiet and some wine from by bota bag. Then slept like a baby. My dog did too.
These parks are wonderful place to get away to. Thank God people had the foresight to make them what they are.

[Red Leg]

03:22 PM on 08/07/2010

Just stayed at Giant City in southern Il near Carbondale last week.

It has formations like I'd never seen. We were one of 3 campers there.

There's nothing like enjoying Gods incredible creation.

[maigesheng]

04:05 PM on 08/06/2010

Quirky?? Who runs this rag?

[AZterritory]

05:20 PM on 08/06/2010

My first thought as well. Unique, unusual, maybe. Quirky, no.

[uberdeft]

07:08 PM on 08/06/2010

Huff Post in general uses way to many adjectives in their titles. They say its opinion news but for all intensive purposes, people consider Huff Post like any major news source.

[Darkstorn]

03:05 PM on 08/06/2010

How are any of these quirky?

[Libb Cabal]

02:58 PM on 08/06/2010

Mt. Lassen is truly an experience to visit. If you hike to the boiling pots, undoubtedly you will be beset by the the most unappealing voice coming from a species of grackle. It is a combination of a cat-in-heat's scream, flatulence, a tuba, and a garbage truck going by.

Manzanita Lake is the most beautifully tranquil setting I've ever experienced (it is far away from the grackles, for one thing). Rent or buy a cheap inflatable raft or boat so you can lazily float on this paradisal lake. I know that sounds like a strange recommendation, but you will regret not doing it if you go to Mt. Lassen and do not bring a boat with you. I know this because my friend recommended the same thing, and I thought "What a kook," only to vigorously berate myself once I got there and didn't have a boat.

It's open a few short months of the year, so plan ahead.

[chuck prebys]

05:09 PM on 08/06/2010

I miss Mt. Lassen.
We used to climb Brokeoff Mtn just so we wouldn't have to pay the park entrance fee and snow camp in snow caves in the parking lot.
One summer we did the Waganupa century bikeride.
From Red Bluff, up Hwy44, through lassen park and back down Hwy 36 to Red Bluff.
What a ride..........

[rjsbabe]

02:33 PM on 08/06/2010

LOVED the Dry Tortugas. They forgot to mention that the fort was once used as a prison and Dr. Samuel Mudd was held there for aiding John Wilkes Booth in Lincoln's assasination. Take the boat trip there instead of a plane - great for seeing dolphins and other sea life. Also great snorkeling there. Much better than in Key West.