20 Legendary Day Hikes in the National Parks

The greatest hikes in U.S. national parks aren't necessarily the longest. Here are 20 treks that get hikers into the best a park has to offer in just a day.

ByRobert Earle Howells
May 18, 2017
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Kenai Fjords National Park, AlaskaHike: Harding Icefield Trail
Round-Trip: 9 miles
When to Go: July to August
Level: Easy Over the course of this steep, steady ascent—the trail gains nearly 1,000 feet a mile—you’ll leave the world as you know it and enter the frigid realm of the Pleistocene epoch, or what’s left of it. You’ll skirt Exit Glacier along the way, and hear its cracking ice. But Kenai Fjord's Harding Icefield is the real payoff for your effort. It covers more than 700 square miles of the Kenai Mountains in the same glacial ice that blanketed much of south-central Alaska over 23,000 years ago. The vast world of ice will take away what’s left of your breath. Insider Tip: Watch for black bears and mountain goats along the way. Pack dry clothes for your downhill return.
Photograph by HagePhoto/Aurora
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