Best National Parks for a Cross Country Drive

A cross-country drive is really a series of excuses to stop, and the problem is that with dozens of national parks on the map, choosing which ones to weave into your route is harder than choosing the route itself. The best parks for a drive are not always the most famous, and the ones that fit a cross-country line without a huge detour are the ones that actually get visited.The classics earn their fame for a reason, and Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite are worth every mile of the detour if you have never seen them. The catch is that they demand time and reservations, and trying to see all of them in one trip turns the drive into a series of rushed, crowded visits that leave you exhausted rather than awed. Pick one or two icons and give them real