I'm fascinated by some of the historic trails that are part of our park system. Like the Mormon Pioneer Trail, from IL to UT, but that might be more than you can comfortably do in 10 days. Or the condensed Lewis & Clark trail in Oregon and Washington state. I followed it a bit as a young adult and didn't appreciate it nearly enough.

A friend recently went to Bryce and loved it.

I love Zion and Bryce. You could easily spend 3-4 days in each and have some easy to difficult hiking and anything in between and fill up 10 days IMO. The lodging inside both parks fills up quickly and Bryce closes at the end of Oct so plan accordingly. It can be hot or cold in early to mid month. Both places offer horseback rides. We did a ride in Bryce over trails we had hiked and it gave us a different perspective so would recommend that for a half day of fun to bring out your inner cowgirl. There are some hotels to stay in outside the park entrances.

Yellowstone is beautiful and large.Yes you could combine the trips but I would probably combine Yellowstone with a trip thru the Grand Tetons.

We're quite proud of Mt Rainier National Park here in WA, as well as Olympic National Park and the lesser known North Cascades National Park. Fall is a great time to visit; the crowds have thinned, the weather is usually great, lots of wonderful hikes and vistas. Not far from Seattle so you can have the best of both worlds.

Something is blocking my add a link icon, so this might have to be cut and pasted:

North Cascades:

https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/index.htm

Glacier National Park in Montana.. you can drive through and see some amazing vistas/views. Hiking can create extra views, but even just driving is gorgeous

Yes, Yellowstone in summer will be a zoo - my son used to work there and if you can make that trip at another time of year, I'd redommend it.

Smaller parks might interest you. I'd pick 2 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison in CO and Capitol Reef Nat'l Park in UT. I've been to Black Canyon and it's spectacular, hiking can be gentle or extreme, weather will be gorgeous in summer. The park is about 1 - 1/2 hours from Gunnison and Crested Butte, both fun, quirky towns and very different. The Dark Ranger led night hikes in Capitol Reef are on my bucket list. There are lots of parks in southern UT and CO - Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, Arches and more. Zion and Bryce are wonderful but be aware that hiking in the canyons of either in summer will be hellishly HOT. If you do end up there, Cedar City, UT is a fun town.

We've a plethora of National Parks up here in Washington. Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades - plus Mount St. Helens national volcanic monument, the Grand Coulee dam, the Hanford site of the Manhattan Project national historical park and more. They are all very beautiful and a 10 day driving tour of Washington could take you to quite a lot of places. It is possible to drive from ocean to desert in less than a day. The drive across state route 20 is breathtaking. Fall can be our nicest season too - dry and sunny, with crisp generally cooler days (especially in the mountains). But earlier in the fall is best to be sure that you will be able to access the mountains. It isn't common, but some roads can see snow and even close as early as October.

Sorry - missed the part about travel in fall so Bryce and Zion would not be crazy hot.

North Cascades Nat'l Park is gorgeous but depending on how late into fall you go, route 20 can get shut down with snow.

We did Jackson Hole, the Tetons and Yellowstone in early September a few years ago and I don't remember the crowds being awful. They were wonderful.
We are doing the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion this summer. I am so excited!

It's been many years, but Acadia in Maine was gorgeous.

Route 20 into the North Cascades generally closes because of snow sometime in November - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/northcascades/closurehistory.htm

The road to Sunrise at Mount Rainier typically is closed at a point in the middle of October.

Chinook and Cayuse passes usually also close in November.

Yellowstone is also in a very snowy area and usually closes down it's campgrounds in the middle of October and many of it's roads a few weeks later.

Many parks here that I had not considered. Sounds like some real gems. The trip would be mid September, leaving about 9/7, and the last thing I want is snow! I don't want hellish heat either, but I think we will avoid that. Acadia is on my personal list. I've only made it as far as Boothbay Harbor. I wonder if we could rent a VRBO and do day trips, perhaps moving once or twice.

Thanks for all the links above. Good info.

You won't get snow in the PNW in Sept. It's gorgeous here then and usually very dry, but not hot, esp in the mountains.

We have been to Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, and Acadia. For me, Yellowstone was the best. Jackson Hole is a cool town to explore, and the Tetons were awesome too. My next favorite was Bryce; I would have liked Zion better if it hadn't been 115 degrees when we were there! We went to Yellowstone/Tetons in Aug., and I didn't think it was a zoo. We did Grand Canyon/Bryce/Zion in late June...it was HOT and busy.

My recollection is that it was a lot easier to walk around Yellowstone than it was to hike in Bryce, if that's a factor. My whole family wants to go back to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole.

We've been to Acadia many times, and it's beautiful -- Bar Harbor is a nice town to walk around, too.

Acadia was wonderful. Doggies loved hiking in Acadia. We also went to Quoddy Head State Park while we were in Maine, which I think was about an hour or hour and a half away from Acadia and that was beautiful but very rustic (there were parts of the trail where you could not even really tell you were on a trail, which was really fun for the dogs).

https://visitmaine.com/things-to-do/outdoors-adventure/parks-recreation-areas/quoddy-head-state-park/

Yellowstone is the world's largest volcano and America's first National Park - the reasons why this is the first place made into a National Park are still in effect. None of the others should be seen without having been to Yellowstone first.

Just looked at some of my pics from the trips I mentioned.

Bryce:

Yellowstone/Tetons:

Looks like Yellowstone is ahead at the moment. LOL.

Holy smokes, Sue. Those pictures are gorgeous. Now I really want to go!

If you are making the journey from Bryce/Zion to Yellowstone, then many people do take the 6 hour drive from Yellowstone to Glacier. Some then continue up another five hours to Banff (Alberta). As a separate loop, people start in Seattle and hit Mt. Rainier and/or North Cascades/Olympic NP/Mt St Helens then head east. It's a lot of territory to cover with a large gap of flatland in between.

I used to work in the North Cascades NP complex. A great day hike is the Cascade Pass -- 7 mi round trip with moderate elevation gain, but rising past a calving glacier and ending at a 360 view. There are more glaciers in the NC NP than in Glacier, oddly enough.

Everglades

September into early October is a great time for the Pacific NW.

lots more photos from fall and other seasons on my flikr account - https://flic.kr/ps/MMu5N (Olympic National park is just below San Francisco and my bath remodel :p)

Glacier was my favorite and I liked the Utah national parks. I went to Arches and Canyonlands, not Bryce. I also liked Grand Teton - more than Yellowstone though Jackson WY didn't do anything for me - busy tourist trap in my opinion.

I always go in the fall after kids are back in school, shortly before they start shutting things down.

We went to Grand Teton and Yellowstone in September -- not on a weekend and there were no crowds -- absolutely none! Early September after school has started but the weather is still nice is a great time to go!

To help you decide (and laugh), read the book Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith. It's about authors' travels to national parks to get their NPS passports filled. Some visits were quick in and out, but they also included info on their research about some of the parks. They wrote emails along the way to their friends (Bob and Sue) about their experiences, likes, dislikes, and warnings, and turned them into a very entertaining book.

I like the BLM/state park lands that don't get as many crowds as the national parks. I would focus on the Utah/AZ area. In the AZ/UT area, we loved Coyote Buttes (Arizona), Horseshoe Bend, Gooseneck State Park (and the drive up Moki Dugway), Calf Creek falls in Escalante-Grand Staircase, Monument Valley and nearby Antelope Canyon, and Dead Horse SP (where the final scene of Thelma & Louise was filmed). Also, my favorite NP in that area is Canyonlands.

They're all good, aren't they? Olympic National Park is kind of special (and you'd want to stray out of the park to get to Cape Flattery, because it's that good). Weather would be good. I like Death Valley (and the surroundings) but not sure it'll be ready by September. :)

Check out these: http://www.natgeomaps.com/trail-maps/pdf-quads

I agree with Embo. Yellowstone is the oldest and greatest park and deserves to be seen first, if possible. Its features are so magnificent that they defy description. No camera can do justice to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone or the Lamar Valley!

I think that ten days could be very well-used first and mostly in Yellowstone and then followed by the spectacular drive to the Grand Tetons. Yes, Jackson is touristy, but it is also charming and filled with Western history. The Tetons alone are worth the trip.

Both times we visited Yellowstone we stayed in a rented townhouse, at a very reasonable price, in West Yellowstone, the Montana town which is just across the road from the main west entrance to the park. It's a nice little town, with all the supplies one could want for a stay of several days. We drove into the park each day, along the Madison River - a beautiful drive past herds of buffalo grazing by the river and the occasional elk peering through the trees - and enjoyed the drive every time.

Thanks to all for sharing your beautiful photos!

Long ago I drove through Southern Utah and stopped by the North rim of the grand canyon. This is a worthwhile daytrip (only 2h) from Zion. Bryce and Zion are like nothing else in this world. Spectacular! Those three are a natural fit for a week/10 days together.

Loved Yellowstone! We went in late August, it was busy in some areas but not in others. September will likely be wonderful with most families back home for school.

I am dying. I want to see them all. I can see that one trip will not be enough. Sable, thanks for the tip about where to stay. We're hoping to save a little money on accommodations. We all took a trip to Scotland together and shared a room in B&Bs. It worked out well, although having a little more privacy would be better. I am off to the library to get some travel books to follow up on all your suggestions. Thanks!

I am sharing this thread with my 14 yo dd who is doing a 14 day teen adventure trip hiking through the Grand Tetons this summer!! She will be excited to see the Teton pics!

Probably not on the top of the list, but Pinnacles National Park is newly minted (previously a national monument). Hikes range from serious to low key (I've taken many two-year-olds through Bear Gulch Cave). Amazing wildlife: we've seen quail, coyotes, bobcats, and tarantulas, and there are condors, although I've never been lucky enough to see them (lots of turkey vultures, though).

Yellowstone is amazing.

The reason to visit Zion in summer is to wade in the narrows. The virgin river has cut the most beautiful narrow canyon but you have to put your stuff in plastic baggies and prepare to walk in the water to view it. The heat isn't so bad when you're waist deep in water. Zion is prettiest in spring and fall.

I love Bryce too. if you go on a hike, be sure to leave enough time. We were hurrying to get back up as it got dark. If we hadn't had flashlights we might have slipped off the edge of the trail. The gravel is very slippery. I kept imagining a cougar behind and between all the huge rocks as we climbed those steep paths by flashlight. And it gets very dark and cold in a hurry down there. I'm glad we went but that last part was scary for me. Hike down in the morning when it's cool so you don't fry. Return at sunset for pictures from the rim.

You can see the north rim of Grand Canyon ,which is cooler in summer than the south rim and has beautiful pine forests, Zion, Bryce and it's a wonderful trip. The north rim is a completely different experience if you have only been to the south rim. The north rim closes when snow comes so you have to watch the weather if you are in Zion for the fall and you want to drive over. The trails are too dangerous in ice and snow.

Tetons and Yellowstone are another wonderful trip. If I were going in summer, I'd choose Yellowstone.

I encourage you to watch the Ken Burns series on the National Parks as well. You'll get a much better appreciation for the entire park system, how it came to be, the various parks. It's a very well done series.

and then go to Denali! That one is my favorite.

Yellowstone absolutely blew my family's mind! Everyone loved it, including kids who were 4, 7, and 13 at the time. The 4 year old spoke of it daily for 2 years straight. We can't wait to go back.

Since I don't think anyone has mentioned them yet, I love Kings Canyon and Sequoia (and the east side of the Sierra Nevada).

Sounds like you will have an amazing 2017. Enjoy!

Again, thanks for all the comments, which are more helpful than you know. Can anyone comment on where they stayed while visiting Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier or Bryce and Zion?

One of the most beautiful slot canyons in the world

Zion Narrows

Worth spending 6-8 hours to see

You need a hiking stick and sturdy shoes. Read information about hiking the Narrows before you go and you won't be disappointed.

Very cool! I do own hiking poles, but those look sturdier. Is the water moving? I fell into the Delaware River once (from a tube) and was astounded by the power of the water.

Go for the music. Yes, it is a national park. Wolf Trap

I love nature and once went camping in Zion and spent time in Bryce on the same trip. I walked away in total awe. What I think is luring about the area is that the landscape is captivating and beautifully unique; unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere else.

A number of years ago we did the out-and-back Narrows hike in late May or early June (around Memorial Day). Water was moving but current not too strong. It was beautiful but seemed there were a lot of folks out that day and I would like to do the hike again without seeing quite so many people. Same trip it snowed at Bryce Canyon. We stayed at Flanigan's outside of Zion and I would stay there again. There very well might be nicer places but budget was a big factor in our choice of lodging on that trip.

Hey, I've been to Wolf Trap! When my son was little, he was very worried about the wolves. Valley Forge and Independence National Park are also each about 15 minutes from my house. Great if you like history.

Oaktown, thanks. I will look into Flanigans. Budget is good and I figure we won't be in the room much.

Where we stayed - for Yellowstone we stayed in a rented two-story townhouse in West Yellowstone, Montana. It was very comfortable and convenient.

For the Grand Tetons we stayed in the Cowboy Village in Jackson and loved it. Individual cabins, with living room, bedrooms, kitchenette, borh rustic and comfy, one of our favorite places!

I've been to Glacier, Bryce and Zion, but when I was younger and I don't remember. We did not camp. My mother and I did not do camping... : > )

We stayed at Lake Yellowstone Hotel in a room with a lake view.

We stayed at Jackson Lake Lodge overlooking the mountains.