10 Unique State Park Adventures to Have in 2026 and Beyond
By Suzie Dundas
Sometimes, it seems like state parks around the United States are positioned only as back-ups to your favorite national parks. But the best state parks in the US are far more than a consolation prize for when national parks are full: They’re where some of the most surprising and memorable outdoor activities in the country take place. For a mere $5 or $10 entry fee, America’s most distinctive state parks offer the chance to find real diamonds, experience vintage winter sports, or follow the footsteps of 30-foot-long dinosaurs.
The parks below all have one standout activity, though that’s not the only thing to do at each location. You could easily spend a whole day at each, hiking, checking out visitor center exhibits, cross-country skiing, kayaking, hitting the beach, or, in some cases, even snorkeling and scuba diving.
No matter which state park you visit, there are a few practical tips to follow. Always check to see if you need reservations, and make sure you know when amenities are open, as some parks are seasonal. Park-specific considerations need to be accounted for, too; for example, you’ll want to visit Texas’s dinosaur footprints when water levels are lowest. Always pack out everything you carry in, give wildlife plenty of space, and follow posted guidelines, as several of these experiences exist in fragile landscapes.
These 10 state parks across the US offer something genuinely different from the same viewpoints you’ll see over and over in most outdoorsy social media feeds. Here’s how to do them right in 2026 and beyond.
See you out there,
Suzie Dundas
Public lands enthusiast and Matador Network commissioning editor
ARKANSAS
Search for valuable diamonds (and keep what you find)
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only public diamond mine in the world where anyone is welcome to come and search for literal treasure. The park sits atop an ancient volcanic crater where millions of years ago, pressure and heat formed diamonds that eventually rose to the surface. Today, visitors can explore the park’s 37-acre field where real diamonds — as well as quartz, garnet, and jasper — are still found fairly regularly. Anything guests find is theirs to keep, and in 2025 alone, visitors found a 3.81-carat brown diamond, and both 2.30-carat and 3.36-carat white diamonds. More than 35,000 diamonds have been found since the park was established in 1972, (including a nine-carat diamond in 2020).
Crater of Diamonds is open year-round, with a $15 admission fee for adults. You can bring your own shovels and pans, or rent various tools at the park for $5-$15. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, staff at the Diamond Discovery Center can provide guidance on spotting uncut stones. It’s a must-see destination for anyone interested in rockhounding or digging for gemstones.
TEXAS
Walk the same paths as massive dinosaurs
At Dinosaur Valley State Park, you can literally walk next to the fossilized footprints of dinosaurs, as the park preserves some of the best and most extensive dinosaur trackways (paths of footprints) in the world. The ones in this park are about 113 million years old and were left by massive sauropods and theropods. The park has five areas where prints are visible, but the most famous are along the Main Track Site and Ballroom Track Site. All the track sites are accessible via short walks from parking areas.
However, the tracks are near riverbeds and visibility depends on the weather. Heavy rain can cover the tracks with water, so the best time to visit is usually during dry periods, like late summer. If you’re not sure where to go, ask a ranger at the visitor center which track site they recommend on any given day. You’re allowed to walk near and around the tracks, but be careful not to step directly on them to prevent damage. If you’re planning to see all the dinosaur footprints, you may want to bring a pair of water shoes or sandals to cross through shallow water to reach the best sites.
MARYLAND
Look for shark teeth and Miocene-era marine fossils
At Calvert Cliffs State Park, you can sarch the shoreline for shark teeth and Miocene-era marine remains next to steep cliff faces. In addition to teeth from both existing and extinct sharks, you might even find the occasional tooth from the largest shark to ever live: megalodon. The park sits on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay and protects cliffs formed roughly 10 to 20 million years ago. They’re one of the most accessible fossil-hunting grounds in the eastern part of the country, especially when it comes to finding shark teeth. Recent visitors have found everything from small sand tiger shark teeth to palm-sized teeth from a megalodon.
The park entry fee is $5-$7 per vehicle. Fossil hunting is limited to the beach, which is about a two-mile walk from the parking lot. The best time to search is when waves may have deposited new finds and uncovered others after storms and during low tide. You’re not allowed to dig or move rocks to look for fossils, meaning a keen eye is more important than any kind of special gear. However, visitors are allowed to use a sieve or small shovel to help sift through surface-level sand.
NEVADA
See a world-class Shakespeare performance at the beach
Nevada’s Sand Harbor State Park hosts outdoor Shakespeare performances each summer on a peninsula surrounded by the blue waters of Lake Tahoe. The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival transforms the park’s sandy beach and pine-framed coves into an open-air theater, with a professional stage set against the backdrop of the lake and the Sierra Nevada mountains. The festival usually presents one well-known Shakespeare play, as well as a more contemporary family-friendly show. The shows start in the evening and continue as the sun sets over the water, creating a setting equally as memorable as the shows themselves.
Seats near the front with table service can be quite pricey, but in true Shakespeare fashion, simple tiered seats in the back start at about $30. Given the relatively small size of the venue, there’s not a bad seat in the house. Performances usually run from mid-July through late August, when evenings are still warm. There’s no dress code, making it easy to spend all day at the stunning Sand Harbor State Park, then stick around for a touch of culture as the actors take the stage. Just make sure to buy tickets in advance, as it often sells out.
MINNESOTA
Jump across the Mississippi River
Sure, the Mississippi may be the second-longest river in the US, but every river has to start somewhere. In this case, that starting point is in Itasca State Park. It may not look like it at first glance, but the peaceful park is home to the Mississippi’s headwaters, which begin as a small stream flowing out of Lake Itasca. Visitors can hop across the river’s first few feet — something unimaginable farther downstream, where the river is miles wide.
The park is busiest in the summer and sometimes has an unofficial line of people waiting to take a photo, as the headwaters are the park’s main attraction. Visit in the fall for fewer people, cooler weather, and excellent fall foliage, or bring your snowshoes for a snow-covered winter adventure. It’s a mere 800-foot walk from the visitor center to the headwaters, but the park has more than 45 miles of hiking trails, as well as a 10-mile “wilderness drive” and summer paddleboard, kayak, and canoe rentals on Lake Itasca. There are several museums and gift shops, a big swimming beach, bike rentals and trails, and a 100-year-old historic lodge still open to guests today.
ALASKA
Find gold left behind at a once-thriving mine
Sure, there are lots of parks in California and Nevada where you can pay $20 to find gold flakes in a trough. But at Hatcher Pass Independence Mine State Historical Park, you can try the real thing — and you don’t need to time-travel to the 1800s to do it.
The park sits in Alaska’s alpine tundra in the Talkeetna Mountains. It’s the home of Independence Mine, a once-thriving gold mine that produced an absolutely wild amount of gold in the early 20th century. It closed due to labor and material shortages when America became involved in WWII, not because it extracted all the gold. That means there’s still plenty left, and visitors can try their luck panning in the nearby creeks. Anything found is yours to keep, with panning kits and lessons available in summer. Summer is also the best time to go panning, as the melting snow causes creekbeds to erode, often revealing flakes of gold.
Whether or not you find gold, Hatcher Pass is worth visiting. With miles of hiking trails, alpine lakes, and the restored historic mine, it’s a fascinating stop for anyone interested in Alaskan history and culture.
FLORIDA
Ride an inner tube down a crystal-clear, tropical spring
You don’t need a passport to float down a turquoise river lined with jungle foliage. At Ichetucknee Springs State Park, you can tube, kayak, or snorkel in a spring-fed river without leaving the continental US. The park protects six miles of the Ichetucknee River, and is fed by nine natural springs that keep the water at about 72 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. The springs were once an Indigenous gathering place, but today, the park is one of Florida’s most beloved tubing destinations. From your inflated vantage point, you’ll be able to spot colorful fish, turtles, wading birds, and, occasionally, manatees. The clearest water is in the north section of the park, and while tubing isn’t allowed there, swimming or snorkeling around the headsprings is fine.
You can bring your own tubes and kayaks or rent them at the park entrance, then catch a shuttle back upriver when you’re done. Floats take anywhere from one to three hours depending on your put-in point, and reservations are recommended in summer, as the park caps daily visitors to protect the ecosystem. Make sure to read up on what you can’t have on the river (hint: plastic).
INDIANA
Fly down an icy slope in a vintage toboggan
Pokagon State Park steps up the adrenaline with one of the most unusual winter attractions in the Midwest: a refrigerated toboggan track. It’s basically a quarter-mile chute of ice where visitors can zoom downhill at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour on vintage wooden toboggans. It’s fast, loud, and nothing like the leisurely snow play found at other state parks.
The ride itself is only about 30 seconds long, and it’s a tradition that goes back nearly a century. The park’s first toboggan run was built in the 1930s, and while the current version is modernized, it still carries that nostalgic feeling. The tower is about 30 feet high and the ice is kept frozen thanks to a custom refrigeration system. Toboggan rentals are $20 per hour and can hold up to four people.
It’s only open in the winter (usually between late November and early March) with an on-site warming hut to thaw out between laps. Gloves are mandatory, and the track closes if the temperatures drop below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
If one run makes you realize tobogganing isn’t your thing, the park also has cross-country ski trails to picture-perfect frozen lakes, plus a cozy inn open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
ALASKA
Kayak between icebergs in the shadow of a massive glacier
A place this beautiful would be a national park in any other state. But in Alaska, it’s just Kachemak Bay State Park, where a four-mile hike from the Halibut Cove Lagoon trailhead brings you to the stunning Grewingk Glacier. You can paddle between floating icebergs on the lake at the glacier’s foot, cruising past free-floating chunks of ice as small as dinner plates and as large as semi-trucks. It’s both peaceful and surreal, and will make you feel more like you’re on a polar expedition than at a US state park.
You can book excursions with outfitters in Homer that include a water taxi across Kachemak Bay and a guided tour on the lake, or book similar excursions through luxury lodges in the area. Because it’s a glacial lake, the water is always very cold, and you’ll need proper gear. That includes an insulated midlayer and waterproof jacket, plus waterproof gloves. You don’t need to be an expert kayaker, but it’d be good to have some experience with basic steering and control. If you don’t feel like paddling, hiking to the Grewingk Glacier Trail is still a fantastic excursion, offering not just views of the glacier and lake, but the chance to explore the lush scenery of one of the country’s most beautiful state parks.
MARYLAND
Wake up on the beach next to wild horses
You can wake up to seabirds and ocean views at most beach campgrounds. At Assateague State Park, it’s not unusual to unzip your tent and find yourself nose-to-nose with grazing wild horses. The horses are thought to be descendants of animals left behind by 17th-century colonists, and today, they roam the island’s dunes, salt marshes, and beachfront campgrounds in small herds. It’s one of only a few places in the country where you can combine the beauty of camping on the sand with the magic of seeing wild horses.
The horses are fully wild, so visitors are required to keep their distance, secure food and coolers, and never attempt to feed them (even when they’re close to your tent). The fines for feeding the horses are rightfully steep, as the horses’ health depends on them being self-sustaining.
The state park’s season runs from mid-to-late April through the end of October, with reservations highly recommended. For winter camping, you’ll instead want to book a site at the abutting Assateague Island National Seashore, which offers a similar camping experience. The campgrounds are large without much foliage between sites, so opt for one of the farthest sites closest to the shoreline if you’re looking for unobstructed views and a little more privacy.
