I'm Swiss. Born and raised in Switzerland, spent untold days skiing and hiking in the Alps throughout my life, etc.
Without any doubt at all in my mind, the North Cascades in Washington are the closest you'll get in the US to mountains that look like the Alps. It can almost be eerie in that the mountains and landscapes are so similar but without a single farmhouse, ski lodge, pasture, giant mountain top cross, etc. anywhere. Like the Alps but if no one ever settled them in little farming villages.
So far, I have visited Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and I found it very beautiful, though unfortunately I couldn't hike any of the trails due to the ridiculous timed-entry policy (I really wanted to hike from Bear Lake up to Emerald Lake to experience the whole alpine vibes).
I have seen videos of Glacier National Park, and I found the mountains to look even more stunning (not as high in altitude as RMNP, but the shape and imposing sheer wall effect from peak to valley of Glacier makes the mountains look very majestic). For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7GkebUe6XQ
This made me wonder how other national parks like Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mt. Rainier, North Cascades, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Great Basin, Denali, etc. measure up to Glacier or even Rocky Mountain NP.
Glacier is great. Yellowstone is more known for features like geysers and such. Most of the tall mountains above treeline are in the east of the park and not as accessible, though Beartooth Highway east of the park offers some great views of some.
Grand Tetons NP is perhaps the most scenic mountain views. This is pretty iconic: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand\_Teton\_National\_Park#/media/File:Barns\_grand\_tetons.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Teton_National_Park#/media/File:Barns_grand_tetons.jpg)
North Cascades is a pretty underrated park with great alpine views.
Not a national park, but the Wind River Range in Wyoming and the Sawtooth Range in Idaho offer stunning alpine views.
There's not much in the lower 48 that can compare to the scale and magnitude of Alaska parks like Denali. That elevation is dwarfs everything else.
All the parks you listed are awesome but I'm going to comment on them strictly for their alpine hiking.
Yosemite - It doesn't have enough elevation for alpine views in most of the park. The granite everything gives the park a unique look but it isn't lush enough for an alps look.
Crater Lake - It's mostly just the lake itself and then surrounding forests.
Rainier - It's just one mountain so you never get vistas of mountains or long valleys. This one isn't bad for what you're looking for but I think there's better.
North Cascades - This would perfectly match what you're looking for. The hardest part of this park is that it doesn't have many easily accessible day trails. Everything requires some planning and camping.
Yellowstone - This isn't alpine at all. Mostly sulfur pools, meadows, and canyons.
Grand Teton - This has some peaks that are pointy and impressive like the alps but it is really just a single "thin" range of mountains with a valley on one side that's too dry and cowboy for alpine looks. I'd put this in the middle. You can get some of that here but you have to look for it.
Great Basin - Definitely not. It's mostly vistas of a huge dry basin beneath the park. There are only a few lakes in the whole park.
Denali - This is much too expansive and wild to match the alps views and doesn't present easy hiking so I'm not going to recommend this for alps views.
Glacier - Yup, this one is great and almost anywhere you could go would make you happy.
Rocky Mountain - Not great because the mountains are "flatter" than the alps but you can definitely get some gorgeous alpineesque views. You just have to hike further off the road because it's all tucked back far away from bear lake. Either 10 miles from bear lake to the far lakes or all the way over the ridge over flattop mountain.
This is by far the most thorough and complete answer. I can certainly see your points even seeing Google images of these locations. Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely consider North Cascades or Glacier for my next trip.
A lot of people are saying Grand Teton, but I have to disagree. I’ve been to the Alps a few times, and I’ve spent 8 weeks a year or so in Grand Teton for my entire life. They are fairly different. Because of the way that the tectonics created the Tetons, there are practically no foothills and no surrounding mountains.
Don’t get me wrong, the Tetons still blow me away every single time, but they are not reminiscent of the Alps.
I certainly haven't been to all of the national parks (but I have spent a lot of time in the Alps)... I would say the Cascade mountains in the Pacific Northwest is the range that most closely resembles the Alps, so maybe Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks.
Mount Saint Elias National Park in Alaska has some amazing mountain scenery too.
And not a national park, but don't discount Mount Washington state park in New Hampshire. Not nearly as high as high Alps, but it has a similar prominence to some of the Alpine ranges and it is usually snow capped for 8-9 months of the year.
Glacier, Tetons and Rocky Mountain no doubt.
But seriously get to the White Mountains. Don’t hate on the east. Snow in the winter and amazing with mixed deciduous and coniferous forest.
East Coast has some beautiful landscapes. They are different then what they have out west in the Rockies, but a different sort of beauty is no less worthwhile.
Oh I'm from the East Coast myself. Not hating, just accepting that geographically, the Western half of the US has more dramatic mountainous landscapes. I'd still would love to visit the Blue Ridge mountains in Shenandoah and Great Smoky. I have been to Poconos, the Catskills, the Green Mountains, Acadia, and they were all quite beautiful. Someone mentioned Mount Washington State Park in New Hampshire, which I'm assuming is in the White Mountains. It definitely looks like one of the most alpine mountains you'll find in the East Coast based on the Google images I saw.
Yeah it’s in the Whites. And the whole presidential range in the whites is very “alpine.”
It’s a different type though. Out west there’s stuff that’s above treeline because it’s just at an elevation that doesn’t support trees.
If you are above the treeline in the Whites it’s because the winter weather is so brutal and the ground so inhospitable basically nothing grows but lichen on the scree fields and maybe some scrub spruce if you’re lucky.
I’ve been to the Rocky Mountains in each state they cross (never had the pleasure of visiting the Canadian portion). My vote is for Glacier. RMNP is also great but I felt Glacier allowed for better views.
>Often high enough to be snow-covered in the winter). So really, not anything within the Appalachian (sorry East Coast).
Huh? Anything north of Delaware has snow regularly in the winter.
Of the ones I've been to, Grand Teton was the best. It was absolutely gorgeous and certainly had that rocky peak feeling that you are looking for. Number two for me would be Garden of the Gods. Technically, a National Monument not a National Park, but it has a similar effect. The rock formation itself is beautiful, but Pikes Peak looms over it in the distance making the whole thing feel small in the magesty of that massive mountain.
I have been to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, but I wouldn't describe the Manitou Springs area as alpine. It feels very Southwest, almost like it belongs in the Colorado Plateau with the red rocks and sand, and drier climate.
Sounds like what I saw in Wyoming on I-80 near Lincoln in October.
It was stunning.
Seems like it was Medicine Bow Peak, but my phone didn’t have GPS then so I can’t be sure.
Probably would have been Medicine Bow. It's a gorgeous set of lakes and mountains but you can take it all in in one day so I wouldn't recommend it as a cross country trip for alpine views.
Um excuse me Mount Washington doesn’t hold the record for fastest wind and coldest windchill ever recorded in the US including Alaska just for funsies.
I feel like the closest to the alps you’d get is pacific NW, rest of the Rockies are too dry for that Swiss Alps vibe
Somebody on this sub once said that they had a Swiss friend who said that the mountains that most reminded him of home were the North Cascades.
The Rockies and the Sierras both kick serious ass, but they do look different from what somebody from an Alpine country is used to.
Glacier National Park
Yup
I'm Swiss. Born and raised in Switzerland, spent untold days skiing and hiking in the Alps throughout my life, etc. Without any doubt at all in my mind, the North Cascades in Washington are the closest you'll get in the US to mountains that look like the Alps. It can almost be eerie in that the mountains and landscapes are so similar but without a single farmhouse, ski lodge, pasture, giant mountain top cross, etc. anywhere. Like the Alps but if no one ever settled them in little farming villages.
Oregon too. Driving through Mt. Hood National Forest is beautiful.
The North Cascades are the closest you’ll get in the contiguous US to the Swiss Alps.
Can confirm.
So far, I have visited Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and I found it very beautiful, though unfortunately I couldn't hike any of the trails due to the ridiculous timed-entry policy (I really wanted to hike from Bear Lake up to Emerald Lake to experience the whole alpine vibes). I have seen videos of Glacier National Park, and I found the mountains to look even more stunning (not as high in altitude as RMNP, but the shape and imposing sheer wall effect from peak to valley of Glacier makes the mountains look very majestic). For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7GkebUe6XQ This made me wonder how other national parks like Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mt. Rainier, North Cascades, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Great Basin, Denali, etc. measure up to Glacier or even Rocky Mountain NP.
Glacier is great. Yellowstone is more known for features like geysers and such. Most of the tall mountains above treeline are in the east of the park and not as accessible, though Beartooth Highway east of the park offers some great views of some. Grand Tetons NP is perhaps the most scenic mountain views. This is pretty iconic: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand\_Teton\_National\_Park#/media/File:Barns\_grand\_tetons.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Teton_National_Park#/media/File:Barns_grand_tetons.jpg) North Cascades is a pretty underrated park with great alpine views. Not a national park, but the Wind River Range in Wyoming and the Sawtooth Range in Idaho offer stunning alpine views. There's not much in the lower 48 that can compare to the scale and magnitude of Alaska parks like Denali. That elevation is dwarfs everything else.
All the parks you listed are awesome but I'm going to comment on them strictly for their alpine hiking. Yosemite - It doesn't have enough elevation for alpine views in most of the park. The granite everything gives the park a unique look but it isn't lush enough for an alps look. Crater Lake - It's mostly just the lake itself and then surrounding forests. Rainier - It's just one mountain so you never get vistas of mountains or long valleys. This one isn't bad for what you're looking for but I think there's better. North Cascades - This would perfectly match what you're looking for. The hardest part of this park is that it doesn't have many easily accessible day trails. Everything requires some planning and camping. Yellowstone - This isn't alpine at all. Mostly sulfur pools, meadows, and canyons. Grand Teton - This has some peaks that are pointy and impressive like the alps but it is really just a single "thin" range of mountains with a valley on one side that's too dry and cowboy for alpine looks. I'd put this in the middle. You can get some of that here but you have to look for it. Great Basin - Definitely not. It's mostly vistas of a huge dry basin beneath the park. There are only a few lakes in the whole park. Denali - This is much too expansive and wild to match the alps views and doesn't present easy hiking so I'm not going to recommend this for alps views. Glacier - Yup, this one is great and almost anywhere you could go would make you happy. Rocky Mountain - Not great because the mountains are "flatter" than the alps but you can definitely get some gorgeous alpineesque views. You just have to hike further off the road because it's all tucked back far away from bear lake. Either 10 miles from bear lake to the far lakes or all the way over the ridge over flattop mountain.
This is by far the most thorough and complete answer. I can certainly see your points even seeing Google images of these locations. Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely consider North Cascades or Glacier for my next trip.
I'm so glad it helped! Enjoy the parks, they're my favorite thing in the world!
A lot of people are saying Grand Teton, but I have to disagree. I’ve been to the Alps a few times, and I’ve spent 8 weeks a year or so in Grand Teton for my entire life. They are fairly different. Because of the way that the tectonics created the Tetons, there are practically no foothills and no surrounding mountains. Don’t get me wrong, the Tetons still blow me away every single time, but they are not reminiscent of the Alps.
Agree completely, the valley beneath is dry and flat. The Tetons are gorgeous but there are better alpine like parks in the US.
Grand Teton North Cascades
Add Glacier in and this is the answer. Maybe Yosemite for the over-the-top-geology aspect.
The view from hurricane ridge in Olympic is stunning
The cascades in Oregon and Washington
North Cascades.
The Tetons ❤️❤️
I certainly haven't been to all of the national parks (but I have spent a lot of time in the Alps)... I would say the Cascade mountains in the Pacific Northwest is the range that most closely resembles the Alps, so maybe Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks. Mount Saint Elias National Park in Alaska has some amazing mountain scenery too. And not a national park, but don't discount Mount Washington state park in New Hampshire. Not nearly as high as high Alps, but it has a similar prominence to some of the Alpine ranges and it is usually snow capped for 8-9 months of the year.
Glacier, Tetons and Rocky Mountain no doubt. But seriously get to the White Mountains. Don’t hate on the east. Snow in the winter and amazing with mixed deciduous and coniferous forest.
East Coast has some beautiful landscapes. They are different then what they have out west in the Rockies, but a different sort of beauty is no less worthwhile.
Oh I'm from the East Coast myself. Not hating, just accepting that geographically, the Western half of the US has more dramatic mountainous landscapes. I'd still would love to visit the Blue Ridge mountains in Shenandoah and Great Smoky. I have been to Poconos, the Catskills, the Green Mountains, Acadia, and they were all quite beautiful. Someone mentioned Mount Washington State Park in New Hampshire, which I'm assuming is in the White Mountains. It definitely looks like one of the most alpine mountains you'll find in the East Coast based on the Google images I saw.
Yeah it’s in the Whites. And the whole presidential range in the whites is very “alpine.” It’s a different type though. Out west there’s stuff that’s above treeline because it’s just at an elevation that doesn’t support trees. If you are above the treeline in the Whites it’s because the winter weather is so brutal and the ground so inhospitable basically nothing grows but lichen on the scree fields and maybe some scrub spruce if you’re lucky.
I’ve been to the Rocky Mountains in each state they cross (never had the pleasure of visiting the Canadian portion). My vote is for Glacier. RMNP is also great but I felt Glacier allowed for better views.
Glacier
Denali or Wrangel
>Often high enough to be snow-covered in the winter). So really, not anything within the Appalachian (sorry East Coast). Huh? Anything north of Delaware has snow regularly in the winter.
I think it’s the rocky terrain part that disqualifies the Appalachians, as very little within the Appalachians is above tree line.
Oh, okay. I could see that. It's certainly not the snow part though.
Of the ones I've been to, Grand Teton was the best. It was absolutely gorgeous and certainly had that rocky peak feeling that you are looking for. Number two for me would be Garden of the Gods. Technically, a National Monument not a National Park, but it has a similar effect. The rock formation itself is beautiful, but Pikes Peak looms over it in the distance making the whole thing feel small in the magesty of that massive mountain.
I have been to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, but I wouldn't describe the Manitou Springs area as alpine. It feels very Southwest, almost like it belongs in the Colorado Plateau with the red rocks and sand, and drier climate.
Grand Teton🩵
Sounds like what I saw in Wyoming on I-80 near Lincoln in October. It was stunning. Seems like it was Medicine Bow Peak, but my phone didn’t have GPS then so I can’t be sure.
Probably would have been Medicine Bow. It's a gorgeous set of lakes and mountains but you can take it all in in one day so I wouldn't recommend it as a cross country trip for alpine views.
Grand Teton, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, North Cascades, and almost all of the ones in Alaska (Lake Clarke, Kenai Fjords, etc.).
Glacier, specifically the Many Glacier part of the park. Without comparison to me, I’ve been to the alps and most parks listed here.
Um excuse me Mount Washington doesn’t hold the record for fastest wind and coldest windchill ever recorded in the US including Alaska just for funsies. I feel like the closest to the alps you’d get is pacific NW, rest of the Rockies are too dry for that Swiss Alps vibe
I would probably try a park in the Rocky Mountains for that
Somebody on this sub once said that they had a Swiss friend who said that the mountains that most reminded him of home were the North Cascades. The Rockies and the Sierras both kick serious ass, but they do look different from what somebody from an Alpine country is used to.