National Parks Without Crowds.

NATIONAL parks & reserves; RECREATION areas; AQUATIC parks & reserves; NATIONAL environmental study areas; WILDERNESS areas

TERRA Nova National Park (N.L.); CUYAHOGA Valley National Park (Ohio); BRAZIL; VENEZUELA; MOZAMBIQUE; PHILIPPINES; LAKE Eyre (S. Aust.); ASINARA Island (Italy); OHIO; NEWFOUNDLAND & Labrador; ITALY; UNITED States; CANADA

Vacationers around the world have always cherished their national parks for fresh air, natural beauty and abundant wildlife. But during the heavy summer-travel months, popular destinations as far-flung as Yosemite in California, Germany's Black Forest and South Africa's Kruger Park feel more like parking lots than nature preserves. Want to stay off the beaten path? Newfoundland's Terra Nova National Park, Canada's easternmost park, boasts lush rolling hills, bogs, hiking trails and white-water canoeing on the North West River. South of the Canadian border, visitors to Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park can view the landscape on horseback or via the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. Journey to Lencois Maranhenses near the northern Brazilian city of São Luis. Visit the world's only desert dotted with thousands of natural lakes. For those who prefer the mountains, Chorro El Indio in the Venezuelan Andes features cacti, mesquite and a 1,500-meter-tall waterfall that seems to spill from the clouds. Last year Mozambique declared Qurimbas Archipelago a national park, protecting its coastal forest and marine wildlife. Mount Malindang National Park in the Mindanao region of the Philippines boasts another crater lake, as well as swirling rivers and a rain forest. Lake Ayre National Park in South Australia's outback contains the Tirari Desert and barren Lake Eyre, which has filled to capacity only three times over the past 150 years. In Southern Europe, do not forget to drop by the well-preserved Asinara National Park, a small island off Sardinia, Italy. Its sweeping coastline and lush Mediterranean vegetation, make it a national park not to be missed.