MI National Park Picked ‘Best in U.S.’: WSJ Ranking

MICHIGAN — A Michigan national park was named the best park across the nation, according to a new Wall Street Journal ranking.

Isle Royale National Park, located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, beat out other top parks across the nation, including Denali, Yellowstone and Big Bend, to earn the top ranking.

The news outlet mainly looked at hiking, camping and outdoor recreation opportunities to determine the ranking.

"Most people tend to associate national parks with a few predictable places—Yellowstone, Zion, Yosemite—but when we crunched the numbers, an unexpected winner emerged: Isle Royale, a wooded archipelago near the northwestern edge of Lake Superior, is, according to our metrics, the best," the news outlet wrote. "This is true wilderness: A land of moose and wolves and the drama forever playing out between them."

Established in 1940, Isle Royale National Park was "set aside for the benefit and enjoyment of the public and to preserve and protect its wilderness character, cultural and natural resources, scenery, and ecological processes."

The park is located 55 miles from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula and has more than 165 miles of hiking trails. As one of the most secluded places not just in Michigan, but in the entire country, it is only accessible by ferry or seaplane.

Additionally, as a unit of the national park system, Isle Royale National Park provides opportunities for recreation, education and interpretation and scientific study.

Here are the Wall Street Journal's rankings for top national parks in the country:

1. Isle Royale National Park in Michigan
2. North Cascades National Park in Washington
3. Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks in California
4. Big Bend National Park in Texas
5. Denali National Park & Preserve in Alaska
6. Lassen Volcanic National Parkin California
7. Great Basin National Park in Nevada
8. Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada
9. Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas
10. Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming