Best Eats At America's National Parks

Camping out in the idyllic, overwhelming Great Smoky Mountains puts you up close and personal with an estimated 1,500 black bears. And we can almost guarantee that all 1,500 of those bears really like human food. Stop at Blackberry Farm, a slow-food lover's paradise for an overnight stay, cooking class, or a sampling of Foothills cuisine. Miss Lily's Café, in nearby Townsend, offers classic Southern cooking, like a yard bird sandwich, Foothills fish and grits, and a blackened chicken breast sandwich with blue cheese and bacon. Get your caffeine fix at the Mountain Brew Coffee House.

Making restaurant reservations may not be the top thing on your mind when planning an adventurous trek in Grand Canyon National Park. But it should be. Food in the Grand Canyon is more than just sustenance after a long day of hiking. Leave the trail mix for someone who didn't plan ahead and find a table at The Phantom Ranch Canteen, the only food stop inside the inner canyon (and requires advance booking). Likewise, The Grand Canyon Cookout Experience, hosted every summer in the North Rim, should be booked ahead and hotly anticipated.

We're not quite calling it "the national park for food-lovers," but we're close. Featuring an array of culinary experiences, Yosemite National Park has something for everyone. The Ahwahnee Dining Room is the perfect place to start, with enviable views, a homey cabin feel, and a dinner dress code. Marveling at Yosemite Falls is best done from the luxe confines of The Mountain Room while tucking into onion soup gratinée, smoked trout cakes, and a Western flat iron steak.

Where better to channel your inner cowboy than at Yellowstone National Park? Jump right in with the Old West Cookout, where you can sip on "cowboy coffee," tuck into sizzling steaks with a side of Roosevelt baked beans made by the campfire, tell ghost stories, and sing songs as the sun sets over the mountains. Looking for something sweeter? Take a tram ride up the Tetons and visit Corbet's Cabin for some hot out-of-the-oven waffles and toppings.

Nothing works up an appetite like standing in awe of Niagara Falls or being sprayed by the mist on the Maid of the Mist tour. If windows are your preferred method of taking it all in, the Watermark puts you at the perfect vantage point and offers signature cocktails, tomato and goat cheese salad, blue crab cakes, and roasted lamb. If you're looking for some adventure with your meal, visit the Skylon Tower. You can ride to the top in an outdoor elevator to check out the views from the observation decks and then head to the rotating dining room to eat while watching the crashing falls below.

Olympic National Park is a coastal park with overwhelming vistas everywhere you look. The crystal blue ocean views are best seen (for food-lovers, anyway) from the Kalaloch Lodge, where you can sample some of the region's best food — think crunchy French toast in the morning, Olympic-style crab cakes for lunch, and pan-seared halibut for dinner. River's Edge focuses on the freshest seafood around, and is located inside a former boathouse in La Push, a Native American settlement.

Dine in the heart of nature at the Rocky Mountain National Park. Bordering the Tonahutu River, the restaurant at Rapids Lodge is a romantic destination serving traditional American fare with the sounds of babbling water as nature's soundtrack. Book a stay and a table at Devil's Thumb Ranch, where they'll take you fly-fishing and then serve you duck confit, cinnamon-rubbed roasted pork belly, and white chocolate and caramel bread pudding.

Zion National Park tends to conjure awe-inspired silences at jaw-dropping views. But when you've peeled yourself away, you'll find fresh fruit margaritas and shrimp tacos at The Bit and Spur. Fuel up for a day of hiking, cliff staring, and picture taking with a hearty breakfast of Red Rock griddle cakes, a Zion Western omelet, or a bowl of granola at Zion Lodge.

Traveling to Grand Teton National Park can be as formal and luxurious or as informal and rugged as you want it to be. If you stay at the Jackson Lake Lodge, it will likely be the former. Local trout, buffalo carpaccio, and lobster and brie bisque should set the tone for the weekend. Likewise, at the Jenny Lake Lodge, you will find unforgettable cuisine in the form of seared diver scallops, Port-braised buffalo short ribs, and pheasant breast alongside a wine list that spans from Italy to New Zealand to California.

No matter where you go in Maine, finding fresh, seasonal, local food is a simple and rewarding task. And the green, waterfront Acadia National Park is no different. The only dining establishment in the park is the historical Jordan Pond House, which is the perfect mid-hike stop for tea. But the Bar Harbor Lobster Bakes and Café Bluefish are the perfect complement to a day spent taking in Maine's majestic landscapes.