What’s The Nearest National Park to Corvallis?

Is this a question you’ve ever asked yourself?  

Possibly, at least once.  

Or maybe a child has asked you, especially if they were doing homework.  

I recently looked up state parks near Corvallis, myself. Unfortunately, the answers are a little disappointing – if “nearness” is your only consideration. The shortest distance you can drive to get to a national park is 187 miles – that’s 300 kilometers for the metric out there. The good news is, after you’ve gone that distance, you’re at Crater Lake, and while there just aren’t any bad national parks, Crater Lake is a really good one.  

More good news, given current gas prices: instead of driving, you can go most of the way by train. A train can carry you from Albany to Chemult, which is not far from the park. If you haven’t taken an Amtrak trip recently, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. 

Crater Lake is the only national park that’s actually in Oregon.  

Other “nearby” parks include Mount Rainier National Park in Washington – that would be 221 miles or 356 Km, Olympic National Park – also in Washington, 245 miles or 394 Km, Redwood National Park in California – 303 miles or 488 Km but you get to drive along the Pacific coast for most of the way, North Cascades National Park in Washington – 363 miles or 584 Km, and Lassen Volcanic National Park in California which is 390 miles or 628 Km away – plus you get to drive through national forests most of the way, and will pass Mount Shasta.  

After all of these options have been exhausted, the distance increases to 618 miles (995 Km) to get to Yosemite National Park in California and 675 miles (1,086 Km) to Pinnacles National Park in California. 

As you can see, none of them are what you’d call convenient for a day’s excursion, but all of them are certainly worth the trip if you can afford the time and the gas – or the bus/train fare. After all, the national parks aren’t called America’s Crown Jewels for nothing. 

The U.S. isn’t the only country with national parks that are (relatively) near Corvallis. Before you travel the 707 miles (1,138 Km) to Glacier National Park in Montana or the 738 miles (1,188 Km) to Kings Canyon National Park, you might prefer to travel 676 miles (1,088 Km) across the Canadian border to visit Mount Revelstoke National Park in British Columbia. 

Here’s another thought: it’s a much shorter trip to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (99 miles or 159 Km), and Austin Jackson has made the case that visiting the Gorge is actually better than a trip to a national park.