In the early years of the national parks, railroads were the easiest—and sometimes almost the only—way to reach many of the parks. Although most visitors now arrive by car, the train still offers a useful alternative for travel to some destinations. Here are our tips for riding the rails to parks in the eastern U.S.

An Amtrak brochure sums up one big advantage of taking the train to some locations in the East: "Sit in traffic on I-95 or sit in comfort aboard the Northeast Regional." There are destinations, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, where the hassles of traffic, navigation and finding a parking spot can definitely make travel by car anything but a vacation for many visitors.

Travel to those cities by train offers the advantage of arrival downtown instead of an outlying airport, and less time and hassle for security checks than air travel. If you already live in parts of the northeast, the train may actually be your fastest way to reach some of these parks; if you live elsewhere, you might find you simply enjoy travel by rail.

A quick search of the Internet will turn up plenty of companies that specialize in complete packages for travel by train, including ground transportation once you arrive at the station, tours and lodging. Some of you may even be interested in the luxury trains that serve parts of the country, but most of us considering travel by rail will be riding on Amtrak, so that's the focus of this story.

The Amtrak website has lots of information for planning a trip, and the site has been revamped recently to make it easier to use, including an interactive route atlas, timetables and information on deals and discounts.

Start with the home page, where you can simply begin typing the name of a departure and destination city in the "From" and "To" fields. Enter the first few letters of the town correctly, and the rest of the name will be completed for you—if the town has Amtrak service. You'll also find an alphabetical list of locations served, along with the three-letter station codes on that page or at this link. Note that some large cities include more than one station.

If you have a high speed Internet connection, the Interactive Route Atlas allows you to "search for stations and routes alphabetically, by state or by region. Each station and route shown on the map link to more information, including stations served, addresses, hours of operation and other details."

Ready to think about a trip? Here are just a few suggestions for parks in locations served by Amtrak.

Boston offers plenty of history, and many of the key sites are part of Boston National Historical Park, including Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Paul Revere House and Old North Church. Nearby Charlestown includes the Bunker Hill Monument, the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution. Charlestown Navy Yard, one of the nation's first naval shipyards, is home to USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.

The fastest Amtrak trip from Washington, Philadelphia or New York City to downtown Boston is on the Acela Express. The Acela Express cuts time off the trip with limited stops, and offers some amenities and services not available on other trains.

There are numerous other options to and from those cities, including the Northeast Regional service.

New York City. Although the best known NPS areas in and near the city are the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island National Monument, there are plenty of other options. This link to the National Parks of New York Harbor will provide more information about areas such as Castle Clinton National Monument, Federal Hall National Memorial, General Grant National Memorial (also known as Grant’s Tomb) and Gateway National Recreation Area.

Philadelphia is home to Independence National Historical Park, which includes more than the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. The park preserves and interprets other sites associated with the establishment of the United States of America, including the First and Second Banks of the United States, Congress Hall and Old City Hall. Independence NHP also tells the story of Philadelphia's most famous citizen, Benjamin Franklin, in Franklin Court, where Franklin's home once stood. This link will provide more information on all of the NPS sites in the Philadelphia area; click here for information on all of the NPS sites in Pennsylvania.

Baltimore offers a chance to visit Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. The "Birthplace of the National Anthem" is located three miles southeast of the Baltimore Inner Harbor; the park can be reached from the Inner Harbor by water taxi during the spring through fall seasons.

Washington, D.C. Among the easiest NPS areas in the country to reach by train are those in the nation's capital. Once you arrive at Union Station you don't even need to leave the building to make a connection to the city's Metro system—or you can just walk from the station to some key sites. Even if you aren't traveling by train, the food court in the lower level of Union Station, together with several restaurants elsewhere in the building, offers a variety of choices for reasonably priced meals.

There are plenty of NPS options in the nation's capital, including the famous monuments and memorials to Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson, along with Ford's Theater, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the National World War II Memorial. Unless you're a seasoned veteran of searching out NPS sites in the DC area, odds are there are others you haven't seen; click here for links to all of them. This site includes links to more details on public transportation in the city.

Other Eastern Destinations. Eastern park visits aren't limited to the big cities, although a visit to most of the following destinations will required you to arrange for a rental car or other ground transportation, just as you would if you arrived by air. Here are just a few of many possibilities:

The New River Gorge National River in West Virginia is one of the few NPS areas where trains still serve multiple stations in the park itself. Amtrak's train known as the Cardinal travels three days a week between Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York City, and makes scheduled stops at Hinton and Prince, West Virginia. The station at Thurmond functions as a flag stop for passengers with advance reservations.

The Capitol Limited makes daily trips connecting Chicago, Pittsburg, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. It stops near Harper's Ferry National Historical Park

The Northeast Regional allows a visit to Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia. The Amtrak station is within a mile of the privately operated Colonial Williamsburg, and the free Historic Triangle Shuttle runs from mid-March to November 1st; the shuttle makes it possible to combine a visit to Williamsburg with the NPS sites at Yorktown and Jamestown.

Interested in a longer trip, or want to head south for the winter? Both the Palmetto and Silver Service run all the way from New York to Miami, a gateway to Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. You'll find links to other NPS sites in Florida here.

Along the way, those southern routes serve Columbia, South Carolina (Congaree National Park), and Charleston, South Carolina (Fort Sumter National Monument).

If you're headed to or from Florida, want to have your personal car available when you arrive, and don't look forward to a long stretch of I-95, one option is the Auto Train, which combines passenger, dining and sleeping cars with the ability to transport private vehicles. The Auto Train runs between a special station just south of Washington, D.C. and a similar facility in central Florida.

Another long-distance train, the Crescent, connects New York and Washington with Atlanta and New Orleans, providing access to NPS sites such as Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, and New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.

If it's been a while since you've ridden a train, consider giving it a try for at least a shorter trip to a park. Amtrak announced recently that ridership during their 2009 fiscal year was the second highest since they began operations in 1971, and on-time performance has topped 80 percent.

In an upcoming story, we'll take a look at some similar options for areas in the central and western parts of the country.