This "helmet shell" was found on the beaches of Cape Lookout National Seashore this week, providing a pre-National Park Week treasure to its finder/NPS

With National Park Week kicking off on Easter weekend, you can be sure there will be stifling crowds in some parts of the National Park System. So why not avoid the crush by going to one of the overlooked jewels in the system?

Arches and Zion national parks in Utah are routinely overrun when the weather is neither too cold nor too hot, and with a near ideal forecast for the coming weekend -- lots of sunshine and temperatures in the mid- to upper-70s -- you can expect crowds to descend on both. If your heart is set on Utah, Capitol Reef National Park is a great option with its sandstone reefs and bucolic campground set amid the park's historic orchards.

Natural Bridges National Monument south of Canyonlands is another good option for avoiding the crowds in the Beehive State. While its campground only holds 13 sites, surrounding U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands hold plenty of options for where to pitch your tent. Yet another option is Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in southern Utah. Take a sea kayak and explore some of the backwaters of Lake Powell, or explore the terrestrial landscape. There's plenty of room to roam.

Along the East Coast, while Acadia National Park is mired in mud season and some popular hiking trails are closed due to nesting peregrine falcons, why not head instead to Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in New Hampshire to admire some of the incredible artworks created by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens? You can take in a short film that documents his life or, if you're deeply interested in sculpting, ask to be shown Wax Blood, Bronze Skin, which details the "lost wax" bronze casting technique.

Another wonderful New England unit of the park system that can be overlooked is New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Spend some time here immersing yourself in the country's 19th century whaling history. You can even sit in a pew that Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick, sat in before heading out on an 18-month whaling adventure of his own.

Herman Melville sat here. Will you?/Kurt Repanshek file

More maritime history can be found just a little bit north of Boston, at Salem Maritime National Historic Site, home of the Friendship, a replica sailing ship reflective of those that turned this corner of the country into one of the most econmically stout ends of the world for a time. The Friendship has been undergoing routine maintenance in recent months, but she is soon to return to the park's dock. Keep an eye on their Facebook page to coordinate your visit.

While Cape Hatteras National Seashore might be getting crowded this weekend, a great option is Cape Lookout National Seashore just to the south, also on North Carolina's Outer Banks. You never know what you'll find on this undeveloped seashore. Just the other day a beachcomber found a rather large "helmet shell," while earlier this week what appeared to be an unexploded ordnance turned up. It was safely destroyed by U.S. Marine Corps experts, and should serve as a reminder to be careful of what you come across while walking the beaches of both Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras, as the waters off these two jewels saw quite a lot of coastal warfare during World War II.

While Congaree National Park is nice if you find yourself in South Carolina, why not head to Ninety Six National Historic Site? This unit preserves a landscape that saw two major battles of the Revolutionary War that left more than 100 dead. Among those who died was James Birmingham, of the Long Cane Militia, who is "considered to have been the first Patriot killed in the South during the American Revolution," according to the National Park Service.

You can find another park dedicated to preserving Revolutionary War history up the road at Cowpens National Battlefield, where a Colonial victory in January 1781 has come to be considered as the "turning point" of the war in the South, the Park Service notes.

As you can tell, deciding where to go in the National Park System during National Park Week can be an exhausting process. And between planning and time needed to travel, you might not be able to enjoy National Park Week in a faraway park. That's what this sort of story is for, to get you thinking about the possibilities for some long-range planning.

Now, with that said, if you live in the middle of the country and have time, check out Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas with its bison herd in Windmill Pasture. Just remember, though they might look docile, these animals are wild and you need to keep your distance. Especially if there are any "red dogs," or calves, around.

Interested in history? Consider stopping by Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, which commemorates the first major battle of the Civil War in the West. Located in Republic, Missouri, on April 27 you can sit in as Chief Glenna Wallace discusses the  Eastern Shawnee tribe and its role during the Civil War. 

Though Big Bend National Park in far west Texas is a popular destination despite its remote location, less visited is Guadalupe Mountains National Park a bit farther north. Its backpacking terrain is hallowed ground for those looking for solitude in the mountains. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on the U.S.-Mexican border is a personal favorite, and with the daily heat index climbing, you won't find crowds there. The campground is one of the prettier ones in the park system, and the solar heated showers are nice...but can be blistering hot, so test the water before jumping under the spray.

Sunsets and silence at await you at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument/NPS

Head to the middle of Arizona and you have a quartet of national monuments that can fill your week: Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Montezuma Castle. Tuzigoot National Monument also is in the neighborhood, so fill out your flush with five national monuments.

The options will only grow in the months to come as the northern parks thaw out and melt out, giving way to wildflower blooms and spring newborns.