Geography & Countries

The Most Visited National Parks in the United States

Great Smoky Mountains drew 11.5 million recreation visits in 2025, more than twice any other national park. These are the 20 most visited of the 63 parks, ranked by NPS recreation visits for calendar year 2025.

In the spotlight USA
National Geographic video on Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Pictured: a still from National Geographic’s “Best Of Great Smoky Mountains National Park”, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, #1 with 11,527,939 recreation visits in 2025.

Rank Park Recreation visits 2025 Visits 2024 Change % State(s) Year established Area (acres) Notes
1Great Smoky Mountains11,527,93912,191,834−5.4%NC, TN1934522,427Most visited park every year since 1944
2Zion4,984,5254,946,592+0.8%UT1919147,243Narrow canyon; Angels Landing and The Narrows
3Yellowstone4,762,9884,744,353+0.4%WY, MT, ID18722,219,791The first national park
4Grand Canyon4,430,6534,919,163−9.9%AZ19191,201,647Biggest fall in the top 10; cause not checked
5Yosemite4,278,4134,121,807+3.8%CA1890761,748Top park for tent and RV camping, per NPS
6Rocky Mountain4,171,4314,154,349+0.4%CO1915265,848Trail Ridge Road is the signature drive
7Acadia4,079,3183,961,661+3.0%ME191949,071Smallest park in the top 10
8Grand Teton3,800,6483,628,222+4.8%WY1929310,044Next to Yellowstone
9Olympic3,584,1873,717,267−3.6%WA1938922,649Coast, rainforest and mountains in one park
10Glacier3,136,5573,208,755−2.3%MT19101,013,126Going-to-the-Sun Road is its main route
11Cuyahoga Valley3,025,3252,912,454+3.9%OH200032,572Between Cleveland and Akron
12Joshua Tree2,932,6442,991,874−2.0%CA1994795,156Popular with tent campers
13Indiana Dunes2,629,4972,705,209−2.8%IN201915,349Lake Michigan shoreline; a park only since 2019
14Hot Springs2,494,6112,461,812+1.3%AR19215,554Smallest of the 63 by area after Gateway Arch
15Gateway Arch2,209,0282,563,052−13.8%MO201891Smallest national park, in St. Louis
16Bryce Canyon1,967,3672,498,075−21.2%UT192835,835Down about a fifth on 2024; cause not checked
17New River Gorge1,958,4401,811,937+8.1%WV20207,021Record year in 2025 per NPS; newest park in the table
18Hawaiʻi Volcanoes1,877,8541,433,593+31.0%HI1916344,812Largest rise in the table; cause not checked
19Shenandoah1,682,1521,720,211−2.2%VA1935200,446Skyline Drive runs its length
20Mount Rainier1,635,3421,620,006+0.9%WA1899236,382Established 1899, the fifth national park

Read this first: only the 63 units the National Park Service designated “National Park” are ranked, so parkways, recreation areas, seashores and memorials are left out; the Blue Ridge Parkway (16.5 million) and Golden Gate National Recreation Area (15.7 million) each had more visits than any park here.[2] The figures are 2025 recreation visits from the NPS Visitation Statistics, which count every entry into a park, so one person who enters on three days counts three times; they are not unique visitors. The year is the 2025 calendar year, published in the NPS release of 13 March 2026, which reported 323,014,305 recreation visits across 406 park units, about 2.7% below the 2024 record.[1][2] A 43-day partial federal government shutdown (the longest on record) fell in the autumn of 2025; the NPS says it kept parks open and accessible whenever possible, but some services and areas were closed, and the NPS does not break out the shutdown’s effect by park.[1] Fee-free days, closures, road and weather events, and timed-entry rules also move a park’s count from year to year, so a small change in the table is not evidence of a change in popularity. The top-10 figures match across the NPS-based figures in Camper Report and the rounded figures in Popular Science; ranks 11–20 match Time Out’s published ranking, and their visit counts, the 2024 figures and the acreages (the NPS 2023 acreage report) are taken from Wikipedia’s List of national parks of the United States, which cites NPS statistics, and were not opened on irma.nps.gov.[3][4] Change % is calculated from the two columns. Year established is the year Congress created the park under its current designation, as Wikipedia gives it. Wikipedia’s list also shows Chiricahua in Arizona redesignated as a national park in October 2026; it had about 70,000 visits in 2025 and does not affect the top 20. For visits to other kinds of attractions see The Most Visited Theme Parks in the World and The Most Visited Cities in the World.

The Top 10

#1

Great Smoky Mountains — 11.53 million

Straddling the North Carolina–Tennessee line, the Smokies drew 11,527,939 recreation visits in 2025, more than twice the second-place park and about 5% fewer than in 2024. It has been the most visited national park every year since 1944 and charges no entrance fee. Across all NPS units it is third, behind the Blue Ridge Parkway and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The video is National Geographic’s America’s National Parks highlights film, not an NPS upload.[1][2][3]

#2

Zion — 4.98 million

Utah’s Zion drew 4,984,525 visits in 2025, a small rise on 2024. Angels Landing and The Narrows are its best-known hikes. The video is a short clip from the park’s own channel at Weeping Rock.[1][2][3]

#3

Yellowstone — 4.76 million

The world’s first national park (1872) spans Wyoming, Montana and Idaho and recorded 4,762,988 visits in 2025, almost level with 2024. Old Faithful and its geyser basins draw the crowds, mostly in summer. The video is National Geographic’s winter episode of Wild Yellowstone, not an NPS upload.[1][2][3]

#4

Grand Canyon — 4.43 million

Visits fell from 4,919,163 in 2024 to 4,430,653 in 2025 (about 10%), the largest drop in the top 10. The figures do not say why, and no cause was verified; the 2025 shutdown is context, not a confirmed reason. The video is the park’s own short film We Are Grand Canyon.[1][2][3]

#5

Yosemite — 4.28 million

Yosemite’s 4,278,413 visits were about 4% above 2024. It is best known for Half Dome, El Capitan and its waterfalls, and the NPS lists it as the top park for tent and RV camping. The video is National Geographic’s Wild Yosemite episode.[1][2][3]

#6

Rocky Mountain — 4.17 million

The Colorado park recorded 4,171,431 visits, essentially flat on 2024. Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous paved road in the US, is its signature drive. The video is the park’s own footage of the road’s spring opening in May 2025.[1][2][3]

#7

Acadia — 4.08 million

On the coast of Maine, Acadia had 4,079,318 visits in 2025, about 3% above 2024, in a park of only 49,071 acres. Cadillac Mountain and the Park Loop Road are the main draws. No suitable video from the park’s own channel could be confirmed, so the icon is shown instead.[1][2][3]

#8

Grand Teton — 3.80 million

Grand Teton rose nearly 5% to 3,800,648 visits, the biggest increase in the top 10. The park sits just south of Yellowstone and many trips combine them. The video is National Geographic’s Surviving Grand Teton episode.[1][2][3]

#9

Olympic — 3.58 million

Washington’s Olympic Peninsula park had 3,584,187 visits in 2025, down about 4% from 2024. It holds a Pacific coastline, the Hoh Rain Forest and glaciated peaks. The video is National Geographic’s episode on the park.[1][2][3]

#10

Glacier — 3.14 million

Montana’s Glacier had 3,136,557 visits, about 2% fewer than in 2024, just ahead of Cuyahoga Valley (3.03 million). Going-to-the-Sun Road is the main route. The video is the park’s own channel, GlacierNPS, on that road.[1][2][3]

National Parks United States Tourism Visitor Numbers Outdoors

Sources

  1. National Park Service, “Public Interest in National Parks Remains Strong as Visits Top 323 Million in 2025”, news release of 13 March 2026, and the NPS Visitor Use Statistics (Annual Park Ranking Report, 2025). The 43-day shutdown, 323,014,305 total visits and the 26 record-setting parks come from the release; the dashboard itself was not opened from here.
  2. Camper Report, “National Park Service Visits Top 323 Million for 2025” (16 March 2026): exact NPS visit counts for the top 10 national parks and the top 10 NPS sites overall. Popular Science, “The 10 most popular US National Parks in 2025” (17 March 2026): the same top 10, rounded.
  3. Wikipedia, List of national parks of the United States, current version for 2025 visits and a November 2025 version for 2024 visits, both citing NPS statistics; also the source of acreage (NPS 2023 acreage report) and year established.
  4. Time Out, “These are officially the most visited national parks in America” (19 March 2026): the full 2025 ranking order, used to check ranks 11–20.
  5. Videos: National Geographic (Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Teton, Olympic) and the parks’ own YouTube channels (Zion National Park, GrandCanyonNPS, RockyNPS, GlacierNPS); each ID was checked for channel and title. Acadia has no verified video, so the icon is shown.