The United States National Parks are more popular than they’ve ever been, with new National Parks Service data from 2024 reporting over 331 million visitors across the nation and the most visited of the last year.
That’s higher than the 2016 high of 330.9 million visitors. It’s also 2 percent higher than the 2023 visitor total, which was 325.5 million. In 2023, NPS reported that national parks generated $55.6 billion in national economic output.
The national parks have gotten quite a bit of media attention lately, as the Trump Administration began laying off critical parks employees that fight fires and pollution, provide guest-facing services and maintain the parks we love. It’s likely the parks will face new challenges this year.
NPS data shows the power of the parks, with visitors logging a total of 1,395,880,033 recreation visitor hours and 13,412,294 overnight stays.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks as the most-visited of 2024, with 12.1 million visitors, which is about 13 percent of all visitors. Located a few hours away from Knoxville, Tennessee, the national park is known for scenic views of the mountain range with the same name.
In second place is Zion National Park, located in Utah. The beautiful park ranks just above Grand Canyon National Park, with both welcoming 4.9 million visitors last year.
Yellowstone National Park is the fourth most-visited park of last year, with 4.7 million visitors.
Rocky Mountain National Park and Yosemite National Park rank fifth and sixth, hosting 4.1 million visitors.
The seventh most popular national park is Acadia National Park, with 3.9 million visitors.
In eighth and ninth place is Olympic National Park and Grand Teton National Park, both welcoming 3.7 and 3.6 million visitors, respectively.
Lastly, the tenth most popular national park of last year was Glacier National Park, with 3.2 million travelers.
Summer in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.
Now, we come to the bottom of the list: these critically preserved lands might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they do provide crucial habitats for endemic species all across the nation.
It’s unsurprising that the least-visited national park is also one of the hardest to access. Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve, located in Alaska, welcomed just under 12,000 visitors last year.
North Cascades National Park and Kobuk Valley National Park are in second and third, welcoming just over 16,000 and 17,000, respectively.
Lake Clark National Park & Preserve welcomed 18,500 visitors, coming in fourth. In fifth is the National Park of American Samoa, with 22,500 visitors.
Isle Royale National Park in Michigan ranks as the sixth least-visited national park, welcoming just under 30,000 visitors.
Two other Alaskan national parks, Katmai National Park & Preserve and Wrangell-St.Elias National Park & Preserve come in seventh and eighth place, welcoming 36,000 and 81,000 visitors, respectively.
