Ranked by five-year average.
These twenty-five parks carry much of the official National Park class's foot traffic. Recreation Visits is the official NPS visitor count and excludes other categories (Recreation Visit Hours, Tent Campers, Backcountry Campers) that some units also report. Sorting by the 2021-2025 average rather than a single year reduces the influence of one-off events: the 2020 pandemic closures, the 2022 Yellowstone flood, and the 2025 Dragon Bravo fire at Grand Canyon's North Rim.
- 1 Great Smoky MountainsNC,TN · annual average 12.82M
- 2 ZionUT · annual average 4.86M
- 3 Grand CanyonAZ · annual average 4.67M
- 4 YellowstoneID,MT,WY · annual average 4.43M
- 5 Rocky MountainCO · annual average 4.24M
- 6 AcadiaME · annual average 3.99M
- 7 YosemiteCA · annual average 3.85M
- 8 Grand TetonWY · annual average 3.51M
- 9 OlympicWA · annual average 3.08M
- 10 Joshua TreeCA · annual average 3.06M
| # | Park | 5-yr avg visits | Latest year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains National ParkNational Park · NC,TN | 12,823,320 | 11,527,939 |
| 2 | Zion National ParkNational Park · UT | 4,857,321 | 4,984,525 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon National ParkNational Park · AZ | 4,669,660 | 4,430,653 |
| 4 | Yellowstone National ParkNational Park · ID,MT,WY | 4,431,841 | 4,762,988 |
| 5 | Rocky Mountain National ParkNational Park · CO | 4,235,378 | 4,171,431 |
| 6 | Acadia National ParkNational Park · ME | 3,992,045 | 4,079,318 |
| 7 | Yosemite National ParkNational Park · CA | 3,850,487 | 4,278,413 |
| 8 | Grand Teton National ParkNational Park · WY | 3,507,486 | 3,800,648 |
| 9 | Olympic National ParkNational Park · WA | 3,080,171 | 3,584,187 |
| 10 | Joshua Tree National ParkNational Park · CA | 3,063,523 | 2,932,644 |
| 11 | Glacier National ParkNational Park · MT | 3,053,808 | 3,136,557 |
| 12 | Cuyahoga Valley National ParkNational Park · OH | 2,857,285 | 3,025,325 |
| 13 | Indiana Dunes National ParkNational Park · IN | 2,822,398 | 2,629,497 |
| 14 | Hot Springs National ParkNational Park · AR | 2,453,681 | 2,494,611 |
| 15 | Bryce Canyon National ParkNational Park · UT | 2,277,194 | 1,967,367 |
| 16 | Gateway Arch National ParkNational Park · MO | 1,991,754 | 2,209,028 |
| 17 | New River Gorge National Park & PreserveNational Park & Preserve · WV | 1,750,769 | 1,958,440 |
| 18 | Mount Rainier National ParkNational Park · WA | 1,644,420 | 1,635,342 |
| 19 | Shenandoah National ParkNational Park · VA | 1,603,997 | 1,682,152 |
| 20 | Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National ParkNational Park · HI | 1,555,090 | 1,877,854 |
| 21 | Arches National ParkNational Park · UT | 1,545,566 | 1,511,740 |
| 22 | Capitol Reef National ParkNational Park · UT | 1,342,558 | 1,388,476 |
| 23 | Death Valley National ParkNational Park · CA,NV | 1,227,133 | 1,320,134 |
| 24 | Sequoia National ParkNational Park · CA | 1,176,245 | 1,378,337 |
| 25 | Badlands National ParkNational Park · SD | 1,102,208 | 1,139,361 |
What this ranking does and doesn't tell you
An annual total is the right number for "which park is most popular"; but it can be misleading for trip planning. Two parks can have the same annual total but radically different crowd intensity. Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain National Park land within a few hundred thousand visits of each other most years, but Rocky Mountain's traffic is compressed into a much shorter summer window (because Trail Ridge Road is open less than half the year), so its peak-month intensity is far higher than its annual rank suggests.
For peak-month intensity, see the busiest-by-peak ranking. For the inverse (parks that stay quiet even at peak) see least crowded. For the network's seasonal shape, see visitation by month.
Methodology
Visit counts are official "Recreation Visits" from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025. The five-year average column averages 2021-2025 to reduce single-year noise; the latest-year column shows the most recent complete calendar year. Some NPS units publish other statistic types (Tent Campers, Recreation Visit Hours) that are not used here. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service. The ranking uses the central list of all 63 official National Parks. That includes parks whose visitor-statistics source designation is 'National Park & Preserve'; monuments, recreation areas, seashores, and other unit classes are excluded.
Common questions.
What is the #1 most visited national park?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited official National Park, averaging about 12.82M recreation visits a year across 2021-2025. It has held the top spot in every year of the modern dataset.
What are the five most visited national parks?
By five-year-average recreation visits the top five are Great Smoky Mountains, Zion, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain. Each draws several million visits a year.
Is this ranking based on one year or an average?
It ranks by each park's five-year-average recreation visits (2021-2025), so a single closure, fire season, or road project does not distort the order. The latest-year column shows the most recent complete year alongside the average.
Independent site. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Data comes from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025; editorial analysis is ours. The NPS Arrowhead and other NPS marks are not used.