By state · CO

National Parks in Colorado.

By Nicholas Major · Last updated

Colorado has more than ten NPS units, including four official National Parks: Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Great Sand Dunes. The rest of the state's network runs through Dinosaur National Monument, Florissant Fossil Beds, Hovenweep, and a corridor of National Historic Sites. Denver International (DEN) anchors the Rocky Mountain Front and the eastern slope; Grand Junction (GJT) is closer to Black Canyon and the western Colorado Plateau. Rocky Mountain is the most-visited unit by a wide margin and Trail Ridge Road's seasonal closure (typically late October through Memorial Day) compresses Rocky Mountain visits into a five-month window. Mesa Verde is open year-round but cliff dwelling tours are seasonal and reservation-driven. Great Sand Dunes is best in spring or fall when daytime sand-surface temperatures are tolerable.

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Colorado map with place names

Colorado National Parks map: labeled satellite map, showing 4 locations: Black Canyon Of The Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain
Colorado's 4 designated National Parks. Dots mark general locations, not entrances. This map does not show every NPS source record in the directory below. Map: National Sites Guide, CC BY 4.0.

Customize or download the Colorado map. Change the names, pins and background, or download a ready-made PNG or SVG.

NPS source records in Colorado.

Colorado has 17 records in our combined NPS metadata and visitor-statistics registry: 5 National Monuments · 4 National Historic Trails · 3 National Historic Sites · 3 National Parks · 1 National Recreation Area · 1 National Park & Preserve. This is a source-record count, not the Park Service's official system-unit census. Combined 5-year-average annual visits: 7,447,255 (multi-state units count their full visits in every state they touch, see methodology). The most-visited record is Rocky Mountain National Park at about 4.24M annual visits.

Map of the broader NPS source-record directory
Every National Park Service site in Colorado, mapped. Each glowing marker is one site, placed at its real coordinates and colored by type. Select a marker for its yearly visits and a link, or use the filters to show or hide a group. 13 of 17 units are mapped here; long-distance trails and units centered in another state are in the table below.
National Park Service sites in Colorado, mapped Interactive map of Colorado showing the location of 13 National Park Service sites, colored by type: national parks, monuments and memorials, historic sites, recreation areas and seashores, rivers, trails and parkways, and other sites. It includes the National Parks Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, Mesa Verde National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Each site is also listed with its yearly visits in the table below the map.

Marker positions are each unit's official NPS coordinates. State outline: U.S. Census cartographic boundary (public domain). Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.

UnitDesignation5-yr avg visitsBusiest month
Rocky Mountain National Park National ParkROMO 4,235,378 July
Curecanti National Recreation Area National Recreation AreaCURE 956,425 July
Mesa Verde National Park National ParkMEVE 499,331 June
Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve National Park & PreserveGRSA 495,684 June
Colorado National Monument National MonumentCOLM 487,587 May
Dinosaur National Monument National MonumentDINO 334,989 July
Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park National ParkBLCA 309,837 June
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument National MonumentFLFO 68,244 June
Hovenweep National Monument National MonumentHOVE 29,695 May
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site National Historic SiteBEOL 18,130 May
Amache National Historic Site National Historic SiteAMCH 6,442 September
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site National Historic SiteSAND 5,513 May
California National Historic Trail National Historic TrailCALI — —
Old Spanish National Historic Trail National Historic TrailOLSP — —
Pony Express National Historic Trail National Historic TrailPOEX — —
Santa Fe National Historic Trail National Historic TrailSAFE — —
Yucca House National Monument National MonumentYUHO — —

Methodology

Rows come from our combined NPS metadata and Visitor Use Statistics registry, not the Park Service's official census of 433 managed system units. Per-record visit counts come from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025; the "5-year average visits" column is the mean of 2021-2025 Recreation Visits. Multi-state records are listed under every state they touch, and their full visit total appears in each state. Official National Park counts use the central 63-park classification rather than the source designation label alone. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.

Adjacent reading

Independence

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.

Last updated · 2026-09-10