By state · UT

National Parks in Utah.

By Nicholas Major · Last updated

Utah's NPS footprint is anchored by the "Mighty 5" National Parks, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef, plus Glen Canyon NRA, Cedar Breaks, Natural Bridges, Rainbow Bridge, Hovenweep, Timpanogos Cave, Dinosaur, Golden Spike, and a handful of National Historic Sites. Salt Lake City (SLC) is the main anchor; Las Vegas (LAS) is closer to Zion and Bryce. The Colorado Plateau dominates southern Utah's NPS network, high-desert sandstone and slickrock at 4,000 to 9,000 feet elevation. Zion is the most-visited park and runs a mandatory shuttle from spring through fall. April through May and September through October are the best visiting windows for the southern parks; summer high temperatures push into the 100s°F at low elevations, and winter brings snow and reduced services at the higher-elevation parks.

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Utah map with place names

Utah National Parks map: labeled satellite map, showing 5 locations: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion
Utah's 5 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 Utah map. Change the names, pins and background, or download a ready-made PNG or SVG.

NPS source records in Utah.

Utah has 17 records in our combined NPS metadata and visitor-statistics registry: 6 National Monuments · 5 National Parks · 4 National Historic Trails · 1 National Recreation Area · 1 National Historical Park. This is a source-record count, not the Park Service's official system-unit census. Combined 5-year-average annual visits: 16,096,851 (multi-state units count their full visits in every state they touch, see methodology). The most-visited record is Zion National Park at about 4.86M annual visits.

Map of the broader NPS source-record directory
Every National Park Service site in Utah, 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. 16 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 Utah, mapped Interactive map of Utah showing the location of 16 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 Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion 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
Zion National Park National ParkZION 4,857,321 June
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area National Recreation AreaGLCA 3,929,828 June
Bryce Canyon National Park National ParkBRCA 2,277,194 June
Arches National Park National ParkARCH 1,545,566 May
Capitol Reef National Park National ParkCARE 1,342,558 May
Canyonlands National Park National ParkCANY 821,122 May
Cedar Breaks National Monument National MonumentCEBR 703,334 July
Dinosaur National Monument National MonumentDINO 334,989 July
Timpanogos Cave National Monument National MonumentTICA 121,053 July
Natural Bridges National Monument National MonumentNABR 74,915 May
Golden Spike National Historical Park National Historical ParkGOSP 52,790 May
Hovenweep National Monument National MonumentHOVE 29,695 May
Rainbow Bridge National Monument National MonumentRABR 6,486 July
California National Historic Trail National Historic TrailCALI — —
Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail National Historic TrailMOPI — —
Old Spanish National Historic Trail National Historic TrailOLSP — —
Pony Express National Historic Trail National Historic TrailPOEX — —

Utah National Parks, ranked by visits.

Zion National Park is Utah's most-visited National Park at about 4.86M visits a year. Canyonlands National Park is the state's least visited at about 821K. This comparison includes official National Parks only, not every NPS source record in the state.

  1. 1 ZionJune peak · annual average 4.86M
  2. 2 Bryce CanyonJune peak · annual average 2.28M
  3. 3 ArchesMay peak · annual average 1.55M
  4. 4 Capitol ReefMay peak · annual average 1.34M
  5. 5 CanyonlandsMay peak · annual average 821K
Bar length compares 2021-2025 average annual recreation visits. The table shows exact averages, 2025 totals, and each park's busiest month.
#National Park5-yr avg2025 visitsBusiest month
1 Zion National Park 4,857,321 4,984,525 June
2 Bryce Canyon National Park 2,277,194 1,967,367 June
3 Arches National Park 1,545,566 1,511,740 May
4 Capitol Reef National Park 1,342,558 1,388,476 May
5 Canyonlands National Park 821,122 796,057 May

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