By state · WA

National Parks in Washington.

By Nicholas Major · Last updated

Washington has Olympic, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks, three of the lower-48 parks with the most distinct landscapes, plus San Juan Island, Ebey's Landing, Lake Roosevelt, and Lake Chelan NRA. Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) is the dominant anchor for all three parks. Olympic's geography spans temperate rainforest (Hoh), alpine peaks (Hurricane Ridge), and ocean coast in one park. Mount Rainier is the southernmost glaciated stratovolcano in the Cascade range, and its high-country road windows are tight. North Cascades is the least-visited of the three because its access roads (North Cascades Highway, Stehekin) are remote and seasonal. The Pacific Northwest's dry window runs roughly July through mid-September, the only reliably clear weather block for these parks. The rest of the year is rain.

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Washington map with place names

Washington National Parks map: labeled satellite map, showing 3 locations: Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic
Washington's 3 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 Washington map. Change the names, pins and background, or download a ready-made PNG or SVG.

NPS source records in Washington.

Washington has 17 records in our combined NPS metadata and visitor-statistics registry: 5 National Historical Parks · 3 National Historic Sites · 3 National Parks · 2 National Historic Trails · 1 National Historical Reserve · 1 National Geologic Trail · 1 National Recreation Area · 1 Affiliated Area. This is a source-record count, not the Park Service's official system-unit census. Combined 5-year-average annual visits: 8,222,551 (multi-state units count their full visits in every state they touch, see methodology). The most-visited record is Olympic National Park at about 3.08M annual visits.

Map of the broader NPS source-record directory
Every National Park Service site in Washington, 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 Washington, mapped Interactive map of Washington 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 North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park. Each site is also listed with its yearly visits in the table below the map. 2

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
Olympic National Park National ParkOLYM 3,080,171 August
Mount Rainier National Park National ParkMORA 1,644,420 July
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area National Recreation AreaLARO 1,176,192 July
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site National Historic SiteFOVA 964,072 July
San Juan Island National Historical Park National Historical ParkSAJH 524,645 July
Nez Perce National Historical Park National Historical ParkNEPE 343,582 June
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park National Historical ParkLEWI 270,041 July
Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Historical Park National Historical ParkKLSE 65,921 July
Whitman Mission National Historic Site National Historic SiteWHMI 51,715 May
Manhattan Project National Historical Park National Historical ParkMAPR 48,902 July
North Cascades National Park National ParkNOCA 30,354 July
Minidoka National Historic Site National Historic SiteMIIN 22,536 July
Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve National Historical ReserveEBLA — —
Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail National Geologic TrailIAFL — —
Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail National Historic TrailLECL — —
Oregon National Historic Trail National Historic TrailOREG — —
Wing Luke Museum Affiliated Area Affiliated AreaWING — —

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