By state · MA

National Parks in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts's NPS network at a glance — units, designations, visit totals, and what shapes the visiting season.

By Nicholas Major · Last updated

Massachusetts has more than five NPS units spanning Atlantic coast and Revolutionary-era heritage. Headline units include Cape Cod National Seashore, Boston National Historical Park (the Freedom Trail), Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, Adams National Historical Park, Lowell National Historical Park, Minute Man National Historical Park, Saugus Iron Works, New Bedford Whaling, and Salem Maritime. Boston Logan (BOS) is the main anchor; Hyannis or Providence (PVD) reach Cape Cod. Cape Cod National Seashore is the year's busiest visitor surface in the state — peak demand June through August, fall shoulder September through October. Boston's historical units run year-round but seasonal interpretive programming concentrates in summer. The state's NPS network skews heavily toward Founding-Era and industrial-history interpretation; no official National Parks in the strict designation sense.

Every NPS unit in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts's 18 NPS units: 7 National Historical Parks · 6 National Historic Sites · 2 National Scenic Trails · 1 National Recreation Area · 1 National Seashore · 1 National Historic Trail. Combined 5-year-average annual visits: 14,372,300 (multi-state units count their full visits in every state they touch — see methodology). The most-visited unit is Appalachian National Scenic Trail at about 6.22M annual visits.

UnitDesignation5-yr avg visitsBusiest month
Appalachian National Scenic Trail National Scenic TrailAPPA 6,215,118 July
Cape Cod National Seashore National SeashoreCACO 3,860,066 August
Boston National Historical Park National Historical ParkBOST 2,173,404 July
Minute Man National Historical Park National Historical ParkMIMA 963,463 October
Salem Maritime National Historical Park National Historical ParkSAMA 435,452 October
Boston African American National Historic Site National Historic SiteBOAF 355,823 July
Lowell National Historical Park National Historical ParkLOWE 176,461 July
Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site National Historic SiteLONG 54,047 July
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site National Historic SiteSAIR 38,539 August
Adams National Historical Park National Historical ParkADAM 30,628 August
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area National Recreation AreaBOHA 22,087 July
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park National Historical ParkNEBE 15,102 July
Springfield Armory National Historic Site National Historic SiteSPAR 14,723 August
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site National Historic SiteFRLA 10,162 July
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site National Historic SiteJOFI 7,225 October
Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park National Historical ParkBLRV — —
New England National Scenic Trail National Scenic TrailNEEN — —
Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail National Historic TrailWARO — —

Methodology

Unit list and per-unit 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 NPS units (Yellowstone, Death Valley, Great Smoky Mountains and others) are listed under every state they touch; the per-unit visit count is the unit's total, not a per-state share. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.

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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 · 2026-05-19