By state · MT

National Parks in Montana.

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

By Nicholas Major · Last updated

Montana's NPS flagship is Glacier National Park — the most-visited unit in the state and one of the most-visited mountain parks in the network. Other Montana NPS units include Big Hole National Battlefield, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Bighorn Canyon NRA, Grant-Kohrs Ranch, and Nez Perce (shared with several other states). Yellowstone's northern entrances are in Montana but Yellowstone itself is administered as a Wyoming-anchored park. Glacier Park International (FCA), Missoula (MSO), and Bozeman (BZN) anchor different parts of the network. Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road typically opens in late June and closes by mid-October — the road is the park's signature experience and the bottleneck for most visits. Vehicle reservations are required during peak season; check the official NPS Glacier page for current rules. July through mid-September is the practical summer window.

Every NPS unit in Montana.

Montana's 10 NPS units: 2 National Historic Sites · 2 National Parks · 1 National Recreation Area · 1 National Battlefield · 1 National Geologic Trail · 1 National Historic Trail · 1 National Monument · 1 National Historical Park. Combined 5-year-average annual visits: 8,284,900 (multi-state units count their full visits in every state they touch — see methodology). The most-visited unit is Yellowstone National Park at about 4.43M annual visits.

UnitDesignation5-yr avg visitsBusiest month
Yellowstone National Park National ParkYELL 4,431,841 July
Glacier National Park National ParkGLAC 3,053,808 July
Nez Perce National Historical Park National Historical ParkNEPE 343,582 June
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area National Recreation AreaBICA 220,619 July
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument National MonumentLIBI 152,251 June
Big Hole National Battlefield National BattlefieldBIHO 45,574 July
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site National Historic SiteGRKO 25,409 July
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site National Historic SiteFOUS 11,816 June
Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail National Geologic TrailIAFL — —
Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail National Historic TrailLECL — —

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