Great Smoky Mountains was the most visited national park in 2025 with 11,527,939 visits, more than twice as many as any other park. Kobuk Valley in Alaska was the least visited, with 7,786. Below is every one of the 63 U.S. national parks, ranked by 2025 recreation visits from the National Park Service's own figures, with one thing each park is known for.
The numbers say a lot about how people travel. A handful of parks absorb half the crowds, and some of the most spectacular country in the system sees fewer visitors in a year than Great Smoky Mountains sees on a single busy weekend.
In this article
- 2025 by the numbers
- All 63 national parks ranked by 2025 visits
- The most visited: half the crowds in ten parks
- The least visited, and why
- Getting there by road
- Giving back to the places you visit
- Park covers and stickers
- Frequently asked questions
2025 by the numbers
- 93,892,121 recreation visits across the 63 national parks, by our sum of the NPS figures.
- The top 10 parks took 52 percent of those visits.
- Great Smoky Mountains alone drew about 20 times as many visits as the ten least visited parks combined.
- The whole National Park System, including parkways, recreation areas, and memorials, recorded about 323 million recreation visits, down 2.7 percent from the 2024 record, according to the National Park Service's March 2026 release.
All 63 national parks ranked by 2025 visits
Recreation visits for calendar year 2025, from the NPS Annual Park Ranking Report. Where we make a spare tire cover and sticker badge for the park, they are linked after the fact.
| Rank | National park | 2025 visits | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Great Smoky Mountains Tennessee & North Carolina |
11,527,939 | One of the few places to see synchronous fireflies flash in unison in early summer. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 2 |
Zion Utah |
4,984,525 | Hikers need a permit, awarded by lottery, to climb Angels Landing. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 3 |
Yellowstone Wyoming, Montana & Idaho |
4,762,988 | The first national park, established in 1872. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 4 |
Grand Canyon Arizona |
4,430,653 | About 277 river miles long and roughly a mile deep. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 5 |
Yosemite California |
4,278,413 | Yosemite Falls, at 2,425 feet, is among the tallest waterfalls in North America. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 6 |
Rocky Mountain Colorado |
4,171,431 | Trail Ridge Road tops out at 12,183 feet, one of the highest paved roads in the country. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 7 |
Acadia Maine |
4,079,318 | For part of the year, Cadillac Mountain is among the first places in the U.S. to see sunrise. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 8 |
Grand Teton Wyoming |
3,800,648 | The Grand Teton rises to 13,775 feet with no foothills in front of it. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 9 |
Olympic Washington |
3,584,187 | Three parks in one: glaciated peaks, temperate rainforest, and wild Pacific coast. |
| 10 |
Glacier Montana |
3,136,557 | Triple Divide Peak splits rainfall among three of the continent's major watersheds. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 11 |
Cuyahoga Valley Ohio |
3,025,325 | The Towpath Trail follows the route of the historic Ohio and Erie Canal. |
| 12 |
Joshua Tree California |
2,932,644 | Where two deserts, the Mojave and the Colorado, meet. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 13 |
Indiana Dunes Indiana |
2,629,497 | More than 1,100 native plant species on the shore of Lake Michigan. |
| 14 |
Hot Springs Arkansas |
2,494,611 | Set aside by Congress in 1832, 40 years before Yellowstone. |
| 15 |
Gateway Arch Missouri |
2,209,028 | The smallest national park, home to the 630-foot Gateway Arch. |
| 16 |
Bryce Canyon Utah |
1,967,367 | The largest concentration of hoodoos on Earth. |
| 17 |
New River Gorge West Virginia |
1,958,440 | The newest national park, designated in December 2020. |
| 18 |
Hawaii Volcanoes Hawaii |
1,877,854 | Home to Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. |
| 19 |
Shenandoah Virginia |
1,682,152 | Skyline Drive runs 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge. |
| 20 |
Mount Rainier Washington |
1,635,342 | The most glaciated peak in the contiguous United States. |
| 21 |
Arches Utah |
1,511,740 | More than 2,000 documented natural stone arches. Tire cover · Sticker |
| 22 |
Capitol Reef Utah |
1,388,476 | Historic orchards in Fruita where visitors can pick fruit in season. |
| 23 |
Sequoia California |
1,378,337 | The General Sherman Tree is the largest tree on Earth by volume. |
| 24 |
Death Valley California & Nevada |
1,320,134 | Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America. |
| 25 |
Redwood California |
1,202,480 | Protects the tallest trees on Earth, the coast redwoods. |
| 26 |
Badlands South Dakota |
1,139,361 | One of the richest fossil beds in the world. |
| 27 |
Haleakala Hawaii |
853,711 | The summit rises above 10,000 feet, and sunrise viewing requires a reservation. |
| 28 |
Saguaro Arizona |
847,749 | Saguaro cactuses can grow over 40 feet tall and live more than 150 years. |
| 29 |
Canyonlands Utah |
796,057 | The White Rim Road is a roughly 100-mile four-wheel-drive loop. |
| 30 |
Kings Canyon California |
779,791 | The General Grant Tree is known as the Nation's Christmas Tree. |
| 31 |
Everglades Florida |
778,198 | The only place on Earth where alligators and crocodiles live side by side. |
| 32 |
Glacier Bay Alaska |
740,044 | Tidewater glaciers, with most visitors arriving by cruise ship or boat. |
| 33 |
Theodore Roosevelt North Dakota |
729,893 | Named for the president who ranched in these North Dakota badlands. |
| 34 |
Mammoth Cave Kentucky |
660,734 | The longest known cave system in the world, with more than 400 miles mapped. |
| 35 |
White Sands New Mexico |
659,742 | The largest gypsum dunefield in the world. |
| 36 |
Crater Lake Oregon |
632,242 | The deepest lake in the United States, at 1,943 feet. |
| 37 |
Wind Cave South Dakota |
606,258 | The first cave to become a national park, in 1903. |
| 38 |
Big Bend Texas |
568,104 | Follows 118 miles of the Rio Grande along the U.S.-Mexico border. |
| 39 |
Denali Alaska |
543,300 | Denali is the tallest peak in North America, at 20,310 feet. |
| 40 |
Lassen Volcanic California |
504,777 | All four types of volcano are found in the park. |
| 41 |
Biscayne Florida |
486,567 | About 95 percent of the park is water. |
| 42 |
Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands |
471,074 | Covers roughly 60 percent of the island of St. John. |
| 43 |
Mesa Verde Colorado |
463,130 | About 600 cliff dwellings built by Ancestral Pueblo people. |
| 44 |
Great Sand Dunes Colorado |
432,498 | The tallest sand dunes in North America. |
| 45 |
Kenai Fjords Alaska |
425,369 | Nearly 40 glaciers flow from the Harding Icefield. |
| 46 |
Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico |
410,778 | Brazilian free-tailed bats spiral out of the cave at dusk in summer. |
| 47 |
Pinnacles California |
343,208 | One of the places where endangered California condors fly free. |
| 48 |
Petrified Forest Arizona |
315,951 | The only national park with a stretch of historic Route 66. |
| 49 |
Congaree South Carolina |
287,833 | The largest intact old-growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the Southeast. |
| 50 |
Black Canyon of the Gunnison Colorado |
250,086 | The Painted Wall is the tallest cliff in Colorado. |
| 51 |
Channel Islands California |
227,186 | About 145 plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth. |
| 52 |
Guadalupe Mountains Texas |
206,423 | Guadalupe Peak, at 8,751 feet, is the highest point in Texas. |
| 53 |
Voyageurs Minnesota |
206,326 | Nearly 40 percent water, and explored mostly by boat. |
| 54 |
Great Basin Nevada |
161,210 | Bristlecone pines here are more than 4,000 years old. |
| 55 |
Wrangell-St. Elias Alaska |
108,840 | The largest national park, at 13.2 million acres, bigger than Switzerland. |
| 56 |
Dry Tortugas Florida |
89,355 | Fort Jefferson is the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas. |
| 57 |
North Cascades Washington |
46,925 | More than 300 glaciers, the most of any U.S. park outside Alaska. |
| 58 |
National Park of American Samoa American Samoa |
43,258 | The only U.S. national park south of the equator. |
| 59 |
Katmai Alaska |
34,479 | The brown bears of Brooks Falls, famous from Fat Bear Week. |
| 60 |
Isle Royale Michigan |
29,091 | Home of the longest-running study of wolves and moose in the world. |
| 61 |
Lake Clark Alaska |
19,778 | No roads in, and two active volcanoes, Iliamna and Redoubt. |
| 62 |
Gates of the Arctic Alaska |
14,923 | Lies entirely north of the Arctic Circle, with no roads or trails. |
| 63 |
Kobuk Valley Alaska |
7,786 | Arctic sand dunes and one of the great caribou migrations. |
The most visited: half the crowds in ten parks
Great Smoky Mountains sits in a class of its own. It charges no entrance fee, and it is within a day's drive of a huge share of the country, so it gets repeat visits the western parks never will.
After that, the list reads like a road trip bucket list: Zion, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Acadia, Grand Teton, Olympic, and Glacier. Every one of the top ten drew more than three million visits. Several manage those crowds with timed entry or reservations in peak season, so check the park's own page before you go.
A few names further down surprise people. Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio, Indiana Dunes, Hot Springs in Arkansas, and Gateway Arch in St. Louis all rank in the top 15. They sit near large cities, so locals visit again and again, which is exactly what visit counts measure.
The least visited, and why
Five of the ten least visited parks are in Alaska, and almost all of the bottom ten share one thing: you cannot simply drive in.
- Kobuk Valley (7,786), Gates of the Arctic (14,923), and Lake Clark (19,778), Alaska: no road access. Most visitors fly in on air taxis.
- Isle Royale (29,091), Michigan: an island in Lake Superior reached by ferry or seaplane, and closed through the winter.
- Katmai (34,479), Alaska: floatplane or boat, and famous for the bears at Brooks Falls.
- National Park of American Samoa (43,258): in the South Pacific, a long flight from the mainland.
- North Cascades (46,925), Washington: rugged and mostly roadless inside the park itself.
- Dry Tortugas (89,355), Florida: about 70 miles west of Key West, by boat or seaplane only.
- Wrangell-St. Elias (108,840), Alaska: the largest national park in the country, with just two gravel roads in.
- Great Basin (161,210), Nevada: remote rather than hard to reach, with a paved scenic drive up Wheeler Peak.
Low numbers do not mean less to see. For many people, that is the whole appeal: big country, dark skies, and trails where you might not see another group all day.
Closer to home for us, Congaree in South Carolina ranks 49th with 287,833 visits. It protects the largest intact stretch of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the Southeast, and it is an easy drive from Columbia.
Getting there by road
Most park roads are paved and need nothing more than a normal car, but backcountry roads in places like Death Valley, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef can call for high clearance or four-wheel drive. Our guide to AWD vs 4WD in national parks covers which roads actually require it. How much of the backcountry stays open to vehicles is also a live question on public land right now, and our piece on the Roadless Rule and what it means for wheelers explains what is on the table.
Wherever you go, stay on designated roads and routes. Our trail etiquette guide covers the rest.
Giving back to the places you visit
Busy or quiet, every park depends on people who show up to take care of it. That is why we fund the Jeep Decal Store Trail Stewardship Grant: $250 every quarter for a volunteer trail project in the U.S., whether that is a trail cleanup, erosion repair, trailhead maintenance, or a litter haul.
- Who can apply: 4x4, Jeep, and overland clubs, side-by-side and ATV clubs, trail and park volunteer groups, friends-of-the-park organizations, Scout troops, and school and university outdoor clubs. No nonprofit status required, and no application fee.
- Deadlines: March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. Recipients are announced about two weeks after each deadline.
- How to apply: email info@jeepdecalstore.com with the subject "Trail Grant Application." Full details are on the grant page.
The grant launched in July 2026, and the first award will be made in October. If your group works a trail in or near any park on this list, we would like to hear about it.
Park covers and stickers
We make spare tire covers and vinyl sticker badges for 10 of the most visited parks, linked in the table above: Great Smoky Mountains, Zion, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Glacier, Joshua Tree, and Arches. Covers start at $69.99 in sizes from 27 to 37 inches, sticker badges are $4.99, and orders over $59.99 ship free.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most visited national park?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the Tennessee and North Carolina line, with 11,527,939 recreation visits in 2025. That is more than twice as many as the second most visited park, Zion, at 4,984,525. Great Smoky Mountains charges no entrance fee and sits within a day's drive of much of the eastern U.S.
What is the least visited national park?
Kobuk Valley National Park in Alaska, with 7,786 recreation visits in 2025. It has no roads, and most visitors arrive by air taxi. The next least visited are Gates of the Arctic and Lake Clark, also in Alaska and also reached by plane or boat.
How many national parks are there in the U.S.?
There are 63 national parks. The National Park Service manages more than 400 sites in total, including monuments, seashores, parkways, and historic sites, but only 63 carry the National Park designation.
How many people visited national parks in 2025?
The 63 national parks received 93,892,121 recreation visits in 2025, by our sum of the National Park Service figures. The whole park system, including parkways, recreation areas, and memorials, recorded about 323 million recreation visits, down 2.7 percent from the record set in 2024.
Which least visited national parks can you drive to?
Great Basin in Nevada, the 54th most visited, has a paved scenic drive. Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska, the largest national park, can be reached on two gravel roads, the McCarthy Road and the Nabesna Road. Guadalupe Mountains in Texas and Congaree in South Carolina are also easy drives. Most of the other least visited parks require a boat or a plane.
Source: National Park Service, Visitor Use Statistics, Annual Park Ranking Report, calendar year 2025 recreation visits, and the NPS 2025 visitation release of March 13, 2026. Totals and shares are our calculations from those figures. Park facts are drawn from each park's National Park Service website. The NPS updates visitation each spring, and we will update this ranking when the 2026 figures are released. Jeep Decal Store is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.
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