Billion is a pretty big number. (To wit: A million seconds equals about 11 days, but a billion seconds is almost 32 years.) So it’s all the more incredible that the National Park Service’s records have registered over 14 billion visits since 1904. That’s nearly twice the planet’s population. It’s greater than the number of years the universe has existed at all. (See extraordinary photos of national parks from space.)
Those massive crowds keep coming because of the parks’ enduring power. Parks—“America’s best idea”—preserve wildlife and wild places, provide vital recreation, and create priceless cultural spaces. And while it’s well worth a trip to each of the system’s 418 parks (60 of which are “national”), there are certainly some heavy hitters among them.
Check out this photo gallery to learn about each of the top 10 most visited national parks, and explore this graphic to see how their stats stack up.
9
10
7
5
8
3
6
4
1
2
10,000,000
5,000,000
10 most visited
national parks, 2018
(by attendance)
400 mi
1,000,000
400 km
Yosemite
4,009,436
1.
Great Smoky Mountains
11,421,200
6.
2.
Grand Canyon
6,380,495
7.
Acadia
3,537,575
3.
Rocky Mountain
4,590,493
8.
Grand Teton
3,491,151
Olympic
3,104,455
4.
Zion
4,320,033
9.
5.
Yellowstone
4,115,000
10.
Glacier
2,965,309
9
GLACIER
10
2,965,309
WASH.
ME.
7
MONT.
OLYMPIC
3,104,455
YELLOWSTONE
5
ACADIA
4,115,000
IDAHO
3,537,575
WYO.
GRAND TETON
CALIF.
3,491,151
8
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
3
ZION
YOSEMITE
6
4,590,493
4,320,033
UTAH
4,009,436
4
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
1
COLO.
11,421,200
N.C.
GRAND CANYON
TENN.
2
6,380,495
ARIZ.
10,000,000
5,000,000
1,000,000
10 most visited
national parks, 2018
(by attendance)
This article is updated yearly with new information.