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Once January rolls around, we here at the Outdoor Society like to compile a list of the most-visited National Parks around the country. For the author of this post, this day is a holiday, giving me reason to spend hours pouring over stats that few people care about. Every year, aside from a few jumps and dives, not much changes. However, these lists can help you know which parks are popular and which ones are seeing a drop in visitation, giving you more of a chance to find silence and solitude on the trails you love.
In 2019, the National Parks of America had another popular year, inspiring hundreds of millions with the nature, history and culture found throughout these stunning stretches of public lands. While not every park has completed their visitation statistics for 2019, the top 12 parks are in and listed below.
This year, there was some interesting movement in the rankings, as well as some dramatic visitation drops and increases in the top 12 parks. Yosemite saw a 10% jump compared to 2018, mainly because the park and surrounding areas weren’t on fire like they were in 2018. The increase, coupled with decreased visitation in Yellowstone for 2019, flipped these two in the rankings. An interesting side note is that Grand Canyon National Park witnessed a 6.4% decrease in visitation compared with 2018. Overall, five on the top 12 parks saw a decrease of visitation compared to the previous year.
Give this list a glance and see how many of the country’s most popular parks you have visited!
#1: Great Smoky Mountain National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 12,547,743
2018 Recreation Visits: 11,421,200
2018 Rank: 1
Visitation Change from 2018: +9.9%
#2: Grand Canyon National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 5,974,410
2018 Recreation Visits: 6,380,495
2018 Rank: 2
Visitation Change from 2018: -6.4%
#3: Rocky Mountain National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 4,670,054
2018 Recreation Visits: 4,590,493
2018 Rank: 3
Visitation Change from 2018: +1.7%
#4: Zion National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 4,488,268
2018 Recreation Visits: 4,320,033
2018 Rank: 4
Visitation Change from 2018: +3.9%
#5: Yosemite National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 4,422,861
2018 Recreation Visits: 4,009,436
2018 Rank: 6
Visitation Change from 2018: +10%
#6: Yellowstone National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 4,020,288
2018 Recreation Visits: 4,115,000
2018 Rank: 5
Visitation Change from 2018: -1%
#7: Acadia National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 3,437,736
2018 Recreation Visits: 3,537,575
2018 Rank: 7
Visitation Change from 2018: -1.1
#8: Grand Teton National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 3,405,615
2018 Recreation Visits: 3,491,151
2018 Rank: 8
Visitation Change from 2018: -2.5%
#9: Olympic National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 3,245,806
2018 Recreation Visits: 3,104,455
2018 Rank: 9
Visitation Change from 2018: +4.6%
#10: Glacier National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 3,049,839
2018 Recreation Visits: 2,965,309
2018 Rank: 10
Visitation Change from 2018: +2.9%
#11: Joshua Tree National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 2,988,548
2018 Recreation Visits: 2,942,382
2018 Rank: 11
Visitation Change from 2018: +1.6
#12: Bryce Canyon National Park
2019 Recreation Visits: 2,594,903
2018 Recreation Visits: 2,679,478
2018 Rank: 12
Visitation Change from 2018: -3.2%
