What is the most visited national park in the US? Answers to your biggest park questions
Most people have heard of Yosemite’s Half Dome or Yellowstone's Old Faithful, but how about the largest national park? Or which gets the most visitors each year?
USA TODAY rounded up answers to the most popular park questions to help travelers better understand these national treasures and share some fun trivia with family and friends on their next park visit.
Here are 10 things to know about America’s national parks.
What is the most visited national park in the US?
Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in America, by far. Last year, it drew nearly three times the visitors as the second-most visited park, Grand Canyon, according to National Park Service data.
These were the 15 most visited national parks in 2023:
Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee - 13,297,647
Grand Canyon in Arizona - 4,733,705
Zion in Utah - 4,623,238
Yellowstone in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming - 4,501,382
Rocky Mountain in Colorado - 4,115,837
Yosemite in California - 3,897,070
Acadia in Maine - 3,879,890
Grand Teton in Wyoming - 3,417,106
Joshua Tree in California - 3,270,404
Olympic National Park in Washington - 2,947,503
Glacier National Park in Montana - 2,933,616
Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio - 2,860,059
Indiana Dunes in Indiana - 2,765,892
Hot Springs in Arkansas - 2,502,967
Bryce Canyon in Utah - 2,461,269
The least visited national park is Gates of the Arctic in Alaska, which drew 11,045 visitors last year even though there are no roads to get there.“Even for Alaska, Gates of the Arctic is sort of above all the rest in terms of difficulty of reaching it, solitude, remoteness,” Peter Christian, chief spokesperson for Public Affairs for the National Park Service’s Alaska region, previously told USA TODAY.
'Finding hidden gems': America's least visited national parks
What are the big 3 national parks?
When people think of national parks, three loom large in many minds: Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite.
However, they’re neither the three most visited national parks nor the largest in size.
What is the largest US national park?
Wrangell-St. Elias is the biggest of all. It’s more than three times the size of Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks combined.
The three biggest national parks are all in Alaska:
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve - 13.2 million acres
Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve - nearly 8.5 million acres
Denali National Park & Preserve - more than 4.7 million acres
The smallest national park is Gateway Arch in Missouri, at roughly 91 acres.
What is the newest national park?
New River Gorge, in West Virginia, became America’s newest national park in December 2020.
It was previously designated a national river.
Story continues below.
How many national parks are in the US?
There are 63 national parks across the country, including two in U.S. territories.
USA TODAY has been spotlighting each one in a yearlong series that shares insights and tips from the park rangers who know them best.
Has anyone been to all 63 national parks?
Yes. Multiple people have accomplished this bucket list feat, including Stefanie Payne, who visited all 63 parks within one year and wrote about them in "100 Things to See in the National Parks."
“The Alaska parks are the ones that are deepest in my heart because they are in such a remote and rugged landscape,” she previously told USA TODAY. “It's really just mind-bending to be in some of those areas, especially when the mountains are so big and the glaciers and the terrain is really challenging and you start to see what you're made of.”
What state has the best national parks?
Many national parks fans point to Utah’s Mighty Five: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion, but best is subjective.
“I'm sure every park is like, ‘Everywhere is the best.’ It's all so good, right?” Petrified Forest National Park park ranger Jessica Barnett told USA TODAY.
Which state has the most number of national parks?
California has the most national parks, with nine: Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, Sequoia, and Yosemite.
Death Valley actually straddles California and Nevada. A number of America’s national parks span multiple states.
What state has no national park?
There are no national parks in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont or Wisconsin.
However, all 50 states are home to other National Park Service units, like national battlefields and seashores, which are sometimes called parks.
The National Park System currently has 429 units. The most recent addition is Amanche National Historic Site in Colorado. Travelers can find sites by state on the National Park Service’s website.
What is a national park a park for?
When Yellowstone became America’s first national park in 1872, Congress designated it “a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” but national parks have come to offer and protect much more.
“The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations,” according the mission shared on its website.
To help protect these spaces, visitors are asked to leave no trace.
Contributing: Bailey Schulz, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: National parks by the numbers: America’s oldest, largest, most visited
