These were the 10 most visited National Parks in 2023
Alec Sills-TrauschThe latest numbers from the National Park Service detail which National Parks were the most visited in 2023. To no one’s surprise, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a fan favorite on the East Coast, prevailed again, with more than 13M visitors topping the list of the most visited National Parks.
In 2023, 325 million people visited National Park Service destinations, which include 11 different designations. Of that number, less than a third (28%) visited the National Parks, with National Recreation Areas coming in second at 16%. Overall, there was a 4% increase from 2022.
Below are the most visited National parks in 2023.
What were the 10 Most Visited National Parks in 2023?
Below are the 10 most visited National Parks last year.
1. Great Smoky Mountains NP – 13,297,647
2. Grand Canyon NP – 4,733,705
3. Zion NP – 4,623,238
4. Yellowstone NP – 4,501,382
5. Rocky Mountain NP – 4,115,837
6. Yosemite NP – 3,897,070
7. Acadia NP – 3,879,890
8. Grand Teton NP – 3,417,106
9. Joshua Tree NP – 3,270,404
10. Olympic NP – 2,947,503
Who just missed the top 10
As with all rankings and lists, there will be those who you can’t believe didn’t make it or, in this case, weren’t visited more.
Just missing the top 10 of the most visited National Parks were Glacier National Park (11th with 2.9M, Cuyahoga Valley National Park (12th with 2.8M), Indiana Dunes National Park (13th with 2.76M), Hot Springs National Park (14th with 2.5M), and Bryce Canyon National Park (15th with 2.46M).
Final Thoughts on the Most Visited National Parks in 2023
The one I find fascinating is how Olympic National Park had 2.9M visitors while Mt. Rainier, about the same distance from Seattle, had over 1.3M fewer people visit. To me, Mt. Rainier is far more picturesque and memorable than the Olympic.
If you look at the bottom of the list, seeing the Alaskan ones as the least visited is unsurprising. Those are incredibly difficult to reach, and most require a flight to access.
Complete List of the 65 National Parks
| Park | Rank | Recreation Visits | % of Total | |
| Great Smoky Mountains NP | 1 | 13,297,647 | 14.39% | |
| Grand Canyon NP | 2 | 4,733,705 | 5.12% | |
| Zion NP | 3 | 4,623,238 | 5.00% | |
| Yellowstone NP | 4 | 4,501,382 | 4.87% | |
| Rocky Mountain NP | 5 | 4,115,837 | 4.45% | |
| Yosemite NP | 6 | 3,897,070 | 4.22% | |
| Acadia NP | 7 | 3,879,890 | 4.20% | |
| Grand Teton NP | 8 | 3,417,106 | 3.70% | |
| Joshua Tree NP | 9 | 3,270,404 | 3.54% | |
| Olympic NP | 10 | 2,947,503 | 3.19% | |
| Glacier NP | 11 | 2,933,616 | 3.18% | |
| Cuyahoga Valley NP | 12 | 2,860,059 | 3.10% | |
| Indiana Dunes NP | 13 | 2,765,892 | 2.99% | |
| Hot Springs NP | 14 | 2,502,967 | 2.71% | |
| Bryce Canyon NP | 15 | 2,461,269 | 2.66% | |
| Gateway Arch NP | 16 | 2,422,836 | 2.62% | |
| New River Gorge NP & PRES | 17 | 1,707,223 | 1.85% | |
| Mount Rainier NP | 18 | 1,674,294 | 1.81% | |
| Hawaii Volcanoes NP | 19 | 1,620,294 | 1.75% | |
| Shenandoah NP | 20 | 1,576,008 | 1.71% | |
| Arches NP | 21 | 1,482,045 | 1.60% | |
| Capitol Reef NP | 22 | 1,268,861 | 1.37% | |
| Death Valley NP | 23 | 1,099,632 | 1.19% | |
| Badlands NP | 24 | 1,046,400 | 1.13% | |
| Saguaro NP | 25 | 1,010,906 | 1.09% | |
| Sequoia NP | 26 | 980,567 | 1.06% | |
| Everglades NP | 27 | 810,189 | 0.88% | |
| Canyonlands NP | 28 | 800,322 | 0.87% | |
| Haleakala NP | 29 | 791,292 | 0.86% | |
| Theodore Roosevelt NP | 30 | 746,862 | 0.81% | |
| White Sands NP | 31 | 729,096 | 0.79% | |
| Glacier Bay NP & PRES | 32 | 703,659 | 0.76% | |
| Mammoth Cave NP | 33 | 654,450 | 0.71% | |
| Kings Canyon NP | 34 | 643,065 | 0.70% | |
| Wind Cave NP | 35 | 592,459 | 0.64% | |
| Biscayne NP | 36 | 571,242 | 0.62% | |
| Crater Lake NP | 37 | 559,976 | 0.61% | |
| Petrified Forest NP | 38 | 520,491 | 0.56% | |
| Great Sand Dunes NP & PRES | 39 | 512,219 | 0.55% | |
| Big Bend NP | 40 | 509,129 | 0.55% | |
| Mesa Verde NP | 41 | 505,194 | 0.55% | |
| Denali NP & PRES | 42 | 498,722 | 0.54% | |
| Lassen Volcanic NP | 43 | 418,978 | 0.45% | |
| Redwood NP | 44 | 409,105 | 0.44% | |
| Carlsbad Caverns NP | 45 | 394,121 | 0.43% | |
| Kenai Fjords NP | 46 | 387,525 | 0.42% | |
| Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP | 47 | 357,069 | 0.39% | |
| Virgin Islands NP | 48 | 343,685 | 0.37% | |
| Pinnacles NP | 49 | 341,220 | 0.37% | |
| Channel Islands NP | 50 | 328,746 | 0.36% | |
| Congaree NP | 51 | 250,114 | 0.27% | |
| Guadalupe Mountains NP | 52 | 227,340 | 0.25% | |
| Voyageurs NP | 53 | 220,825 | 0.24% | |
| Great Basin NP | 54 | 143,265 | 0.16% | |
| Dry Tortugas NP | 55 | 84,285 | 0.09% | |
| Wrangell-St. Elias NP & PRES | 56 | 78,305 | 0.08% | |
| North Cascades NP | 57 | 40,351 | 0.04% | |
| Katmai NP & PRES | 58 | 33,763 | 0.04% | |
| Isle Royale NP | 59 | 28,965 | 0.03% | |
| Kobuk Valley NP | 60 | 17,616 | 0.02% | |
| Lake Clark NP & PRES | 61 | 16,728 | 0.02% | |
| National Park of American Samoa | 62 | 12,135 | 0.01% | |
| Gates of the Arctic NP & PRES | 63 | 11,045 | 0.01% |