The full ranking
Of the 63 parks that carry the national park title, these drew the most visitors in 2024, a record year that pushed the National Park Service past 331 million recreation visits. Ranked by National Park Service recreation visits.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina)
Straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border, the Smokies drew about 12.2 million recreation visits in 2024, nearly triple any other national park, aided by free admission and dense population nearby.
Zion National Park (Utah)
Utah's red-rock canyon park edged out the Grand Canyon for second with roughly 4.9 million visits, drawn by the Narrows and Angels Landing.
Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)
Arizona's mile-deep chasm logged about 4.9 million recreation visits, narrowly third behind Zion in 2024.
Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
The world's first national park, spanning Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, drew roughly 4.7 million visits to its geysers and wildlife.
Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado)
Colorado's high-alpine park, threaded by Trail Ridge Road, recorded about 4.15 million recreation visits.
Yosemite National Park (California)
California's granite-walled Sierra park, famed for El Capitan and its waterfalls, drew roughly 4.12 million visits.
Acadia National Park (Maine)
Maine's rugged Atlantic coastline park, where Cadillac Mountain catches some of the first US sunrises, logged about 3.96 million visits.
Olympic National Park (Washington)
Washington's park of rainforests, glaciated peaks, and wild coast drew roughly 3.7 million recreation visits.
Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
The jagged Teton Range and its valley lakes drew about 3.6 million visits just south of Yellowstone.
Glacier National Park (Montana)
Montana's park of glacier-carved peaks and the Going-to-the-Sun Road rounded out the top ten with roughly 3.2 million recreation visits.
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