National park visits grew more slowly than the U.S. population

Main numbers

• 72 million to 89 millionAverage visits a year to 62 of the 63 national parks, 1990s compared with 2015–24.
• 30.8% of all growthcame from the Utah Mighty 5: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef. Their visits went from 5,262,746 to 10,325,062 a year.
• Great Smoky MountainsMost visited national park every year since 1990. Only 15 parks have ranked in the top 10 (1990–2024).
• 17 parkshad fewer visits than in the 1990s. See the quiet parks and the counting-method notes.

Visit change compared with population

Each bar shows the change from the 1990s average to the 2015–24 average. The amber line is U.S. population growth (+24.8%). Parks with a bar that stops before the line grew more slowly than the population. Bold names are the Utah Mighty 5.

1. U.S. population+24.8%
2. Kobuk Valley+317.1%
3. Congaree+193.2%
4. Gates of the Arctic+133.9%
5. Joshua Tree+133.7%
6. Bryce Canyon+126.6%
7. Glacier Bay+114.2%
8. Dry Tortugas+108.3%
9. Wrangell-St. Elias+95.8%
10. Arches+92.5%
11. Zion+88.2%
12. Capitol Reef+87.3%
13. Canyonlands+84.2%
14. Lake Clark+83.4%
15. Great Basin+76.9%
16. Kenai Fjords+72.4%
17. Biscayne+55.0%
18. Theodore Roosevelt+54.5%
19. Glacier+52.9%
20. Big Bend+51.4%
21. Rocky Mountain+51.0%
22. Great Sand Dunes+50.8%
23. Pinnacles+45.5%
24. Crater Lake+43.1%
25. Grand Teton+40.1%
26. Yellowstone+37.5%
27. Acadia+36.2%
28. New River Gorge+35.8%
29. Death Valley+33.2%
30. Hot Springs+30.5%
31. Great Smoky Mountains+29.8%
32. Grand Canyon+27.8%
33. Black Canyon of the Gunnison+25.0%
34. Saguaro+24.7%
35. Hawaii Volcanoes+24.6%
36. Sequoia+23.6%
37. Indiana Dunes+23.0%
38. Redwood+21.1%
39. Denali+18.9%
40. Lassen Volcanic+17.9%
41. Yosemite+13.6%
42. Isle Royale+12.3%
43. Katmai+8.1%
44. Mount Rainier+7.2%
45. White Sands+5.3%
46. Voyageurs+1.0%
47. Channel Islands−1.6%
48. Olympic−1.7%
49. Guadalupe Mountains−3.4%
50. Cuyahoga Valley−5.8%
51. Everglades−7.1%
52. Kings Canyon−9.9%
53. Badlands−10.5%
54. Shenandoah−15.0%
55. Mesa Verde−16.8%
56. Wind Cave−17.4%
57. Carlsbad Caverns−27.1%
58. Petrified Forest−28.1%
59. Haleakala−30.3%
60. Gateway Arch−36.7%
61. Virgin Islands−52.2%
62. North Cascades−59.0%
63. Mammoth Cave−70.2%

62 of the 63 national parks

The 1990s average is the mean of 1990 to 1999. The recent average is the mean of 2015 to 2024, without 2020 and 2021. "Per-capita change" subtracts U.S. population growth (24.8%) from visit growth. It is an approximate comparison of visits per American, not a census ratio. National Park of American Samoa is not in the table, because IRMA has no 1990s data for it. Select a column name to sort the table.

Download the data as CSV (same columns).

Mighty 5 compared with the other national parks

The chart shows recreation visits as an index from 2005 to 2025, with 2010 = 100. The Utah Office of Tourism started the Mighty 5 campaign in March 2013. The dashed line shows when. The chart does not prove that the campaign caused the increase. Gas prices, the 2016 National Park Service centennial, and other factors also changed visitation.

Top 10 national parks by recreation visits

Bold names are the Utah Mighty 5.

Quiet parks (fewer visits than the 1990s)

17 of the 62 national parks in the data had a lower average number of recreation visits in 2015–24 (without 2020 and 2021) than in the 1990s.¹ Where np.guide has a field guide for the park, the park name is a link to it. The guides show less crowded places to go.

• Mammoth Cave NP (-70.2%)
• North Cascades NP (-59.0%)
• Virgin Islands NP (-52.2%)
• Gateway Arch NP (-36.7%)
• Haleakala NP (-30.3%)
• Petrified Forest NP (-28.1%)
• Carlsbad Caverns NP (-27.1%)
• Wind Cave NP (-17.4%)
• Mesa Verde NP (-16.8%)
• Shenandoah NP (-15.0%)
• Badlands NP (-10.5%)
• Kings Canyon NP (-9.9%)
• Everglades NP (-7.1%)
• Cuyahoga Valley NP (-5.8%)
• Guadalupe Mountains NP (-3.4%)
• Olympic NP (-1.7%)
• Channel Islands NP (-1.6%)

Methodology

• Source: NPS Visitor Use Statistics (IRMA), annual recreation visits for each park, exported October 2026. Sequoia (SEQU) and Kings Canyon (KICA) are separate units. National Park of American Samoa is not in any table or chart on this page, because IRMA has no 1990s rows for it.
• "1990s" is the mean of 1990 to 1999. "Recent" is the mean of 2015 to 2024, without 2020 and 2021 (COVID disruption).
• Recreation visits count entries, not unique visitors. One person who enters on two days counts as two visits.
• On this page, a "record" or peak year means the highest year since 1990, unless the text says otherwise. Gateway Arch had its peak in this period in 1996, with 3.65M visits. Its all-time high was about 4.6M in 1966.
• Death Valley visitation rose about 71% from 1990 to 2000. Much of this increase started before Death Valley became a national park in 1994. Do not treat the change of status as the only cause.
• Three parks changed how they count visits, so their years do not compare directly: Mammoth Cave (MACA), North Cascades (NOCA), and Virgin Islands (VIIS). The bars and ranks use the values these parks reported. Use caution with their trends.

¹ By this definition, 17 parks had fewer visits. Three of them (MACA, NOCA, VIIS) also have IRMA counting-method changes that make the drop look larger.

Sources

• NPS Visitor Use Statistics (IRMA). Annual Park Recreation Visitation report for each park. Park= takes the four-letter park code.
• U.S. population. Census Bureau data from FRED series POPTHM (annual mean of monthly estimates).
• Utah Office of Tourism. Announcement of the Mighty 5 campaign, 27 March 2013.

Cite this page

np.guide. "National park visitation trends." Updated 24 October 2026. https://np.guide/statistics/national-park-visitation-trends

Quotable summaries

National park visits grew 23% since the 1990s, slower than the U.S. population, which grew 25%.

Utah's Mighty 5 account for nearly a third of all national park visitation growth since the 1990s.

Joshua Tree now gets 2.3 times as many visits a year as it did in the 1990s.

About 17 of the 62 national parks with 1990s data get fewer visits today than they did in the 1990s.

Since 1990, only 15 national parks have been in the top 10 for visitation.

Yosemite's visits grew just 14% since the 1990s, which means fewer visits per American.