What Is The No. 1 National Park? Here Are The 10 Most (and Least) Visited In 2024.

Yosemite staff protest Pres. Trump's firings with upside-down flag

Yosemite National Park staff hung an upside-down U.S. flag on El Capitan summit to protest staff firings at the park by the Trump administration.

• National parks saw a record-breaking 331.8 million visitors in the last year, a 2% increase from the previous year.
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains the most visited national park, while Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve had the fewest visitors.
• Recent layoffs within the National Park Service have raised concerns about potential impacts on visitor experiences and park preservation efforts.

Recent National Park Service layoffs have prompted some travelers to reconsider visiting national parks this year, but newly released statistics show the parks are more popular than ever. 

A record high 331.8 million people visited national parks last year, bringing billions of tourism dollars to the park gateway communities, according to NPS data published Wednesday.  

That’s nearly a million more than the previous high of 330.9 million visitors in 2016 and 2% more than the nearly 325.5 million visits recorded in 2023. 

The numbers encompass the entire National Park System, which includes everything from national rivers to national monuments. The Park Service calls them all parks even though only 63 have national park in their name, like Acadia and Zion. 

Here are the biggest takeaways from the new data. 

In addition to the systemwide high, 28 parks also set individual visitation records last year. They include: 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains the most popular of the 63 national parks. More than 12.1 million people visited the expansive park last year. 

However, two other NPS sites saw even more visitors: Golden Gate National Recreation Area recorded nearly 17.2 million recreational visits, and Blue Ridge Parkway recorded 16.7 million visits last year. 

• Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska - 11,907 visits
• North Cascades National Park in Washington - 16,485 visits
• Kobuk Valley National Park in Alaska - 17,233 visits
• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska - 18,505 visits
• Isle Royale National Park in Michigan - 28,806 visits
• Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska - 36,230 visits
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska - 81,670 visits
• Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida - 84,873 visits
• Great Basin National Park in Nevada - 152,068 visits
• Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota - 199,030 visits

There are 433 parks within the National Park System, but only 63 are national parks in name. 

The most recent additions are Frances Perkins National Monument in Maine, Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in Pennsylvania, Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument in Illinois, Blackwell School National Historic Site in Texas, and Amache National Historic Site in Colorado. All five joined the system last year. 

Roughly 1,000 National Park Service employees were laid off around Valentine’s Day as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government workforce. 

Park advocates like the independent National Parks Conservation Association and Coalition to Protect National Parks warned that fewer staff will lead to a reduction in the level of service and ability to protect and share park resources. Some parks have already trimmed hours or offerings, and some park visitors have already reported longer waits to enter parks ahead of their busy season. 

A National Park Service spokesperson told USA TODAY: “As always, NPS will continue to provide critical services and deliver excellent customer service. Our teams are dedicated to staffing to meet the evolving needs of our visitors, ensuring memorable and meaningful experiences for all. We’re committed to keeping access to national parks seamless, so that everyone can enjoy the beauty and wonder of these treasured landscapes across the country.”