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In 2025, America’s national parks were buzzing with activity, drawing over 323 million recreational visits, marking it as the sixth-highest year on record for park attendance.
Data just released highlights that over 40 park units, all under the stewardship of the National Park Service, attracted more than 2.2 million visitors each. Among these, three parks stood out, each drawing over 10 million visits.
While many can name some of the most frequented national parks across the United States, how does your own state rank in terms of park popularity?
Fortunately, the National Park Service provides detailed visitation statistics, shedding light on this very question.
It’s no surprise that California’s national parks led the nation in visits in 2025, with over 39 million people exploring its natural wonders. A significant portion of these visits—more than a third—were to the state’s most popular site, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This iconic park alone welcomed 15.7 million visitors, making it the second-most visited national site in the country that year.
California’s other heavy hitters, like Yosemite and Joshua Tree national parks, helped propel it to the top, edging out the District of Columbia by about 2 million visits.
Alternatively, the state with the fewest national park visits last year was New Hampshire. Only Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park reports visitation numbers, and its roughly 28,000 visits in 2025 come in well below others on the list.
The interactive map below shows each state’s most visited national park, as well as how many visits it and all of the parks in each state garnered last year.
In only 19 states did the most visited park record fewer than 1 million recreational visits in 2025, though not all national park units release visit data.
In some cases, multiple states lay claim to a national park. Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, for example, has segments in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It ranks as the most visited park in both states.
For other parks, visitation numbers may vary for each state’s segment. The Blue Ridge Parkway, the nation’s most visited national park, is in North Carolina and Virginia. It recorded 16.5 million visits last year – roughly 11.3 million in North Carolina and 5.2 million in Virginia. While Blue Ridge was North Carolina’s busiest park, George Washington Memorial Parkway sits atop Virginia’s list.
Though that parkway also goes through Maryland and the District of Columbia, regional visitation data isn’t available for those areas.
Being divided among multiple states kept one highly visited national park off the map above. NPS data shows the Appalachian National Scenic Trail received roughly 6.2 million visits in 2025. Across the 14 states that the trail treks through, it was only Connecticut’s most visited park, with nearly 390,000 visits. The segment with the most visits, about 1.5 million, was in Virginia.
It’s difficult to predict whether the National Park Service will see another record or near-record year of visitation in 2026, but events for America’s 250th anniversary could help fuel visits. For example, July 4th fireworks are set to return to Mount Rushmore this summer.
There is also a new line-up of fee-free days this year, dubbed “resident-only patriotic fee-free days,” in which U.S. residents can get into the 106 fee-charging parks for free. Remaining fee-free days include:
- Memorial Day, May 25
- Flag Day, June 14 (Also Trump’s birthday)
- Independence Day weekend, July 3-5
- The 110th birthday of the National Park Service, Aug. 25
- Constitution Day, Sept. 17
- Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday, Oct. 27
- Veterans Day, Nov. 11
Free admission was also in effect on February 16 in honor of Presidents’ Day.