This news story about 2023 national parks visitation numbers is based on a February 22, 2024, National Park Service press release. You can read the original release here.
National parks have been popular destinations for many decades, with the most iconic parks taking up the lion’s share of visitors. And with parks like Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Zion, Great Smoky Mountains, and Grand Canyon all attracting more than 4 million visitors, this is still very much the case.
However, there is a noticeable trend toward visiting less-famous parks, as well as visiting national parks outside of the typical busy season(s).
“While overall visitation continues to grow across America’s national parks, visitors are increasingly discovering opportunities in less well-known parks and during park off-seasons,” the National Park Service said in a statement.
National Parks Recorded 325.5 Million Visits in 2023, 4% Increase Over Last Year
The National Park Service announced that 400 national parks reported a total of 325.5 million recreation visits in 2023, an increase of 13 million or 4% over 2022. This brings the total number of visits to national parks back to pre-pandemic levels.
In addition to the continued growth in overall numbers, NPS data shows that visitation is increasing in the more traditional off-seasons at many parks, with more visits in the spring and fall than seen in years past. And 20 parks—many of them less well-known—broke visitation records in 2023.
“From Kaloko Honokōhau National Historic Park in Hawai’i to Congaree National Park in South Carolina, parks are attracting more visitors each year to learn about our shared history,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said. “Our national parks tell our shared American story. I’m glad visitors are finding hidden gems, exploring in the off-season and finding new ways to have a great time in our national parks.”
Visitation figures and trends guide how the National Park Service manages parks to ensure the best experience possible for park visitors.
The Visitation Statistics Dashboard on NPS.gov provides recreational visit statistics for every park in the US for 2023 and also for previous years, dating back to 1979 for some parks.
Of the 429 parks in the National Park System, 400 parks counted visitors in 2023. For the first time, there are now parks reporting their visitation numbers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four US territories.
Five national parks began reporting in 2023, and this is the first year a park from Delaware is included.
20 Parks Broke Visitation Records in 2023
The 20 parks that broke visitation records in 2023 are:
- Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site
- Congaree National Park
- Dry Tortugas National Park
- Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve
- Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
- Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
- John Muir National Historic Site
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Kaloko Honokōhau National Historic Park
- Keweenaw National Historic Park
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Lincoln Memorial
- Longfellow House Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site
- Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park
- Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Memorial
- Minidoka National Historic Site
- Mojave National Preserve
- New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
- Nez Perce National Historic Park
- Ninety Six National Historic Site
Natural disasters and increasingly severe weather events affected visitation at some parks. Summer heat, wildland fires, storms and natural disasters, floods and landslides required a number of parks to close for periods of time in 2023. Some parks that were impacted include:
- Death Valley National Park was entirely closed August 20 until October 15 due to flood damage.
- Much of the Chilkoot Trail at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska was closed due to flooding in 2023.
- Haleakalā National Park closed the Summit and Kīpahulu districts from August 8 until August 25 due to wildland fires and high winds.
National Parks Make Up 28% of Total Visitation in National Park System
The 325.5 million recreation visits in the National Park System in 2023 are distributed across the system’s various designations.
As shown by the chart below, the “national parks” themselves were responsible for 28% of the total visitation numbers and are the most-visited type of park.
Other popular designations include “national recreation areas” (16%), “national memorials” (13%), and “national parkways” (10%).
You can find a wealth of national park visitation statistics on the Visitor Use Statistics Dashboard on the NPS website.