In 2014, there were 292.8 million visits to U.S. national parks, breaking the previous record set in 1987 when parks saw just over 287.2 million visits.
The official number of recreational visits to national parks in 2014 was 292,800,082, an increase of 19 million, or seven percent, from 2013 visitation of 273,630,895. Visitation in 2014 rebounded from a 2013 decline that included a 16-day government shutdown and many park closures for repairs after Superstorm Sandy hit the northeast in late 2012.
Several national parks saw record-breaking visitation in 2014, including Joshua Tree, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton and Glacier national parks. The re-opening of the Washington Monument, some 21 months after it was rocked by an earthquake and repaired, also added to 2014 visitation numbers.
Grand Canyon National Park bumped Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area out of the top 10 most visited areas in the national park system. The list of top ten national parks remains unchanged, although Rocky Mountain and Olympic National Parks switched places.
Top 10 most visited places in the National Park System:
Golden Gate National Recreation Area 15,004,420
Blue Ridge Parkway 13,941,749
Great Smoky Mountains National Park 10,099,276
George Washington Memorial Parkway 7,472,150
Lincoln Memorial 7,139,072
Lake Mead National Recreation Area 6,942,873
Gateway National Recreation Area 6,021,713
Natchez Trace Parkway 5,846,474
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park 5,066,219
Grand Canyon National Park 4,756,771
Top 10 most visited national parks:
Great Smoky Mountains National Park 10,099,276
Grand Canyon National Park 4,756,771
Yosemite National Park 3,882,642
Yellowstone National Park 3,513,484
Rocky Mountain National Park 3,434,751
Olympic National Park 3,243,872
Zion National Park 3,189,696
Grand Teton National Park 2,791,392
Acadia National Park 2,563,129
Glacier National Park 2,338,528
10 national parks with the lowest number of visitors (2014):
Salt River Bay National Historical Park & Ecological Preserve, Virgin Islands
Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas
Nicodemus National Historic Site, Kansas
Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site, California
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Monument, California
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, Texas
Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, Alaska
For more information, visit: www.nps.gov.
source: National Park Service
