Public Interest in National Parks Remains Strong as Visits Top 323 Million in 2025

News and Adventure from Glacier National Park

The National Park Service announced last week that it recorded more than 323 million recreation visits in 2025, including over 13 million overnight stays, with 26 parks setting new visitation records.

Despite a 43-day partial government shutdown – the longest ever – the National Park Service worked to keep parks open and accessible whenever possible so visitors could continue to experience the nation’s natural and historic treasures.

Visitation data helps the National Park Service manage parks to provide safe, enjoyable visitor experiences while protecting the natural and cultural resources entrusted to its care. The Visitation Statistics Dashboard on NPS.gov provides recreation visit data for every park in the U.S. for 2025 and previous years—dating back to 1979 for some parks.

With at least one national park site in every state, the national park system offers opportunities for recreation, learning and inspiration to visitors of all ages. For an in-depth look at 2025 visitation, including individual park figures, please visit the NPS Social Science web site.

This year, the National Park Service is celebrating 250 years of American freedom. We stand ready to welcome millions of visitors to national parks as we help the country celebrate this tremendous achievement.

Visitor Use by the Numbers

* 323,014,305 recreation visits (406 parks report visitation figures)

* 1,386,749,187 recreation visitor hours

*13,016,577 overnight stays

* 26 parks set visitation records

Top 10 – All Sites in the National Park System

1) Blue Ridge PKWY 16,533,753

2) Golden Gate NRA 15,748,676

3) Great Smoky Mountains NP 11,527,939

4) Natchez Trace PKWY 7,994,783

5) Lincoln MEM 7,743,295

6) Gateway NRA 7,696,939

7) Gulf Islands NS 7,576,923

8) George Washington MEM PKWY 6,732,932

9) Appalachian NST 6,215,118

10) Lake Mead NRA 6,135,586

Top 10 – National Parks

1) Great Smoky Mountains NP 11,527,939

2) Zion NP 4,984,525

3) Yellowstone NP 4,762,988

4) Grand Canyon NP 4,430,653

5) Yosemite NP 4,278,413

6) Rocky Mountain NP 4,171,431 (up 0.4%)

7) Acadia NP 4,079,318

8) Grand Teton NP 3,800,648 (up 4.8%)

9) Olympic NP 3,584,187

10) Glacier NP 3,136,557 (down 2.3%)

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Check out our online trail guides:

• Glacier National Park: HikinginGlacier.com

• Grand Teton National Park: TetonHikingTrails.com

• Rocky Mountain National Park: RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

• The new, improved and expanded edition on the history of hiking is now available on Amazon

Source: http://hikinginglacier.blogspot.com/2026/03/public-interest-in-national-parks.html