Blog Post Jennifer Errick Feb 18, 2015

Park Service Releases Most-Visited National Park Sites of 2014

Yesterday, the National Park Service released data on the number of people who visited sites throughout the park system in 2014. The whopping 292.8 million total visits broke the previous record of 287.2 million visits set in 1987 and was 7 percent higher than the 273.6 million visits throughout the park system in 2013.

In addition to the overall totals, the agency released data on the most popular tourist areas throughout the National Park System last year.

The first list below shows the most-visited places in all 400-plus sites in the park system. The second list shows the most popular sites out of the 59 places officially designated as “national parks” (versus national monuments, national historic sites, national recreation areas, and other designations).

Most Visited Places in the National Park System

Park Site Number of Visitors
1. Golden Gate National Recreation Area 15,004,420
2. Blue Ridge Parkway 13,941,749
3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park 10,099,276
4. George Washington Memorial Parkway 7,472,150
5. Lincoln Memorial 7,139,072
6. Lake Mead National Recreation Area 6,942,873
7. Gateway National Recreation Area 6,021,713
8. Natchez Trace Parkway 5,846,474
9. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park    5,066,219
10.    Grand Canyon National Park 4,756,771

 

Most Visited National Parks

Park Site Number of Visitors
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park    10,099,276
2. Grand Canyon National Park 4,756,771
3. Yosemite National Park 3,882,642
4. Yellowstone National Park 3,513,484
5. Rocky Mountain National Park 3,434,751
6. Olympic National Park 3,243,872
7. Zion National Park 3,189,696
8. Grand Teton National Park 2,791,392
9. Acadia National Park 2,563,129
10.    Glacier National Park 2,338,528

See more on the National Park Service website.

About the author

  • Jennifer Errick Managing Editor of Online Communications

    Jennifer co-produces NPCA's award-winning podcast, The Secret Lives of Parks, writes and edits a wide variety of online content, and manages NPCA's style guide.