Editor's note: Which is the best national park out of the 59 in the National Park System? A very subjective question, but guest writer Sidney Chow, who writes about parks on his blog, Journey To All 59 National Parks, took out his calculator, park visitation figures, and the calendar to figure out rankings for all 59 national parks. Read on and see if you agree with his conclusions!
Which park is the best of the 59 official national parks in the U.S.? Would you believe my list is unbiased? Since each person enjoys different aspects of nature, lists like these are subjective and biased. Some people love mountain scenery and hiking, while others love the ocean or lakes. Some like majestic vistas while others love the intimacy of an island. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. But is there a way to objectively rank national parks?
All parks are not created equal. Some parks are better than others. I rate each park in my blog posts, but that is just my opinion, with all of my biases. So, how to rank national parks objectively?
Objectivity means using data. People vote with their feet, so do we use visitor count as THE measure of "best"? If that is the only criteria, this would be a short article. Great Smoky Mountains would be the best, end of debate. But not so fast! Is it fair to compare visitation of a park that is "easy" to visit to a park that is remote and hard to visit? While Great Smoky is a great park, most people would not rate it as the best national park.
The Most Popular National Parks
| Ten Most-Visited Parks | 2016 Visitation |
Population within 500 Miles (000) |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 11,312,786 | 107,003 |
| Grand Canyon National Park | 5,969,811 | 44,726 |
| Yosemite National Park | 5,028,868 | 45,949 |
| Rocky Mountain National Park | 4,517,585 | 14,131 |
| Zion National Park | 4,295,127 | 50,320 |
| Yellowstone National Park | 4,257,177 | 12,135 |
| Olympic National Park | 3,390,221 | 12,123 |
| Acadia National Park | 3,303,393 | 58,279 |
| Grand Teton National Park | 3,270,076 | 12,559 |
| Glacier National Park | 2,946,681 | 11,808 |
Gates of Arctic National Park/NPS, Cadence Cook
| Ten Least-Visited Parks | 2016 Visitation |
Population Within 500 miles (000) |
| Gates of the Arctic National Park | 10,047 | 537 |
| Kobuk Valley National Park | 15,500 | 242 |
| Lake Clark National Park | 21,102 | 623 |
| Isle Royale National Park | 24,966 | 760 |
| North Cascades National Park | 28,646 | 12,196 |
| National Park of American Samoa | 28,892 | 280 |
| Katmai National Park | 37,818 | 588 |
| Dry Tortugas National Park | 73,661 | 20,066 |
| Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 79,047 | 623 |
| Congaree National Park | 143,843 | 82,546 |
The 10 most-visited national parks have an average population of nearly 37 million within 500 miles (roughly a day's drive) while the 10 least-visited parks average just under 11 million people. The easier it is to get to a park, the more people will visit.
Distance from population centers is an important, but not the dominant, parameter to visitor count. Of the 10 most-visited parks, only three are in the top 10 of population within 500 miles. Closeness to people does not fully explain the popularity. Note that of the 10 least-visited parks, six do not have road access. A plane or a boat is required to visit, a big barrier for visitation. It doesn't mean these parks are necessarily less beautiful or attractive, but it takes more work and resources to visit.
There are clearly other factors at work. Visitor count by itself does not accurately reflect how "attractive" or how "great" a particular national park is. While every national park has its claim to fame, some are just "better" than others. When I mention "national parks," which parks do you think of first? Yellowstone? Yosemite? Grand Canyon? These parks are relatively remote and are not near population centers, yet they are famous and attract a lot of visitors.
The best parks should receive a lot of visitors adjusted for the effort required to visit. The more people willing to expend the effort to visit, the more attractive a park is. Visitor per population within 500 miles is a proxy for effort required. The higher the ratio, the more people think it's worthwhile to spend the effort to get there. This is the best proxy since we don't have data on the distance a visitor traveled to visit a park.
Congaree National Park/Harold Jerrell
The Least Popular Parks?
| Ten Lowest Visitor-Per-Population Parks | 2016 Visitors |
Population Within 500 Miles (000) |
2016 Visitors/500 Mile |
| Congaree National Park | 143,843 | 82,546 | 0.002 |
| North Cascades National Park | 28,646 | 12,196 | 0.002 |
| Great Basin National Park | 144,846 | 51,657 | 0.003 |
| Dry Tortugas National Park | 73,661 | 20,066 | 0.004 |
| Pinnacles National Park | 215,555 | 41,140 | 0.005 |
| Mammoth Cave National Park | 586,514 | 105,990 | 0.006 |
| Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 181,839 | 24,731 | 0.007 |
| Channel Islands National Park | 364,807 | 44,848 | 0.008 |
| Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park | 238,018 | 21,638 | 0.011 |
| Shenandoah National Park | 1,437,341 | 126,133 | 0.011 |
If we look at the ratio of visitors-to-population, these are the parks with the least number of visitors per population within a day's drive. Congaree, located in South Carolina, draws from a huge population of 82.5 million but only had 143,000 visitors in 2016, making it one of the least-visited. Perhaps not surprising since a large mosquito meter greets people at the visitor center. Dry Tortugas, despite being close to heavily populated South Florida, requires an expensive boat or plane ride, which discourages visitation. Channel Islands has the same problem, even though it's close to the megalopolis of Los Angeles.
Mammoth Cave is within a day's drive of 105 million people, yet draws less than 600,000 visitors. Perhaps the largest cave is not attractive enough.
Pinnacles is not far from San Jose, yet it's one of the least-visited parks, perhaps because it's also the newest and word has not gotten out yet, or is it because the spires are not dramatic enough?
Shenandoah is within a day's drive of more than one-third of the country, but ranked 17th in visitation, while nearby Great Smoky, with 19 million less people within 500 miles, is the most-visited park with nearly eight times the number of visitors. What explains the difference?
Great Basin has more people than Yosemite within 500 miles (50 million vs. 45 million), yet Yosemite has 35 times as many visitors. Perhaps it's because Yosemite is more spectacular.
When people think of national parks, these parks do not come to mind. They are just not as good.
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park/Rebecca Latson
The Most Popular Parks?
| Ten Highest Visitor-Per-Population Parks | 2016 Visitation |
Population Within 500 Miles (000) |
2016 Visitor/500 Mile |
| Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park | 1,887,580 | 1,360 | 1.388 |
| Denali National Park | 587,412 | 626 | 0.938 |
| Haleakala National Park | 1,263,558 | 1,360 | 0.929 |
| Glacier Bay National Park | 520,171 | 567 | 0.917 |
| Kenai Fjords National Park | 346,534 | 603 | 0.575 |
| Yellowstone National Park | 4,247,177 | 12,135 | 0.351 |
| Rocky Mountain National Park | 4,517,585 | 14,131 | 0.320 |
| Olympic National Park | 3,390,221 | 12,123 | 0.280 |
| Grand Teton National Park | 3,270,076 | 12,559 | 0.260 |
| Glacier National Park | 2,946,681 | 11,808 | 0.250 |
Let's look at the highest ratio of visitor-to-500-mile-population. Places with large tourist-to-resident ratio came out on top. Mega cruise ships bring tourists to Glacier Bay and they never set foot on the ground, while excursions bring visitors to Denali in the comfort of trains, buses, and hotels. Nearly 2 million tourists visit Alaska, compared with 742,000 residents.
Even more dramatic, 7.6 million tourists visit Hawaii compared to 1.4 million residents. It's no surprise that the two national parks in Hawaii are included in the top three slots on the list. High tourist-to-resident ratio explains why Alaska and Hawaii dominate this list.
Yellowstone, the first and perhaps the best-known national park, is the top park after the Hawaii and Alaska parks. It's not close to any population center, has a short season, yet attracts more than 4 million visitors from all around the world. Clearly, a lot of people are willing to spend the time and money to visit. That should count a lot.
Rocky Mountain is another diverse park that is very popular, especially since it's in Denver's backyard, where the residents have a penchant for outdoor pursuits. Similarly, Olympic is diverse and close to Seattle.
I've heard many experienced national park visitors say Glacier is the best and most underrated national park. It's remote, a long day's drive from Seattle and Salt Lake City, the two closest big cities, and has a short season. Yet, it receives nearly 3 million visitors a year.
When to Visit to Avoid the Crowd
When is the best time to visit a particular park? I hate crowds in national parks. Crowds are for cities. I balance lack of crowds and weather when I plan our trips to the more popular parks.
National park visitation varies widely. The most-visited (Great Smoky, at more than 11 million) has 1,100 times the visitors as the least (Gates of the Arctic, at just 10,000). There are more visitors counted in eight hours to Great Smoky than Gates of the Arctic counts in a year!
Likewise, there are dramatic differences in visitation depending on the time of year for a particular park. As you would expect, the parks in the north, where the weather is harsh in the winter, have the biggest difference between peak month and the low month.
Kenai Fjords National Park/NPS
| Name |
Peak Visitation Month |
2016 Peak Month Visitation |
Low Month Visitation |
2016 Low Month Visitors |
High to Low Ratio |
| Kenai Fjords National Park | July | 107,851 | January | 5 | 21,570.2 |
| Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | July | 25,520 | Janaury | 25 | 1020.8 |
| Glacier Bay National Park | August | 120,251 | January | 173 | 695.1 |
| North Cascades National Park | August | 9,782 | February | 16 | 611.4 |
| Isle Royale National Park | August | 8,878 | January | 26 | 341.5 |
| Denali National Park | July | 160,357 | January | 500 | 320.7 |
| Voyageurs National Park | July | 54,668 | December | 196 | 278.9 |
| Gates of Arctic National Park | August | 3,137 | November | 18 | 174.3 |
| Katmai National Park | July | 16,678 | January | 100 | 166.8 |
| Theodore Roosevelt National Park | July | 162,933 | December | 2,141 | 76.1 |
The parks with the least variation are in the south. The data on Kobuk Valley is suspect, even though it came from the National Park Service. The numbers look too round and I find it hard to believe 800 people visited this park inside the Arctic Circle in February when the other park inside the Arctic Circle, Gates of the Arctic, only had 18 visitors.
| Name | Peak Month |
2016 Peak Month Visitation |
Low Month |
2016 Low Month Visitation |
High to Low Ratio |
| Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park | July | 182,278 | September | 126,474 | 1.4 |
| Kobuk Valley National Park | October | 1,800 | February | 800 | 2.3 |
| Pinnacles National Park | April | 27,035 | October | 10,663 | 2.5 |
| Hot Springs National Park | July | 190,199 | February | 70,611 | 2.7 |
| Guadalupe Mountains National Park | March | 23,426 | January | 8,499 | 2.8 |
| Biscayne National Park | July | 70,830 | October | 24,114 | 2.9 |
| Congaree National Park | March | 19,387 | February | 6,556 | 3.0 |
| Joshua Tree National Park | March | 327,072 | June | 110,505 | 3.0 |
| Everglades National Park | March | 134,815 | September | 44,750 | 3.0 |
| Channel Islands National Park | July | 49,119 | January | 15,710 | 3.1 |
The most popular parks by visitors during their peak month all have significant differences between their peak month and low month. The ones with the biggest disparity (largest high-to-low ratio) often have tolerable weather but sparse crowds during spring and fall. Even though ranger programs are curtailed during the off season, parks that accommodate large crowds in the peak season often feel empty in the shoulder seasons. By plan, we visited these park in late September and October, when the weather is nice but the crowds are mostly gone. I can't imagine visiting Zion in July!
|
Name |
Peak Month |
2016 Peak Month Visitation |
Low Month |
2016 Low Month Visitation |
High to Low Ratio |
| Great Smoky Mountains | July | 1,464,456 | February | 353,532 | 4.1 |
| Yellowstone National Park | July | 995,917 | December | 19,685 | 50.6 |
| Rocky Mountain National Park | July | 912,507 | December | 91,831 | 9.9 |
| Grand Canyon National Park | July | 839,086 | February | 214,361 | 3.9 |
| Glacier National Park | July | 818,481 | December | 12,877 | 63.6 |
| Olympic National Park | August | 813,267 | December | 72,439 | 11.2 |
| Yosemite National Park | July | 780,728 | January | 139.780 | 5.6 |
| Grand Teton National Park | July | 758,253 | December | 38,329 | 19.8 |
| Acadia National Park | August | 735,945 | December | 14,111 | 52.2 |
| Zion National Park | July | 599,961 | January | 84,145 | 7.1 |
Yellowstone National Park/Kurt Repanshek
The Best National Parks
National park preferences are intensely personal, but some are "better" than others. There is a reason why some parks are well-known while others live on in obscurity. As we travel to all national parks and blog about our journey, many have told us, "I have never heard of that national park before" when I wrote about the lesser-known parks.
Casting personal preferences aside, how do we objectively settle the question of which park is "best"? Let's use data.
The method is based on visitor count and proximity to population, adjusted for difficulty of access. The easier people can get to a park, the more people will visit, all else being equal. The difference in the ratio tells us how desirable a park is. The score is adjusted to account for road access and tourist count where tourist number is material to the calculation.
| Park | Final Score | Total Score Rank |
| Yellowstone National Park | 100 | 1 |
| Glacier National Park | 80 | 2 |
| Rocky Mountain National Park | 73 | 3 |
| Grand Teton National Park | 64 | 4 |
| Olympic National Park | 58 | 5 |
| Denali National Park | 45 | 6 |
| Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park | 42 | 7 |
| Glacier Bay National Park | 42 | 8 |
| Grand Canyon National Park | 39 | 9 |
| Theodore Roosevelt National Park | 38 | 10 |
| Zion National Park | 33 | 11 |
| Haleakala National Park | 28 | 12 |
| Badlands National Park | 27 | 13 |
| Kenai Fjords National Park | 27 | 14 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 26 | 15 |
| Yosemite National Park | 25 | 16 |
| National Park of America Samoa | 21 | 17 |
| Arches National Park | 21 | 18 |
| Bryce Canyon National Park | 17 | 19 |
| Wind Cave National Park | 16 | 20 |
| Mount Rainier National Park | 16 | 21 |
| Acadia National Park | 15 | 22 |
| Katmai National Park | 15 | 23 |
| Joshua Tree National Park | 11 | 24 |
| Big Bend National Park | 11 | 25 |
| Capitol Reef National Park | 10 | 26 |
| Canyonlands National Park | 10 | 27 |
| Everglades National Park | 9 | 28 |
| Channel Islands National Park | 9 | 29 |
| Lake Clark National Park | 8 | 30 |
| Crater Lake National Park | 8 | 31 |
| Mesa Verde National Park | 8 | 32 |
| Kobuk Valley National Park | 7 | 33 |
| Saguaro National Park | 7 | 34 |
| Hot Springs National Park | 6 | 35 |
| Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 6 | 36 |
| Carlsbad Caverns National Park | 6 | 37 |
| Virgin Islands National Park | 6 | 38 |
| Death Valley National Park | 6 | 39 |
| Sequoia National Park | 5 | 40 |
| Biscayne National Park | 5 | 41 |
| Redwood National Park | 5 | 42 |
| Cuyahoga Valley National Park | 5 | 43 |
| Petrified Forest National Park | 4 | 44 |
| Great Sand Dunes National Park | 4 | 45 |
| Gates of the Arctic National Park | 4 | 46 |
| Dry Tortugas National Park | 4 | 47 |
| Voyageurs National Park | 3 | 48 |
| Lassen Volcanic National Park | 3 | 49 |
| Shenandoah National Park | 3 | 50 |
| Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park | 3 | 51 |
| Kings Canyon National Park | 3 | 52 |
| Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 2 | 53 |
| Isle Royale National Park | 2 | 54 |
| Mammoth Cave National Park | 1 | 55 |
| Pinnacles National Park | 1 | 56 |
| Great Basin National Park | 1 | 57 |
| North Cascades National Park | 0 | 58 |
| Congaree National Park | 0 | 59 |
Is anyone surprised Yellowstone is at the top of the list? It is the most famous and near the top of most people's list of favorite parks.
Glacier is mentioned by many experienced national park visitors as one of the best. It received nearly 3 million visitors in 2016 even though it's far from any major city.
While Denali and Glacier Bay are in remote Alaska, they benefit from cruise ship tourism that makes it relatively easy to visit. The highlight of many Alaskan cruises is a visit to Glacier Bay, without ever leaving the comfort of the cruise ship.
On the other side of the list, Congaree is within a day's drive of 82 million people, yet it's one of the least-visited parks. Perhaps the large "mosquito meter" inside the visitor center is an indicator.
The top-ranked parks are the most famous. They are famous for a good reason: They have the best, most diverse attractions. The data supports the reputation. The high visitation despite the remoteness is people voting with their time and money. Do you agree with the result? If you've been to many national parks, how close is this to your personal favorite?
Do You Agree With The Method Used?
What data would you use to rank parks? Leave a comment below and share your best national parks.
Join us at our travelogue as we visit all 59 national parks.
Comments
This is a very interesting article, indeed. I like the fact that measurable data was used, rather than opinion (of which there are many). Having visited Big Bend National Park four different times, I, personally, would rank it higher except I can attest that it is one of the least-visited national parks, even though it is an amazing place with tons of photo ops. Big Bend is out in the middle of nowhere, a good distance from any real population center (woe betide the person who gets a flat tire out there). Regarding The Best National Parks list, I find it interesting that Theodore Roosevelt National Park edged out Zion National Park, since I hear so much more about Zion. I also find it interesting that Denali National Park ranks right up there in the top 10. Denali is a good 4-hour drive from Anchorage, and once you are there, you really are in the middle of nowhere. The beauty of this national park, however, is undeniably overwhelming. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is also a really cool park - except that you have to fly or cruise to get there. The lure of active geological forces coupled with the amazing diversity (rainforest, stark volcanic landscapes, wildlife species found nowhere else) must make up for that. Thanks, again, for such an interesting article.
I understand that this article is just opinion like everything else but NOCA tied for least best NP is pretty LOL-able.
Ranking quality is subjective, for sure, but what other factors might drive popularity beside convenience and the herd instinct? For example, of the article's final 'Top Ten', the only park that does not contain at least 4000 vertical feet of topographic relief is Theodore Roosevelt. Perhaps this list partly results from the noted American obsession with 'bigness'?
I'd expect rather different lists with more factors included in the algorithm. How about the ratios of road miles to square miles in each park for a 'development / convenience' factor? Reverse that to fewest road miles plus trail miles per square mile for a sort of 'wilderness' index. Add each park's maintenance backlog and federal spending per visitor and the possibilities are endless, or maybe meaningless...
Perhaps you've heard about the statistician who drowned wading down a creek with an average depth of two feet ;o)
Interesting piece! This is very much an issue I've thought about a bunch.
I see two main issues with the analysis, though.
First, 500 miles is a huge radius. That's easily over 8 hours of driving. You don't do that for a weekend trip.
For example, the reason that Rocky Mountain National Park gets so many visitors is almost certainly in large part due to its proximity to the Denver metro area. It's only a 1.5-hour drive from Denver.
The reason the Smokies have so many visitors is almost certainly the number of people who live within a few hours' drive, not eight hours' drive. Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, and Columbia (plus other smaller cities) are all about three hours away. The fact that there are also tons of people within 500 miles isn't nearly as relevant. This screws up the ratios. For example, because Rocky Mountain National Park doesn't have nearly as many people within 3-8 hours' driving distance as the Smokies, it appears to have many more visitors per "nearby" (500-mile radius) resident than the Smokies. But it's the under-3-hours residents who are really important! I'd be very curious to see this analysis repeated with a narrower distance band, like 200 miles.
The second main issue is that this doesn't seem to take into account accessibility. For example, the reason North Cascades has so few visitors is simple: its boundaries are drawn to exclude almost all the road-accessible areas. (See map: https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/maps.htm) Within the "North Cascades National Park Complex" all the easily accessible areas are part of Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Those visitors are *looking* at the North Cascades peaks, but usually not setting foot. So the numbers don't really do justice here. Imagine if we had Yosemite Valley National Recreation Area and Yosemite Peaks National Park -- Yosemite Peaks would have significantly fewer visitors.
On this point, I did see the mention of "The score is adjusted to account for road access" but I'm not really sure what exactly that means / how the scores were adjusted.
I have to agree that any judging criteria which puts NOCA on the least favorite list is a criteria composed by someone who has spent zero time in the Wilderness Information Center in Marblemount.
How is the population within 500 miles of Kenai Fjords only 603? Seward is 120 miles from Anchorage, which has a population of 300,000 people.
Newfound Gap road is the shortest distance between North Carolina and TN. It runs through the Great Smoky Mtns National park. A good majority of the traffic is not visitor related to the Smokies at all. But they get to count it when time comes to ask for money. That road has held so much import that, in 1952, the TN state legislature placed a deed restriction on it before ceding that thoroughfare to the NPS. At that time, it was just a road through the mtns in a relatively new "National Park". A very important road, at that. Thank God for the shrewd and forward thinking Tennessee legislature. Monthly, I hear the NPS try to finagle some other way to get around the deed restriction so they can charge an entrance fee. Most recently, they have been trying to redesignate us 441 as some type of National scenic byway. NPS should stand for National Profit Service. If the postal service were as efficient at moneting their product, they might not be in the red perpetually.
It's been mentioned, but Great Smoky Mountains doesn't have a fee, and on top of that the visitation numbers may be skewed by a major road going through the park.
The most popular units in NPS are Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Blue Ridge Parkway. The latter's visitation numbers are boosted by it being free to enter as well as locals using parts of it like it's a city park.