Visitation to the National Park System continued to rebound in 2022, with the head count reaching 312 million, the highest tally since the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to the National Park Service. While 27 parks —2 percent of the 424 units in the National Park System— accounted for half of the 2022 visitation, year-over-year increases largely were seen across the system, the agency said Monday.

Topping the 2022 visitation list was the Blue Ridge Parkway, which counted 15,711,004 visitors last year, or 5.04 percent of the total visitation to the park system. Rounding out the top 10 in terms of visitation were Golden Gate National Recreation Area (15.6 million, 5.01 percent of system-wide visitation); Great Smoky Mountains National Park (12.9 milllion, 4.15 percent); Gateway National Recreation Area (8.7 million, 2.8 percent); the Lincoln Memorial (7.8 million, 2.51 percent); George Washington Memorial Parkway (7.4 million, 2.37 percent); Natchez Trace Parkway (6.5 million, 2.10 percent); Gulf Islands National Seashore (5.68 millon, 1.82 percent), Lake Mead National Recreation Area (5.57 million, 1.79 percent); and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (4.88 million, 1.57 percent).

National Park Service Director Chuck Sams was unavailable to discuss the numbers, but in a statement said that, "[W]e’re excited to see our efforts to increase visitation to parks in the off-season and in parks that are less well-known paying off. Many parks with record visitation in 2022 are on what we would call 'the road less traveled.' The subtle shift in park visitation is good for visitors, good for protecting parks, and good for local communities whose economies benefit from tourism dollars.” 

Visitation counts are made across 395 parks. The numbers are largely estimates. Still, the 2022 tally points to some interesting trends:

• Parks known for recreation opportunities drew 38 percent of visitation.
• Parks that primarily focus on United States history and cultural heritage drew 32 percent of total park visitation.
• Parks anchored by nature-based experiences drew 30 percent of visitation. 

Visitation Pattern Shifts  

• The group of 330-plus parks that make up 25 percent of overall visitation had a 4.6 percent increase in visitation from 2021 to 2022.
• The group of 37 parks that make up 25 percent of overall visitation had a 2 percent increase in visitation from 2021 to 2022.
• The group of 19 parks that make up 25 percent of overall visitation had a 10 percent increase in visitation from 2021 to 2022.
• The group of eight parks that make up 25 percent of overall visitation had a 1.2 percent increase in visitation from 2021 to 2022.

Other Interesting Tallies

• Parks with record visitation in 2022 are in the lower 50 percent of overall park visitation
• 3 parks had more than 10 million recreation visits
• 9 parks had more than five million recreation visits
• 75 parks had more than one million recreation visits
• Overnight stays rose to 13,254, 119 from 12,745,455 in 2021

The overall visitation tally likely would have been higher if not for floods that impacted visitation at Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Death Valley national parks, as well as Mojave National Preserve; wildfires that impacted Yosemite National Park, Valles Caldera National Preserve, and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Bandelier National Monument; hurricanes that at times led to closures of Canaveral National Seashore, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, Dry Tortugas National Park, Everglades National Park, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Gulf Islands National Seashore, and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, including Fort Caroline National Memorial, in Florida, and Fort Frederica National Monument, Fort Pulaski National Monument, and Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia; and even frigid winter weather late in the year that led to temporary closures of Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in North Dakota, Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, and the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in North Carolina.

Flooding that hit Yellowstone last June was behind the year-over-year drop in visitation there, going from 4.86 million in 2021 to 3.29 million last year. Grand Teton also saw a drop, from 3.88 million in 2021 to 2.8 million last year. Even the Blue Ridge Parkway dipped a bit, from 15.9 million in 2021 to 15.7 million last year.