🏞️most visited national parks in the US, 2025 numbers

official 2025 NPS visitation, not vibes. Smoky Mountains isn't a surprise, some of the rest might be. as of the March 2026 release

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

no entrance fee, which is exactly why it beats every park on this list by double. fly into Knoxville (TYS), not Asheville

Zion National Park

Yellowstone National Park

closest airport is Bozeman, book that one over Jackson and rent a car, prices are wild the other way

Grand Canyon National Park

Yosemite National Park

fly into Fresno if you can get a seat, Merced's regional flights get cancelled constantly

Rocky Mountain National Park

Acadia National Park

Bar Harbor's little airport barely has flights, everyone drives up from Bangor instead

Grand Teton National Park

shares an airport with Yellowstone basically, Jackson Hole itself, expensive but saves 2 hours of driving

Olympic National Park

Glacier National Park

Glacier Park International in Kalispell, small airport. gate-checked my bag here once and got it back dented. worth it anyway

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