Yellowstone National Park in the United States – the country’s oldest national park - attracted a total of approximately 4.7 million visitors in 2024. The park received over three million visitors annually since 2008 and reached its visitation peak in 2021.

In 2024, the number of visitors to national parks and sites in the United States varied by type. There were approximately 94.3 million visitors to National Parks in the U.S. in 2024.

In 2024, Yosemite National Park welcomed a total of 4.1 million visitors. This was an increase from the previous year, when the park had 3.9 million visitors. Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park is a large national forest located in central California. It was founded in 1864 and boasts over 1,200 square miles of vast wilderness, glaciers and winter sports. The park is known for the famous El Capitan rock formation that is popular among climbers around the world. Yosemite is among the most visited national parks in the U.S. with other big names such as Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Zion National Park. Looking at attendance at park attractions and similar sites in the United States, national parks attracted the largest number of visitors in 2023. Climbing and Hiking in the U.S. Rock climbing and hiking is a popular pastime at parks like Yosemite. Hiking and climbing have been increasing in popularity across the United States. In 2024, the number of people participating in hiking in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 63.4 million individuals. Moreover, hiking was also the most popular outdoor activity in the U.S. followed by fishing in 2023.

The United States National Parks

Discover America's Natural Wonders

About this dataset

The United States is home to 63 national parks, each with its own unique story and natural wonders to explore. This dataset provides information on all of the national parks in the country, including the state in which each park is located, the date when it was established, its total area, the number of recreation visitors it receives each year, and a description of its key features. Whether you're looking to discover America's hidden gems or simply want to find a new place to explore, this dataset is a great resource for planning your next adventure

How to use the dataset

This dataset has been designed to provide information on the 63 national parks in the United States. It includes data on the park name, location, date established, area, recreation visitors, and description. This dataset can be used by researchers interested in studying the national parks of the United States, as well as by individuals planning a visit to one or more of these parks

Research Ideas

• Creating a map of all 63 national parks in the US
• Determining which states have the most national parks
• Planning a road trip to visit all 63 national parks

License

License: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) - Public Domain Dedication No Copyright - You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. See Other Information.

Columns

File: df_1.csv | Column name | Description | |:--------------|:--------------| | 0 | |

File: df_4.csv

File: df_3.csv | Column name | Description | |:--------------------|:--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | State | The state in which the national park is located. (String) | | Total parks | The total number of national parks in the state. (Integer) | | Exclusive parks | The number of national parks that are exclusive to the state. (Integer) | | Shared parks | The number of national parks that are shared with other states. (Integer) |

File: df_2.csv | Column name | Description | |:----------------|:---------------------------------------------| | Name | The name of the national park. (String) | | Image | An image of the national park. (URL) | | Location | The location of the national park. (String) | | Description | A description of the national park. (String) |

File: df_5.csv | Column name | Description | |:------------------------------------------------------|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | vteFederal protected areas in the United States | A list of all federal protected areas in the United States. (List) | | vteFederal protected areas in the United States.1 | A list of all federal protected areas in the United States, including the state in which each park is located, the total number of parks in that state, the number of exclusive parks in that state, and the number of shared parks in that state. (List) |

With approximately **** million recreational visits in 2024, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, located in California, was the most visited National Park Service site in the United States. Meanwhile, the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia, was the second most visited site in the country.

This dataset is used for the analysis in the publication entitled "Using data derived from cellular device locations to estimate visitation to natural areas: an application to the U.S. National Park system". It includes cell data purchased from Airsage Inc. at the monthly resolution for years 2018 and 2019 for 38 park units in the U.S. National Park system, corresponding monthly visitation obtained from the NPS Stats (https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/), and park attributes that are considered to affect the relationships between Cell and NPS data in the analysis.

Glacier National Park in the United States attracted over 3.2 million visitors in 2024. This figure shows a slight increase from the previous year's value of 2.93 million.

Travel Trends collects and displays stats on popular tourists destinations and National Parks including Glacier National Park.

Visitor statistics................................

National parks are key for conserving biodiversity and supporting people´s well-being. However, anthropogenic pressures challenge the existence of national parks and their conservation effectiveness. Therefore, it is crucial to assess how people perceive national parks in order to enhance socio-political support for conservation. User-generated data shared by visitors on social media provide opportunities to understand how people perceive (e.g. preferences, feelings, opinions) national parks during nature-based recreational experiences. In this study, we applied methods from automated natural language processing to assess visitors' sentiment when describing experiences in Instagram posts geolocated inside four national parks in South Africa. We found that visitors' sentiment was positive, and mostly included emotions such as joy, anticipation, trust and surprise, with only a small occurrence of posts with negative feelings. Appreciation of nature, in association with a diverse set of other aspects, such as activities, geographical features and tourist attractions, was used to describe experiences related to nature, wilderness, traveling, holidays and adventures. The type of nature-based experience described by visitors was park specific, revealing different profiles of parks providing wildlife or scenery experiences. Findings support and highlight the societal role of national parks in providing visitors with opportunities to develop positive connections with nature. Social media data may be used to understand visitors' perceptions, and how the image of national parks is constructed by users in the virtual social environment. This may help inform management for promoting a high quality tourism experience, as well as conservation marketing aimed at fostering socio-political support for national parks and their long-term conservation effectiveness.

Taiwan Number of Tourist: NP: Shei-pa National Park data was reported at 82,522.000 Person in May 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 93,769.000 Person for Apr 2018. Taiwan Number of Tourist: NP: Shei-pa National Park data is updated monthly, averaging 73,780.000 Person from Jan 2007 (Median) to May 2018, with 137 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 219,275.000 Person in Feb 2012 and a record low of 23,714.000 Person in Sep 2008. Taiwan Number of Tourist: NP: Shei-pa National Park data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Taiwan – Table TW.Q007: Number of Tourists By Tourist Attractions.

Travel Trends collects and displays stats on popular tourists destinations and National Parks including Grand Canyon National Park.

Annual visitor records were downloaded for each NPS unit within the study area (Visitor Use Statistics, NPS 2015). NPS [National Park Service]. 2015. NPS Stats: National Park Service visitor use statistics. National Park Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C., USA.

This point dataset was created to show the visitor center locations in Rocky Mountain National Park. The point locations were extracted from the NPS FMSS. Edits were made by Glenn Hoffman at ROMO in November 2016 to incorporate the NPS Core Data Standard dated 08/10/2016.

In 2024, the number of recreational visits to U.S. National Park Service sites reached ***** million. This represented an increase over the previous year's figure of ***** million.

Large updates for Joshua Tree National Park base data that is used across many created maps, applications, and Story maps.The Park Boundary data has been reviewed and confirmed for accuracy, ensuring the delineations of Joshua Tree National Park are up to date. This boundary information is crucial for demarcating park land from surrounding areas and is essential with management regulations and visitor information.The Park Trails data has been updated to reflect changes in trail conditions, new trails, or modifications to existing routes. This data was updated using GNSS data collection with sub-meter accuracy. The trail names, difficulty level and current conditions are clearly marked to aid visitors in planning their hiking and climbing routes. These updates help enhance visitor safety and experience by providing accurate information regarding trail accessibility. The Visitor Center data point feature layer has been updated to included any changes in locations or functionality. This information assists visitors in locating the nearest visitor center for guidance, informational resources and support during their visit.Regular updates are taken care of by the GIS staff at Joshua Tree National Park to ensure that all data remains accurate and accessible to visitors and staff.The corresponding NPS DataStore on Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA) reference is Park feature Updates for Park Boundary, Trails and Visitor Centers at Joshua Tree National Park

Annual visitation statistics for national parks and national historic sites in Canada.

Climate change will affect not only natural and cultural resources within protected areas but also tourism and visitation patterns. The U.S. National Park Service systematically collects data regarding its 270+ million annual recreation visits, and therefore provides an opportunity to examine how human visitation may respond to climate change from the tropics to the polar regions. To assess the relationship between climate and park visitation, we evaluated historical monthly mean air temperature and visitation data (1979–2013) at 340 parks and projected potential future visitation (2041–2060) based on two warming-climate scenarios and two visitation-growth scenarios. For the entire park system a third-order polynomial temperature model explained 69% of the variation in historical visitation trends. Visitation generally increased with increasing average monthly temperature, but decreased strongly with temperatures > 25°C. Linear to polynomial monthly temperature models also explained historical visitation at individual parks (R2 0.12-0.99, mean = 0.79, median = 0.87). Future visitation at almost all parks (95%) may change based on historical temperature, historical visitation, and future temperature projections. Warming-mediated increases in potential visitation are projected for most months in most parks (67–77% of months; range across future scenarios), resulting in future increases in total annual visits across the park system (8–23%) and expansion of the visitation season at individual parks (13–31 days). Although very warm months at some parks may see decreases in future visitation, this potential change represents a relatively small proportion of visitation across the national park system. A changing climate is likely to have cascading and complex effects on protected area visitation, management, and local economies. Results suggest that protected areas and neighboring communities that develop adaptation strategies for these changes may be able to both capitalize on opportunities and minimize detriment related to changing visitation.

About this Dataset

Number of visitors to U.S. National Parks. Source: U.S. National Parks

Category

Government

Keywords

Parks,nationalparks,recreation

Row Count

226

Price

Free

Rocky Mountain National Park, Visitor Centers - Public for Open DataNational Park Service Open DataIRMA Data Store Reference