More NPS Attendance Marks Fall 

With prominent parks such as Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion, Olympic and Grand Teton enjoying historic attendance, National Park Service has set visitation records for the second straight year, according to preliminary figures.

(NOTE: Clicking on an image will launch a full-sized gallery of some of the most visited national parks).

Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco continued to be the system’s most visited area with just under 15 million visitors.

The most recognizable parks, the 59 units with “national park” designation, accounted for almost half of the increase from last year, according to the preliminary figures. Official figures generally are released in mid-January.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park continued to be the national parks colossus, topping 10 million visitors for the fifth time in 80 years, and setting a park record with 10,665,416 visitors. That totaled topped a mark of 10,283,598 that stood since 1999. The park, which is in Tennessee and North Carolina, had four months with at least 1 million visitors – June (1.3 million), July (nearly 1.5 million), August (1.2 million) and fall-colored October (1.3 million).

Grand Canyon National Park proved a sturdy No. 2, drawing a park-record 5.5 million.

Rocky Mountain, Yosemite and Yellowstone also topped 4 million visitors, with only Yosemite just missing a park record. Zion, Olympic and Grand Teton National Parks topped 3 million visitors, each setting park records. In all 11 parks exceeded 2 million visitors and 22 had 1 million or more.

A month-by-month report of the most visited national parks begins after the trailer.

Top 20 National Parks, ranked monthly by cumulative attendance in 2015. With gain/loss from the same month last year.

Click a Month: December | November | October | September | August | July | June | May | April | March | February | January

December: Winter’s icy grip slowed Yellowstone’s visitation to a crawl, allowing it to be overtaken by Rocky Mountain and Yosemite in the final count. Rocky Mountain rode its centennial year to a No. 3 overall showing, at least two spots above its typical ranking. Hawaii Volcanoes had the third-biggest December among national parks, with 150,342 visitors, allowing it to hop into the No. 13 spot. Hot Springs also had a strong month, allowing it to pass Shenandoah and Mount Rainier, which fell to No. 18. Everglades became the 22nd park to top 1 million visitors.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

November: With a month to go, the National Park Service is only about 600,000 short of its 2014 visitation record of 292.8 million, virtually assuring the agency another milestone as it heads into its centennial.

Already, among its top “national park” designees, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain and Glacier have topped park records. The big daddy, Great Smoky Mountains, is about 100,000 short of another record; its fewest visitors was about 300,000 in February. It drew about 1.5 million in July alone.

The NPS so far in 2015 has five “national park” units topping 4 million in attendance and eight topping 3 million.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

October: A change of seasons did well for Great Smoky Mountains, which attracted 1,303,405 visitors in October — the fourth-highest monthly attendance of the year. GSM also holds the Nos. 1-3 highest months. … Meanwhile, the change of seasons slowed Yellowstone, which had surged into the second spot, only to slow considerably (194,804) in October. That allowed Grand Canyon, with 410,933 visitors during the month, to slip back to No. 2. … Haleakala moved back into the Top 20, into 19th, with Sequoia falling out. … Seven national parks already have topped 3 million in attendance, matching last year’s total.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

Septembert: Bolstered by its centennial celebration, Rocky Mountain drew 537,694 visitors in September, allowing it to leapfrog Yosemite into the No. 4 spot. … Great Smoky Mountains (978,105) and Yellowstone (680,213) continued to perform strongly with the month’s top figures. … Shenandoah sneaked back into the top 20 at No. 19. Haleakala dropped out of the standings.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

August, 2015, notes: Yellowstone followed up its record monthly attendance in July with a mammoth August to shoot into the No. 2 spot, overtaking Grand Canyon. … After holding down the No. 7 spot for three months, Olympic drew the month’s second-highest total, 860,611 visitors, to jump Zion into No. 6. Also hurdling Zion was Rocky Mountain, which cruised into its centennial with another strong month. … Sequoia (21 to 19) was the lone addition to the top 20. Everglades dropped out to No. 23.

Source: National Park Service.

July, 2015: With 980,702 visitors, Yellowstone busted its own monthly attendance record and had the third-largest month of any park this year, allowing it to leap frog over Zion and Rocky Mountain. The goliath, Great Smoky Mountains, remained in its own galaxy, drawing the year’s biggest month with 1,445,328 visitors. Five more parks — Grand Teton, Glacier, Cuyahoga Valley, Acadia and Hawaii Volcanoes — topped the million-visitor mark, making 13 in all. Standbys, Grand Teton and Glacier, moved into the top 10, up from 17th and 25th, respectively, in May. Mount Rainier joined the top 20 from No. 25 last week, while Saguaro dropped from 20 to No. 21.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

June, 2015: With summer comes the return of attendance patterns that we are accustomed. Visitation ramps up at Rocky Mountain National Park as it sails towards it centennial in September. Great Smoky Mountains posted the first million-visitor month of the year with 1,305,063 in June. Yellowstone had nearly 180,000 visitors to claim to No. 6. Two perennial top 10 parks, Glacier and Acadia, vaulted into the top 20 at No. 15 and 16. Capitol Reef and Shenandoah dropped out of the top 20.

Source: National Park Service.

May, 2015: Some order is restored as Yellowstone returns to the top 20 (at No. 12) for the first time since February. Great Smoky Mountains had another mammoth month with 900,900 visitors. Shenandoah and Capitol Reef broke the top 20 for the first time this year; Capitol Reef joins Zion, Arches and Bryce Canon as top 20 parks in Utah. Big Bend, Petrified Forest and Virgin Islands dropped out.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

April, 2015: Great Smoky Mountains had the largest monthly attendance of the year (724,987); Grand Canyon had the second-largest (320,348) to vault to No. 2 overall; Bryce Canyon surged into the top 20 with 101,133 for the month. Grand Canyon also was the second park to crack 1 million visitors for the year so far. Sequoia dropped out of the rankings.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

Mar, 2015: March is a great month for Arizona, with its pleasant weather contrasting to much of the country’s thawing out. Grand Canyon had the second-highest attendance with 353,920; Saguaro held steady at No. 11 and a third Arizona park, Petrified Forest, joined the list at No. 20. Chilly Yellowstone dropped from the top 20, as did Mount Rainier and Biscayne. Arches and Big Bend jumped into the rankings.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

Feb, 2015: Joshua Tree had a much-publicized incidence of vandalism by a street artist, but equally newsworthy was its 200,450 visitors in February, esclipsed in the system by only the 296,451 visitors at Great Smoky Mountains. A perennial top five park in annual attendance, Yellowstone debuts on the list at No. 20.

Source: National Park Service.

Back to Top

Jan, 2015: The titanous Great Smoky Mountains predictably jumped out quickly. Equally predictable was the strong showing of winter escape locations — Florida, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands. So popular a town grew around it in Arkansas, Hot Springs had the largest attendance gain from the previous January, 106,510.

Source: National Park Service.