March of last year was when the national parks started picking up momentum toward another record-smashing year for visitation.
But this year is a different story, with the big units showing signs of a centennial hangover.
Celebrating its 100th birthday, the National Park Service had 300.97 million visits, setting attendance records for the third straight year. The national parks, the 59 units with national park designations helped pave the way with an increase of nearly 7 million over 2015. Twelve of the top 20 through March 2017 are behind their previous year’s pace.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the perennial No. 1 in attendance, is 141,522 behind the previous year’s pace. Everglades has had the biggest drop-off at 185,994. Large snowfall has contributed to a more than 100,000-visit loss at Yosemite.
*Top 20 National Parks, ranked monthly by cumulative attendance in 2017. With gain/loss from the same month last year.
Click a Month: March | February | January
March: Two Utah parks joined the standings with Arches debuting at No. 14 and Bryce Canyon at No. 19. … Biscayne And Yellowstone dropped out of the top 20, landing at Nos. 24 and 26. … Death Valley climbed five spots to No. 8. … Great Smoky Mountains and Grand Canyon had the biggest visitation months of the year at 778,211 and 504,295, respectively.
| Rank | National Park (previous month rank) | State(s) | Month | +/- 2014 |
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains (1) | NC/TN | 1,369,951 | -141,522 |
| 2 | Grand Canyon (3) | AZ | 960,551 | +52,792 |
| 3 | Joshua Tree (2) | CA | 904,808 | +147,086 |
| 4 | Zion (7) | UT | 1544,606 | -16,969 |
| 5 | Hawaii Volcanoes (4) | HI | 533,265 | +55,348 |
| 6 | Yosemite (5) | CA | 538,244 | -100,127 |
| 7 | Saguaro (6) | AZ | 374,702 | +64,278 |
| 8 | Death Valley (13) | CA | 368,056 | -4,425 |
| 9 | Rocky Mountain (8) | CO | 339,5444 | -15,841 |
| 10 | Olympic (10) | WA | 339,544 | -10,581 |
| 11 | Hot Springs (11) | AK | 312,550 | +44,884 |
| 12 | Haleakala (9) | HI | 293,670 | -24,310 |
| 13 | Cuyahoga Valley (12) | OH | 273,204 | -1,658 |
| 14 | Arches (NR) | UT | 189,075 | +16,442 |
| 15 | Everglades (14) | FL | 185,239 | -185,994 |
| 16 | Big Bend (17) | TX | 151,510 | +15,976 |
| 17 | Virgin Islands (15) | VI | 145,988 | -6,150 |
| 18 | Grand Teton (16) | WY | 143,140 | -12,794 |
| 19 | Bryce Canyon (NR) | UT | 142,863 | -7,8325 |
| 20 | Shenandoah (18) | VA | 120,108 | +26,405 |
Source: National Park Service.
February: Great Smoky Mountains almost doubled its visitation from February 2016. …Zion made the biggest jump, from No. 11 to No. 7. … Shenandoah debuted at No. 18, with Sequoia dropping out of the top 20. … Both No. 5 Yosemite and No. 14 Everglades fell at least 100,000 off the previous year’s pace.
| Rank | National Park (previous month rank) | State(s) | Month | +/- 2014 |
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains (1) | NC/TN | 840,082 | +106,820 |
| 2 | Joshua Tree (2) | CA | 500,263 | +69,613 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon (3) | AZ | 456,256 | +52,792 |
| 4 | Hawaii Volcanoes (4) | HI | 367,658 | +35,650 |
| 5 | Yosemite (5) | CA | 241,254 | -100,127 |
| 6 | Saguaro (6) | AZ | 236,110 | +43,811 |
| 7 | Zion (11) | UT | 199,130 | +2,525 |
| 8 | Rocky Mountain (9) | CO | 194,434 | -29,898 |
| 9 | Haleakala (7) | HI | 192,418 | -16,655 |
| 10 | Olympic (8) | WA | 190,489 | -10,591 |
| 11 | Hot Springs (10) | AK | 187,483 | +44,884 |
| 12 | Cuyahoga Valley (12) | OH | 168,979 | +11,512 |
| 13 | Death Valley (13) | CA | 158,774 | -4,425 |
| 14 | Everglades (14) | FL | 103,757 | -132,661 |
| 15 | Virgin Islands (16) | VI | 91,007 | -6,150 |
| 16 | Grand Teton (15) | WY | 89,774 | -10,998 |
| 17 | Big Bend (17) | TX | 76,775 | -4,117 |
| 18 | Shenandoah (NR) | VA | 63,718 | +26,405 |
| 19 | Biscayne (19) | FL | 62,348 | -4,070 |
| 20 | Yellowstone (18) | MT/WY/ID | 61,793 | -5,155 |
Source: National Park Service.
January: The parks actually are ahead of last year’s January pace, which is a surprise since only eight of the top 20 had gains. … Joshua Tree, at No. 2, had the biggest gain at 46,281, while No. 14 Everglades had the biggest loss from the previous year’s pace, minus 62,102.
| Rank | National Park (previous month rank) | State(s) | Month | +/- 2014 |
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains | NC/TN | 382,161 | +2,431 |
| 2 | Joshua Tree | CA | 240,124 | +46,281 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon | AZ | 217,102 | +27,999 |
| 4 | Hawaii Volcanoes | HI | 197,836 | +30,022 |
| 5 | Yosemite | CA | 120,025 | -19,755 |
| 6 | Saguaro | AZ | 106,868 | +17,945 |
| 7 | Haleakala | HI | 105,951 | -1,318 |
| 8 | Olympic | WA | 96,056 | -1,515 |
| 9 | Rocky Mountain | CO | 95,602 | -19,065 |
| 10 | Hot Springs | AK | 93,452 | +21,464 |
| 11 | Zion | UT | 88,561 | +4,416 |
| 12 | Cuyahoga Valley | OH | 85,195 | 0 |
| 13 | Death Valley | CA | 64,804 | -4,425 |
| 14 | Everglades | FL | 54,115 | -62,102 |
| 15 | Grand Teton | WY | 45,377 | -2,124 |
| 16 | Virgin Islands | VI | 43,527 | -2,311 |
| 17 | Big Bend | TX | 35,105 | -1,611 |
| 18 | Yellowstone | MT/WY/ID | 329,518 | -1,103 |
| 19 | Biscayne | FL | 29,490 | -6,265 |
| 20 | Sequoia | CA | 428,877 | -12,130 |
Source: National Park Service.
Click here for 2016 park standings