I like data, I'm a bit of a nerd in that regard. One side of my brain likes the organic, unordered world of our natural national parks, but then the other side of my brain likes order and numbers and rankings. And so today, I present ranked visitation data for similar minded left-brained folks out there.
The National Park Service count people visiting the parks. Each park in the system has a method for figuring this out, which is actually a little more complex than clicking a counter every time a car drives past the entrance station. How do you separate recreation visits from, say, commuters which drive along a road that is managed by the park? Tough to answer, and that's why the NPS has statisticians on staff to figure it out. These statisticians once a year release a document that ranks all park units in the system based on visitation. Here is what they found for visits in 2006.
Top 10 Most Visited NPS Units
| Rank | Park Name | Visitation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Ridge PKWY | 18,953,478 |
| 2 | Golden Gate NRA | 13,486,824 |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains NP | 9,289,215 |
| 4 | Gateway NRA | 8,456,456 |
| 5 | Lake Mead NRA | 7,777,753 |
| 6 | George Washington MEM PKWY | 6,872,213 |
| 7 | Natchez Trace PKWY | 5,713,583 |
| 8 | Delaware Water Gap NRA | 5,254,216 |
| 9 | Cape Cod NS | 4,487,716 |
| 10 | Grand Canyon NP | 4,279,439 |
With 3 parkways and 4 recreation areas, that list doesn't necessarily represent the big, out-of-the-way destination parks that we typically picture when we think of a 'National Park'. And so, let me apply a filter to the data to isolate just the top ten National Parks.
Top 10 Most Visited National Parks
| Rank | Park Name | Visitation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains NP | 9,289,215 |
| 2 | Grand Canyon NP | 4,279,439 |
| 3 | Yosemite NP | 3,242,644 |
| 4 | Yellowstone NP | 2,870,295 |
| 5 | Olympic NP | 2,749,197 |
| 6 | Rocky Mountain NP | 2,743,676 |
| 7 | Zion NP | 2,567,350 |
| 8 | Cuyahoga Valley NP | 2,468,816 |
| 9 | Grand Teton NP | 2,406,476 |
| 10 | Acadia NP | 2,083,588 |
These two 'top ten' lists look pretty similar to last year's numbers, but there has been some movement in the bottom ten parks. Want to avoid the crowds? Check out these least visited park units. Aniakchak had only 60 visitors last year! It has been noted though, counting must be tough at Aniakchak considering there are no permanent buildings (NPS or otherwise) at the monument. The only real way to get there is by float plane, and even that can be tricky I've been told. Counting down from 10 ...
Bottom 10 : The Least Visited Park Units
| Rank | Park Name | Visitation |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Noatak NPRES | 3,272 |
| 9 | Kobuk Valley NP | 3,005 |
| 8 | Cape Krusenstern NM | 2,598 |
| 7 | Salt River Bay NHP | 2,526 |
| 6 | Alibates Flint Quarries NM | 1,882 |
| 5 | Frederick Law Olmsted NHS | 1,559 |
| 4 | Bering Land Bridge NPRES | 1,265 |
| 3 | National Park of American Samoa | 1,239 |
| 2 | Rio Grande W&SR | 135 |
| 1 | Aniakchak NM & PRES | 60 |
KEY:
- NHS - National Historic Site
- NM - National Monument
- NMEM - National Memorial
- NP - National Park
- NPRES - National Preserve
- NRA - National Recreation Area
- PKWY - Parkway
- W&SR - Wild Scenic & Recreational River
Comments
I find the statistics reporting 18,953,478 visits for the Blue Ridge Parkway subject to question. I say this not only because of the very high number of visitors registered, but also because the Blue Ridge Parkway numbers are much larger than those reported for urban parks and parkways like the Gateway National Recreation Area, George Washington Pkwy and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I suspect that the methods used to determine park visitation are not consistent from unit to unit within the National Park System. I wonder what quality control the NPS uses prior to reporting visitation statistics?
It's easy to see how GSMNP is so popular when you consider that the majority of the country's population is east of the Mississippi and factor in vacation time contraints. Another factor is the proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway. (Two birds with one stone.)
As far as footprint damage, I am guessing that most are simply passing through on the way to Dollywood or the Cherokee casino, never really visiting the park.
Grand Teton is a tricky one. It is very easy to visit without being counted. Unless you drive the "inner road" you don't even pass through an entrance station. You can even camp at Gros Ventre (the park's largest campground) without going through a gate. Also, it is not necessary to stop at any station if you enter from Yellowstone (sign always says, "Please Proceed, No Stop Required), and even the other stations to the inner road are often unmanned. Though I imagine that vehicles are counted by some sort of device, they can't record how many people are in a vehicle. Some of the park's best attractions are outside of any gate, including the Visitor Center, Gros Ventre, Mormon Row, Schwabacher's Landing etc.
Even at best I would think any of these figures are only educated guesses, because even in Yellowstone if you enter much before dawn or after dark there is no one at the gate.
Rio Grand Wild and Scenic River seems very low, considering that there are rafting companies that operate adjacent to Big Bend National Park. I know that the River levels are low, but I have spoken to several people who had rafted or were going to be rafting on it in 2009.
Additionally, there are many popular attractions in Big Bend National park that are alongside the river, so I am surprised at the miniscule visitation number. Maybe they are only counting individuals that travel a significant length of the river.
Great list. I always though that Yellowstone or Grand Canyon would definitely be at the top....but the Great Smokey Mountains....who knew?
Great Smoky Mtn. National Park is close to high population areas. Went this summer very crowded. If you dont leave early in the day you will be in a traffic jam on the Cades Cove road, this is only one way traffic. People were stopping to view and photograph wildlife. The only thing you can do is wait for everyone to move. Also the more popular hiking trails the eaiser ones also crowded before noon. Laurel Falls trail went about 1 in the afternoon passed about 150 people on their way back down. This is a free National Park; an entrance fee is never charged. This is probably another reason for the high attendance. I am sure they have a lot of school field trips from Tenn. and N. Carolina. It is a beautiful park. I believe it has more hiking trails than any other park (but not positive) This is a big draw for people who love to hike. Both days I went to the park I gave a $20 donation. It was worth so much more. All you cares seem to fade away while your here.
I watched the Ken Burns series on the National Parks and was somewhat disturbed over the amount of attention paid to Yosemite and Yellowstone when, indeed, there are less visitors to those parks combined than to the Great Smoky Mountains alone. At the end of the series I thought that had I thrown a dime into a bucket everytime I heard the word "Yosemite," I would have had to paint my house 10,000 times to get enough buckets.
It is obvious that we need more National Parks east of the Mississippi.
I had not known, however, that money from children was used to pay for some of the property to make the park. Creating the Smokies is about displacing a people, the Scot-Irish who had inhabited the mountains for upwards of 200 years. I have known many people who were forced to move out of the area to make the park.
Bill, it wasn't just the Scot-Irish who were moved out. The Cherokee were evicted as well, and their connection with the land went back much longer.