The National Park Service has announced that a record-breaking number of visitors came to America’s national parks last year.
In 2024, a whopping 331,863,358 people visited the 63 national parks to camp, trail run, and hike in the idyllic North American wilderness. This record number beats the previous high of 330,971,689, which was set in 2016, and is more than 6 million higher than the 2023 total.
The annual visitation data also lists the stats for individual parks. Last year, 28, including California's Sequoia National Park, hosted a record number of visitors.
Once again, the sprawling Great Smoky Mountains National Park claimed the top spot for the most visitors. 12.1 million people traveled to the south eastern park in 2024 to experience its dazzling scenery and miles of rugged hiking trails.
The top ten most visited U.S. national parks in 2024
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 12.1 million visitors
- Zion National Park - 4.9 million visitors
- Grand Canyon National Park - 4.9 million
- Yellowstone National Park - 4.7 million
- Rocky Mountain National Park - 4.1 million
- Yosemite National Park - 4.1 million
- Acadia National Park - 3.9 million
- Olympic National Park - 3.7 million
- Grand Teton National Park - 3.6 million
- Glacier National Park - 3.2 million
The record numbers come as anger intensifies over mass cuts to the National Park Service, which oversees and maintains the parks.
In the past few months, an estimated 2,000 temporary workers have had job offers rescinded while many more have been sacked or taken redundancy following mass federal cuts by the Trump administration.
Although the administration has rowed back slightly on temporary worker cuts, thousands who'd previously held temporary and full-time positions are now without work, leaving the parks potentially understaffed and unprepared for the busy summer season.
In response, former park workers and angry locals have rallied at protests up and down the country, demanding an end to the cuts.
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