While visitor numbers have grown in recent years across National Parks, several parks across the country are a bit off the beaten path, and their visitor numbers reflect that.
According to TheStreet, in the years post-pandemic, National Park visitor numbers have skyrocketed. In 2023, the National Park Service reported a total of 325,498,646 visitors to parks and historical sites across the U.S. That number was an increase of more than 13 million people from 2022.
As with anything, some parks have seen more visitors than others. In 2o23, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, spanning east Tennessee and into North Carolina, was far and away the most popular in the nation. In just 12 months, the park took in 13.3 million recreational visitors.
On the contrary, many of the country's most remote parks remain fairly unchanged post-pandemic. For example, Alaska's Gates of the Arctic is often regarded as one of the most expensive parks to visit. Being that the park requires such a labor-intensive effort to get to the welcome sign, few visitors make the journey each year. Specifically, entry to the park requires visitors to fly from Anchorage to the park's nearest settlements by charter plane. The result? A mere 11,045 visitors across all of 2023.
The Least Visited National Parks Are All Hard to Get To
Similarly, the National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific is another park with a small guest list. So too are Lake Clark and Kobuk Valley, which are also found in Alaska. Interestingly, the first mainland park on the list of least visited comes in at the 5-spot. Michigan's Isle Royale saw only 28, 965 visitors in 2023. Again, the commonality between all these parks is the difficulty in arriving there. Michigan's Isle Royale requires visitors to take a ferry from Houghton to Isle Royal Island. Where is Houghton, you might wonder? Just a short 8-hour drive from Detroit.
Regardless of the massive increase in park visitors post-pandemic, some parks are still hidden gems, in the truest sense. So, for the most adventurous among us, maybe a trip to the South Pacific or Alaska should be on your to-do list for 2025. Certainly, you will be less crowded than visitors among other parks in the U.S.
